Harbor View Hotel

Absolutely fantastic stay! From location to service to meals, I can’t imagine a better place to spend time on the Vineyard!

Writing a negative review is not something I normally do. Given who I am and the public platform I have, I am particularly careful about criticizing any person or business. But our experience at the Harbor View Hotel was disappointing enough that I feel compelled to share it. The Harbor View presents itself—and is certainly priced—as a five-star luxury hotel. Unfortunately, our experience bore little resemblance to that standard. If I were rating the hotel solely on our stay, I could not give it more than two stars. The disappointment began with room service on our first evening. The food was, quite simply, exceptionally poor. The Caesar salad was nearly inedible, as was the quinoa bowl. At breakfast the following morning, we ordered sourdough toast and were served what appeared to be ordinary white bread. When we questioned it, we were told that this was the hotel’s version of sourdough. The accommodations were no better. We had paid a substantial premium for a room with a porch, only to find the porch so dirty that we did not feel comfortable using it. Housekeeping was particularly troubling. A bathrobe had been stained as a result of the room-service meal. Rather than replacing it with a clean robe, housekeeping simply rolled up the stained robe and returned it as though it were fresh. There were too few towels, and the thoughtful touches and amenities one naturally expects at a hotel of this caliber were noticeably absent. Privacy was also an issue. Despite being on the second floor, the placement and exposure of the windows left us feeling that anyone outside could easily see into our room. Service, unfortunately, followed the same pattern. When we needed our car to attend a wedding, we waited so long that we eventually had to find someone else to retrieve it or risk being late. When we returned later that evening, there was no valet available at all, leaving us to park the car ourselves. No hotel is perfect, and I would never write a review like this because of one or two isolated shortcomings. But this was not one unfortunate incident. It was a succession of failures involving the food, cleanliness, housekeeping, privacy and service—the very things that are supposed to distinguish a luxury hotel. A five-star hotel is not defined by its location, its reputation or the price of its rooms. It earns those five stars through exceptional service, immaculate accommodations, attention to detail and the feeling that its guests are genuinely being cared for. Sadly, that was not our experience at the Harbor View Hotel. When a property asks its guests to pay five-star prices, it has an obligation to deliver a five-star experience. For us, it simply did not. Two stars. Suze Orman Personal Finance Expert

We loved all the special 'touches'- amazing service oriented staff, complimentary shuttle to anywhere within a mile of the hotel, grill menu by tbe pool. homemade chips, bicycles for the day, welcome treats in our room, especially Murdock's fudge! We will be back!

This is a very beautiful hotel, in a spectacular location. We stayed here a few years ago, before the new owner took over, and they definitely kicked it up a few notches. It is no longer a place that relies on its location to do the heavy lifting. Martha's Vineyard in August is teeming with visitors so we were prepared for that, and clearly so was the Harbor View. Despite having a full house, it never felt crowded or as if there were corners being cut. We had breakfast at Bettini each morning -the food was good but the view was spectacular. Starting your day like that puts your whole body and brain on vacation. The staff here is really wonderful-the guys out front managing guests travel and luggage and quick trips on golf carts into town were exceptional: professional, friendly and kind. Before we arrived a very stressful personal situation emerged, so we called to see if we could get a hotel credit. The answer was no. We did not explain our circumstances however I don't think it would have changed anything. But be warned they are strict about their cancellation policy. We decided not to throw away the 10k for 3 nights and go ahead with our trip. I am glad we did. While I would have rather enjoyed Martha's Vineyard at another time and without the cloud hanging over us- we were still able to enjoy ourselves a bit- which is all credit to the Harbor View Hotel and Martha's Vineyard. Both are great places. With that said, hotels show who they are when problems arise- not when everything goes perfectly. There was an issue with the A/C which we noticed on day 1. They have an "eco system" which runs by motion detection, so we (and they) were convinced that was all it was. On Day 2, as our room temp approached 80 degrees, it was obvious it was not working. Engineering was very responsive and worked on it for a while but could not find the issue. Opening the windows and putting on fans was not an option, as the windows that did open did not have screens and they also opened onto a landing of an outdoor staircase. There was no plan B being offered, and at 3k per night for a one bedroom cottage, I needed to be assured of one. After several conversations with a sympathetic front desk, and despite the hotel being at capacity, the hotel was able to find us another room. And not only that, it was an upgrade. Not only did we have beautifully working a/c we were treated to an even more luxurious space. We were very grateful and felt the hotel more than made up for the inconvenience of dealing with a maintenance issue while on our short vacation. We are hoping to visit Martha's Vineyard more regularly in the coming years, and after this experience, we wouldn't stay anywhere else!

If I could leave a 1/2 star, I would rate the Harbor View Hotel 4.5 stars. We loved the staff. Everyone we interacted with was professional, friendly and helpful. The restaurant was great. We had drinks or a meal there every day. We stayed in a two-bedroom part of one of the cottages, and the space was set up well for families or two couples with two nice-sized bedrooms with private bathrooms, a kitchenette, and an elevator. Two main issues keep this from being a higher rated experience for us: the mattresses were so uncomfortable. I had horrendous back pain on waking every morning, and I do not have a bad back and am a very active person. In addition, for $3000+ a night, I would expect better window coverings. The sun rises very early in MV in the summer, and the blinds in our bedrooms were inadequate. We were up at 4:30 every morning with the sun.