After traveling to Nantucket for more than a decade, we finally chose to stay in a Nantucket vacation rental. Well, three different rentals to be exact. 🙂 Today, I wanted to share all of the details on our Sconset rental, after receiving countless questions about it from my Instagram Reel.
For background, we visit Nantucket every summer for approximately two weeks. For many years, we stayed in hotels, thanks to the amenities, service, and overall convenience. However, we wanted to switch things up this year and truly “live like a local” for a week in a unique Nantucket vacation rental. Please note that we did not receive a discount, deal, or perk for our stay.
Prior to Staying in a Nantucket Vacation Rental
New to Nantucket and/or not ready to dive straight into a rental? Totally get it! In my humble opinion, it’s important to get to know the island and all that it has to offer in order to find the one that meets your needs.
You may prefer to stay in Town, Sconset, Madaket, Mid-Island, Cliffside… the list goes on and on. Finding the location to suit your preferences is the single most important criteria. Then, you can search for types of accommodations and amenities.
If you’re looking to start with a hotel, three of our favorite properties are White Elephant, 76 Main and 21 Broad.
I give my highest recommendation to all three of them, with White Elephant at the top of the list. Feel free to check out my review of their recent renovation here. They also have a sister property, The Wauwinet, which the other side of the island. We’ve never stayed at that property, but we make it a point to visit their award-winning restaurant, TOPPER’S, for date night or brunch. So delicious!
We’ve also stayed in Veranda House before the property had a fire (it’s currently rebuilding and should be back open for the 2025 season). VH wasn’t our favorite experience at the time. However, we’re confident they’ll will return in a big way, and we’re rooting for their team’s success.
Another hotel experience was Greydon House. During our stay, we were assigned a very strange room on the bottom floor. It wasn’t the best experience. At the same time, several friends have stayed on property and loved it. In truth, we should give it a second chance.
Lastly, during our first visit to the island, we opted for a B&B option, Regatta Inn. Loved it. We stayed there twice before it was acquired by Nantucket Resorts Collection. Prices have gone up, and it’s also undergone a renovation. I can’t speak to the new offerings, but we sincerely loved our stays there.
How We Found Our Nantucket Vacation Rental
So why did it take so long for us to select a Nantucket vacation rental? To be candid, we never really found an option we liked, much less loved. Plus, many friends and locals warned us that longtime summer visitors book their favorites more than a year out. Most of the best options around the island are taken before you’ve even stepped foot on the island one year prior. Pretty crazy.
Therefore, we remained patient and waited until the perfect option sprung up. Slowly but surely, we’ve become friends with a lot of people on Nantucket, and word of mouth is one of the most powerful tools to finding a rental that feels right. Thankfully, word of mouth worked, and we found an incredible rental to meet our needs.
Last year, our friend Meg connected us with her client and Nantucket resident, Nicole. Meg’s worked with her on several interior design projects, and collaborated with her on renovating an amazing Nantucket vacation rental in Siasconset (or as its called, “Sconset”).
Meg texted and said, “You need to meet my friend Nicole and tour the property we worked on together!” Within a few hours, we were visiting the property with Nicole and she showed us around the entire property. The cottage was love at first sight.
The bright airy spaces, the crisp white and blue designs, the finishes, the list goes on an on. Every single room had an incredible amount of attention to detail. We knew we wanted to rent it for the following summer.
The only challenge? Someone had already discussed wanting to rent during our same dates. GAH. Thankfully, the person changed their mind, and we were able to secure our spot.
Beach Plum Cottage at 7 Bank Street, Nantucket
Meet the Beach Plum Cottage, a two-bedroom, two and half bathroom property in Sconset just a few blocks from the beach. Beyond the impeccable interior design, Beach Plum comes with a single parking spot, which is huge for the island. Many rentals don’t come with parking. During high season – it’s nice to not stress about two-hour parking limits and parking permits in general.
The property was featured on Magnolia Network’s “Beach Cottages.” Funny enough, we’d never seen the episode until after staying there. Later we’d find out that a lot of you have seen the episode, which is fantastic!
We loved the full kitchen, and cooked so many meals during our stay. Restaurants are expensive on the island, and we chose to save money by picking up groceries at Stop & Shop (mid-island) and also Sconset Market, which is a short walk from the cottage.
Both bedrooms feature Queen beds, and the primary and guest bedrooms have full bathrooms. The property features laundry (so helpful), a gorgeous dining room, and two built-in bunk beds that are perfect for little kids. Sure, the bunks are literally next to the dining room table, but it all adds to the charm of the cottage.
Another attribute of the property we love? The outdoor patio. There’s a couch, two chairs, and a four-seat outdoor dining table with umbrella. We spent as many evenings as possible out on the patio enjoying a glass of wine and listening to the ocean waves (just a block away).
The primary bedroom also has a balcony – our favorite spot for morning coffee. So fun! The air conditioning is strong (love that), and the shower has incredible water pressure. That may seem to odd to point out, but it’s literally crazy how good it is.
Luxury Vacation Home Rental Prices
Okay, here’s the catch (well, a fact, really) – Nantucket vacation rentals are expensive. Extremely expensive.
Nantucket is one of the most expensive global destinations. In fact, in 2023, TRAVEL Magazine named Nantucket the most expensive beach destination in the world. There are strides that must be be made to fix these costs (it’s not something for the destination to brag about frankly). It’s important to make it more attainable for people to visit, live, along with ensuring there are high quality housing options for workers on-island, etc. But I digress…
Hotel, rental, restaurant, and even car rental prices are not for the faint of heart. While there will be sticker shock when seeing how much things cost, this rental is actually one of the more attainable options in Sconset, given the number of bedrooms and up-to-date amenities. I wish I was kidding.
All in all, we didn’t take the decision to stay here lightly. We work extremely hard at our full-time jobs (and for this blog) in order to save up for some special trips each year. As a couple who doesn’t have kids, we are aware we have more financial freedom to be able to chose to invest in luxury travel like this. At the same time, we’ve cut back a ton of other travels in the past year so that we can focus on this trip and make it extra special.
Moreover, Bob and I had originally thought we might have people we know staying with us, which would have otherwise deferred half of the rental cost (eeks).
Nantucket Travel Options to Save Money
Looking for prices to cool off slightly to stay on island? If so, one solution is to travel in off season, including fall (post-Labor Day) and spring (prior to June). We’ve heard amazing things about Nantucket in late September, when crowds have lightened and rental prices are relatively lower.
There’s also the ability to ferry to Nantucket for the day. We’ve taken the ferry countless times from Hyannis, and it’s a very easy jaunt to and from the island.
In Closing
If you’re looking for a luxury Nantucket vacation rental, I highly recommend Beach Plum. We had the most magnificent stay, and we know that both families and couples will absolutely love it.
Next year, we’re contemplating switching up our location after being reached out to by a few other rentals. However, we give our highest recommendation to Beach Plum cottage.