Rugosa Boutique Guest House — Hotel in Eastham

So, my husband booked "room 9" for my birthday, because it was dog friendly & had additional beds for our 12 year old. We got there, thought the main building was quirky, had a ton of personality, and were excited for our stay! The room was still being cleaned despite it being after 3, but we waited, no big deal. Once the room was ready we got a tour of the main building. Very cute decor and vibe. The issues started when we got into our 'room', which was a guest house behind the main building. The first thing I noticed is it was freezing! The second was that the additional beds in the front room looked more like cheap summer camp beds. They were hard, with very thin blankets. Our kid immediately asked if they could sleep in the king bed with us. The main bedroom had a king bed and tiny space heater. It did almost nothing to warm the space. We turned up the thermostat and went to get dinner. When we came back it was still freezing. Thermostat had done nothing whatsoever. I called the main # and Joey apologies, said the fireplace had been setting off the carbon monoxide alarm, and he would bring another space heater. Our other option given was to stay in the only other unbooked room, the apartment above us with two twin beds...

The second space heater arrived about an hour later, and we turned it on. In a bit, the main bedroom felt comfortable. So we closed the door to the entry room and stayed in the main bedroom. The first time I went to the bathroom, I was shocked to see there was no handsoap, and one of the washcloths was stained and looked unwashed! My husband went out to stop and shop to get soap and a few other items. When he got back, we decided to call it a night and hope for better tomorrow.

Cue the second heater deciding to go off, screaming like a car alarm, at about 2am. We shut it off, while our kid huddled in bed terrified of being woken out of a sound sleep. About an hour later, it was getting cold in the room again so my husband turned the heater back on. About fifteen minutes later, screaming noise again. Turn off the heater. Get cold, turn it back on. Starts screaming.

In total we were woken up 3-4 times throughout the early hours. Our kid started to cry and beg us to go home. By 7am I had had enough. I dragged the smaller heater into the bathroom to shower, only to find that there was a base for what looked like a shampoo/conditioner dispenser on the wall. That was speckled in black mold. My husband came in for taking our dog out to potty and realized he had stepped in one of the many poos in the yard. FYI, our dog didn't poo until the next morning, so obviously someone wasn't cleaning up after their dog!

We got cleaned up, dressed, packed our car, and dropped the keys at the front desk. We checked out hours early because none of us wanted to stay.

All in all, a miserable night's sleep and experience, especially given the 300$ price tag for a single night's stay! Would absolutely never stay...

The owner was hard to reach and when I called to check in early, the phone carrier said the number was no longer in service. When we got there, we finally found one person and he told us it was an old number and to call another number. A guest working remotely in the dining area told us the place was nicer last year. When we were looking around there was a sign on the large giant refrigerator in the kitchen that it was broken. The room we went to was in the old part of the house and smelled musty. The "garden view" noted on the website was barely visible from a corner of the window in the bathroom. No refrigerator in the room. The bed was very high up and so were the stairs to the bathroom. We asked for a new room and left to go see some friends. I finally got a text from Joey who offered us another room that he claimed that he "had just cleaned". After we moved ourselves to the newer room in an adjacent building, it looked okay and we went out for dinner. I had noticed the fence lattices were peeling badly and didn't think that was particularly child friendly. When we returned, Joey had written to us that this room was more money. We agreed to a 'deal'. We began to notice that the bedroom light flickered. The wifi and tv were not working well and underneath the bathroom sink and floors there were many insects and spiders. I had to use toilet paper to clean them up and noticed that neither bathroom had an extra roll of toilet paper, nor tissues, nor a glass or cup for the sink. The other bathroom had a giant grease stain on the vanity. We moved the sofa to try to get a bug, and the floor was filthy there. The air conditioners were not properly installed and there was a multitude of open spaces near the baffles. It was late and we slept (sort of) there. We woke up early and told Joey we were checking out. He wrote to me "I'm sorry to disappoint. Sounds like this is the theme for you". I had paid for the room via their carrier and it took me over three months to get my charge reversed. I had stayed at this inn under previous ownership and it was great, and we had stayed there several times. Now, I would never go back there nor...

My Husband and I just finished a wedding weekend takeover at the Rugosa and now that we have wrapped things up can honestly say that it was a perfect venue for an outdoor Cape Cod wedding.

I think it's important to add that we had a hurricane pass us the morning of the reception, while this was incredibly stressful for us, Joey and Susie stayed calm throughout the entire week as we rolled with the changing forecast. This included working with the tent company and building inspectors to ensure structural stability of the tent for the anticipated storm. Luckily it passed just in time for a great night.

The hotel itself is quirky, eclectic and very much a large beach house. Having the wedding party stay at the house gave it a beach weekend vibe right off the bat. Every room had its own character and guests loved it.

We rented a tent for 120 people that fit perfectly in the backyard. And while the tent was the star of the show, having various foyers and a smaller inside bar for guests to explore gave it that unique Cape Cod vibe we were hoping for.

Throughout the night Joey and his staff were professional and on top of clean up. Additionally, their open bar was affordable and ensured quests were happy the whole night.

The wedding weekend package has the wedding party check in on Friday with a check out on Monday morning. Having the additional day for everyone to hang out and recoup by the pool was a very nice (and much needed) bonus. We ended up getting a fire permit for the national seashore for Sunday night which was the perfect end to the weekend.

If hanging on the porch with friends and lazy beach days is your group's style then I would highly recommend checking...