Summercamp — Hotel in Oak Bluffs

During our recent stay at Summercamp Hotel, our second visit to this property, we opted for the King room with the pullout bed couch, a change from our previous stay in a double queen room. The room was significantly larger than the one we had before, featuring a spacious living room area and a generously sized bedroom with ample windows and two TVs. However, while we have attached photos to showcase the room's positive aspects, there were some drawbacks that impacted our overall experience.

Let's start with the positives. The hotel's location is undeniably convenient, especially for first-time visitors to the island. Situated just a 5-minute walk from the Oaks Bluffs ferry port, it offers easy access to shops, restaurants, and the nearby beach. Additionally, the hotel provides parking (for a fee) in the rear, with assigned spots clearly marked with guests' names. For those relying on public transportation, the bus stop directly in front of the ferry port makes getting around easy.

Unfortunately, there were some downsides that left us hesitant to return in the future. Firstly, the bathrooms in both the double queen and King rooms were quite small and gave off a somewhat dingy appearance. The tile seemed grimy, making us reluctant to step barefoot inside. Despite the appealing features of the room, this was a significant letdown.

Another issue we encountered was Summercamp does not provide microwaves in any of its rooms, inconvenient for guests who prefer to prepare simple meals or reheat leftovers. The on-site "canteen" shop offers limited food options, including overpriced snacks, cereal, and cups of noodles. With just the extremely small mini fridge tucked away inside a dresser unit you're pretty much forced to eat out.

We found the bed to be lumpy and uncomfortable, although individual preferences may vary. The pullout bed was too thin and uncomfortable even for children. It became apparent that it hadn't been moved or cleaned properly after we found dirty socks and old sand under the couch.

Look Summercamps pretty modern has some of the fairest prices around and is in a prime location. But we wouldn't stay here again because of the lack of microwaves/kitchenette, limited dining options on-site, coupled with the discomfort of the beds and cleanliness issues. If you do decide to stay, this place has some of the best staff around and I know they’ll take great...

I think the plan behind this hotel was great, it’s in a great location and at first look, everything is very nice and fits the aesthetic. The problem is that the hotel is lacking attention to detail. In our room, there where numerous things that shouldn’t be a problem in a 300+ dollars per night hotel room. Within our room I found a loose doorknob, which isn’t a huge problem, but you tend to notice these things more, when other issues are present. There is no fan or ventilation in the bathroom, which I have to say, does not smell the best at times (This also is not 100% the hotel’s fault, because I would understand if central heating and cooling was not available in such an old building). The flow regulator in our shower was also broken, and once again, this isn’t a huge deal, but they all do build up. The last problem present in the bathroom is whenever you take a shower the water is also guaranteed to flow out of the shower and pool on the floor of your bathroom. Obviously the shower is not very water tight. On our trip, all but one type of room was booked, and it cost more then 300 dollars a night (the cheapest and smallest room in this hotel). With that being said, I’m sure some of the other rooms are great, and I would have loved to stay in them if they where available, but this room was not worth 300$ a night; at most 200$. I understand Martha’s Vineyard is expensive, but I still expect quality for money, and when that quality doesn’t meat the price there is a problem. I understand that there is limited space, but more work needs to be put into the rooms before I find them satisfactory. Other then the room, the hotel was quite interesting, but I think there are better hotels for the price...

Sadly, our appearance was awful. For starters we originally were going to have 2 kids with us and the only room available was priced at $700 a night yes folks that's not a typo, with hotel tax it came to $1571.62. Quite outrageous but we booked last minute, and the location was very close to our daughter who is working on the Island for the summer. It ended up just being my wife and I and thankfully because there is no way four of us would have fit in this room comfortably. Check in was flawless and room was available early. Free coffee ( not really when you pay $700 a night) was available every morning. After checking in staff never talked to us, never acknowledged us. Walked by them in hallways or lobby and not even a good morning. Young woman at the canteen looked right at us and never asked if we wanted anything. Bed was extremely uncomfortable. Way to soft, didn't sleep the first night and struggled to sleep the second night. Hotel is old and walls are thin. I can deal with that but the worst part was the noxious fumes that were coming from the shower drain. I can't believe you are allowed to rent this room. I immediately turned the exhaust fan on in hopes that would get rid of the smell. No luck it made it worse. I had to wet a face cloth and cover the drain. This helped but didn't stop the smell. The hotel is obviously aware of this issue because they had a little clip on air freshener attached to the fan. We had no recourse because all the hotels were booked and no other vacancies at the one we were in. I would hope that summer camp would do the right thing and issue a refund. I will also be writing reviews on every other site available and will be contacting the parent company...