Tides Beach Club, Kennebunkport, Maine

Old-school cool: Moneyed types have been summering at Kennebunkport's grand manses since the late 1800s. It's no surprise. Sipping a gin and tonic on a wraparound porch overlooking a windswept beach never gets old. The line at the Clam Shack on Route 9 can seem equally eternal, but it's totally worth it once you have a box of fried clams and a lobster roll in hand.

Retro revival: Hotel decor in Kennebunkport tends to follow either the overtly nautical or the stuffy doily-and-chintz model. But the 21-room Tides Beach Club, opened in summer 2011, takes a much more whimsical approach. Housed in a sunny yellow mansion with wraparound porch and rocking chairs, the Tides elevates retro beach-house accessories (shell lamps and ropy nautical chandeliers), to high-hip status by contrasting them with linen-covered wing chairs and driftwood-y Jonathan Adler Chippendale chairs. In two of the suites Adler's '60s Pop patterns in lime and navy, turquoise and marigold, run riot amid the elegant upholstered headboards and muted overstuffed sofas. Welcome to the new New England.

Tides Beach Club
254 Kings Highway
Kennebunkport, Maine
Tel: 207 967 3757
Rooms from $175

Next: Taking a new tack in Rhode Island >