Nantucket

Concierge.com's insider take:

As with its spiffy sibling the Wauwinet, the air at this 1920s harborside resort (the island's biggest and the best upscale choice in Nantucket Town) is rarified, and so are the prices. The waterfront lawn leads down to private docks, where seasonal renters park their Hinckleys and Herreshoffs and pop ashore for lunch. All 53 rooms, many with working fireplaces and water views (generally of the harbor where the ferries dock), are decked out in red- or blue-checked fabrics and handsome pine furniture. The 11 two-bedroom garden cottages have no views, but compensate with family-friendly touches: two bathrooms apiece, kitchenettes, pull-out sofas, and (in some) washer-dryers. There's also a two-story "loft" a few blocks away in the shopping district, with three bedrooms, four baths, and a full kitchen—concierge, housekeeping, and chef services are available upon request. Hotel guests without such advantages can eat waterside at the renovated Brant Point Grill, which has an expanded outdoor bar and nightly cabaret-style entertainment until 10:15 p.m. (in deference to guests whose rooms are nearby). Another restaurant is scheduled to open in 2009. A spa, opened in 2007, embraces its waterside location with sea facials and seaweed body revitalizations; daily port-and-cheese receptions take place in the comfy library; and if Saturday night on the island leaves you feeling a bit rough, there's a make-your-own Bloody Mary bar at Sunday brunch.