Just found out that friends are staying in Hyannis the last week of August. Heard it's too commercial there and I am looking for a quaint small town nearby. Liked Chatham - seen it described as quaint, shops and restaurants within walking distance of lodgings in town. I am trying to stay in an inn centrally located with one of those great breakfasts. However, I am seeing that the daily rates in the inns start at $200 and up, as it is still peak then. Should I be giving up on going this particular week or can anyone make any recommendations that maybe I have missed. Also, is it easier to rent a car in the cape and get some form of transportation from Boston airport, rather than driving the whole way from Boston in a rental car. Thanks in advance for your help.

Wow, you pose a number of questions and options for which there could be many answers, Well anyway here are mine:

I would stick with the week your friends are in Hyannis because anywhere you travel is more fun when you are enjoying it with friends.

The Dan'l Webster Inn located in Sandwich is one alternative choice for you. Sandwich is a quaint, small town close to Hyannis and the Inn is famous for it's breakfasts.

Chatham is absolutely gorgeous and has everything you described but is very expensive and you may be too late to make a reservation.

Here is another alternative that many people are now taking. Take the ferry from Boston to Provincetown. You could stay in Ptown and your friends in Hyannis could come visit you, or they can come pick you up & you could stay in the Hyannis area.

The Plymouth & Boston bus has service direct from Logan airport to Hyannis almost hourly and is an easy way to travel to the Cape without driving. You could rent a car in Hyannis. Chatham is about a 25minute drive east of Hyannis (depending on the traffic). It is lovely but expensive as mentioned above. Do a search for B&B or Inns on Cape Cod, you may find something that interests you - there are lots of them. You might also look at Harwich Port.

Sorry, I meant the Plymouth & Brockton (not Boston) Bus.

For the bus schedule see www.p-b.com.

A reasonable place to stay near Hyannis is the Centerville Corners motel. Not all that charming but you can walk to Craigville Beach (which is a GREAT beach, though very crowded compared to Chatham). Also not a great breakfast.

Nothing in the Hyannis area is primarily "quaint"; it's just too populated now. The quaint stuff is still there; it's just mixed in with the commercial. Barnstable (across the Cape from Hyannis, on the Bay) and Osterville (wealthy town just west of Centerville) retain more of the quaintness. Even if you go in September it's only marginally quieter as there are so many year-round residents now.

Basically I think your choice is between spending your time with your friends OR staying in a quieter, quainter place.

In case you're still looking for advice: I'd suggest Sandwich (though perhaps I'm biased, since I grew up in East Sandwich, a couple of miles away). Sandwich is very quaint but has a lot more reasonably-priced options (well under $200) than Chatham does. It's about 20 minutes from Hyannis, maybe closer to a half hour in summer traffic. I got married at the Belfry Inn and Bistro in the center of Sandwich, and looked at some of their rooms, though I ended up staying elsewhere on my wedding night. The rooms were gorgeous and unusual (the place is a converted church, and some of the rooms have stained glass windows,) but they're a little pricey. However, I know there are a number of non-tacky motor inns and some nice B & B's in the $90-120/night range in Sandwich.