nancyjacky

Well, after much thought and a lot of time, we decided to drive from NY to Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket and and/or possibly the Cape (Chatham sounds wonderful) Now, of course it is too late to find hotel reservations. Do you think that if we drive there without hotel reservations we could find something clean and decent? Also, does anyone know of any hotels that might have vacancies that I could check into. The few I tried from the fodors site were completely booked. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. We would be leaving on July 31st and we are a family of four.
Thanks for all and any help!!!!

djkbooks

I would never head to any resort/vacation/touristy destination, especially with a family of four, without reservations during the busiest time of the year.

If you are having a hard time making reservations online, your chances are not good at finding "Vacancy" signs along your travels. And, when you drive up and request a room, you usually spend a lot more for a lot less, worse, the unknown.

On the other hand, OF COURSE the few places you tried from Fodor's are completely booked - they appear on a major web site and in a highly respected tour guide, but represent only a few of all the places available.

A search on Kayak produced vacancies at 68 properties in/near Chatham 7/31-8/3 for four people.

There IS plenty of availability for that weekend...expand your search on web sites such as Expedia and Hotels.com, rather than searching individual towns (there are so many!).

You can always take a day trip to Martha's Vineyard and/or Nantucket.

Or, just find something you "central" that you can book for your entire stay that you can cancel. You might want to book, for example, at American's Best Value Inn (which has generally excellent reviews on TripAdvisor) in Hyannis and is quite inexpensive. Then, keep looking.

Also, many places do not refund deposits on rooms cancelled more than two weeks out, so right now is a very good time to re-shop.

leeam

You will probably not find anything on the Vineyard or Nantucket. The Cape itself, yes you will. Like the other reader posted, keep looking at lots of different sites. Depending on how long you are staying, I think it would be better to stay on the Cape and see the Vineyard, Nantucket for a day trip. There is more to do on the Cape. Go to Falmouth, Hyannis, possibly whale watching. You could go into Boston for the day for a change of pace. Good Luck - keep searching, you will find something!

tovarich

Try the Nautilius motor inn in Wood's hole.We stayed there in 2004.The ferry for M/Vineyard leaves from there.Paul

lindsyb

I was helping my step-mom with some travel arrangements that she needed to make and found the site - www.capecodtravel.com where you can see various hotels in different areas.

There is also a section for last-minute availability as well.

Good Luck!

yellowbyrd

Many places that are not listed on major accommodation sites list with their local Chambers of Commerce. Google the towns that you are interested in and search for hotels, motels, inns and B+Bs there. Usually, the local town chambers (not the large Cape Cod Chamber) keep availability calendars for members so if you find a town that you like call the chamber and ask what is available during the time you need. Here are 2 sites from outer cape towns, Eastham and Wellfleet, to get you going
www.easthamchamber.com www.wellfleetchamber.com