1. Nauset Knoll Motor Lodge
City: East Orleans, MA
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (508) 255-2364
Address: 237 Beach Rd.
Description: Situated on a knoll overlooking Nauset Beach and the Atlantic, this accommodation’s every room commands a view of the ocean. Four acres of manicured grounds ensure privacy. The Nauset Knoll consists of 12 spacious ground-level rooms with 8-foot picture windows facing the ocean. The simply decorated rooms offer ceramic-tiled bathrooms (tub and shower combination), color cable TV, and baseboard hot-water heat. Operated under the supervision of the National Park Service, the Nauset Knoll is the only motel on the Atlantic Ocean within the Cape Cod National Seashore. It is just a short drive to fine dining and the attractions of the lower Cape. We’ll give you a tip about this place: Especially appealing to birders is autumn at the lodge when the best birding of the year can be enjoyed on the dune uplands. You’ll have the beach to yourself, along with the warm waters that have heated all summer. Children are welcome at Nauset Knoll, which is open from mid-Apr to late Oct.
2. The Nauset House Inn
City: East Orleans, MA
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (508) 255-2195, (800) 771-5508
Address: 143 Beach Rd.
Description: The Nauset House has 14 guest rooms, imaginatively yet simply done, and furnished with antique and hand-painted furniture. Besides the great decor the inn also has some of the best pricing that we’ve found, with rooms as low as $89 for couples. The large common room in this 1810 house is set up with several intimate sitting areas for sociable conversation or solitary reading by the fireplace. Past the brick-floored breakfast room is an enchanting greenhouse conservatory where ivy climbs the glass walls, fragrant camellias grow near wicker chairs, and grapes ripen on the arbor above the entrance.Innkeepers John and Cindy Vessella and Diane Johnson serve a complimentary full breakfast, featuring fresh omelets and homemade granola. The inn is open mid-Apr through Oct and welcomes children 12 and older.
3. The Parsonage Inn
City: East Orleans, MA
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (508) 255-8217, (888) 422-8217
Address: 202 Main St.
Description: Built around 1770, this house still has its original wide floorboards and the tranquil feel of the vicarage it became in the 1800s. The eight guest rooms, each with a private bath, are furnished with country antiques and decorated simply with hand-stenciling, quilts, and fresh flowers. Wireless and dial-up Internet access is available in all rooms, as is individual temperature control.Innkeepers Ian and Elizabeth Browne serve a hearty morning meal in the charming little breakfast room or outside on the brick patio. You can also opt to take breakfast in your room. The offerings range from fruit salad with yogurt and granola to orange zest French toast with warm maple syrup. Later in the day, enjoy refreshments in the parlor, play the piano, or relax in front of the fire. Just a mile and a half from Nauset Beach, the Parsonage is also close to shops, restaurants, and galleries and is open year-round. Children older than six are welcome.
4. Ship’S Knees Inn
City: East Orleans, MA
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (508) 255-1312, (888) 744-7756
Address: 186 Beach Rd.
Description: This restored 1820 sea captain’s home is just a short walk from Nauset Beach. The rooms are cozy and comfortable, with classic New England accents like braided rugs, hand-painted murals, four-poster beds, and vintage clipper ship models. But don’t be misled by old-school touches like painted beams and ornamental wreaths—the rooms may look retro, but all are equipped with wireless Internet access, individual temperature control, refrigerators, and cable TV. Atmosphere to spare is available in the Master Suite, where a working fireplace anchors a courtyard-facing space outfitted with a queen bed and twin pull-out sofa bed.A continental breakfast is served on the patio, which gets a lovely sea breeze, or indoors in the breakfast room or parlor. The inn has an outdoor pool, is open year-round, and welcomes children 12 and older.
5. The Rental Company At William Raveis
City: East Orleans, MA
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (508) 240-2222
Address: 213 Main St.
Description: The Rental Company manages more than 450 vacation rentals in the Lower Cape towns, including Harwich, Brewster, Chatham, Orleans, Eastham, Wellfleet, and Truro. Their inventory of vacation homes, cottages, and condos rent from between $500 and $13,000 per week.
6. Joe’S Beach Road Bar & Grille At The Barley Neck Inn
City: East Orleans, MA
Category: Nightlife
Telephone: (508) 255-0212
Address: 5 Beach Rd.
Description: This high-ceilinged, barn-like lounge at the Barley Neck has a beautifully redone mahogany bar and a great old stone fireplace. Local musicians are featured Fri through Sun in season. You can also get great munchies here—see our Restaurants chapter.
7. The Real Estate Company
City: East Orleans, MA
Category: Relocation
Telephone: (508) 255-5100
Address: 207 Main St.
Description: Located on the road to Nauset Beach in East Orleans, the Real Estate Company lays claim to the largest independent real estate agency on the Lower Cape. They also have offices in Chatham and North Eastham and are affiliated with The Rental Company and The Building Company, which focus on—wait for it—rentals and building.
8. Joe’S Beach Road Bar & Grilleat The Barley Neck Inn
City: East Orleans, MA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (508) 255-0212
Address: 5 Beach Rd.
Description: This grand old 1857 sea captain’s mansion was lovingly restored by Joe and Kathi Lewis, who stage weddings and other events in the Barley Neck’s four intimate dining rooms and offer casual fare in Joe’s Beach Road Bar and Grille, located in the attached barn. The menu at either Joe’s or the Barley Neck includes gourmet pizzas, pastas, an array of appetizers, and lots of native seafood. A huge fieldstone fireplace serves as the centerpiece of Joe’s decor, which eschews nautical motifs in favor of denim tablecloths and World War II posters.Joe’s is open for dinner daily year-round. Dining room hours vary in the off-season, so call ahead. Reservations, in any case, are a good idea.
9. Nauset Beach Club
City: East Orleans, MA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (508) 255-8547
Address: 222 Main St.
Description: The Nauset Beach Club specializes in northern Italian fare and locally caught seafood. The restaurant, housed in a former duck-hunting cottage on the way to Nauset Beach, has a warm atmosphere, with terra-cotta walls, an upstairs fireplace and downstairs wood-burning oven, and low lights. Dinner is served every evening year-round.