Tag Archives: cape cod

Get away with it!

How do I love getting to thee Martha’s Vineyard? Let me count the ways…

While photographing two of our houses in Vineyard Haven today I saw a huge Schooner passing by East Chop lighthouse and a little plane overhead and as usual, the Island Home plowing along. On such a pretty day it reminded me that we are on an island and though it’s never easy to get here it can be fun.

Value
I grew up on the lower cape, my family lives in Brewster, so my most desirable summer route “home” is aboard the Hyline Fast Ferry http://www.hylinecruises.com/ from Oak Bluffs to Hyannis in 55 minutes. I live about two blocks from where the fast ferry takes off in OB Harbor which allows for a 1 ½ hour commute door to door, as opposed to what the Steamship Authority http://www.steamshipauthority.com/ offers – 10 min drive to VH, 45 min boat ride, 1 ½ hour drive to Brewster, which with traffic usually takes 3 hours door to door. The $240 commuter book for Hyline is key – the face value of these precious passes is $71/round trip, or $48 with the book of ten one-way tickets. Somehow they found out my birthday is in April and they send me a $10 coupon every year, which helps bring this valuable purchase down even more.

Value + Fun
Cape Air https://www.capeair.com/ has announced that their MVY – Providence service will begin June 15th! Ah, if only it could start a little sooner, I could fly to PVD to catch my New Orleans flight for Jazz Fest http://www.nojazzfest.com/ next week. Check Cape Air every Tuesday for flight deals on commuter books. These are always good to have in a pinch, especially when you’re trapped at Logan, exhausted and not psyched about schlepping your stuff to South Station to catch the Peter Pan bus http://www.peterpanbus.com/ back to Woods Hole. I’ve visited the Cape Air counter in Terminal C many times in this situation and usually the last minute rate for the next flight to MVY rivals that of a transatlantic flight! If you’ve got your commuter book, it’ll cost you $149.99. Or buy a book to Hyannis for $41.90 each way. The flight is about 15 minutes and allows for spectacular views of Nantucket Sound. A couple of times I’ve been the only passenger on board and got to sit up front and play co-pilot.

Value + Fun = Escape
When MVY is too much for me to handle around August, I escape to my cousin’s house in Newport, Rhode Island which is equally crazy but it’s not my crazy so I enjoy it, especially for Folk Fest http://www.newportfolkfest.net/. For this trip I take the Sea Streak from OB/VH to downtown New Bedford http://www.seastreak.com/. This ferry definitely features the best crew of all the services to and from the vineyard. I’ve had the captain hold the boat for me several times just from a phone call, while stuck in New Beige traffic. And, make sure you flash an island addressed driver’s license for a discount – the $34 one-way will cost you a mere $28 bucks. With a full bar, A/C and a beautiful yet exhilarating ride through Woods Hole Passage (they’re known for not slowing down), this is the best way to get away when Oak Bluffs turns into Wally World.

Sometimes I forget how lucky we are to reside on this lovely island and I need reminders. When they come, via sailboat, plane or ferry sighting, I am filled with gratitude! For those travelling here, we have some great houses that still have summer availability for weekly rentals.

Contact Rose Ryley

to confirm availability for these Martha’s Vineyard vacation homes

rose@sandpiperrental.com

Sandpiper Rentals, Inc.

901 – Vineyard Haven – In Town Lovely Porch – Blocks from Ferry

954 – Vineyard Haven – West Chop Beautiful peaceful views and garden

7775 – Edgartown – Outer Huge yard – Great for Entertaining

*ferry reservations available with rental*

2070 – Chilmark – Middle Road Total Escape – Convenient way to enjoy UpIsland

Why is it important to use an agent to book your vacation rental?

So, to recap, last week, when I was looking for a rental property off-island for myself, I couldn’t find one. I could only find a site that listed millions of properties – but didn’t offer an actual person up for customer service, for an inside look.

That just doesn’t work for me. It’s so important to be able to rent from a 3rd party, and I’ll tell you why. An agent:

  • …will have seen, personally, all of the houses that they list. They’ll be able to give you real details about size, feel, look, etc.
  • …has the ability to get a group of houses in the same area, say if you only want Lambert’s Cove – they can gather them all up.
  • …can be objective as a 3rd party and not the owner.
  • …customizes your search for you. Will know all of the houses that meet your exact needs.
  • …shares with you the benefits of geography of each of your rental choices (for example: This house has the perfect backyard, but it’s close to a main road).
  • …realistically tells you if some of your needs just aren’t possible and then can help you come up with a real solution.
  • …offers more choices.
  • …mediates if there is a disagreement or issue between the renter and the owner of the property in terms of security deposit, cleanliness, damage, etc…

I love the internet…but my process of trying to find a vacation rental, from the renters side, left me craving a real person that could really help me! Off to search some more…

Searching for a vacation rental agent…

This summer, my kids will be lucky enough to do a very cool and very Vineyard thing. They’ll go sailing on the Shenandoah sailboat…as in a real live, old-fashioned, top-sail schooner – the only one in operation in the United States.

But, more on that later.

While they’re out on the high seas, my husband and I are headed off for our own little vacation. But, where to go when you live in one of the best vacation destinations around? I’m choosing Cape Cod…because I’ve spent very little time on the Cape and it’s close enough that we can get to the kids if we need to.

But, as I searched the web, I couldn’t find an actual vacation rental agent…and I couldn’t  find a site that showed me all of their listings in a way that I could search them on my own. I wasn’t able to view the best of the best all at once, and I was wasting my time going to all of these sites to find what I needed.

I even went to the 3rd and 4th page of search results. I know, desperation!

What I did find was CyberRentals. CyberRentals is a world wide rental site, and an incredibly popular one. And, I’m not knocking it – our agency, Sandpiper, even lists certain properties there for the exposure. But they list directly for sellers – there’s no objective party, no customer service, no one to help you out.

It wasn’t what I wanted. I want to be able to talk to the person who does NOT own the property. Stay tuned because my next post is going to tell you WHY after this good dose of what it feels like from the renter side.