NEW on NANTUCKET FOR 2012/13

Despite its history and lore, there is much new this year to celebrate. The Dreamland Theater, shuttered since 2002, re-opened after a near $30 million rebuild to provide year-round films, educational programs, and a venue for activities that engage Nantucket in the evolving world of digital entertainment and education in one of America's oldest theaters.

Adding to the island's venerable inventory of lodging options, Nantucket Island Resorts www.nantucketislandresorts.com has added its White Elephant Suites, a new addition to the White Elephant Hotel Residences. Both are extensions of the award-winning White Elephant hotel which continues to be rated among the top hotels in the world by Travel + Leisure and Condé Nast Traveler magazines.  Since the White Elephant Hotel Residences have been so well received, NIR has added 14 new suites (featuring bath tubs and showers as well as sofa beds to accommodate couples traveling with children; four suites will have fireplaces) and six new deluxe guest rooms. Guests of the Hotel Residences & Suites will have access to the pool, cabanas and fitness center. 

The new Nantucket Hotel & Resort www.thenantuckethotel.com,  open year-round, will debuted last summer, and went through an additional renovation over the winter to include a full health club and spa.  All new on the inside, the Hotel has stayed true to its Nantucket heritage and remains  very much as it looked on the outside upon first opening in 1892.The Hotel is designed to be  a casual, comfortable family destination during year round catering to the traditional Nantucket family market and providing daily children's programming during the summer months.  Accommodations will be either cottages or full suites ranging from one to four bedrooms, each with its own HVAC, most will have a small kitchenette and living/dining area.  The Hotel not only offers their complimentary children's program, but two swimming pools (one for families and one for lap swimming), a fitness facility, café and restored ballroom to accommodate weddings, meetings and events up to 300 persons.   The Hotel also offers  the first-ever two-island package with guests choosing to stay at both Nantucket and its Martha's Vineyard sister resort. The package includes all ferry transportation and transfers at all points.  In addition, the Roberts House Inn will open an additional 18 room facility right in the heart of Nantucket's historic downtown this summer.

Nantucket is renowned for its culinary tradition, and the island has welcomed a number of outstanding  new restaurants over the past year: 

Cru Nantucket (formerly the Ropewalk) www.crunantucket.com 

The Proprietors (formerly DeMarco's) 

Pazzo (formerly Sfoglia) www.pazzonantucket.com

Fusaro's www.fusarosrestaurant.com

Ventuno (formerly 21 Federal) www.ventunorestaurant.com

LoLa Burger (formerly the Rotary) www.lolaburger.com

Sea Dog Brew Pub (formerly Cy's) www.seadognantucket.com

Met on Main (formerly Even Keel) www.metonmain.com

12 East (formerly Cambridge Street) www.12degreeseast.com.  

Add to these new dining options Nantucket's Spring Restaurant Week nantucketrestaurantweek.com June 3 – 9, 2013 and Fall Restaurant Week September 30 – October 6, during which more than 30 restaurants will offer three-course dinners priced from $25-45, and there are more reasons than ever to visit Nantucket, especially in the pre-season.

Nantucket Intelligence

Nantucket is a bastion of elegance, culture and history. Its ambiance hearkens a gentler bygone era, with none of the overt commercial trappings of today's resort destinations. Nantucket island, off the coast of Massachusetts, harbor to generations of 19th-century whaling captains and haven to 20th-century summer residents, is rich with stretches of unspoiled beach, wooden sailboats and shingled cottages weathered the gray of a widow's hair. With an eye-popping inventory of magnificent architecture that evokes its fabled and historic past, Nantucket is a repository of four centuries of arts, culture, architecture and lore.

Nantucket has no traffic lights, neon signs or fast food restaurants; the entire island is a designated National Historic Landmark with more than 800 pre-Civil War era houses and has more properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places than anywhere in Massachusetts except Boston, Plymouth and Salem. Nantucket was Whaling Capital of the World from 1800-1840, its town was Massachusetts' third largest city (population 10,000) after Boston and Salem.

Within Nantucket's benevolent confines, visitors will find both reverie and reflection as one takes in the bountiful collection of historic houses, churches, grey shingled, distinctively rose-covered Nantucket-style homes and cottages all of which are heady reminders of the island's illustrious past. But none of these living artifacts are found under glass, but are readily accessible for all to enjoy. In addition to the magnificent geography with which the island was blessed, it is also set quite apart from the hustle and bustle of the mainland's frenetic lifestyle, imbuing residents and visitors with a relaxed, reflective experience. Wonderful museums and historic society venues inform, educate and illuminate the glorious island history of one of America's most iconic destinations which, while eminently cultural, also provides a wide range of recreational experiences.  

For additional information about Nantucket, contact the Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce www.nantucketchamber.org 508-228-1700.

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