White Elephant- Nantucket, MA

Nantucket’s White Elephant is such an iconic New England hotel, everyone should stay there once. It just exudes vintage charm, and captures the essence of Old Cape Cod. Which may or may not be fiction, but it aligns with my idea of what it was like, back then. Just an updated form, with all the modern conveniences and little luxuries you would expect from a wildly expensive hotel. 

Dating back over 100 years, the White Elephant started as a collection of cottages on the edge of Nantucket Harbor. While the founder, Elizabeth Temple Ludwig, believed she could transform the weathered buildings into the finest hotel on Nantucket, others labeled the project a White Elephant- or so the legend goes. While that may or may not be true- the hotel was wildly successful, and expanded several times over the next few decades, giving Ludwig the last laugh. 

In the 1960s, the inn was dismantled, and a new main building was constructed facing the harbor. The original wings were relocated for use as staff housing, while the cottages were moved to an inland location, adjacent to the new building. Since then, the White Elephant has seen several additional updates, including an extensive 2023 overhaul performed by Elkus Manfredi Architects. 

As far as location goes, the White Elephant is just far enough from the harbor to be quiet, but close enough you can be at Cru in minutes. With 54 rooms and 11 cottages, its a bit larger than a boutique hotel, but it certainly doesn’t feel crowded. It does however feel a bit impersonal, and the service is not quite what you would expect from a hotel of that caliber. Are the views worth it? Yes. At least once. For return trips, consider the Wauwinet, the hotel’s dreamy sister property located on the quiet northeast coast of Nantucket.