Heritage House Hotel

Heritage House offers a handful of common amenities similar to those found in many of the lower-middle-range hotels in the area. The bland architecture is from an earlier decade, with no noteworthy flourishes or visual points of interest. However, some interiors have since been given a bit of love to reflect more modern hotel design trends, with limited effect. Expect to see homey furniture, like overstuffed sofas and chairs, and inoffensive elements like light-striped wallpaper and nautical artwork. So long as expectations are managed, the hotel can be a fine base for exploring the Cape. 

The hotel’s central social space consists of two adjacent pools, including a heated indoor saltwater pool with a whirlpool hot tub. Nearby, a sunny outdoor terrace offers several dozen lounge chairs and patio tables. Umbrellas and a line of tall trees provide plenty of shade throughout the day. Chauncey’s Bar & Grill provides additional social space with a full liquor menu served nightly. Overall, the hotel appears to target a broad range of travelers with an atmosphere that’s kid-friendly, though not kid-centric.

Centrally located in the heart of Hyannis’ tourist district, Heritage House Hotel is within a five-minute walk of dozens of shops, restaurants, and bars. While the location is convenient, the adjacent intersection is one of the town’s busiest and sometimes noisiest. The popular JFK Museum and Cape Cod Maritime Museum are both within a five-minute walk. Likewise, the Nantucket Ferry terminal is only a bit farther on foot, providing easy access to island day trips. Those looking for a beach are only five minutes from Kalmus Park Beach by car.

Like most towns on the Cape, Hyannis is not readily accessible from the area’s larger airports. Most travelers will find that renting a car is the easiest way to get around. Boston Logan International and T.F. Green Airport in Providence are approximately 90 minutes away, assuming light traffic (be ready for some epic traffic jams during the summer). Barnstable Municipal Airport is within a five-minute drive and provides limited service to and from Boston.

For a hotel in this category, rooms are fine enough, though despite a few attempts at modernization, quality can vary drastically depending on where in the hotel one's room is located. Decor is basic, with dark wood furniture in most rooms, white linens, and cream-colored walls hung with nautical artwork. Dated, dark green carpeting hints at the property’s original age, and some rooms have accents like floral bedspreads, old-school wood-veneer furniture with traditional silhouettes, and homey upholstered seating.

On the bright side, all rooms provide a list of essential amenities that’s a step above most comparable area hotels. Mini-fridges, coffeemakers, irons, and flat-screen TVs all come standard, and many rooms have balconies, some with pool views. Wi-Fi is also free throughout the property and service was solid and reliable during our stay. Beds in all rooms receive mostly positive reviews. However, many guests complain of thin walls that don't block much noise from outside the hotel or neighboring rooms.

Most of the hotel’s room categories are virtually identical, with one-room floor plans comparable to a typical budget chain hotels. Entry-level Nauset Double Rooms offer a two-double-bed configuration with no balcony. Double and King Rooms offer the same, plus additional bed configurations and a private balcony. Upgraded Pool King and Pool Double Rooms are identical to the rooms above but with a balcony that overlooks the pool. Top-end Monomoy Queen Rooms feature two queen beds, newer furnishings, and are located in a separate, quieter building away from the main hotel. Curiously, they’re only open seasonally.

Bathrooms are average in both size and style for a budget hotel. Cream and white tile cover the floors and showers, while dated cream-colored wallpaper adorns the remaining wall space. Fixtures are modern, though average in every way, and toiletries are provided.

For a smaller, budget hotel, Heritage House offers a decent amount of amenities though few stand out as noteworthy. Its two clean pools -- including a heated indoor pool with a hot tub -- are exceptions.

An expansive indoor/outdoor space includes two pools that serve as the hotel’s primary social spaces. The heated indoor saltwater pool is clean and well-maintained. However, the cavernous brick and metal structure feels cold and dated, with a vibe like the pool area at a YMCA. Standard plastic and metal lounge chairs ring the space, and a small whirlpool hot tub is a nice feature for a budget hotel. A second pool, located outside, provides a similar ring of chairs and patio seating. It’s bordered on one side by the hotel’s pool-facing rooms and a line of tall trees on the other. The result is a quiet, private, and relatively well-shaded space.

The sole on-site restaurant and bar, Chauncey’s Bar & Grille, provides nightly drinks, but limited dining, in a casual, open space. The room appears to have undergone several re-imaginings since the hotel’s opening. The result is an odd mix of furniture, seating, and accents that lack a cohesive aesthetic. While it appears to be a full-service restaurant, food service is limited to breakfast every weekday and dinner only on Fridays and Saturdays. Breakfast is not included in room rates.

There's a single PC workstation and printer are available near the lobby entrance. Free self-parking is available in the hotel’s large, off-street lot, and Wi-Fi is also free. As with much of Cape Cod, Hyannis -- even the downtown area -- is safe. The hotel is notably Cape Cod's first solar powered hotel.