Waterfront lodging in Massachusetts and oceanfront accommodation in Massachusetts can be two very different things. The state is laced with rivers and dotted with ponds and lakes. Many of the cities are located on important rivers. Springfield is an inland city is set on the Connecticut River that flows from New Hampshire to Connecticut before it empties into the ocean. If you stay at the Sheraton or Hilton here, you’ll be on the river waterfront, but not near a beach. The same is true of the Marriott in Cambridge, set on the Charles River and with a lovely park like waterfront walk, but you still have to travel a bit to get to the nearby beaches.

Nonetheless, there are many very nice Massachusetts beach hotels that are set right on the ocean on their own stretch of long sandy beach. Quite a number of these are slower paced and charming bed and breakfast inns. Others are more lively Massachusetts beach resorts. One great oceanfront accommodation in Massachusetts masquerades behind its name, which makes it sound like a motel. The Cape Ann Motor Inn (pictured) is set right on beautiful Long Beach in Gloucester. It is modest, but rooms are spacious and you are located, literally, right on one of the best beaches on the North Shore. All rooms can sleep four, and several have kitchenettes, making it perfect for families who want to save money on dining out costs. This is one of the Massachusetts beach hotels that is so popular it requires planning in advance to find space and has a full week’s notice for cancellation during the high summer season.

Some of the best and most elegant waterfront lodging in Massachusetts will be found in the communities that are near the Cape Cod National Seashore beaches as well as on Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket Island. Try the Harborside Inn in Edgartown, comprised of seven buildings, several of which were once the mansions of nineteenth-century whaling captains. There are numerous Massachusetts beach hotels all along the shores of Cape Cod. Many of these also call themselves “motels,” but have superb locations often right on their own private beaches, and spacious family friendly rooms with kitchenettes. Many of them are so popular that they also have unusually strict cancellation policies. If when to go for you is the peak summer season, then it pays to plan as far in advance as possible and make yourself aware of the property’s reservation policies.

Massachusetts Map

On little Nantucket, you will find both waterfront lodging in Massachusetts and very exclusive beach properties. The Cliffside Beach Club is, as its name suggests, an exclusive private club that has years long waiting lists for members. But hotel facilities were added in the 1980s and 1990s, and you can be completely pampered in ultimate luxury here—for a price. You will also find yourself virtually in town. Much of the other Nantucket oceanfront accommodation in Massachusetts consists of charming and historic bed and breakfast inns. No matter where you’re located on Nantucket Island, you’ll find that transportation in the form of the public shuttle or bicycle paths places you within two miles of the beaches.