Room occupancy excise: 12.45% to 14.45% (the stack)
The Massachusetts state excise is 5.7%. The local town option runs up to 6% (most Cape towns sit at 4 to 6%). The Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund adds 2.75%. On a $32,000 weekly headline at the top combined rate, the excise line is $4,624. The tax applies to stays of 31 nights or fewer and is itemized on the lease. A 32-night-or-longer stay is exempt, which is the structural reason a calendar-month booking can pencil out against two separate two-week stays.
Departure cleaning fee: $600 to $2,200
A one-time departure cleaning fee is standard and itemized, scaling with the size of the house. A six-bedroom waterfront house runs $1,000 to $1,800; a 10-bedroom compound runs up to $2,200. This is the US vacation-rental model, separate from any in-stay housekeeping you add.
Housekeeping (in-stay): $40 to $65 per hour
Most Cape houses do not include daily housekeeping in the headline. A daily or mid-week housekeeper runs $40 to $65 per hour, typically a four-hour minimum. For a six-bedroom house, plan on a mid-week refresh and a daily tidy at $1,000 to $1,800 for the week. The trophy Oyster Harbors and Chatham estates increasingly fold a property manager and a mid-week clean into the headline.
Evening chef: $600 to $1,200 per service plus food at cost
An independent evening chef runs $600 to $1,200 per service plus food at cost for ten. The Cape chef bench is smaller than a Caribbean market and books out for the season by spring. The strongest cooks are alumni of the Chatham Bars Inn, the Wequassett, and the Provincetown fine-dining rooms. Food cost lands at $90 to $180 per person depending on protein (Wellfleet oysters, day-boat cod and fluke, in-season bluefin, lobster). A raw-bar setup runs $40 to $70 per head.
Restaurant nights: $70 to $200 per head
The Chatham Bars Inn STARS dining room runs $120 to $190 per head before wine. The Ocean House in Dennis Port runs $90 to $150. The Red Inn in Provincetown runs $90 to $160. The Pearl in Wellfleet runs $70 to $120. The Regatta in Cotuit runs $100 to $160. A family of eight at the Chatham Bars Inn with wine lands between $1,400 and $2,000. The August reservation lead time at the strongest rooms runs three to six weeks; the Fourth of July and the Pops-by-the-Sea weeks are the hardest.
Boat and water: $1,000 to $6,500 per day
A center-console for a Nantucket Sound or Pleasant Bay day runs $1,000 to $2,400 with a captain plus fuel. A 40 to 50-foot sport-fisher for a striped-bass or bluefin charter runs $2,200 to $4,200. A day-trip to Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard by private boat runs $3,500 to $6,500. Many waterfront houses include a mooring or a dock; a Boston Whaler or a small day boat for the week rents at $2,500 to $4,500. The seal-and-shark advisory on the Chatham Atlantic side is real; the bay and Sound sides are the swimming water.
Boston Logan transfers: $280 to $480 each way (SUV)
A private car or SUV from BOS to Osterville or Chatham runs $280 to $480 each way (90 minutes to 2.5 hours; the variance is entirely the Sagamore and Bourne bridge traffic). A Sprinter van for groups of eight or more runs $480 to $750. Cape Air flies BOS to Hyannis (HYA) in roughly 25 minutes and to Provincetown (PVC) in 35; a one-way Cape Air leg runs $90 to $180 per person and removes the bridge entirely for the groups that want it.
Pre-stock and provisioning: $700 to $2,400
Arrival provisioning runs $700 to $1,100 for a family of six and $1,400 to $2,400 for a group of twelve, coordinated through Roche Bros in Mashpee or the Chatham and Orleans markets. The lobster and oyster line is the Cape’s structural advantage: a clambake delivery for twelve from a Wellfleet or Chatham fishmonger runs $700 to $1,400. Wine is mainland-priced, no import premium.