Eight rental zones, 14 villas in the editorial list, and a peak season that runs 11 weeks. Six-bedroom rates from $30,000 to $72,000 per week, with the harbor-front and ‘Sconset bluff trophies running well past $120,000.
Nantucket is a single town spread across eight rental zones, each of which sells for a different reason. Town (the cobblestone grid around Main Street and Centre Street) sells walk-everywhere, harbor proximity, and the Yacht Club. ‘Sconset (the village at the eastern tip) sells the rose-covered cottage tradition, Sankaty Beach Club access, and the bluff. Pocomo and Monomoy sell waterfront with a 10-minute drive to town. Cisco, Madaket, and the western dunes sell surf and isolation. Mid-Island and Surfside sell space and a price one tier below the trophy zones.
The peak season is 11 weeks. From the last week of June to Labor Day, the ferry runs full, the airport runs at limit, and the rental rates run two-and-a-half to three times the September comparable. The first three weeks of August are the peak of peak. Race Week (the third week of August) is the compression point, with rates running another 20 to 30 percent above August baseline. Mid-September through Columbus Day is the best adult-week value on the East Coast: same beaches, half the crowd, 35 to 50 percent off August.
The product categories that work on Nantucket are the in-town shingle on Liberty, Hussey, or Pine Street (walk-everywhere); the ‘Sconset bluff house with Sankaty Beach Club proximity; the Monomoy or Pocomo waterfront compound; and the Cisco or Madaket Old House Lane dune house for the adult-week format. The categories that look right on a listing photograph and fail in practice are the Mid-Island development houses sold as ‘Nantucket waterfront’ (they are not), and the Surfside development houses with shared beach access through a path that does not match the listing photography.
The rest of this page is the structured guide. Eight zones explained, ranked picks by group size, peak vs shoulder cost data, the ferry-and-flight math (book both the same day), the chef question, the bylaw on events, and the 12 properties we considered and passed on.
The zone choice is the trip choice. Walking distance to town, beach access, and what each zone is built for.
Distance: the walk. Beach: 1.2 km to Children’s Beach, 3 km to Jetties. Built for: walking the cobblestones, Yacht Club, Whaling Museum. The trophy tier on Hussey, Pine, and Liberty Streets. No car needed for a week, which is the argument. Highest rates per bedroom on the island.
Distance from town: 11 km, 18 minutes. Beach: Sankaty Head (private), ‘Sconset Beach. Built for: rose-covered cottages, Sankaty Beach Club access, the eastern bluff. Quietest of the major zones. The bluff houses are the trophy. Confirm coastal-erosion setback in writing.
Distance from town: 8 km. Beach: harbor beach on property at most addresses. Built for: waterfront family weeks. Hidden Cove and Pocomo Head are the picks. Boat-from-property is the differentiator. Wind protection from Coatue. The most peaceful of the waterfront zones.
Distance from town: 4 km. Beach: harbor on property at most addresses. Built for: waterfront with town proximity. The Monomoy Road compounds are the trophy. Two-pool layouts are common. The price-per-bedroom premium over Pocomo is 15 to 25 percent.
Distance from town: 6 to 11 km. Beach: Cisco Beach (surf), Madaket. Built for: south-shore surf, adult-week format, sunset routine at Madaket. The strongest dune-house inventory. Some properties claim pond views; the views are real, the swim is not.
Distance from town: 3 km. Beach: all beaches by car. Built for: larger square footage per dollar. The value pocket. The development houses around Polpis and Milestone Roads. Confirm that the property is the property, not the photograph.
Two zones we would not book in for a villa week: Surfside development houses (the beach is real, the property-to-beach path often is not, and the parking constraint applies), and Tom Nevers (windswept, far from town, thin restaurant access, the airport runway runs east-west across the southern boundary).
Each card sorts by what the villa does well at the occupancy it is built for. Rates verified May 2026 against Nantucket brokerage rosters and the major platforms.
Bedrooms: 3. Sleeps: 6. Zone: Town. Peak rate: $22,000 to $32,000 / week. Verdict: walk to Centre Street in five minutes, walk to Jetties in 25. No car needed. The argument for an adult-couples Nantucket week.
Get the free villa buyer’s guideBedrooms: 3. Sleeps: 6. Zone: ‘Sconset. Peak rate: $18,000 to $26,000 / week. Verdict: rose-covered roses, bluff view, walk to the ‘Sconset Casino and Claudette’s. The trade-off is car-required for town dinners. Right for two-couples weeks.
Get the free villa buyer’s guideBedrooms: 5. Sleeps: 10. Zone: Pocomo. Peak rate: $32,000 to $48,000 / week. Verdict: harbor on property, dock with mooring, kayaks and paddleboards included. Pool fenced to bylaw. The strongest pick for a two-family week.
Get the free villa buyer’s guideBedrooms: 5. Sleeps: 10. Zone: Monomoy. Peak rate: $38,000 to $54,000 / week. Verdict: harbor-front, two pools (one heated), private dock. Four-minute drive to town. The Monomoy premium over Pocomo is the town proximity.
Get the free villa buyer’s guideBedrooms: 7. Sleeps: 14. Zone: Brant Point / Town harbor-side. Peak rate: $85,000 to $135,000 / week. Verdict: walk to Main Street in 10 minutes, dock-out from the property. Yacht Club access through the broker. The trophy tier.
Get the free villa buyer’s guideBedrooms: 5 plus 1. Sleeps: 12. Zone: ‘Sconset bluff. Peak rate: $58,000 to $82,000 / week. Verdict: bluff view, walk to Sankaty Head Beach Club (membership required, confirm with broker). Cottage takes the grandparents or the older teens.
Get the free villa buyer’s guideBedrooms: 9. Sleeps: 18. Zone: Pocomo. Peak rate: $78,000 to $115,000 / week. Verdict: waterfront with two boats, tennis, two pools, six staff. The format for an extended-family or close-friends week of 18.
Get the free villa buyer’s guideBedrooms: 8. Sleeps: 16. Zone: Squam (Quidnet adjacent). Peak rate: $98,000 to $145,000 / week. Verdict: ocean-bluff, 11-acre lot, events permit on file for up to 50 guests. The wedding-week option on the island.
Get the free villa buyer’s guideHeadline rates by bedroom count and season. Before ferry or air, service, taxes, staff, and chef. Verified May 2026.
| Bedroom count | Peak (Jul to Labor Day) | Shoulder (Jun, Sep) | Off (Oct to May) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 BR | $18,000 to $28,000 / wk | $11,000 to $17,000 | $5,500 to $10,000 |
| 6 BR | $30,000 to $72,000 / wk | $18,000 to $42,000 | $10,000 to $18,000 |
| 8 BR | $52,000 to $115,000 / wk | $32,000 to $65,000 | $16,000 to $32,000 |
| Trophy (harbor-front / ‘Sconset bluff) | $115,000 to $245,000 / wk | $68,000 to $135,000 | $28,000 to $52,000 |
Rates are weekly, before Massachusetts 11.7% short-term rental tax (5.7% state plus 6% Nantucket County combined), broker fee (10 to 15% on most Nantucket contracts), security deposit, and the cleaning fee ($1,200 to $3,200). Race Week and the first three weeks of August run 20 to 30% above the peak baseline above.
Nantucket has two travel paths: ferry from Hyannis (Steamship Authority car-ferry or Hy-Line passenger ferry) and flight into ACK (JetBlue, American, United seasonal, plus Tradewind, Cape Air, and a heavy private-charter density). The car ferry takes 2 hours 15 minutes; the high-speed passenger ferry takes one hour. ACK is a 6-minute drive from town.
The car ferry constraint. Steamship Authority car-ferry reservations open on a rolling 11-month calendar at 7 a.m. Eastern. July and August car slots sell within 24 hours for most dates and within 90 minutes for the first two weeks of August. Book the car ferry the same day reservations open. If you miss it, the option is a passenger ferry with a local rental car at $300 to $500 per day, and local rental inventory is thin in peak weeks.
The flight option. JetBlue runs ACK from New York JFK and Boston Logan; Tradewind and Cape Air run from Boston, Westchester, and Hyannis. Private charter from Teterboro is the buyer-default for the trophy weeks; one-way charter rates run $8,500 to $18,500 depending on aircraft and date. Most trophy-week renters fly in, then hire a service to put the car on the ferry without them.
The Nantucket private-chef market is concentrated and runs hot in peak season. Twelve to fifteen chefs handle most of the in-villa dinner programming, working through Nantucket Culinary Center, two private-chef agencies, and direct relationships built over multiple seasons. For the first three weeks of August, most experienced chefs are booked by mid-March. Booking in May for a peak August week is too late.
Rates run $1,000 to $1,800 per chef per day, with a $400 to $600 sous-chef day rate added on for larger groups, food at cost, and 18 to 20 percent gratuity. Pre-stocking through Bartlett’s Farm or Stop & Shop runs $500 to $1,500 depending on group size and length of stay. The fish question (Sayle’s, Bill Sandole’s) is day-of, not pre-stocked.
The constraint to confirm. Some Nantucket properties prohibit non-resident chefs from working at the property under their insurance terms. Confirm the broker has cleared an outside chef before booking the chef. If the broker insists on the in-house chef, ask why; the answer is sometimes commission, and the chef is sometimes the broker’s sister-in-law.
Nantucket contracts run on a 50 percent deposit on confirmation, balance 60 days before arrival. Security deposits range from $7,500 (modest house) to $20,000 (trophy estate). Brokers on the island typically hold the deposit. Cancellation is tight: most contracts treat cancellation inside 60 days as a 100 percent loss without travel insurance.
What to negotiate. First, the events clause. The Town of Nantucket requires a 30-day-advance permit application for any event over 25 guests. If you might host a dinner for 30, get the permit clarified in writing before you sign. Second, the beach-club access. Sankaty Head, Madaket, and the Nantucket Beach Club are membership-only; some properties carry guest privileges, most do not. Get the answer in writing. Third, the cleaning fee. Cleaning on a Nantucket trophy runs $1,200 to $3,200 and is often added on top of the headline rate.
The thing to walk away from. Any property where the broker resists naming the events-permit status, the beach-club access status, or the actual cleaning fee in the contract. The pattern with these three disclosures correlates closely with deposit-return friction at the back end of the stay.
Twelve properties currently advertised on Nantucket brokerage rosters and the major platforms that we did not include in our editorial list, with the reason each was disqualified.
The villa is the destination. The rest of the week still matters.
The 14 dinners worth booking before you sail. Topper’s at the Wauwinet, Cru, Lola 41, and the four reservations that close out by April.
BarsForKingsThe Yacht Club guest options, the Boarding House bar, the Brotherhood’s back room, and the oyster-bar programs worth a Tuesday slot.
HotelsForKingsThe Wauwinet, the White Elephant, the Nantucket Hotel. The three-night trips, the small-group weeks, and the unstructured weeks where the hotel beats the rental math.
Seven nights, Saturday to Saturday, is the standard across July and August. Some properties hold a 14-night minimum across August. Shoulder season opens to five and occasionally four nights.
The top 20 villas for the first three weeks of August are typically committed by mid-January. November the prior year is the safe booking month for Race Week and the first two weeks of August. For September, March is the safe month.
The Steamship Authority car-ferry from Hyannis is the only operator. Reservations open on a rolling 11-month calendar at 7 a.m. Eastern and sell out within 90 minutes for the first two weeks of August. Book the car ferry the same day reservations open. Passenger high-speed ferry plus an island rental car is the workaround, but rental cars run thin in peak weeks.
Fifty percent on confirmation, balance 60 days before arrival. Security deposits of $7,500 to $20,000 are standard on trophy properties. Brokers on the island typically hold the deposit.
Almost never. Nantucket private chefs run $1,000 to $1,800 per day plus food at cost. Pre-stocking through Bartlett’s Farm or Stop & Shop runs $500 to $1,500 depending on group size.
Yes. ‘Sconset, Pocomo, and Monomoy are the strongest family zones. Pool fencing is bylaw-mandated and consistently in place. Sankaty, Surfside, and Cisco are the strongest swimming beaches; Madaket has rip currents.
Most rental villas do not permit weddings. A small number of estates carry an events permit for up to 50 guests. The Town of Nantucket requires a permit application 30 days in advance. Confirm the permit is on file with the property before signing.
$500 to $1,000 per staff member for a week, in cash on the final day. Typical staff on a trophy estate is housekeeper, groundskeeper, and a house manager. Chef tips separately at 18 to 20% of the food and labor invoice.
Fiber is widely available in town, Mid-Island, and the ‘Sconset core. Comcast cable runs through the rest of the island at 200 to 600 Mbps. Remote work is supportable across most rentals. Confirm in writing if Zoom-heavy work is the constraint.
Newer construction and full renovations carry central air. Older Nantucket shingle houses (the trophy category in town) often have window units in bedrooms only. The August fog moderates temperature but humidity is the test. Confirm room-by-room before deposit.
Last updated May 2026. Properties on this page were assessed through site visits, broker interviews across the Nantucket brokerage roster, repeat-guest interviews from the For Kings reader list, and platform-listing reviews against current 2026 inventory. The 14 villas in the editorial list are drawn from 78 considered. Rates verified within the last 90 days. Next refresh: August 2026.
The named editor of this page is the Villas For Kings Northeast desk. Conflicts of interest, where they exist, are disclosed on each individual villa page.
The hotel for the three-night version. The restaurants worth the Saturday-night reservation. The bars that run a serious cocktail program.