Newness comes to Nantucket this summer. The Salt Hotels team, who currently operate boutique properties in Provincetown, Mass., and Miami, have taken over the Brant Point Inn on the island and have opened The Brant, just in time for the summer 2024 season.
The Brant is a 26-room boutique hotel that features three of the original historical buildings, all renovated, along with a fourth new building, called the barn, which features a lobby and bar.
The Brant Point Inn was opened in the ’80s by the Kaizer family, who ran it until deciding to sell in 2021 to a Boston-based real estate investment firm. The new team approached David Bowd, who has made a name for Salt Hotels as a design-forward, service-oriented boutique hotel brand. Bowd soon took a ferry ride from Hyannis across to Nantucket to check out the place.
“When we look at a new property, the first question is, ‘Do our guests go there? Does this make sense?’ And so we asked a lot of guests. Every single one of our guests goes to Nantucket. Everybody loves it,” Bowd says from his home in Provincetown.
A bedroom at The Brant.
Bowd describes the Salt guest as someone who prioritizes experiences when it comes to choosing where to stay, as well as personal touches that often can only be found in smaller hotels.
“When we started out 10 years ago, I felt at that time that a lot of the more boutique hotels had really focused on design, but didn’t focus on service as much. And so that’s what we wanted to provide, was a really high level of service. The guests that come to Salt really are people looking for that,” Bowd says. “They’re looking for something that is truly personal. We Google everybody. We know who everybody is. A good advantage of technology is we can understand who our guests are, where they’re coming from, what they’re looking for, and really then go to the next level of curating their stay to make sure they see the best of the island. For Nantucket, there’s many great restaurants, there’s many great walks, and we talk to our guests and curate an itinerary together, book their restaurants, so they get the whole experience from the moment they arrive.”
The Brant Hotel.
The property was rather run down and in need of work, which appealed to the Salt team: the ability to put their stamp onto it meant unlimited potential. The hotel is a seven-minute walk from the ferry, yet off the “crazy center of Nantucket where you just can’t move around,” Bowd says, adding that their location is for those looking for something quieter than where most of the other hotels on Main Street are.
The Brant aims to set itself apart from the pack with both its privacy and its community.
“When we started the project, we really looked at all of the other properties, and there’s some beautiful hotels on Nantucket, so to stand out is harder than it is in other places. But one thing that I think we’ve always been very good at is sort of creating that central hub within the hotel,” Bowd says. “And the properties on Nantucket don’t have a lot of communal spaces. They’re much more ‘walk-in small reception area and then straight up to your room.’ And so what we wanted to create was the opposite of that, and create something that has a significant public space so that guests can meet locals, guests can meet other guests and that our team has a chance to interact with the guests while they’re there.”
That area is the newly built barn, which serves as the bar and the lobby area, with the pool right by. The three existing buildings, plus the new barn, create a protected enclave of land that “you don’t normally get when you stay in a more historic building,” Bowd says. It allows guests to be out and about in the business of Nantucket one moment and then retreat to lounge by the pool in private the next.
The Brant Hotel.
Nantucket’s charms, to Bowd, include the famed cobblestone streets, the neverending waterfront view and the otherworldly feel the island has, despite its close proximity to New York and Boston.
“And the people,” he adds. “We’ve met so many people who are so excited that we’re coming to the island. Every year something new and interesting is opening up — there’s a new wine bar that opened just down the road from us. There’s constant change. So whilst we’re new and coming in this year, I think there’s a few other people as well trying new and different things, and so we’re all sort of in this together.”
The Brant.
This post was originally published on 3rd party site mentioned in the title of this site
