If you live in New England, particularly in the Boston area, one of the perks some enjoy is a second home on Cape Cod, or at least friends who have great homes on Cape Cod. Yet what if your Rolodex fails you, and you still long for your own house next to one of the best beaches on the Cape? The Mansion at Ocean Edge Resort & Golf Club will become a favorite contact.
Understanding the different sections of the Ocean Edge Resort
To say the Ocean Edge Resort is large is an understatement, and you’ll need a bit of orientation to learn just how big it truly is and how much there is to do. Guests have three categories of accommodations: the historic Mansion, the villas on the Mansion side, and the Villages on the golf course across the road.
The Villages are the budget option (well, “budget” is a relative term, of course) and not all options here include year-round access to the resort’s private beach. For such rooms, Village guests can purchase permits through the resort for other local beaches, to which they will shuttle you.
The Mansion at Ocean Edge
On the Mansion side, you can choose from traditional hotel guest rooms to three-bedroom, oceanfront villas. We stayed in a two-bedroom suite within the Presidential Bay Collection Villas. We were opposite a swimming pool, tennis courts, and a short walk to both the Mansion and the beach path. The property’s centerpiece was built in 1890, as the summer home of the Nickersons, who developed their warm-weather escape on the site of a turkey farm. It has been one of the Cape’s more well-known “historic hotels” since 1980.
Our villa had a lovely master suite with its own bath, a second queen bathroom, and a sleeper sofa in the living room to fit a family of six easily, though those in the living room will be up early with the skylights. The décor was colorful and fun, except for the dated fabric on the curtains.
I travel a lot, and I have to say that the robes and bed linens were some of the most luxurious I have ever used. I even looked up the robe brand to buy one online for myself. The bathrooms were stocked with Tommy Bahamas toiletries, and I was delighted to see a washer and dryer to clean the kids’ clothes before heading home. The free wi-fi was fast and responsive.
If you are seeking more hands-on service from a luxury resort, stay inside the Mansion at Ocean Edge, though it only offers room service from Memorial Day until Labor Day.
If I had known how nice the full kitchen in our unit was, I would have packed bags of groceries. The kitchen had everything, including special touches like a wine refrigerator and high-end cooking utensils. With the deck seating on our seasonal ocean terrace amidst the trees, I could taste the steak, corn on the cob, and sliced tomato dinners families enjoy outside in the summer.
Filling your day at the Ocean Edge Resort
The action at the resort starts at the Mansion each morning with a wonderful breakfast buffet. Guests sit in the original library of the home, surrounded by antique books and photographs. A more casual option is the coffee shop that serves bagels and breakfast followed by soups and sandwiches for the rest of the day. It’s worth a trip because the resort store She Sells is located in the same building.
The wonderful resort wear collection includes well-knowns like Gretchen Scott and Cabana Life and local labels like ARTichoke that integrate the Cape Cod silhouette playfully on tees or in jewelry.
There are lots of young couples around as the resort is a prime wedding location for the Cape, especially on June weekends. (It also features as a popular conference spot with meeting rooms that can accommodate up to 400 attendees.)
My children and I were playing outside the main building one morning and I overheard a FaceTime conversation with the resort wedding planner showing the bride the front lawn. I got the full scoop on each wedding venue on resort property, so let me know if I can help.
A massage is always one of the best resort activities to partake in (if you can duck away from the family for an hour or two) and The Beach House Spa at Ocean Edge offers massages in addition to facials, manicures, body wraps, waxing and other services.
Daytime activities are numerous, including lots of summer and school vacation options for kids. Our visit was before the summer season kicked in, but we still enjoyed a superhero cape-making fashion show and other games. During the July and August peak season, there are kids’ club programs offered for half or full day (for ages 4 and up) that include, swimming, crafts, and games.
Summer Programs at Ocean Edge
There are also three-day sports programs that run from Tuesday through Thursday in golf and tennis. This serious golf resort (featuring the only course on Cape Cod by Jack Nicklaus Design) is ideal for kids learning the game, or, adults new to the sport. Family tee times after 4pm are given with longer tee intervals, so novice golfers don’t feel rushed, and a family pays a reasonable $75 fee for nine holes. There are pizza putting parties on Friday nights and peewee clinics to introduce golf to those aged 4 through 9 on Monday and Wednesday nights.
There was a wine and chocolate tasting at the Mansion for the adults, and I snuck away from my kids and husband to enjoy it. It was a pleasurable and civilized activity until my three-year old son found me, stuck his hand in a bowl of dark chocolate and put nearly every last piece in his mouth in under two seconds. As people watched on, I surrendered, “Please use the spoon, sweetie.” He moved on to the bowl of Hershey’s milk chocolate, grabbed a healthy portion with the spoon, and put the whole thing into his mouth. I placed the spoon inside one of the used glasses during our quick departure.
Dining at the Mansion at Ocean Edge
Casual dining can be enjoyed at both Linx Tavern and at Bayzo’s Pub where we had dinner surrounded by families. My husband and I each got a kale salad with grapefruit and shrimp that we both agreed was a flawless dish.
The next morning we enjoyed a sunny, breezy day, and I understood quickly why Brewster is considered one of the best beaches on Cape Cod Bay. The Brewster flats are long stretches of shallow water that warm up easily and contain a variety of marine life to examine. It happened to be clamming week, so my daughter bolted out to a group of clamming locals and joined them. Everyone was focused on their hunting, but a few people were kind enough to show her what to look for and measured what she found to ensure it was the right size.
There are several pools on property. My favorite, the Arbor Pool, is next to the golf club and features a toddler outdoor pool, a hot tub, and the Shark Bah for eats and drinks. The Beach Bar is open seasonally and offers wonderful views of the water and surrounding dunes. Both do a good job of transporting you to Florida.
There is an indoor pool attached to the Mansion, too, for the colder months, with a small fitness center next door. There is a larger fitness center on the Villages side for those seeking more varied equipment.
Exploring Around the Ocean Edge
Brewster and its neighboring towns have many more family activities, from go-karts to whale watches to the Cape Cod Museum Of Natural History, so if Ocean Edge doesn’t keep you busy every moment (and it may), there’s also mini golf or a really old-fashioned general store nearby. Just don’t expect to eat early with your food-throwing toddler before the crowds at the local restaurants. This is a popular retirement community, and every restaurant we passed appeared to be doing well with the early-bird special crowd.
Our villa was so comfortable, and my daughter was also so in love with their robes that I couldn’t get her motivated to leave on our last day. A family really couldn’t experience all that Ocean Edge offers in the summer without staying nearly a week. The villas are expensive, but it certainly is cheaper than maintaining a second home there.
Although we were Mansion guests of Ocean Edge, these opinions are my completely my own.
Check your dates for rates at the Mansion at Ocean Edge Resort.
We avoid Cape Cod because of the crowds, opting instead for the North Shore, but the Ocean Edge resort truly looks like a great place to visit! Thanks for sharing your comments about the property!