I've stayed at the Elephant Walk Inn one or two times per summer for the past few years.

As a Boston area resident, I don't like to plan weeks/months in advance since New England weather can be too unpredictable and I never know on which weekends I'll have friends also staying Ptown. So, I wait until the week before I want to go (after I see the weather forecast on TV) and then start calling around to see what guesthouses have availability.

The first year of the recession (2008? 2007?) we managed to get a spectacular rate. We went with a friend and stayed in a second floor, front facing room with two full (or queen) beds and a private bathroom. From what I recall, we paid only $30 per person, per night..during Bear Week (one of the summer's busiest).

The guesthouse is your typical old Cape Cod house, with an addition in the back and a large, shady 2nd floor deck out back. The entire property is jam-packed with art work...it's like living in a dense art gallery. All of this art and antique furniture can make the place feel cramped/cluttered, but it didn't come off as being dirty.

Since then, I've returned a few times with my husband, as well as one time with my husband and his parents ( we got two rooms). My inlaws are from the south and are used to standard motels where every room is identical and bright, but they totally loved this place. They also loved Ptown....the beaches, the shopping, the drag queens.

I've dealt with the owner every time I've been there and, although you could possibly describe him as gruff in appearance, he was always friendly in personality. He would joke around, he would be helpful when asking questions. To me, he just comes off as a typical New Englander (we're not known for being overly welcoming or fake). Anyway, maybe I'm just used to that since I was raised on Cape Cod, too.

Anyway, the location really can't be beat. Although you don't have any waterfront views from the property, you are just one block away from Commercial Street - the main shopping, dining, cruising (as pedestrian) street. And right behind that street is a small beach and Provincetown Harbor. You may not have a waterview from your room, but you'll have views of your water the rest of your stay at every corner.

The rooms have VERY SMALL private bathrooms....but they are still private bathrooms all the same. The air-conditioning is a nice touch so you don't have to come back sweaty after a bike ride to the beach just to enter a swelteringly humid room.

Despite the density of the guestooms toward the front of the house I've never had an issue with noise. As a frequent traveler, I installed a white-noise app on my cellphone and use that to drown out noise anyway - just to play it safe.

There is no breakfast served (just coffee and, if you're lucky, some pastries). Though, hilariously, one morning I woke up to find a large pan of brownies with cake decorations on top (yellows/greens with flowers). It made no sense...and was certainly not a breakfast food, but I appreciated the dessert!

Nowadays, rooms seem to start at $149/night (again, private room, private bathroom, free parking spot for 1 car, cable TV, air-conditioning. For Ptown that's not a bad deal. Other places have much smaller rooms and fewer amenities.