The Island Guesthouse & Cottages, Manteo, Roanoke Island, North Carolina

Simple, beachy-bright cottage rentals sit on perhaps the East Coast’s most down-to-earth stretch of beautiful white sands and uncongested roads. The 11-room guesthouse is beside the highway, but the three cottages fit on two lots a block away in a quiet residential neighborhood. There’s Pamlico Sound water in every direction on the narrow island.

Field trip: Drive about 20 minutes to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore for miles of empty beaches.

Night out: The 1587, the restaurant of the Tranquil House Inn in historic Manteo, calls the fresh daily catch the “Freestyle Fish,” and there’s almost always local tuna steak.

Rates: $125–$285 for cottages; 252/473-2434 or theislandmotel.com