Nantucket.

Nantucket is the hardest region for an independent-hotel directory in the Northeast. Salt Hotels owns The Brant, Lark runs Life House Nantucket, and the Nantucket Resort Collection controls a big chunk of the rest. The few remaining independents — Union Street Inn, The Veranda House, Martin's Guest House — are mostly 18th-century sea captain's homes run by owner-innkeepers. That's the list. If you want more on the island, you're looking at chains.