1. Balance Rock Inn
City: Bar Harbor, ME
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (207) 288-2610 or (800) 753-04
Address: 21 Albert Meadow
Description: Few hostelries survived the great fire of 1947, which swept through Bar Harbor, leveling everything in its path. This is why the Balance Rock Inn is such a pleasure. Built in 1903 by a Scottish rail baron, the century-old place continues the area’s genteel tradition. You might even feel like a rusticator. An easy walk to town, the shingle-style manse has a country-estate feel, with pretty lawns, privacy, and quietude. The Shore Path, a spectacular seaside footpath, curls around the grounds. Frenchman Bay seems out every window. The rooms are comfortable and, although decorated with reproduction wallpaper and furnishings, they have the amenities of today with private baths, decks, whirlpools, and phones.
2. Bar Harbor Inn
City: Bar Harbor, ME
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (207) 288-3351 or (800) 248-33
Address: Newport Dr.
Description: It would be hard for the Bar Harbor Inn to get much closer to the harbor without falling in. The eight-acre compound is right on Frenchman Bay, and many of its rooms have balconies with a real good look at it. Because the inn is so huge, with more than 150 units in three buildings, there are a wide variety of rooms to choose from. But all have, at the very least, air-conditioning, free HBO, and Wi-Fi. They’re very comfortable without being posh. The other amenities are many, from the spa treatments to the fitness room to the heated outdoor pool.
3. Ledgelawn
City: Bar Harbor, ME
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (207) 288-4596 or (800) 274-53
Address: 66 Mount Desert St.
Description: One of Bar Harbor’s last turn-of-the-20th-century summer cottages (the others burned), this red-shingled house has 23 rooms inside its main section and another 12 in an added carriage house. All rooms have private baths (some with whirlpools), some have saunas, and many have fireplaces. Open mid-May through October.
4. Mira Monte Inn
City: Bar Harbor, ME
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (207) 288-4263 or (800) 553-51
Address: 69 Mount Desert St.
Description: The 13 rooms at this 1864 estate may have a bit much froufrou, but the gardens are pretty amazing and have been featured on Home and Garden TV and in national magazines. Make sure you get out into them. Room rates on the high end of the range are for those chambers with whirlpools, fireplaces, and private decks. The breakfast, served from 8 to 10 a.m., seems unending.
5. The Tides
City: Bar Harbor, ME
Category: Accommodations
Telephone: (207) 288-4968
Address: 119 West St.
Description: There are only three suites and one room in this 1887 Greek Revival home, but that allows for a lot of attention to detail. Every unit has a fantastic view of the bay, private bath, fireplace, and even a formal parlor. With tiled baths, damask sofas, and French sitting chairs, the Tides has many amenities for a small inn. With your back to the inn, looking out at Frenchman Bay across its acre and a half of lawn, it’s easy to forget you’re right downtown.
City: Bar Harbor, ME
Category: Accommodations
Address: 16 The Field