Here are Yankee’s picks for the best lodging in Maine for 2012. Did your favorites make the list? BEST LODGING IN MAINE | SEASIDE INN The Tides Beach Club, Kennebunkport Settle into a porch chair or chaise on Goose Rocks Beach. Admittedly, it’s hard to tear yourself away from this meticulously renovated Victorian seaside inn, […]
Here are Yankee’s picks for the best lodging in Maine for 2012. Did your favorites make the list?
Best Lodging in Maine Photo Credit : Courtesy of Tides Beach ClubBEST LODGING IN MAINE | SEASIDE INNThe Tides Beach Club,Kennebunkport
Settle into a porch chair or chaise on Goose Rocks Beach. Admittedly, it’s hard to tear yourself away from this meticulously renovated Victorian seaside inn, but guests do have access to sister property Hidden Pond’s heated pools, boutique spa, and James Beard Award-winning chef Ken Oringer’s Earth restaurant. Rates: from $225. 254 Kings Highway. 207-967-3757; tidesbeachclubmaine.comBEST LODGING IN MAINE | OCEAN VIEWSBlack Point Inn, Prouts Neck, Scarborough
Artist Winslow Homer knew a good thing: He painted from a studio on Black Point, with views southward to Pine Point and Old Orchard Beach and northward to Casco Bay. This shingle-style 1878 inn shares the same vistas, but provides more refined comforts. Rates: from $240 per person, including breakfast and dinner. 510 Black Point Road. 800-258-0003, 207-883-2500; blackpointinn.comBEST LODGING IN MAINE | BREAKFAST AS AN ART FORMPomegranate Inn, Portland
Innkeeper and cookbook author Dana Moos prepares gourmet breakfasts that are as gorgeous to view as they are delicious to eat. She treats the plate as a canvas, balancing tastes, textures, and colors in dishes such as asparagus/caramelized-shallots/goat-cheese frittata and lemon-zest French toast with Maine blueberry maple syrup. The results complement the art-filled inn. Rates: from $125, including full breakfast. 49 Neal St. 800-356-0408, 207-772-1006; pomegranateinn.comBEST LODGING IN MAINE | COLLEGE-TOWN LODGINGBrunswick Inn, Brunswick
Stroll to downtown shops and restaurants and to Bowdoin’s campus from this stately 1848 Federal-style home facing the town green. Fifteen updated guestrooms are split between the main inn and the carriage house. Rates: from $155, including full breakfast. 165 Park Row. 800-299-4914, 207-729-4914; brunswickbnb.comBEST LODGING IN MAINE | SEASIDE COUNTRY INNCraignair Inn & Restaurant,Spruce Head
New owners have breathed new life into this old-fashioned, unpretentious inn, with an enviable location overlooking the causeway connecting Spruce Head to Clark Island and beyond to open seas. Rates: from $90, including full breakfast. 5 Third St. 800-320-9997, 207-594-7644; craignair.comBEST LODGING IN MAINE | OCEANFRONT RESORTSamoset Resort,Rockport
With tennis courts, an oceanfront golf course, multiple pools, a fitness center, a full-service spa, a casual restaurant, a poolside bar, a children’s day camp, and a location smack-dab on Penobscot Bay, the Samoset defines the word resort. Rates: from $229. 220 Warrenton St. 800-341-1650, 207-594-2511; samoset.comBEST LODGING IN MAINE | ACADIAN ESCAPEAnn’s Point Inn,Bass Harbor
If spacious rooms, ocean views, gas fireplaces, luxurious linens, elaborate breakfasts, afternoon refreshments, and evening sweets aren’t enough, add an indoor pool, hot tub, sauna, and two private acres with 700 feet of shorefront. Rates: from $270, including full breakfast. 79 Ann’s Point Road. 207-244-9595; annspoint.comBEST LODGING IN MAINE | FAMILY-RUN INNElsa’s Inn on the Harbor,Prospect Harbor
Megan Moshier’s roots in the area go back 10 generations, and the inn she runs with the help of her family is in her late grandmother Elsa’s meticulously renovated and updated home. Savor views over Prospect Harbor from every room. Rates: from $120, including full breakfast. 179 Main St. 207-963-7571; elsasinn.comBEST LODGING IN MAINE | LAKESIDE B&BWolf Cove Inn, Poland Spring
Almost every room in this dog-friendly waterfront inn has a view of Tripp Lake. After breakfast, swim or canoe, snooze in the hammock, or admire the lakeside gardens. Sunsets are spectacular. Rates: from $129, including full breakfast. 5 Jordan Shore Drive. 207-998-4976; wolfcoveinn.comBEST LODGING IN MAINE | CAMP GETAWAYCastle Island Camps,Belgrade
It’d be tempting to dive out a window and into the water from the cabins edging tiny Castle Island, a blip on the causeway bisecting Long Pond. Guests gather in the sporting camp’s main lodge for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and fill their days swimming, fishing, boating, or relaxing. Rates: $160, including meals. 411 Castle Island Road. 207-495-3312; castleislandcamps.comBEST LODGING IN MAINE | LAKESIDE WILDERNESS LODGEGorman Chairback, Greenville
The Appalachian Mountain Club has restored and renovated this historic sporting camp, turning it into an alternatively powered green experience. Savor home-cooked meals, paddle across Long Pond, and hike 70 miles of trails on 66,000 acres of conserved lands. Non-member rates: $94 bunkroom, $134 private cabin, including meals. 603-466-2727; outdoors.orgBEST LODGING IN MAINE | PRIMITIVE CAMPINGStephen Phillips Memorial Preserve,Oquossoc
When you want to really escape, make a reservation, then grab a tent and canoe and head for this 400-acre preserve, with primitive sites dotting the shoreline and islands of Mooselookmeguntic Lake. Rates: $16 per night for two. Stephen Phillips Road. 207-864-2003
What are your picks for the best lodging in Maine?