Deborah & William Hillyard
Deborah & William Hillyard
Deborah & William Hillyard
Deborah & William Hillyard
Deborah & William Hillyard
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Vacations -
Maine- Bar Harbor
Visit:
The main lobby of the hotel with the main door to the left. The (closed) double doors lead to the breakfast room, while the archway to the right of them leads to the piano lounge. They used to serve a fine afternoon tea in there with some very decadent cakes, but this stopped for 2010!
The Veranda Bar was a pleasant way place to have a drink in the evening. It used to be open to the pool and Frenchman Bay beyond, but in 2010 it was enclosed.
One of the rooms and its private bathroom; it was a favorite of ours.
To the left is the back view of the hotel prior to 2010. The veranda looked across the pool to Frenchman Bay. This is now enclosed as shown in the pictures to the right, with a deck leading to the pool. There is also a new gazebo, just off camera to the right. We liked the new layout, and enjoyed taking breakfast in the Veranda.
The "cottage" where we always stayed at the Balance Rock Inn. It is about 50 yards from the main hotel, and has just four rooms, all on the ground level. This is one of the two that have private terraces.
The Hotels
The front view of the Balance Rock Inn as one sweeps down the driveway from Albert Meadow.
The Piano Lounge.
The dining room where the hotel served a very hearty breakfast every morning, though we thought it was less so in 2010.
The Balance Rock Inn
We first visited Bar Harbor in 2003, at the end of the high season. The only hotel where we could get rooms was the Balance Rock Inn, see below. This started an annual tradition the lasted right up to 2010, which is the last year we stayed there. We had many happy memories of our stays, and the hotel was quite wonderful. In 2011, we decided to make some changes and stay at the Seacroft Inn, which is just up the road from the Balance Rock.
The Seacroft Inn
The Inn was excellent. As the owner states, it is not your usual B & B; at least, there is little or no breakfast involved. We took the basic package so made our own beds each day, and went out for breakfast. There is lovely fresh coffee from 07:00 to 10:30 or so. It is probably the cleanest Inn or Hotel in which we have ever stayed, and all the furniture and fittings are attractive and of good quality. We will certainly stay there again when we go to Bar Harbor.
View of the back of the hotel from the shore path. The four story section to the right is not original; it was added later.
On our visit in October 2010, we found the Balance Rock Inn much changed. The management, Sherry and Michael, were gone and the verandah had been enclosed with a new deck outside leading down to the pool and a new gazebo. The rooms had been updated with large flat screen TVs and DVD players, but the decor, in our room at least, and in many of the common areas, remained a little tired. I missed the afternoon tea and cake, although they still serve good coffee. They also introduced a cocktail hour from, I believe, 5:00 pm with free canapés and snacks, but we were never around to sample it. We also found the breakfast had become a little less generous, with less choice. These were all contributory factors for our decision to change hotels. Having said that, many of the other guests found everything excellent; it was generally the old timers like us who found it less compelling.
