I really liked the Schoodic Peninsula, which is about 40 minutes NE of Bar Harbor and contains part of Acadia NP. It's uncrowded and quite beautiful and I much preferred it to Bar Harbor. I loved the Oceanside Meadows Inn, a lovely B&B right on the water. Check my trip report.

Closer to Bar Harbor, but not as crowded are Bass Harbor and SouthWest Harbor. I don't know of any accommodations there but a Google search should yield plenty of results.

When you do a hotel search for Acadia National Park, the closest town is Bar Harbor, Maine.

Search for "hotels near bar harbor maine" and you'll get plenty of hits.
Here's just one site that came up:
http://www.acadiamagic.com/acadia-lodging/

There are accommodations in neighboring towns.

We stayed at the Belmont Inn in Camden and loved it. Wrap-around front porch, nice innkeeper, walking distance to restaurants. We hiked up to see views from Camden Hills State Park...breathtaking.
In Bar Harbor you won't go wrong with the Manor House Inn. Very close to everything and beautiful rooms, bountiful breakfast. If I could do only one thing in Acadia (that would be hard) it would be to walk the three mile loop around Jordan Pond and finish up with popovers at the little restaurant there. Make a reservation if in season.

We stayed at Berry Manor Inn. A delightful inn in a wonderful location but the best part is free homemade pie, and ice cream 24/7!!!

http://www.berrymanorinn.com/

Have breakfast at 2 Cats in Bar Harbor ... Yummy!

I don't know of much in/near Bar Harbor that isn't expensive in July. Maybe EdgewaterBarharbor.com?

Near Camden consider www.hightideinn.com

Hey, thanks everybody, your ideas are much appreciated. panecott - nice trip report. That was useful, too.

We went to Acadia and Baxter State Park in July last year. We love outdoor type activities: hiking/ camping. We stayed at the Atlantic Eyerie Lodge. It sits very near a back entrance to Acadia and is close enough to Bar Harbor to make it an easy trip. The island Explorer (free shuttle) stops right at the hotel. It is NOT plush or fancy so if you want that..look elsewhere BUT it IS very clean...a bit dated very comfy bed and great few! free small breakfast and super kind staff. We were going to camp one night at the "queit side" of the island as it is called..and changed our mind and went back to stay the rest of the time at AEL. It was quite affordable. We were worried at first b/c it looks a bit well creepy but we are used to DC hotels...but we really loved it and would stay there again for the comfort- cleanliness and ease of getting to the Park.

Schoodic btw is BEAUTIFUL! Definately take a day to ride over there. Wouldn't want to stay there..but we spent an entire day there. Your going to LOVE acadia. sorry can't help with Camden- we didn't stay we just visited for a few hours but it was also lovely.

oh and if you like hiking do Precipice if it's open! it was AMAZING! AND make time to east at Jordan Pond!! Hint if you go for dinner the popovers are unlimited!! and the food was really good! worth it. there was no wait either...not like we expected. did i mention we LOVED acadia?!

"Affordable in July" isn't a phrase you often hear about Maine!
Check out High Tide Inn near Camden, or the Point Lookout Resort which is about 15 mins north of Camden. Glen Cove Inn near Rockland might be another possibility, or the motel section at Beloins.com

Check reviews before booking any "cabins" or "cottages" that claim to be near Bar Harbor. There are a number of "cottage colonies" right off the main drag that look pretty-run down and have no view of anything except for traffic zooming by.

CRnewbies--You got me interested what and where is Precipice?

Precipice is a hiking trail in Acadia. It goes straight up the said of the mountain...using old iron rungs secured into the rock. It is not a technical climb. It is reALLY REALLY Cool!! It's often closed in the summer due to the Periguine Falcons nesting in the cliffs. We were almost NOT going to do it...b/c while we love hiking I was a little afraid of the height..but it was one of the greatest things I have ever done!!

Precipice is a hiking trail in Acadia. It goes straight up the said of the mountain...using old iron rungs secured into the rock. It is not a technical climb. It is reALLY REALLY Cool!! It's often closed in the summer due to the Periguine Falcons nesting in the cliffs. We were almost NOT going to do it...b/c while we love hiking I was a little afraid of the height..but it was one of the greatest things I have ever done!!