5 Best Hotels in Western Lakes and Mountains, Maine

Aside Bear Pond in South Waterford, this 1800s 25-acre homestead inn features country chic decor with plaid accents and handsome baths (some with tub and shower); most accommodations—nine guest rooms and family-friendly suites, plus the snuggly cottage and post-and-beam apartment—have lake views and a fireplace (or wood stove). Thoughtful touches and amenities abound, from the recreation room, fire pits, and fireplaces (indoors and out) to plates and silverware in the dining room for guest use and courtesy snacks and drinks (nonalcoholic). A romantic retreat for two, Sugar Maple Cottage has a kitchen, wood-burning fireplace, private patio, and fire pit. It’s one of three accommodations, including the apartment (sleeps up to 8), that isn’t in the farmhouse. Breakfast is served in the spacious dining room, which is centered by a stone fireplace. Another fireplace warms the welcoming parlor. A snowmobile trail connects to the property, and come winter the recreation room becomes the Winter Pub on weekends (11–5); enjoy drinks and comfort foods inside or outdoors at the fire pits or patio fireplace.

Welcoming hospitality keeps guests returning year after year to this charming, affordable, light blue downtown B&B, where innkeepers are at the ready with day-trip tips (or to kindly help guests as needed), and eight guest rooms occupy two floors of the antiques-filled home, which was originally built for a lumber executive in 1906. The larger guest rooms have sitting areas, and open-plan Wandering Moose a private entrance, kitchenette, queen bed, and queen sleeper sofa. Served in the cozy tin-ceilinged dining room, which has a 24/7 coffee and tea bar and several tables, breakfast may include fruit-topped cream cheese-stuffed French toast, a guest favorite. Adjoining is a welcoming, old-fashioned parlor that befits this Victorian home.

Built in 1906 as a hotel annex, the four-story inn has 16 rooms and suites—all on the upper floors—and a wide, inviting front porch that overlooks gardens and offers an angled view of Long Lake beyond Naples' main thoroughfare. Some accommodations (though none of the larger ones) have water views, but all are unique, with varying decor styles and thoughtful mixes of new and older furnishings and antiques. In the spacious high-ceilinged lobby, the original mica and granite fireplace (converted to gas) anchors a sitting area with a comfy couch and armchairs. A full breakfast is served at tables on the opposite side of the large room, or, weather allowing, on that lovely porch.

Just beyond downtown, state Senator Winburn Staples (1855–1939) built this stately 1903 home above Highland Lake on large grounds that include a pine grove; guests enjoy luxury comforts and a relaxing atmosphere where they can kick back on the wraparound porch, in an Adirondack chair by one of the fire pits, or in the living room or den (both have fireplaces)—perhaps with a drink from the intimate guests-only bar. The Library Guestroom in the main house has a keyhole balcony, and three modern guestrooms in the repurposed carriage house have screened porches. Rooms and suites have high-end linens and toiletries as well as bathrobes and slippers (take the slippers home if you'd like). Sumptuous breakfasts alternate sweet and savory entrées and may include frittatas or pumpkin bread drizzled with cream cheese. Courtesy snacks, teas, and coffee are always on hand.

Painted eggshell blue, this historic downtown hotel was built around 1900 for wealthy urbanites on vacation—from the wide covered front porch, you step into a grand lobby with polished pine wainscoting, statement oversized cushioned red chairs, and a brick fireplace. In the “lodge,” a motel-style building out back on Hayley Pond, spacious rooms and a king suite have mini-refrigerators and decks with water views. Guest rooms in the main inn have a king or queen bed or two twins; there are also several suites and oversized rooms. Each room is unique, and in one wing, decorated with framed old postcards and photographs of the inn and area. Lodging quarters in both buildings have comfy seating for guests. For the convenience of guests though they serve the public, the dinner-only tavern-style and breakfast-only restaurants are open every day, except when the inn is closed for several weeks during the shoulder seasons.