My husband and I were thinking about taking the Downeaster from Boston to Portland in November for a long anniversary weekend. Amtrak is running a great deal. Two for the price of one before December 1st.

Anyway, since we're taking the train we'd like to be as close to the action as possible. I've found the Hilton Garden Inn to have the cheapest rates for the dates we're looking at but still $129 a night for the non-cancellable reservation. Can anyone recommend a fairly central hotel that they particularly like? Is the Old Port area where we want to be without a car?

We've been to Portland before but never as tourists.

With the money you saved on Amtrak you could rent a car and go farther up the coast.
Just hope a Nor'easter doesn't come ashore while you are in Maine.

The Hilton Garden Inn location in the Old Port is great. (I still drool over the stuff at Standard Bakery right next door!)It's much more expensive in the summer, so $129 is really pretty good. It's a real hotel, not suburban style, so more like a regular Hilton, not their HGI properties
You're right across from the Casco Bay Lines ferry terminal though I'm not sure what's running at that time of the year.
Some of the best restaurants and shops are right there too. The Portland Art Museum and Victoria mansion are a bit away from that neighborhood, but it's the more lively area in my opinion so that's where I'd want to come back to in the evenings

Of course you may prefer a B&B. I've never stayed in one there but I keep hearing about Pomegranate Inn

I recently stayed at the Holiday Inn Old Port for one night. The hotel had recently been renovated inside, and was nicer than your average Holiday Inn. Our room had a view. We had a car though, and didn't have time to walk around the area.

I totally agree with the previous poster about Standard Bakery!

Thanks all. We could just drive but we were kind of wanting something a little different.