9 Best Hotels in Acadia National Park and Mount Desert Island, Maine

Dramatically perched above serene Northeast Harbor, this vestige of the Gilded Age has played host to the likes of Astors, Vanderbilts, and Rockefellers since it was built in 1883. Destroyed by fire in 1899, the original inn was rebuilt in 1901, and a $28 million makeover, completed in the summer of 2025, not only restored the property to its former historic elegance, some might say it arguably surpassed it. The rooms, 17 spa suites, and 15 cottages are designed to mimic the surrounding coast and woods, in hues both deep and light, from bark and moss to pale pinks. The restaurant, Dahlia’s, has a dedicated following. As for the spectacular gardens that spill around the grounds and pool—filled with statues, lush hydrangeas, and pollinators galore—they're reason enough to warrant a stay.

Originally part of a summer colony, each guest room is unique at this comfortably classic shingled 1888 hillside inn—run by the same family since 1977—with hardwood floors and Oriental rugs throughout, vintage and antique furnishings, an intriguing map collection, spacious guests rooms, a few suites, and no TVs anywhere (by design!). It's a short walk to the village and an easy base for exploring Acadia National Park as local trails just uphill lead there. Many of the maps are of the park and many rooms have original claw-foot tubs and marble sinks. Some even have kitchenettes, and all have sitting areas.

This 6-acre seaside luxury resort boasts the flagship clapboard three-story 1884 inn with wondrous views of Somes Sound from the wide porch, two historic former summer residences with guest rooms and suites, L.L. Bean-vibe cottages and cabins (kitchens or kitchenettes), and two rental homes. Amenities abound including a sea-view heated pool, a dock, a croquet court, a swank game room, a "farm" garden, courtesy bikes, yoga and mixology classes, and with fees, a spa, cabanas, guided hikes, and private charters.

Pretty period-style wallpaper and antiques add to the back-in-time, relaxed vibe at this lodging in an 1850s home across from Prospect Harbor that offers six comfortable guest rooms, some with private entrances. All rooms have water views, and the modern baths are good-size for a bed-and-breakfast; a scrumptious full breakfast is served in a dining room that opens to the cozy parlor, which looks out on the harbor. A larger second-floor guest room can be adjoined with another room and has a pullout couch that can sleep a child (two-adult limit in all rooms).

Building facades, a grand lobby, and granite walls, stairs, and benches imbue this resort on Bar Harbor's busy waterfront with the aesthetic of the town's Gilded Age mansions. The once-private 1929 Bar Harbor Club, also designed in the Tudor style, anchors resort amenities such as a fitness center, full-service spa, clay tennis courts, and one of two heated pools. Accommodations include king and double-queen rooms as well as suites—a few swank ones sit atop an old coal pier. Serving breakfast, dinner, and drinks at the bar, the Italian restaurant has a pizza oven and outdoor seating; inside the vibe is garden room grand.

Originally an annex to Mount Desert Island's first summer hotel, the elegant 1870 main inn has nine tasteful guest rooms named after different kinds of boats; there’s also a wing with two modern accommodations, including a three-bedroom suite with a kitchen, and a one-bedroom cottage. Serving drinks and "shareable bites" to guests and the public, the inn's cozy Bowsprit Bar (open 4–8:30 pm) makes great use of the large porch and deck overlooking the sweeping front lawn.

At the edge of downtown, this midsize year-round hotel's tranquil hillside garden surprises with bocce and a tree swing, while rocking chairs under wide eaves on a front porch and the pillared facade evoke Bar Harbor's Gilded Age mansions. But, make no mistake as this is a thoroughly modern, family-friendly hotel with good-size guest rooms, a laundry, a game room, indoor and outdoor patio seating to enjoy the breakfast buffet, and small seating areas about the hotel.

Fronted with a wraparound porch, the 1887 shingled yellow "cottage" main inn—on the National Register of Historic Places—has nine guest rooms and an updated,  polished interior that blends perfectly with architectural features like moldings and fireplaces. Guests staying in a five-room modern building out back (spa tubs), two freestanding cottages (porches), and three guest rooms (separate entrances) in the 1888 "chauffer's cottage"' also enjoy common spaces in the main inn and are served a full breakfast there.