4 Best Hotels in Down East Coast, Maine

Five generations of the Peacock family lived in this white clapboard 1860 sea captain's home in the heart of the village before its 1989 conversion to a tasteful inn with plenty of places to relax: a living room with a fireplace, a cozy library with books, games, music CDs, and CD player, and a spacious sunroom that opens to a deck and gardens. The best of the well-appointed accommodations is an open-plan suite with king bed, large bath, good-size sitting area, gas fireplace, wet bar, and refrigerator. Peacock House is within easy walking distance of local shops and restaurants.

In this 1887 Queen Anne residence built by seaman Herbert Kilby, creamy white walls offset fine antique furnishings, for a brightening effect that evokes an old-fashioned summer home, especially as sea breezes blow through the large windows on a summer day; a separate carriage house can be booked for an extended stay. The first floor has a living room with a fireplace, music room, dining room, and large foyer, while the four guest rooms are upstairs—three guest rooms have a queen bed, and the other has cannonball twins. While guests enjoy a full breakfast served at 8 am, their host joins them, coffee in hand, to chat and help them plot their day with tips, maps, and pamphlets at the ready. With gleaming light wood walls, ceiling, and floor, the carriage house has all the amenities needed for a comfortable longer stay including a kitchen, small deck, air-conditioning, gas fireplace, and washer and dryer.

Grouped along the Machias River at this wonderfully secluded 50-acre property are three open-plan cabins with pine interiors, kitchenettes, and Adirondack chairs on the lawn; the historic center-chimney Cape house has one B&B guest room with a deck. The house's antiques-filled "keeping room" with a large hearth looks much as it did when the home was built in 1776. The B&B is the third-oldest home in Machias, but cabin or Cape, you’re sure to enjoy the peace and quiet Down East is known for—inescapable in this tranquil place.

A former U.S. Coast Guard station on a hill overlooking Lubec Channel, this lodging offers a unique mix of accommodations of varying size in 15 buildings, including a three-bedroom lighthouse and the Keepers Cottage (sleeps four). Some units are apartments that sleep four or six, and there are cabins that sleep four and a few large buildings that sleep eight or nine. Anchoring the property, with white clapboards and a red semi-hipped roof, is the Station House where Coast Guard officers and crew lived until the facility’s 1970 decommissioning. A matching small 1925 structure that housed lifesaving equipment is a cabin rental (sleeps four) whose interior resembles a Maine sporting camp, with wood floors, walls, and ceilings.