is there something wrong with me?

I just came back from Bar Harbor. We stayed at the Bayview which is highly rated on this forum. The hotel was expensive and not worth the money. While the staff was wonderful and it was clean and it seemed like management tried, I wouldn%26#39;t go back to that hotel and none of the others seemed much better.

I loved Acadia and Bar Harbor itself was nice but I just don%26#39;t see the allure. Could someone point out what I%26#39;m missing? Where does one stay if one loves Acadia?

is there something wrong with me?

From your post, I%26#39;m not sure what it was (other than $$) that you didn%26#39;t like, or which other hotels, etc. you compared to Bayview, or what it was that you were looking for.

Mount Desert Island offers a considerable variety of lodging alternatives---from high-end hotels such as Bar Harbor Inn, Bar Harbor Hotel/Bluenose Inn, Harborside Inn %26amp; Marina, Asticou Inn, Claremont Hotel, to B%26amp;Bs that range anywhere from about $100 to near $400 a night, to motels, to cottages, to campgrounds.

Should you decide to visit again, I suggest that you spend some time with websites such as www.acadiamagic.com, www.visitmaine.com, and www.barharbormaine.com---excellent sources of things to do, places to stay, and things to see.

is there something wrong with me?

None of the other hotels seemed much better? That%26#39;s a very strange statement to make.

did you visit the other 50 hotels? See the rooms? Meet the staff?

Sounds like you are just in a bad mood or something.

I%26#39;m not so sure that you are truly seeking answers here. Seems more like a series of rhetorical questions. Sounds like you are bummed because your hotel did not live up to your expectations, even after you did your homework before picking it.

Anonymous reviews should be taken wtih the grain of salt. There is always the chance that a few reviews may be biased (posted by the owners or their friends) or that reviews may be posted by folks who don%26#39;t share your same standards/expectations.

I regret that your trip was marred by a bad experiece. Mount Desert Island has something for everyone, from very cheap lodging to some of the nicest in the state. If you did plan to visit the area again, you could have taken advantage of the fact that you were here to locate a better hotel for your next visit. But, my guess is you really don%26#39;t plan to come back...

I%26#39;m not in a bad mood or being hostile. Let me clarify, the area itself is beautiful and I can understand that allure. What I don%26#39;t understand are the rave reviews for where I stayed. I did research the hotels before booking - usually I%26#39;m pretty good about that and my picks typically turn out to be what I anticipate (good, bad or ugly.) This time my pick was off.

My question isn%26#39;t rhetorical: What did I miss?

My beef with the cost was that it was just about $400/nite and not worth $125. If I had paid $200 I would have been o.k. with the lodging. I was sick that my money was spent on this hotel. All I could think of the was the other places I could have spent $400/night and how much more they would have delivered.

I have stayed in many places, the majority costing in that ballpark, some places less and some more.

I was perfectly o.k. with the hotel not being a resort, but I wasn%26#39;t o.k. with the hand-me-down, patched together furniture. I don%26#39;t need the queen%26#39;s best. But if I am paying a price equivalent to the queen%26#39;s suite then I have a matching expectation. I%26#39;m also not o.k. with the 1960%26#39;s bathrooms. I don%26#39;t buy the ';antique'; explanation, either. The best way to describe it is patchwork.

It was clean and those maintaining it appeared to care about the hotel, but it seems to me that to charge the same amount as the big boys, you%26#39;ve got to provide the same quality as the big boys. This was not provided here.

I booked a townhouse unit so that if we wanted to hangout, we%26#39;d have the space and the comfort. Thank goodness it never rained because I couldn%26#39;t have spent a full day in that unit.

On a positive note the hotel supplied a very nice continental breakfast served in a pretty dining room. Maybe the Inn portion of the Bayview is totally different, I don%26#39;t know.

You can label me moody or misinformed to diminish the strength of my assessment, but what I have written is my honest viewpoint and it is not an inexperienced one.

So my question is ';is there a nice place to stay that is uniformly updated and where one could expect a certain standardized level of amenities?

I don%26#39;t know the interior of your hotel, so I%26#39;m not going to debate whether the price you paid was appropriate for the product delivered. I will only say that Bar Harbor in August IS expensive compared to other destinations. If you stay waterside, that%26#39;s going to cost you and if you get a large room with lots of square footage, that%26#39;s going to cost you too.

My only suggestion is that you put your energies into drafting a review (that might help others not make the same ';mistake';) and post that review in the actual hotel review portion and instead of documenting your disappointment in a forum thread. The review should be stored in the hotel section indefinitely where other travelers picking motels are likely to read it, whereas this forum thread will likely be buried and not read.

I%26#39;m not saying that the Bayview has planted reviews, but it%26#39;s not unheard of for some hotel reviews to be faked.

I remember a post on this forum months ago when the poster said she was in the hospitality industry (in another part of the state) and she said others in the area were posing as tourists and planting glowing reviews about their own properties. She said they were making a ';game'; out of seeing who could take the top spots in the forum for their motels.

I was burned myself by a B%26amp;B in New Hampshire that had glowing reports. As soon as I got out of the car and saw the grounds, I knew I%26#39;d been taken.

After that I put much less stock in anonymous reviews, especially when there is a string of five-star reviews where not a single even slightly negative thing is said. I%26#39;m much more likely to believe a review that is balanced by pointing out shortcomings, too, even if the shortcomings are minor.

When I%26#39;m picking accommodations I also balance anonymous reviews by consulting reviews by non tourists (like AAA or Frommers).

Again, I%26#39;m not saying the Bayview reviews are faked, as many of the top rated hotels and restaurants in Bar Harbor deserve their ratings, but just to not use anonymous reviews blindly.

I think I know what you mean. High season in Maine can be a shocker. I paid $150 a night to stay at the Bay View once, the regular rooms, and i described it as a basic motel on the waterfront.

Supply and demand is one of the reason%26#39;s that you paid so much, there are not many townhouse type units in the area. You were paying to have a bit more privacy than an inn room, and for the spaciousness of the unit. A bit more homework would have introduced you to some 4-star choices in the area...BayView consistently gets 3 star ratings I think.

There are bargains to be had in Maine in June and September, and the weather is usually terrific. The ';high season'; in Maine is just July and August, and maybe a week in October.....so you aren%26#39;t going to find frequently-renovated hotels with the latest innovations and luxuries in Maine. They just can%26#39;t afford to go over-the-top (like you%26#39;d find in NYC or Vegas) when the tourist season is just 10 weeks of the year.

Many places do a pretty good job considering the limitations, and i especially commend the restaurants on the coast. They have to hire and train an entirely new staff of basically college kids every summer, on September 1st the students desert the place and they%26#39;re left to try to salvage what%26#39;s left of September with a limited staff. All things considered, the service at most places in the summer is not that bad at all.

Hi. It is always unhappy when %26#39;highly rated%26#39; doesn%26#39;t live up to expectations - the points about anonymous reviews are well-taken. If you want to return to Acadia, you might look at other lodging choices in other parts of the Island - just as accessible to Acadia and generally less pricey - Bass Harbor, Bernard, Southwest Harbor, Manset, Seawall, Pretty Marsh. There are so many options and locations - on the water, in the Village, a cottage, condo, B %26amp; B, motel, inn. Try acadiachamber.com, acadiainfo.com, acadiamagic, vrbo, cyberrentals. Hope that you are able to find a place to stay to see Acadia again.

Thanks for the feedback. I was hesitant to post in the hotel reviews because I thought maybe I really am missing something. Ya know, it%26#39;s funny. This is the one time I didn%26#39;t consult outside reviews. I don%26#39;t know why I didn%26#39;t do that. . .

After checking in, I definitely wondered if the posts were made by management. Then I ran into a woman who offered nothing but praise for the hotel and I thought there%26#39;s no way she%26#39;s a ';plant.'; Is it me?

I would go back because Acadia is so unique, imo. I loved it. I liked the village of Bar Harbor, the people and the geography. It%26#39;s just that I need a genuinely comfortable room that I can relax in and after being burnt, I%26#39;m afraid of the others.

Thanks once again for allt he feedback.

Hi lovesevlis,

Sorry to hear you felt ripped off regarding your stay at the Bayview. There%26#39;s nothing worse than paying good money and not getting what you paid for. Been there, done that.

If you ever decide to go back to the Bar Harbor area, there%26#39;s one Inn I always stay at that has never let me down, and that%26#39;s the Bar Harbor Inn right in town and right on the water. It%26#39;s a very nice and upscale sort of place; is well maintained, has wonderful views out to the harbor, is right on the shore path that runs along the water, is nicely decorated, is pretty quiet considering it%26#39;s in town, and has a nice restaurant and great outdoor areas to enjoy. So unless it%26#39;s gone down hill this year (this is the first year I haven%26#39;t been up that way in eons) I can highly recommend it.

I also have friends who own a chain of shops all along the Maine coast and need to visit them on a regular basis. And they usually stay there as well. As far as I know, they%26#39;ve never been disappointed either. It%26#39;s not an inexpensive place, especially in season, but it sounds as if you don%26#39;t mind paying top dollar if its worht it.

Also, if you plan on another trip whether it be to Maine or other New England locations, borrow or purchase one of Christina Tree%26#39;s Explorer%26#39;s Guide. The one she writes for Maine has been consisently right on with her reviews, and no commercial entity pays to have their places listed or recommended in her books.

Again, sorry you had such a negative experience at your Inn. Hopefully it hasn%26#39;t soured you on the Maine coast and you%26#39;ll return again :).

cozyharbor