Kennebunk Inn

I’m torn on my review of the Kennebunk Inn, primarily because there were things that were great about staying there, but they were due more to the location, than anything provided inside the hotel. The location is wonderful. I loved being able to hit Boulangerie, the charming bakery located around the corner from the Inn. I loved that we could walk to a number of dining options in town and that we had a nice, safe lot to park in. Proximity to coastal activities was also a bonus. But the room was tiny — the bed nearly took up the entire room. The bathroom was also tiny, with no shelf or place to put any of your toiletries. The bed was hard and it squeaked any time you moved, the walls are thin, so I could hear people in the hallway every time they walked by and we came back after a morning out to find that housekeeping had cleaned our room and left the door open. Like not closed. With all of our stuff, including our jewelry just out in the open. I was shocked. While the location was convenient and the restaurant looked nice, I probably wouldn’t stay here again.

Where to start? Outside looks quaint and typical New England Inn. The back area has chairs to relax in the fresh air and chairs on the front porch. The barkeep, Adrien, serves kindly and friendly service to all patrons.
The dog friendly means dogs barking outside the rooms at 6AM, and more. The halls have no AC, but the rooms do. The antiquated AC in the window bellows loudly to work, tho the buttons are worn to the bottom. The bed squeaks with every roll, turn or movement, and is on a flimsy frame that also moves with motion; we felt afraid we’d break it for sure by getting up and down off it. The sink had rust, which looked like dirt from afar. The shower head was 2 inches wide and hot water was minimal– seriously. There was none if a neighbor took a shower at the same time. No drapes or curtains to block the sunlight. Steep stairs to carry luggage, with no assistance from staff. The common rooms look lovely but with no AC, too hot to sit. Spend a bit more and stay in the kennebunkport…

Could not have been more disappointing. Tiny room, low ceiling, unmodernized, minuscule, grimy bathroom. No breakfast. No working wifi. Lovely staff downstairs could not make up for the overwhelming feeling of a complete lack of care and concern. Shocking waste of money.

Stayed at the Inn for the night. Poorly appointed room, dirty bathroom, very noisy, 3^rd floor with no elevator, and the parking is not secure and dirty overhead trees. The staff was surly and rude. The location is terrible, very far from the coast. I’d never return… It may be historic but it is not well kept.

Heard about this place from the food network app. Was looking forward to unpretentious, non-​touristy, family friendly, good food, and we found it. Great place, had party of 11. Had lobster potpie, beef braciole, fish chips, lobster role, burgers. Everything was amazing. The chefs are the real deal. The beef braciole special was better than my Italian grandmothers. Thank you Cat for attracting attention here. Will make special trips here just to experience the whole menu.

The hotel is living off the reputation of the restaurant. The food is very good.
The hotel is old, poorly managed and obscenely over priced. No phones in the rooms. Rooms are dated, tiny, with very very very small bathrooms. No elevator. You walk up the three flights of stairs dragging your luggage behind. No bell service. There is a common phone, on each floor, in a closet in the middle of the floor. The sink in the bathroom came to the middle of my wife’s thigh. The bed dominated the room with the second largest piece of furniture being the room air conditioner sitting in the middle of the room blocking access to one side of the bed. All this for $ 158.00 per night. Total ripoff.

This inn I thought was adorable. Very New England. And quaint. My boyfriend didn’t think it was worth the money. We Did not eat in the restaurant. First time to Maine. Was wasn’t sure where to stay. This place looked cute online. And it was. BUT. If I had to take another shower in that shower I’d have to go to another hotel! And we where only there 2 days.
Claw foot tub w the shower curtain All around you. Felt like it was attacking me! And there was no shower racks so no where to put ur shampoo, etc. very confusing. the sprayer felt like it was spraying my skin and hair off! Ugh. Not a good way to start the day!
In the am. Like 7:30 am. All I heard like every 5 to 10 mins is doors slamming. So much I couldn’t sleep! Very annoying. The blinds was white. So the room was very bright in the morning. Yikes bright light! And the cleaning lady wasn’t light on her feet either. Vacuum banging so loud!
On our last day. I went to ask for 2 fresh towels. Because they didn’t give us new ones when they cleaned the room. And they didn’t have 2 fresh towels!!! Really come on!!!
$ 378.00 for 2 nights. And no fresh towels. Not cool!
I’m all for old and quaint. But no clean towels, shower annoying and waking me up in the morning. All set!
Wifi didn’t work

Complained directly to hotel. No response. I would like a refund as what was advertised was certainly not what was given. False advertising practices. I notice many of the good reviews did not stay in the hotel but ate in the restaurant.

In the Dog House at the Kennebunk Inn
We decided to combine a Maine wedding with a short vacation. Knowing we were bringing my boyfriend’s dog made it challenging to find lodging in the Kennebunk area — so imagine my excitement when I found this «cute» inn on line. And, they had a dog friendly room that my boyfriend was able to book for our date.
What a disappointment! This inn, that looks sooo lovely on its’ website is NOT so lovely in person. We almost drove past it — the front of the building was dingy and old looking — but we noticed the tacky banner advertising their lobster pot pie and figured we were in the right place. We parked in the back of the property and went through the patio which was deserted. The restaurant is closed on Sunday and Monday which was quite a surprise to us — Kennebunkport was HOPPING and you would think that a business would want to stay open and make some money during the season.
At any rate, we went into the dark building and I did meet a woman manning the front desk who gave us our key and reminded me they did not serve breakfast but we could get 10% off at a local establishment. She also gave me a list of dog rules — pretty basic.
Our room was on the first floor — right by the parking lot and the dumpster. It was a decent size, the bed had a comfortable mattress and it was clean. Those are the positives.
The paint was chipped on the doors and the baseboards, the furniture was nicked an old looking and there were obvious electric (?) wires in plastic conduits along the wall. No soffits? Really ugly! We had a heck of a time finding a place to plug in a computer — and even more of a time getting a strong internet signal. Unfortunately, my boyfriend had a bit of work to do and this was a big hassle.
The bed — though comfortable had a comforter sandwiched between 2 sheets. I woke up in the night wound up like a fish in a net. A duvet would solve this issue quickly and easily! Other quick and easy things to solve: replace the FRAYED bathmat I noticed hanging over a shower curtain rail with the strings hanging off the torn edges.
Speaking of the bathroom, I think my biggest complaint was that when I wanted to take a shower I grabbed the provided INDIVIDUAL shower gel — and noticed it was half empty. A stranger had used it previous to me and the maid did not discard it. Yuck. My boyfriend’s biggest bathroom complaint was that the door did not close. Not just that it didn’t lock — it didn’t CLOSE. The latch was not working. Neither of us were thrilled that there were no glasses in the room for tooth brushing or having a drink of water.
In short, a very shabby, tired low-​class –trying-​for-​high-​class (and failing) place. Boyfriend kept referring to it at «The SRO» and «The Boarding House». I have travelled a lot for work — and believe me, I have stayed in worse. But the owner/​operators have got to get their act together or get out of the hospitality business. Basic maintenance is expensive but essential and the lack of it is obvious. Re-​train the staff — not only are they just going through the motions if they are putting back half-​used toiletries, we saw one cleaner relaxing with all her cleaning supplies at a table on the patio. Not very comfortable for guests and not appropriate for the staff to be lounging in the guest area. Freshen things up, keep the restaurant open, be on-​site more and you have a chance.
Alternately, scale back on everything, lower the price and offer yourselves as a simple, bare bones, less-​expensive Kennebunkport-​area alternative. But as things stand now, this inn is overpriced and underwhelming.

Where do I begin? Probably the worst place I’ve ever stayed. I’m all for quaint, but this place needs some serious help. The room size. ridiculously small. It barely fit the bed, I could touch the ceiling (and I’m short), and the tv was barely bigger than my tablet.
Cleanliness: terrible. I inspected the insanely small room as soon as I got in. There were 3 curly black hairs on the sheet of the bed and multiple hairs in the shower. The air conditioner was a wall unit and the clean filter light was on, I woke up feeling really junky. Gross. Gross. Gross.
I just felt gross the entire stay. The staff were nice, but facility wise, definitely not worth the $ 122 I paid.
The only benefit was the location, right in the middle of Kennebunk, and a Perfecto’s right next door for breakfast with 10% off if you showed them your key. Also they did have a nice porch, which I escaped to because I felt so claustrophobic in my room.

Burgers
babies
and
Phineas
The Kennebunk Inn is a cool old building that was built back in 1799 by a fellow named Phineas Cole. It started out as a private residence but has gone through a heap of changes throughout the years.
It changed hands and names and was even a doctor’s office at one time. Over a thousand babies were born in this building over the years but eventually the venerable old building became an inn and restaurant.
It is a lovely place and although I never stayed in the inn part it certainly does look quaint. The restaurant area is on the first floor and has a very cool and relaxed but sort of elegant look to it. It even has a resident ghost that is said to rattle things and drop glasses from time to time.
The winter lunch menu wasn’t huge but it did have some interesting things on it. I decided to be boring and just get a cheeseburger. It turned out to probably be the best cheeseburger I ever had.
I don’t eat burgers very often and certainly don’t have refined tastes but this burger was superb. Tender and incredibly tasty, it was a real joy to eat and even I could tell the difference between this delightful burger the usual crappy fast food burgers that I usually have.
The place was empty when we were there but the server was friendly and very attentive. Maybe she was just happy to see anyone but she really seemed like she enjoyed her work.
The Kennebunk Inn wasn’t exactly inexpensive but certainly not unreasonable considering the quality of the food and the very cool ambiance. And if you are really lucky you might even get to see a ghost.

Everything a small inn should be. A warm welcoming environment, friendly efficient staff, and hearty comforting foods. I started with a bacon blue cheese salad. The iceberg lettuce was super crisp and the bacon cut in fine bites, and topped with a generous portion of good crumbled blue. I followed it up with a hearty braised short rib over a short tasty pasta.
Service was excellent, drinks were generous and the deserts were very good. One fellow diner had his first ever root beer float with home made ice cream and enjoyed it greatly.

Meh. I’ve experienced better.
Yep, that sums up the Kennebunk Inn. I’m a fan of traditional Inns, but you can tell that the owners simply don’t care that much. The wallpaper was peeling off in our room, the comforter was stained, the chaise in the room had water stains, and even the furniture appeared as if no one was caring for it.
The room was all hardwood, but the afterthought bathroom was appointed in very cheap vinyl, with the type of metal thresholds that you would expect to see in a warehouse bathroom. In addition, it was set up such that there was no light at all near the rusting shower, so any bathing is done in the dark. In addition to the rust, there was an exposed bare pipe in the shower. I do understand that when you retrofit modern amenities into older structures that compromises need to be made, but there are much more aesthetically pleasing ways to use.
We had dinner in the restaurant, and the mediocrity continued. The Guinness draught was stale, and the chicken croquettes were tasteless. For the money this dinner cost, a meal at a chain would have been better.
The last annoyance was that although they had free wi-​fi, it was impossible to sign on.
I don’t mind paying premium prices for a premium experience, but this would have been too much money at half the price.

I pay $ 165 a night and you give me a tiny 20″ monitor TV, a rock hard bed and wifi that’s inaccessibly slow? No thanks.
Good staff. The owners need to put some $ back into the place. It needs some modernizing and TLC.

Stopped in with my husband for dinner last week and we were blown away with both the service and quality of food! Amanda, our waitress was a delight :) rec’d the best items. Crabbed stuffed ravioli– the BEST meal I have ever had! and the Sage Against the Machine mixed drink! Couldn’t have been more satisfied! Next time we’ll try their famous lobster pot pie!

My wife and I stayed at The Kennebunk Inn Friday, November 9 checking out on Sunday, November 11.
The staff was very accommodating especially when we needed a room change so I could have a desk for which to do some work.
We would go back in the future.

My Partner and I decided to do a quick weekend trip to Maine and enjoyed our stay at the Kennebunk Inn. I would say the Inn definitely had a «historical» feel to it, and was overall a charming and adorable place to stay.
The woman at the front desk who greeted us was delightful and was really welcoming. She walked us up to our room and showed us around. The room was a little on the small side, but was cute and clean. The only snags we hit with the room was with the bed and air conditioner. The bed seemed a little shaky and made loud creaking noises whenever either of us moved. I’m sure the neighboring rooms thought there was a lot of «something» going on. The room also had a window air conditioning unit that sounded like someone was banging it with a metal pipe whenever it went on.
The bathroom was also on the tiny side and try as we might, we just couldn’t get the shower to stay at a consistent temperature.
Overall though the Kennebunk Inn definitely had a sense of character and it was nice to stay in a hotel that didn’t have that «cookie cutter» feel to it. We were looking for a fun, romantic weekend away and were happy with what the Kennebunk Inn offered.

I really enjoyed my 3-​night stay here over labor day weekend. I love the character of inns and this one was certainly cute.
The inn is located in Kennbunk, which is about a 6 – 7 minute country drive to the town of Kennebunkport. Although it would have been nice to stay across the street from the action, we weren’t going to pay $ 200+ to stay in the middle of the tourist filled streets.
Our inn was quiet and comfortable. They have apparently done renovations of things like the bathrooms and painting, but it is still VERY old so if that’s not your thing, then don’t stay here. We didn’t mind the creaking steps and window AC units, but you might and should know that’s how it is.
The employees are very friendly and helpful and the rooms are cleaned impeccably every day. The beds are comfortable and they use nice linens and pillows. There’s also great bath products.
We checked in a little early and got upgraded to a larger room which consisted of two bedrooms and a bathroom. Nice!
The coffee, tea and juice service in the morning is a nice touch. They have great coffee and wonderful Harney & Sons teas for guests to enjoy. They set everything up in a separate dining area so you can bring your own cereal or pick up breakfast sandwiches from Perffecto’s next door to eat with your coffee.
Overall I had a wonderful experience and would recommend the inn to anyone!
The inn is located on a main road, however, so I wouldn’t recommend it if you have young kids who like to run around outside.

My mom and I were in the mood for some dessert. My mom suggested this restaurant as she lives down the street. We walked in to the bar area and were ignored. We finally got water. We then had to inform him that we would actually like to eat something, i.e., dessert. It would have been nice if he asked. We received the dessert menus and then got to watch the bartender (our waiter), Patrick, run around like a chicken with its head cut off. We both were exhausted just watching him ineffectively attempt his job. We had to then stop him and tell him we were ready to order.
A significant amount of time lapsed and the desserts came out. I ordered the sampler and my mom ordered some chocolate peanut butter thing, which was also on my sample platter. The desserts were fair. I will not be getting any confections from this restaurant nor recommend them.
We had to ask for our bill, which we paid. We tipped 15% and I am upset we tipped at all now that I am recalling this evening.
My mom has been before and has had much better service and good food (no dessert).
I’m surprised this restaurant survives with this service. Who knows, it may have just been and insane night or Patrick may have just started working as a bartender.
Dessert 1 star
Service 0 stars (unfortunately this is not an option)
This was just my experience. I will probably try lunch or dinner in the dinning room sometime in the future and will update this post. Good luck and stay away from the bar.

I spent a weekend in Maine with friends this March and I cannot say enough good stuff about the staff at this Inn. They were the friendliest most helpful people I have come across while traveling in a long time (and I travel a lot for work). I was due to stay in a pet friendly suite with two other friends and their dogs. When we arrived at the hotel we realized that the pet friendly suites did not have kitchenettes as we originally thought. Since the three of us traveling have specific food needs access to a fridge is important. I went back to the front desk who called the owner and they decided to give us a second suite with the kitchenette to use at no extra charge! I can’t guarantee they’ll do that for everyone, but the fact they did it this once was amazing. They didn’t have to do it, they wouldn’t have lost our business, but now they have it for life.
Pluses:
–Pet friendly! A rare find in this area. Though not all the rooms allow pets so if you don’t want to be around them, or don’t want to be near the pet hair that won’t be a problem, either. The front desk woman even made sure to keep our cell phone numbers on hand in case the dogs barked while we were gone.
–Staff, friendly, helpful, and willing to go the extra mile. They brought me bowls for my morning hot cereal, ice for our breakfast shakes, left towels outside our room when we left up the «do not disturb sign», and made sure we had a room with a kitchen.
–Location, right in downtown, near shops and restaurants, only 4 miles or so from Kennebunk Beach where I like to run.
–Coffee and tea in the morning (tea includes Harney & Sons, my personal favorite!).
–Parking was ample and easy to find, at least in March. Not sure what it’d be like during the summer.
Minuses:
–No breakfast, though there are plenty of local places and few offer discounts for guests staying there.
–Older home, this isn’t really a minus, but it’s not really a plus either… Just worth mentioning. It’s older and got pretty cold in our room, I couldn’t figure out how to work a radiator. Luckily they provided a space heater in the bedroom, and the person sleeping on the daybed gets hot flashes and didn’t need it LOL. Also in our room on the third floor (37) there were some exposed pipes that taller people might hit their head on in the hallway and the shower. Luckily I’m only 5 foot 8 and made it without a problem.