The Nonantum Resort

This resort steals your money!!! Booked a room through
for October 2016 and was guaranteed that I could cancel. Three days later plans changed and canceled the room and charged $ 25.
has been trying to get them to refund the $ 25, but the resort is being very dishonest.
Don’t stay at this resort… they do not stand by their word!!!

The Nonantum resort is a quaint and beautiful hotel located near the town of Kennebunkport. The hotel offers spacious and clean rooms; we even found a postcard-​size painting of the resort as a welcome gift. Not only that, the staff is extremely friendly and helpful. A free breakfast is included as part of our stay, and we’re not talking about a basic continental breakfast. In addition to the usual items, the buffet served quiche and a surprisingly tasty beef hash– a great value added. There was a wedding that took place during our stay at Nonantum Resort, but we were not disturbed by the wedding party. Had an exceptional experience, and would love to come back to try out the pool.

I recently attended a brunch at the Lovely Nonantum resort for Mother’s Day. The Nonantum sits on an absolutely stunning stretch of oceanfront in downtown Kennebunkport.
For Mother’s Day, the Nonantum went all out with live piano music, a crackling fire in the warm and comfortable entrance, a fun and goofy photo booth for families and an incredible array of delicious food with specialty carving and benedict stations!
I was particularly struck by the welcoming staff at the Nonantum. As families came in for Mother’s Day, the staff engaged with guests of all ages. Offering small treats to active toddlers or an arm to those having a hard time walking into the dining room.
The food was delicious and very well prepared. I LOVE benedicts and was able to craft my own combination with fresh ham, spinach and mushrooms… still thinking about it! There are also beautiful sweeping views of the ocean from the dining rooms. Even though it was essentially a gray and rainy day, it was a gift to look out the window at the water and dream of sunnier days.

The Nonantum offers many services and this review is for its brunch with Mrs. clause on the first weekend of Christmas prelude. We brought our kids and the photo opportunity was well staged. The inside of the Nonantum it was a zoo. The crew handled The busy crowd well, especially considering there is almost no one there the weeks that book and Christmas prelude. We were in a big group and we’re seated in a separate room, very nice. The food options were serviceable but limited.

Late October is a great time to visit Nonantum because weather is still good and the resort is not crowded. The staff had time to answer all questions and give extra attention, which really made us feel welcome. Yes, the resort is old, but very clean and comfortable with upscale furnishings and bedding. Great views, terrific breakfast, friendly staff. I would return.

We loved it here. Great for a Fall getaway… Some kinks needed to be worked out in the management of the place (didn’t respond to our calls for the elevator, didn’t give us the free shuttle information until probed, looked shocked when I asked about kayaking, bad parking situation, loud wedding party, limited sound-​proofing, and left us a 42^nd anniversary card by accident in the room.) However, on the plus side, the place is nice and charming. The rooms are delightful. We had a wonderful corner room with an amazing view and a warm fireplace. Despite the flaws, we would definitely come back.

I give the Nonamtum a solid 3.5 star rating. We stayed here for my birthday weekend and everything went pretty well. The room was precious and we loved the gas fireplace. Check in was a bit bumpy with a front desk attendant accidentally charging my credit card the wrong amount for incidentals. The manager took charge once I noticed the error. Dinner was ordinary but the service was friendly. Breakfast was again, ordinary. But there was plenty to choose from and again the service was excellent. The inn is beautiful and cozy and close to town. It was a bit old fashioned but in a nice way. The grounds are beautiful and it was a relaxing stay.

Ryan the bartender was flat out rude. The rooms are small and outdated, service on all aspects is sub-​par, which is a shame because you would think that with such an old, outdated hotel that nickles and dimes you for EVERYTHING that they would somehow make up for it with exceptional service. This is not the case. We were here for a wedding (which I was in) and encountered Ryan tending bar twice during the stay, both time he was extremely rude and we were made to feel as though we were a nuisance. I do NOT recommend this hotel, or its bars and restaurants.

So friendly and kind to us as we parked and had lunch waiting for in town trolley. Beautiful setting too.

Great resort for events! I had my rehearsal dinner here and they did a great job. They really know how to have an event for large parties. I did not put the Nonantum on my list of hotels for our guests to stay at because I felt that the rooms were outdated. However, some people enjoy this.

One of my favorite places that I have ever stayed. The bartender was not friendly, but the room and food was outstanding. The views were exquisite. The ease of access to the town was perfect. The smells from the outbound tide made this place a must to go back to soon!

We went to Nonantum for Fire and Ice on Prelude weekend in Dec. Had a wonderful time. Resort is quaint, picturesque, well maintained and I would recommend to anyone for a weekend getaway. The whole event was top class and the brunches in the morning were fantastic. The staff was super attentive, The place was well decorated and put you in the holiday spirit. Great place!

Sadly the meal wasn’t what we expected with the resort. We had a ho hum table, and ho hum food. Hay,… it wasn’t our night…
. it was the grand finale of our vacation so I picked this resort for the last day, and I thought dinner would be nice there with all the positives … I felt sad, that Our room was lovely but our dinner wasn’t anything I could go on about.

The Nonantum Resort is a nice, quiet, and beautiful resort near the town of Kennebunkport which offers a great place to stay in Maine if you love the outdoors. And while the resort is not the most modern, it still offers tons of activities, its own private bay, in the peaceful stay in the New England area.
My Overall Rating — 4 Stars (Atmosphere, Service, Facility, Return)
Atmosphere — Have you ever seen the movie Dirty Dancing? Well this is the type of resort that reminds me of that movie. It’s a seaside resort, so expect a lot of wood, seaside themes, and beautiful weather. You have to visit during the summer to really experience how amazing the weather is in Maine, and the resort like this really takes advantage of that climate. 1 Star.
Service — Staff is very friendly. We checked in very late on Friday night, and had our own personal security guard to escort us to our room. Also, the staff during breakfast are very friendly. There is always someone walking around the feel your cup with coffee, & they want to make sure you are during your meal, and apparently the film very welcome. In fact, every single staff member that we ran into or needed assistance from was extremely nice. Every day outside in the main lawn area there will always a big tent for activities. Here you can sign up for a number of things, and parents with children will be happy to know there are several opportunities for kids to stay busy. 1 Star.
Facility — if there was one negative I can think of about The Nonantum Resort is that the resort itself is not as up-​to-​date as many others. The restrooms in the rooms were quite small; however, our balcony with very big in the view was tremendous. There wasn’t much storage space in the event either, and well earlier I said the resort reminded me of the movie Dirty Dancing, it’s also because it seems as old as that movie too. But the beds are comfortable, there’s a nice Kureg coffee machine in the room, and if you are only using the room for sleeping then it should fit your needs very well. 1 Star.
Will I Return? — Yes. I enjoyed my stay at The Nonantum Resort very much. It is a very convenient location, with Portland, ME only a short drive away along with several public beaches and shopping. The resort town of Kennebunkport is also a fantastic tourist trap, and will keep you busy with plenty of small boutique shops and some delicious restaurants. 1 Star.
My Unilocal Rating Scale (Sum of all parts):
1 Star — Atmosphere — Is it a cool dive? Perhaps an upscale place? No matter the type, atmosphere plays a big part and I’ll give a star if I like it or thinks it has great charm.
1 Star — Service — You can have a great meal with bad service. But that’s also what can make a five star joint drop to four. It’s important to the dining experience that service is great and on point.
2 Stars — Facility — I’ll award up to two stars for the facility, since this is the main reason we go out. Sometimes the extra star is given for value, but it’s really all about the facility.
1 Star — Will I come back? — If I know for a fact I’ll return, I’ll give this a star. A place has to make an impression for me to return.
Each Category can be given up to 1 star except food (2 stars) because I consider all these categories important to the overall dining experience. I will sum them up to provide my final Unilocal score.

My wife and I stayed in Kennebunkport over the fourth of July weekend, living it up with HW and W and a crate of lobsters. Our goal was to stick mostly with various seafood shacks, but did want to have 1 nicer meal. We chose 95 Ocean off of reviews and were glad we did.
Leading up to this dinner, I had come down with something, and was not feeling very well. I decided to stick it out and order dinner, but just couldn’t make it. Not wanting my wife to miss out, I told her to eat while I waited on the sofa in the lobby, and to just have my food packed. The waitress was concerned because I had walked of and asked what the issue was. my wife explained, to which the waitress told us not to worry about a thing.
My wife tells me that her food was pretty amazing. Her appetizer (the Sesame Crusted Seared Tuna) was something special. The fish special was quite good as well. In terms of my food, the restaurant had cancelled my order and did not have any intention of charging me for it. They even had the bartender mix me up a bitters drink to make me feel better, and continued to check up on me throughout. I was amazed that they would keep checking in and serving us as if we had ordered a full service meal. Even as we left, they wished us well, and let us know we could have a table at any time, even as they were booked for the weekend.
I definitely recommend, if not for the great food, the warm and hospitable atmosphere there.

If there is one thing you need to know about this place, it’s that you should get your pricing information IN WRITING. Twice. Another reviewer experienced similar issue recently too:
and this reviewer perfectly captured what is best and awful about this place:
What happened: We called their reservations and booking line to confirm the balance for our Winter Prelude weekend stay before deciding if we were up for going with a snow storm coming. We were told a *much* lower final balance than what ended up on our bill. Tina Hewett-​Gordon, the manager on duty, made the mistake of confirming that our calls to them were, in fact, noted on our account and shared the name of who we’d spoken to. The poor girl was hauled out back to confer for a good five minutes while we stood there waiting. Not suspicious at all, right?
Then Tina returns and continues to point to the bill and tell me she doesn’t know where the number we were given came from and actually said that it «…wasn’t the hotel’s fault»!!! I was dumbstruck.
Never in my life have I experienced such atrocious customer service at a hotel. I was irate but knew the fault wasn’t ours. I explained that this weekend away had been a wedding gift and that we’d ONLY decided not to cancel and had come up from Boston knowing there was a storm coming based on that balance we’d been given by phone. I was certain that the fault wasn’t ours. I also noted that a male concierge had taken down my number around 3 PM because he said there was an issue with the booking and reservations line, and would we mind having our call returned later? (He returned our call around 9:30 PM that night! I’d long since called back, around 3:45 PM, to confirm our balance and we’d departed around 7 PM.)
After about 5 more minutes of gesturing to the bill, repeating that the numbers just don’t add up, and a lot of mute staring, Tina curtly asked, «What would you like me to do?»
How about you honor the balance we were given by phone?! And maybe treat your guests a little more politely?! The disappointing thing is that we had fun at the Fire & Ice festival. It was a little overpriced for what it was, but we liked sitting by the fire while it snowed. The rooms on the «inn» side aren’t anything special and a bit outdated, and the hallways are drafty and unheated it seemed, but it was in a charming-​old-​New England sort of way. The Christmas décor was pretty, the rest of the staff was nice, and we had an otherwise good stay. But would I recommend anyone else stay here? And would I ever stay again? Absolutely not.
After reading through all the hotel’s reviews, it sounds like a LOT of others have experienced similar, unfortunately. If I owned such a well-​established property, I’d be mortified to have someone like Tina on my staff. She handled the situation unprofessionally and was extremely rude.

We enjoyed an evening of bachelorette activities in Kennebunkport recently and this is where a bunch of the girls stayed including the bride-​to-​be. This place is undoubtably beautiful, complete with a gorgeously manicured whimsical fairy garden that greets all visitors.
The rooms the girls had were the ones on the newer side of the resort and they were very nice and comfortable. Everything looked updated and had a nice modern but charming feel. The place was nicely decorated and very clean.
Where things could have been better was the booking and reservations part. Ultimately, prices were not what was agreed upon over the phone and there were several mess-​ups with the information provided on how many people would be staying/​how many rooms we would need (so just be very clear and get everything in writing!).

Cute place! It has a lot of old world charm. The rooms are small but that is expected of an old resort.
The complimentary breakfast offers a lot!
The view and grounds are really beautiful.
The Pub on site has great service and excellent beer selection, too!

After looking at 2 – 3 other sites to hold our Wedding we decided to hold it at The Nonantum. We have stayed here are recent trips and always have a great
Experience. The staff from bottom to top was beyond accommodating and were truly amazing.

Beautifully landscaped front entrance and back grounds. Rooms were much smaller than I had hoped, however adequate w/​all basic amenities.
Not all rooms have balcony or patio, however we were fortunate in getting a patio on ground floor facing the dock and water view. For the price you pay… You don’t get what you pay for. It was Howard Johnson for $ 299 or comfort inn $ 259, per night.