Black Bear Inn Conference Center & Suites

Just went to mothers day brunch, and it was awesome! There was lobster quiche, quinoa salad, a beautiful beet salad, lots of delicious breakfast food, salmon, apple stuffed chicken, and a CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN! The dessert presentation was awesome also. This is definitly a gem and I will be back for sure.

The atmosphere and décor are very enjoyable, making s fun stay. The hotel is not fancy but is comfortable and the rooms are very attractive, comfortable and clean.

The Black Bear Inn was our destination for when my wife and I were traveling to Maine, and she had been invited to the University of Maine for business.
My first initial thought of the place was a very interesting, warm, cozy hotel… the staff was very nice, great during the check in process.
Once we got settled into the hotel room… it was very apparent that the hotel hadn’t really had much done to it in the rooms for quite some time. It almost had a stale feel of grandmas old cottage, with an outdated bear theme… including enough bears to make it overly redundant that the place is called the black bear inn. But after getting settled in… you finally realize how much the hotel owners have put into this hotel. A keurig coffee machine is a nice little touch… but then there is their flat screen TV that is still broadcasting in standard definition, so all of the TV channels are super grainy and the HDTV that is in the room basically goes to waste. Heck, they even have one channel saying, «You must update your receiver to receive this channel… and that was one of the main channels.
The other thing that really bothered me about this hotel… is the whole construction of the place. The whole building sounded hollow. When just walking down a hallway you feel like your footstep is echoing down around throughout the rooms around you. I can also say that I know what that is like, because we apparently had a high school sports team running in the hallway, and it wasn’t the most calming sound you could imagine to hear.
I also have to comment… the breakfast? I personally felt that the breakfast was a bit of a joke. I don’t mind the whole DIY aspect of it all… but they want you to go into a small room, find everything you want, and they provide you a microwave. No hot food, the days that I was there, there were no meat products out… and the only eggs you could find had been hard boiled. I had to resort to my old kid days and retreat to my room with frosted flakes and a banana. Definitely some improvement there could help out the whole situation…
As for the final thoughts? Yeah, its a place to rest your head… if this is the kinda place that you’d like to relax at.

A great little hotel. Clean, modern, free wifi that works. Breakfast was busy and the DIY waffle irons were constantly busy so I didn’t get a chance to try it. ³⁄₅ stars only because it’s not a classy establishment, but it *is* well maintained and no essential comforts lacking. I picked this over hotels in Bangor, and I think it was a wise choice.

Booked online in Bangor, 20 minutes later I was at the front desk. My room key was ready. A complimentry wine & cheese was available 5 PM — 6 PM I believe this is M — F only? I didn’t feel like driving out for dinner so I ended up with a satisfactory hand formed burger in the breakfast nook off the front lobby.
Regarding the room, the beds, bathroom are clean the furniture seems a little dated. The free internet works fast and flat screen TV has a good cable selection.

The Bleak Bear Inn is kind of what you’d expect from a middle of nowhere kind of area in Maine. I’m surprised there aren’t more places for people to stay who are visiting their kids at the nearby University of Maine.
I’m pretty sure the only thing new in this hotel since the 80s are the flat screen TVs and Keurig coffee maker in the room. It smells of old old smoking rooms from decades ago and an occasional random whiff of vomit. Or maybe diarrhea. I still haven’t decided. Not the cleanest place, but most of this could be easily fixed with updating the furniture, rugs, sheets, etc.
On the plus side there is free internet and continental breakfast in the morning.
Suitable for a night, but certainly not a destination.

The rooms are fine, the front desk staff wasn’t TOO friendly, but I was only here for a short while. It looks like it’s pretty much the only game in town, so I’d stay here again if need be.