Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce — Attraction in Bar Harbor

My wife and I have been looking forward to our bucket list vacation trip to Maine for the past several years. Having spent months planning, we were so excited to arrive October 6th. Unfortunately, Western NC, where we live, was hit very hard by Hurricane Helene. The devastation is hard to explain and many areas around Asheville, NC have been washed away. We personally lost power for 10 days, did not have water and could not get the first call in or out for more than 3 days and then lost calls and had spotty phone service 15 days after the storm. Over 50 thousand homes still remain without power and water. With no way of communication via internet or phone service, we were unable to contact hotels to cancel our vacation. The airport was only allowing inbound emergency in for supplies and there were no commercial flights out for five plus days. It was far more important to help people get basic supplies such as food and water as our main water supply for our area was severely damaged and still is not operating in majority of our area, than to take our vacation. For the most part when I did have spotty cell service, Expedia tried to help me get reservations cancelled.

I have always heard great things about the people of Maine. I think you should know the MAIN STREET MOTEL refused to waive the 7-day cancellation policy and charged us for a night of the two we had booked with Expedia. I was told on the phone by the young lady that whomever she asked in management said that "we had plenty of warning about the storm". Now everyone knows this was the storm of the century and was a surprise to the mountains of Western North Carolina. That said, we will dig out from this disaster with 100's of homes and businesses gone forever. The death toll is still unknown as search and rescue to many areas by air only is still taking place 15 days after this horrific hurricane because many roads have been lost to flooding waters and mudslides. I want the town of Bar Harbor to know the thoughts and decision of the Main Street Motel! I am thankful for the resilience and compassion of the mountain people working together at a time no one could have ever been prepared for.

Thanks, Nate &...

We have been visiting Bar Harbor annually for about 15 years and this past visit was somewhat disappointing. Bar Harbor is starting to become your typical tourist trap, placing profit over value. I completely understand how prices are higher in a tourist area, considering I live in the Poconos. Here's my issue. Market price for lobster. Previous visits we've experienced basically the same market price throughout the state. This visit we stayed in Boothbay for 2 days on the way to Bar Harbor. Lobster rolls were $22 and $28 at 2 different places and both were about 6 oz. Bar Harbor I had a lobster dinner at a restaurant which was $58. While walking in Bar Harbor one place was advertising $30 for a 4 oz lobster roll. That's about $120 a pound! Went to Sullivan and Tracey's was $24 for 2 lobster rolls. I asked her why so cheap and she said lobster prices were down and that Bar Harbor was all about profit. Went to Beal's lobster pier the next day and lobster was $20 a pound. The day before we left, stopped at a place for lunch and told the lobster bowl was $45 for 6 oz. so another $120 a pound! Went up $100 overnight! While driving home, went thru Trenton and one of the restaurants advertising lobster dinners for $21. We won't get into the close to $7 for a scoop of ice cream. Bar Harbor is a great place to visit but it's becoming less affordable, especially for families. We have our reservations for next year and if the pricing practice continues as they are, we will not be spending our food money in Bar Harbor. I can justify a couple dollars more but this just seems as we're being taken advantage of. Too much of a...

The information given about the national park was helpful BUT at the stand where we purchase our tickets for the park is a different story. We purchased our $30 ticket (a flimsy piece of paper), was told to put it in our window, we did as instructed and when a rushing stiff breeze came by, it got sucked out of our car. We walked the streets to find it, but we thought since we just purchased it we could get a replacement. The man at the counter simply said, “Nope, if you lost it. Can’t do anything” Translation - don’t care that we took $30,spend another $30. We decided to go directly to the national park, the gentlemen at the kiosk was extremely pleasant and explained that since my elderly parents were with us we could purchase a discounted ticket. Something that the chamber of commerce did not offer. And the ticket we purchased from the park was a mirror mounted ticket hanger, one that didn’t simply fly away. I feel that the chamber of commerce is not honest, not looking to offer the best deal and does not provide any service. DO NOT...