Mira Monte Inn — Hotel in Bar Harbor

Having never been to Bar Harbor, we were very excited for our trip. We were especially looking forward to being able to relax at the Mira Monte Inn. Based on the glowing descriptions of the property on the website, we believed that we would be staying in beautiful surroundings with luxurious accommodations, sumptuous breakfasts and exceptional service. Unfortunately, this was not the case.||Breakfast?||One part of the check-in process was to make our breakfast reservation and menu selection for the following day. To say we were disappointed in the breakfast would be an understatement. Once again, the website praised the chef driven menu and the spectacular offerings. Pictures of stunning breakfast entrees were posted. The breakfasts we received were far from these depictions. We were at Mira Monte for three nights. We went to breakfast twice. Both mornings we received food that was lukewarm and unremarkable at best. The sausage was not hot, the scrambled eggs were rubbery and tasted as if they had been poured from a carton, the French toast was cold and there wasn’t any fresh fruit offered or provided. We went to a local restaurant for breakfast on our final morning. The breakfasts seemed like nothing was prepared and cooked on site. Everything seemed to be heat and serve, much like a chain hotel breakfast. We have stayed at a number of bed and breakfasts over the years, the breakfasts here easily place at the bottom of the barrel.||Grounds:||The website also touted the spectacularly beautiful and welcoming gardens on the property. The pictures on the website displayed a veritable botanic garden array of flora. We were aware and pleased that our “suite” had a private screened porch which overlooked the gardens. Most likely, the gardens had been beautiful in the spring and early summer. During our stay, however, they were predominately dead or dying. There were no flowers to speak of and what was there can only be described as sad. Certainly, there wasn’t anything there that called for you to linger and enjoy the surroundings. And it was obvious that nothing had been done to try to make the gardens look any better.||The reservation information that we received did not disclose what time we could check-in. We arrived in Bar Harbor mid-morning. We found parking, had some lunch and browsed around the town. We went to check-in a little after 2 only to find a note on the locked front door that check-in was at 3. The note invited us to have a seat on the front porch and wait, if we were early. We found a bench in the side yard and waited. At 3 we went back to the front door only to find it was still locked. We rang the doorbell twice and got no response. We waited another 20 minutes and tried again. The door was now open, so we went inside. The innkeepers, Bruce & Cheryl, were in a sitting room working on computers and seemed very surprised to see us. We were not welcomed to the inn, Cheryl simply asked if we were there to check-in. The check-in process was odd and when another couple entered to check-in Cheryl passed us off to Bruce to show us to our room. ||We had reserved a suite in the Mira Monte Suites building, a distance from the main house. The “suite” was clean but very small and backed up to a street right outside the bedroom window. The bathroom was overtaken by an enormous whirlpool tub which was difficult to get into for a shower. There was another suite above us and we could easily hear footsteps and conversation. There was very little room to accommodate our luggage.||Finally, one of the things we enjoy most about staying at a Bed & Breakfast is the opportunity to chat with the owners/innkeepers. Bruce and Cheryl knew a lot about Acadia National Park and were eager to share their knowledge. They did have maps that they made available and they did offer some good advice about how to spend time in the Park. However, more often than not Bruce was aloof and Cheryl used the opportunity to share how tired they were because they were short staffed and overworked. She mentioned more than once that she was looking forward to shutting down for the winter and going back to their home in Southern California. She was often eager to share personal information about her health and their finances. These conversations were awkward and not welcome.||Mira Monte Inn is not a place we would ever recommend...

Having never been to Bar Harbor, we were very excited for our trip. We were especially looking forward to being able to relax at the Mira Monte Inn. Based on the glowing descriptions of the property on the website, we believed that we would be staying in beautiful surroundings with luxurious accommodations, sumptuous breakfasts and exceptional service. Unfortunately, this was not the case.||Breakfast?||One part of the check-in process was to make our breakfast reservation and menu selection for the following day. To say we were disappointed in the breakfast would be an understatement. Once again, the website praised the chef driven menu and the spectacular offerings. Pictures of stunning breakfast entrees were posted. The breakfasts we received were far from these depictions. We were at Mira Monte for three nights. We went to breakfast twice. Both mornings we received food that was lukewarm and unremarkable at best. The sausage was not hot, the scrambled eggs were rubbery and tasted as if they had been poured from a carton, the French toast was cold and there wasn’t any fresh fruit offered or provided. We went to a local restaurant for breakfast on our final morning. The breakfasts seemed like nothing was prepared and cooked on site. Everything seemed to be heat and serve, much like a chain hotel breakfast. We have stayed at a number of bed and breakfasts over the years, the breakfasts here easily place at the bottom of the barrel.||Grounds:||The website also touted the spectacularly beautiful and welcoming gardens on the property. The pictures on the website displayed a veritable botanic garden array of flora. We were aware and pleased that our “suite” had a private screened porch which overlooked the gardens. Most likely, the gardens had been beautiful in the spring and early summer. During our stay, however, they were predominately dead or dying. There were no flowers to speak of and what was there can only be described as sad. Certainly, there wasn’t anything there that called for you to linger and enjoy the surroundings. And it was obvious that nothing had been done to try to make the gardens look any better.||The reservation information that we received did not disclose what time we could check-in. We arrived in Bar Harbor mid-morning. We found parking, had some lunch and browsed around the town. We went to check-in a little after 2 only to find a note on the locked front door that check-in was at 3. The note invited us to have a seat on the front porch and wait, if we were early. We found a bench in the side yard and waited. At 3 we went back to the front door only to find it was still locked. We rang the doorbell twice and got no response. We waited another 20 minutes and tried again. The door was now open, so we went inside. The innkeepers, Bruce & Cheryl, were in a sitting room working on computers and seemed very surprised to see us. We were not welcomed to the inn, Cheryl simply asked if we were there to check-in. The check-in process was odd and when another couple entered to check-in Cheryl passed us off to Bruce to show us to our room. ||We had reserved a suite in the Mira Monte Suites building, a distance from the main house. The “suite” was clean but very small and backed up to a street right outside the bedroom window. The bathroom was overtaken by an enormous whirlpool tub which was difficult to get into for a shower. There was another suite above us and we could easily hear footsteps and conversation. There was very little room to accommodate our luggage.||Finally, one of the things we enjoy most about staying at a Bed & Breakfast is the opportunity to chat with the owners/innkeepers. Bruce and Cheryl knew a lot about Acadia National Park and were eager to share their knowledge. They did have maps that they made available and they did offer some good advice about how to spend time in the Park. However, more often than not Bruce was aloof and Cheryl used the opportunity to share how tired they were because they were short staffed and overworked. She mentioned more than once that she was looking forward to shutting down for the winter and going back to their home in Southern California. She was often eager to share personal information about her health and their finances. These conversations were awkward and not welcome.||Mira Monte Inn is not a place we would ever recommend...

We stayed at the Mira Monte for 3 nights while visiting Acadia National Park. The best thing about our stay was that the Mira Monte is walking distance (a few blocks) from downtown Bar Harbor where you can catch the shuttle into Acadia, visit shops and eat at restaurants. We didn't need to use our car while in Bar Harbor because we could walk where we needed to. (Mira Monte did have free on-site parking.)

Another thing we enjoyed about our say was our room, Rockaway, which was large, comfortable and clean. It had enough space in the sitting area that would accommodate a pack & play for a young child. It was also great to have a place to spread out hiking gear. The porch was small, didn't have the privacy I expected (looked out on other rooms), but it was a nice option to have.

Unfortunately we were disappointed with the breakfast. The meals sounded wonderful (i.e. savory Dutch baby with fried egg, prosciutto and arugula), but the delivery was always slightly off. If we went back, we would probably eat out for breakfast or bring our own. (We did come from another bnb in Georgetown, ME that had a PHENOMENAL breakfast, so we may have been spoiled and had too high expectations.) There was also the expectation at the Mira Monte to pay for water bottles or use the tap in the bathroom which as hikers who paid a lot of money to stay in the hotel we didn't appreciate.

Lastly, we were disappointed with the service. Things seemed harried when we arrived to check in and that sense of disorganization seemed to continue throughout our stay.

In summary, we had a fine stay and greatly appreciated the location, but we would probably look elsewhere if we returned...