The Colony Hotel — Hotel in Kennebunkport

Where do I even begin with the Colony Hotel in Kennebunkport? My recent stay there was, without a doubt, one of the most frustrating and utterly disappointing hotel experiences I've ever had, especially considering what they charge. From the moment I tried to book it, right up until I had to fight my credit card company for a refund, it was just one misstep after another.|Booking : I was trying to get a last-minute room. I called the hotel and ended up speaking with a guy named Bill. It turns out he's the manager. Now, a manager would be welcoming. But Bill was just... cold. Like, genuinely seemed annoyed that I was even calling to make a reservation. I even mentioned I'm a travel advisor, hoping that might soften him up. Still frosty. I just brushed it off, figured it was a crazy week, but looking back, it was a pretty clear sign of things to come.|A "Warm" Welcome (Not Quite): We arrived at the hotel around 2 PM. Naturally, the room wasn't ready – get that. What I don't get is the reception. Michael at the front desk gave us the same icy vibe Bill had. Then there was this other woman checking people in, and she said, right in front of everyone, that she should be handing out glasses of Prosecco but was "just too busy." Seriously? If it's part of the package, hand out the Prosecco! It felt incredibly unprofessional. Michael then, in a rather rude tone, told us to "get something to eat and come back in 45 minutes." We had luggage. I asked what to do with it, and he just tossed us some tags, no pen, and told us to write our names and shove the bags in a corner. Not precisely a five-star welcome.|Lunch Letdown: We had lunch at their restaurant. "Subpar" is being generous. I ordered plain grilled chicken for my son, and they brought out an adult chicken sandwich instead—just another minor annoyance in a growing pile of issues.|The Air (or Lack Thereof) Conditioning: After lunch, we noticed all room windows were wide open. My husband went back to the front desk – partly to check if the room was finally ready (it wasn't, still) and partly to ask about the AC. And that's when we received the bombshell: there was no working air conditioning in the main building, where our room was located. Let me tell you, there was zero mention of this when I booked with Bill, and nothing in the confirmation email. The email mentioned some rooms don't have TVs, but not a peep about no AC. In the middle of summer, that's not just an oversight; it's a huge problem.|Room Ready... Eventually... Sort of: We finally got into the room at 5:30 PM. Our luggage? Still not there. We had a 6:15 PM dinner reservation, and since we'd just been swimming, we were all eager to get dressed. I went back down to Michael, explained the luggage situation, and asked if he could help move our dinner reservation. He just flat-out told me I needed to walk down to the terrace by the pool and change it myself. I was confused, thinking my reservation was for the main hotel restaurant, but he just said it wasn't.|Then, the lights in the room weren't working. I told him, and he said to "try all the switches." I had tried all the switches! And to top it off, no cord for the telephone. The room was easily 90 degrees. For health and safety, that's not okay.|The Final Straw: We went to the restaurant to cancel our dinner. The staff there were apologetic. They told us they've been begging the hotel to be clearer about dining locations because so many people cancel, not realizing the poolside restaurant had the same menu as lunch.|I managed to book another hotel, thankfully. On our way out, I spoke with Will at the front desk. He was apologetic and agreed I should have been told about the AC. I reiterated that Bill never said a word, and it wasn't in the confirmation. I made it very clear: if you don't have AC in a room, especially in summer, you have to tell guests upfront. He said he'd refund my deposit and canceled the rest of our stay. We were in that room for a total of 15 minutes.|The Never-Ending Refund Saga: The next morning, my son realized he'd left something in the room. We drove back. I sent the kids in, hoping they could grab it quickly. Joe was at the front desk, and he gave them a hard time, saying they'd have to come back in an hour. Unacceptable. I went in, spoke to Joe, and told him there was no one in the room and we needed our stuff now. He eventually let me go up with him.|While we were up there, I laid out all my concerns: the unfriendly staff, the constant misinformation, the missing AC, the dining mix-up. I specifically told him how unhelpful Michael had been and how truly upsetting the whole thing was. And Bill, the manager, was right behind the wall where the keys are, within earshot of everything. He heard every single word and never once came out to apologize or even acknowledge the situation. Joe promised me the deposit would be refunded.|It wasn't. I checked my credit card, and there was no refund. Sent two follow-up emails to the hotel, no response, no refund. I ended up having to dispute the charge with my credit card company.|Bottom Line: This entire experience was a complete disaster. The Colony Hotel is not worth what they're charging. The customer service is, hands down, the worst I've ever seen at a hotel, and the condition of the place doesn't justify their rates. Oh, and did I mention that when I opened the shower curtain in the room, there was black hair everywhere? Not just a few strands, but everywhere in the shower....

Overall I would say that this hotel falls short of the experience they promise including the “luxury” experience and prices they charge. Let’s start with the misleading advertisement on their site regarding several amenities…they advertise a “private” beach that is literally located across a very busy road and not on their property. There is no beach service, they do not provide any beach chairs or towels. On top of that this “beach” is essentially a fishing pier with garbage and portapotties. This is something that should be clarified to guests as your site falsely stated a private beach which this is not…anyone can have use and it is not just for hotel guests. ||||||We stayed in the “newly renovated wing” which thankfully has AC unlike most of the other room types. This room type is slightly more expensive than the others but I do not think it is worth it. We were disappointed with overall quality of the room and amenities, for example we only had two towels in our room at check in. We asked for another two full sets and only received two bath towels. Our shower was not clean and I was disappointed there was no shower shelf to place my items. Additionally the water pressure and water temp seemed to have a mind of their own, the temperature fluctuated from hot to cold to scolding hot and the pressure went from a medium drip to a slow trickle at best. For a newly renovated room I would expect a better overall bathroom experience. ||||Water bottles (or refillable carafe) were not provided for our coffee machine in room and when we inquired we were told we could purchase a water bottle or use tap. For the price of the room I would not have expected this response. ||||Additionally we did not have a robe, slippers, extra pillow or blankets as is customary for a “luxury” hotel to provide at this price point. It’s disappointing that the “small” details were overlooked. We also had a small patio off our room but no chairs or furniture to sit on…other rooms had chairs so again this is a misstep on the hotel. ||||Lastly it was extremely disappointing and inconvenient that we could hear every detail of our neighbors stay from what they were saying, watching and hear their dog barking that they left in the room alone. To be woken up by someone’s tv is less than ideal. In a new construction wing I would expect thicker walls and sound proofing. Another inconvenience was the lack of ice machine in the cove east building. It is a huge inconvenience for guests to have to walk the very far walk to the machine on the 2nd floor of the main building. When a guest ask for ice it should be brought to them and they should not be forced to walk yo get ice for nearly $600 a night. ||||||There also seems to be a lack of communication or standard in how guests are welcomed. For example we noticed guests receiving a welcome cocktail at checkin but we were not given one…Another example is the grass was cut at 9 am on Monday as guests were enjoying breakfast and the staff blew grass clippings which landed on the patio and lounge chairs where guests were eating breakfast. ||||Several seating amenities were not kept up, for example the Adirondack chairs near the shuffle board area were also covered in bird poop, not allowing for use….this remained for the duration of our stay even when they had staff cleaning the garden area, I guess they didn’t feel the need to wash the bird poop off the chairs. ||||On our second day we also noticed a bottle of champagne, several glasses and trash on the lawn chaise lounges that was not cleaned up from the day prior and remained there the entire day.  Additionally there was a swimsuit hung on the ledge of the pool that was there all day and several of the “clean” pool towels that we grabbed were stained. Unfortunately that made the pool area feel more like a motel 6 in a nice location vs an amenity that you are paying extra for. ||||The WiFi was terrible and hardly worked in any area of the hotel, understood this is an older property but that is an amenity advertised on your site and it should be expected to work. ||||TLDR: Not worth the price. Most of the rooms don’t have air conditioning which is not clearly advertised on their site. They also misleadingly advertise amenities such as a “private beach” which is public and not kept up at all. The grounds are not well maintained and the front desk staff does not seem to know what is going on. Their newer “luxury” rooms are just pigs with lipstick, terribly constructed and feels like a Hampton inn. Do not waste your money. We also brought this to managements attention to give them a chance to address before we posted and they didn’t seem to care that we were sharing this feedback. It seems they should care based on other guests recent feedback, they are clearly lacking and need to reevaluate their property, pricing and...

My parents had their honeymoon here in the 90s and my family and I have been staying here since I was a toddler. I am now almost 30 and have spent a few weekends here every summer of my life. I have stayed at least 50 times at The Colony and stockpiled several great memories at this hotel and the shining star of those memories, besides the location and structure, was always the service.

In the past few years, there has been a drastic and painfully apparent decline in cleanliness, hospitality, attentiveness and service. I always enjoyed the traditional charm of this hotel. As opposed to other reviews, I rather enjoy the lack of A/C, forcing me to keep the window open and listen to the waves crash on the pebbled beach. I love not having a TV in the room, forcing me to crack open that book I said I would read. The view, the historic nature, the pool (despite being switched from salt water to chlorinated years back - another change that I was sad to see), the porch filled with wicker chairs, the landscape, all of these things are what made this hotel my favorite (now former favorite).

This summer, my family and I stayed at the Colony once again. But were confronted with a markedly different experience. We went to the Marine Room for a drink before heading into town for dinner, where a line had formed of 15 people, yet only 1 bartender worked the bar. (He’s wonderful, charming, and makes great drinks). But we waited 20 minutes just to get a drink order in. You would imagine a holiday weekend with a wedding happening, management would have better staffed the bar. On another occasion, last year, my family and I stayed in a room just above the Marine Room. We were kept up late until 11PM, with loud thumping music coming from beneath us. We were confused because on this occasion, there was no wedding or event happening. We later found out that that music was coming from the kitchen. We called and asked for them to turn it off and were not given any form of apology.

This latest stay, when we checked into our room, we found a balloon on the ceiling of the bathroom, left from the previous guest. We were shocked housekeeping didn’t notice or remove the balloon from the room while turning it over. The bedding also had a noticeable 3” rip in it which was noticeable right away. The fan was covered in dust, and appeared it hadn’t been cleaned in months. The carpet appeared stained as well.

The breakfast, which used to be complimentary, is now $19. This would be understandable if the buffet met the standards of years past, impeccable service, gorgeous china, waiters offering kids hot chocolate with whipped cream (little touches that made it special). Now, we had to remind our waiter twice just to refill our coffees. The tables were also bare as opposed to the crisp white table clothes that used to cover them. The food is also kept in the dining room, as opposed to the larger spread that used to be served up in the ballroom.

When we went down to the pool, the cushions were noticeably dirty (dog hair, stains, covered in sand). No clean towels available in the bin, old food and drinks left out for hours that hornets start to swarm. No one came around and picked up old towels or came around taking food or drink orders as they did in the past.

The carpets leading up the stairs and in the hallways also seem dirtier than ever. Clumps of dog hair, mulch and stains look like they have been there for days.

We also were confused when we left the room at 8AM and returned at 1PM and still had no room service come through. Despite speaking with housekeeping as we left the room for breakfast, she asked “you’re leaving, want your room cleaned?” She was cleaning the room right across from ours so didn’t expect it to be that long of a wait.

I’ve always loved this place, but until the service matches the $600-$800/night price tag, we...