Otter Creek Market — Local services in Mount Desert

Otter Creek Inn was a clean and quirky place to stay while visiting nearby Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. A straight shot and easy drive to both locations, the Inn was charming and friendly. We stayed in the Loon Room, and found it clean and cheerful. For those reviewers who picked it apart, ask yourselves if you would have gotten the same for the price you paid at any chain hotel. My guess would be “no”. Quirky, sure, but that is part of the charm. For those who complained about size and cleanliness, I am here to disagree. Our room was very clean, and exactly the amount of room that we needed. The showers had been described as tiny, and as a not so tiny person I was concerned, but I had no need to be. There was more than enough room to shower. The bed was huge and we both slept quite well. Even the continental breakfast was way more than continental. We had breakfast sandwiches, fruit, coffee and tea to choose from every morning, and always greeted with kindness and a smile. The only two reasons I didn’t give it five stars was 1) the store part was closed on the day we left and we didn’t know that (our own fault for not checking) so we couldn’t get supplies for the ride home, and 2) the door to our room (and I’m guessing other rooms) was super hard to shut, so you kind of had to bang it shut to lock it. From the occasional banging from other rooms, I’m guessing the same applies for them. Again, humidity can do that, but that was a bit of a bummer. We were fortunate in that it wasn’t very warm when we stayed so the lack of AC was no big deal, and they did have a ceiling fan and stand up fan in the room, but I could see where that might be an issue on hot nights. Overall a lovely stay and...

This was one of the rudest and most uncomfortable experiences I’ve ever had at a business. My friends and I walked into this store because we saw signs for lobster rolls and clam chowder, excited to try it. From the moment we stepped inside, the staff seemed cold and unwelcoming—not a hello, no friendliness, just an immediate sense that we weren’t welcome.

We asked about the lobster roll and were told there’d be a 15-minute wait. No problem, we were happy to wait. But when my friend asked a totally normal question, whether the roll was served hot or cold, the woman behind the counter snapped that it was warm and that it “should be common sense.” Completely unnecessary, passive-aggressive, and unprofessional.

My friend later went back in, very calmly and respectfully, to let them know that the response felt rude. Instead of showing any accountability or basic decency, they doubled down and kicked her out of the store. As we were walking back to our car, already leaving, the owner came outside just to yell at us and tell us to have a nice life and never come back. It felt targeted and honestly discriminatory.

The food didn’t even look that good and the place itself was nothing special. There’s no excuse for treating people like this, especially paying customers. If you don’t want people asking basic questions or expect everyone to read your mind, maybe don’t run a business. We were calm, respectful, and patient and were met with hostility and aggression.

Avoid this place. There are plenty of other spots with great food and way...

The inn itself is definitely motel style, with all of the doors opening out to the parking lot area. Sounds did not travel much through the walls, but every morning other guests were extremely noisy starting pretty really in the morning. There is no air conditioning, so we had to sleep with the windows open since it was very hot while we were there, leading to the nose problem in the mornings. The shower is a tiny stall but we had a king size bed in room six which was very nice. We were told upon check in that cleaning service only happens if requested during your stay, which was fine with us, and there were enough towels and toiletries there for the whole week! The market where you go to eat breakfast was pretty neat, and the breakfast sandwiches, fresh muffins, and cinnamon rolls (if you get there at the right time) were great. We did eat the lobster dinner there one night as well, which was very good and very reasonable priced. The staff is quite a cast of characters, some of them very friendly and some not, which definitely made our stay very interesting. Also, a tip for getting around: bar harbor is less than ten minutes away, but trying to park there during busy season is a nightmare after 10am, and will cost you. We eventually figured out that the blackwoods campground bus of the free island explorer system goes by, so if you check the bus schedule you can just flag them down and get a ride to some park locations or bar harbor, which saved us the hassle! From there, you can catch a different bus to other...