Jennifer L.
Yelp
Bottom line: Quaint and quiet bed-and-breakfast sort of place (without breakfast!) about a 10-minute walk from downtown Bar Harbor. Nice to have more of a suite for the price of a hotel room.
We stayed here for several days on a trip to Bar Harbor. We were two couples traveling together, so we were looking for a place not far from downtown Bar Harbor that might have some space for sitting around and chatting in the evenings. We ended up choosing the Bar Harbor Manor because they offered a good AAA rate and you could choose your room individually on their website, based upon its characteristics. This was pretty fun -- should I go with the queen bed room with the fireplace, the attic suite with the full kitchen, or one of the newer hotel-like king size beds? I'd describe this place as a "compound" of houses: the one main "manor," one newer hotel-like building with lots of rooms, and several cute stand-alone buildings that only had 2-4 rooms in each one. I found this nice because it was pretty quiet with only 1 or two neighbors adjacent to each room.
Our room could have been called "The Rose Room," because it was packed full of all things roses, from the carpet to the several types of wallpaper to the comforter and pillows! It reminded me of a bed-and-breakfast type thing, with a large sleigh bed and old ornate furniture. The suite had a bedroom with ample closet, attached to a sitting area with a fireplace, small table, and kitchenette (no stove or dishes), attached to the large bathroom. The couple we were traveling with had the entire attic suite to themselves. If you could get over the angled ceilings, there was ample space -- a living room that could sit 5+, a full kitchen with stove, oven, and utensils, a bathroom, and a separate bedroom. Both rooms were only accessible via flights of stairs, so consider this if you would avoid going up stairs with luggage. Otherwise, I thought the attic suite would be a great place to host a family for a visit. It wasn't highly decorated nor reminiscent of a B&B feel, but a good place to hang out. We enjoyed purchasing some local beers, keeping them in the fridge, and then having a few when we returned to our rooms in the evening.
The staff was great. Very friendly, accommodating, and honest in their assessment of what we should do or avoid. (For instance, don't bother going on a whale watching trip before July if you're looking to see whales!) In the main check-in area, there are umbrellas to borrow, lots of flyers for things to do, the daily newspaper, and a coffee machine. The plenitude of menus also helped us decide on good places to eat.
It's about 0.8 miles -- or a 10-minute walk -- to the downtown area, which was fine for us. We often chose to walk rather than deal with parking downtown.