Bar Harbor Bed and Breakfasts Host Guests for the 46th Music Festival

Bar Harbor, Maine, has many delightful bed and breakfasts. Check out one of these iLoveInns.com options for your festival vacation.

written by: jdietzel-glair 

The Bar Harbor Music Festival is one of the best places in the country to see up-and-coming talent. Nationally recognized, it has helped to advance the careers of more than a thousand aspiring instrumentalists, singers, and composers. Now in its 46th season, festival attendees are treated to a variety of music including jazz, string orchestra, and opera. The festival runs for an entire month (July 1-29, 2012) so there’s plenty of time to visit Bar Harbor, Maine, for this musical extravaganza. More information, including tickets and a concert schedule, can be found at the festival website: www.barharbormusicfestival.org.

Shore Path Cottage
Located on a quiet street, this oceanfront cottage offers beautiful ocean views. The Chester family has managed this delightful cottage for thirty years; they’ve even named the rooms after the children that have grown up in the house over the years. The Shore Path Cottage is one of the few bed and breakfasts that features a vegetarian kitchen. They are also happy to accommodate other dietary requests including kosher, lactose or gluten intolerant, vegan, and macrobiotic. Guests can walk along the famous Shore Path, originally created in 1880, to restaurants, shops, and galleries. After a long day of sightseeing, enjoy wine, lemonade, iced tea, and cookies on the seaside porch or play the grand piano in the living room. Guests visiting during June and July can take a bird walk with March Willow, a trained naturalist specializing in ornithology, as their guide. Guests can also get personalized advice on visiting Acadia National Park from Lisabeth Chester Oxman, long time resident of Bar Harbor and hiking and biking enthusiast. The Shore Path Cottage is offering a 15% discount for stays of four or more days off season

Chiltern Inn
Relax in romantic elegance in this lovingly rebuilt 1906 Victorian with cherry wood floors and high ceilings. Each of the four suites has window seats, fireplaces with antique mantels, and oversized marble bathrooms with a two-person Jacuzzi and double shower. The Inn is a short 7 minute walk from the Bar Harbor Village Green but many guests find everything they need right on site; amenities include an art gallery, home theater, and an indoor spa with a 32-foot lap pool, eight-person hot tub, and sauna. Compass Harbor, a small, quiet part of Acadia National Park is also within walking distance. Golfers can try their luck on the eighth oldest golf club in the United States; Kebo Valley Golf Club is less than two miles away. Recount the experiences of the day in the library loft with cheese and crackers and a glass of wine or just read a book and listen to soothing music. The Chiltern Inn has been featured in Country Inn (August 1998), Leading Estates of the World (no. 174), and Home and Garden TV’s If Walls Could Talk.

Llangolan Inn & Cottages
Choose a room in the historic home built in 1817 or one of the small cottages and escape from the crowds in this bed and breakfast located 7 miles from downtown Bar Harbor. The main home has 5 tasteful rooms. The 8 cottages feature kitchenettes for those who like to do some of their own home cooking. An entire family can stay together in Cottage 6 which can accommodate up to 6 people. Some of the cottages are pet-friendly for those who like to bring four legged family members on vacation. Spend a day soaking up the sun at Hadley Point Beach, a salt water beach within walking distance of the Inn. Enjoy a free wine tasting at Bar Harbor Cellars located across the street from the Inn. The vineyard opened in 2003 and has a variety of red, white, fruit, and dessert wines. For that that want to explore more of the area, the Inn & Cottages are located on the Island Explorer free shuttle route.

Thornhedge Inn
Built in 1900 as a summer “cottage,” this Inn has been family owned and operated since 1974. The eleven rooms in the Inn have modern conveniences including private baths and cable television. Located only one block from the restaurants and shops at the Village Green, guests can listen to the sounds of the Bar Harbor Town Band during their free concerts on Monday and Thursday evenings from July until mid-August. Enjoy an expanded continental breakfast before heading out to see the sights. Then share your stories with other guests over afternoon wine and cheese. The Inn is conveniently located less than a tenth of a mile from the Bar Harbor Congregational Church, one of the venues for the Bar Harbor Music Festival. Guests can also walk to the Bar Harbor Brewing Company. Established in 1990 and Bar Harbor’s first microbrewery, visitors can sample the four ales made onsite. Those looking for the natural beauty of Maine can drive or walk one mile to Acadia National Park.

Kingsleigh Inn
Only 100 yards from the water, this Inn is located in Southwest Harbor, an old fishing village and home to many shops, restaurants, and a marina. This 1904 Queen Anne Victorian has eight guest rooms, many with a private balcony overlooking the harbor. Breakfast at this Inn is a gourmet multicourse event with muffins, croissants, cinnamon rolls, a fruit course, and a mouthwatering hot entree. Guests can also enjoy afternoon sweets and evening wine and hors d’oeurves. Drive a short 4 miles to see the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse built in 1858. Then hike down the pink granite rocks and smell the salty sea air. No visit is complete without a drive along the Park Loop Road to see Sand Beach, Thunder Hole, Otter Cliff, and possibly local wildlife. Located fifteen minutes from Bar Harbor, this Inn is perfect for those looking for a quiet place to stay. Conde Nast Traveler Magazine has named this Inn a “Great Value Vacation.” Yankee Magazine has also honored the Inn with an Editors’ Choice award.

Use iLoveInns.com to find the perfect place for all of your bed and breakfast vacations.