The Boathouse Waterfront

I was so excited for my stay at The Boathouse, and sadly I was met with the worst hotel stay I’ve ever had especially at this price point. My husband and I were visiting Kennebunkport for a close friend’s wedding. When we checked in our room was clean however the TV never worked, the air conditioning would not stay on, and while there was an iron there was no ironing board in the room. I tried to address these issues by calling the front desk. I called 5x from the phone in the room only to get to a voicemail box that was full and would not accept new messages. I called from my cell phone to see if an outside line would reach a staff member at the desk, it did not. For a nearly $1200 2 night stay, I expect that you can reach the front desk when you call. Overall, I’m extremely disappointed and would not recommend this hotel based on the level of service we received. Such a bummer.

We stayed in the main building, which is not worth anywhere near $600 a night (with taxes and fees). Dirty room, peeling paint on the balcony railings and furniture, tiny bathroom which was not clean, lumps and wirnkles in carpet, marks and stains on wall and furniture. Front desk agent was nice, but knows nothing about the area and is not helpful at all. We checked out early due to our bad experience, and all she could say was you still have to pay for tonight. Geez. Please read on....Breakfast was appalling. The hard boiled eggs were days, if not weeks, old. They were so rotten that they smelled horrible and were squishy and falling apart. I brought this to the attention of the front desk agent, who seemed to be the only person responsible for setting up breakfast. The only other breakfast options were all carbs one type of bagel, one type of muffin, and one type of cereal. There was no protein available, nor any drinks other than orange juice and coffee. Ice water would have been a welcome option. Also, breakfast is supposed to be from 8:00 am to 10:00 am, but we went down at 8:15 am, and noticed several other guests still waiting for the breakfast area to be set up. There was no seating for people to eat either, since the dining area was blocked off. People had to sit at the bar to eat. This was by far the absolute worst continental breakfast I have ever seen in 40+ years of traveling, and was shocking at a hotel that charges as much as this one does. They should not even offer breakfast.Also, our guest room was, for lack of a better word, sad and in need of some TLC. It appeared reasonably clean in some spots and dirty in others, but the carpet had several lumpy spots in desperate need of stretching or replacement, the walls were full of marks from years of things being bumped into them, the furniture was knicked up, the bathroom was very tiny and not very clean. The balcony, which was a big selling point for us, seemed more like the landing of a fire escape in Brooklyn. It was cramped and dirty, with years of peeling paint on the railings, two old and uncomfortable small wicker chairs, and a small, heavy, awkward table with badly peeling paint. The balcony was directly over top of the restaurant/bar roof, so it lacked any sort of charm or ambiance, and was not enjoyable due to all the noise coming up from the bar and restaurant (this was a Monday night).The front desk agent, while nice, was not at all helpful. She could not recommend any restaurants in town or activities for us to do. She was hardly ever at the desk, it seems that they are understaffed and she has too many jobs to do. We checked out a day early and lost money, but stayed that night at a Courtyard that was head and shoulders above this place for only $150 a night.THE GOOD POINTS we had lunch from the restaurant and it was delicious. And the macarons we ordered to have waiting in our room were outstanding. The valets are helpful and parking is easy. That 's about it.

We go frequently for happy hour at the bar. Shot out to Collm and Cristian at the barLove the service, the views, and the prices. Food is great as well.Food drinks: See above

Update: within 24 hrs of posting my original review the manager called to apologize, refund the rooms and send a gift card for a future visit… much appreciated.Dirty hotel! Avoid! This hotel is split into two buildings…one building is modern, while the other (wharf house annex rooms) were dirty and dingy! We stayed in the annex rooms and they ceilings were low and there was no overhead lights, only two lamps. The bathroom was so small you could hardly raise your arms to the side or move around. It’s was honestly pretty creepy. In addition to that there were stains in the carpet and other peoples hair in the shower. I felt so uncomfortable I wore my sandals because I didn’t want to walk on the carpet or be barefoot in the shower. I would not recommended these rooms… maybe the main building is nicer? On the positive it’s a great location, but the not the price for the quality and cleanliness.

Apparently there are two classes of rooms at this location and they are DRASTICALLY different, but both priced at luxury prices. We were unfortunate enough to end up in one the old, dirty rooms for the whopping price of around $500 a night. I am attaching photos for reference. When we arrived, we were directed to a separate building with two steep, narrow sets of stairs to walk up to reach our room. We had a lot of luggage and no bellman was offered. This was a large struggle for my aging family members who we assisted. The stairs were carpeted with gross stained carpet— first red flags. My room was super old and poorly maintained — dust everywhere, hair, rust, and peeling paint. The bathroom had suspicious brown drippings in the shower so I didn’t shower. The walls were PAPER thin so I didn’t sleep all night as I could hear every word and sneeze my neighbors made. I slept 4 hours. Breakfast was similarly subpar— frozen almost soggy muffins and toast/ hard boiled eggs/ chobani in a mini fridge. I tried to visit the front desk in the first instance and no one was there. I then returned for check out and complained when the apparent manager was there and expressed my concerns. Instead of apologizing for the state of the room (I showed her pictures) she criticized me for coming to her to complain so late. I told her I would have complained earlier if anyone had been at the desk. She said I booked through expedia so there was nothing that could be done to help me, and I left.