The Asticou Hotel
The Asticou Hotel
The Asticou Hotel, one of Maine’s grand dame 19th-century hotels, has been restored, expanded, and updated just in time for its summer reopening in June 2025.
Formerly The Asticou Inn, the property boasts a stunning location on Mount Desert Island, overlooking the waters of Northeast Harbor, and is just a short drive from Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. The hotel was named after Chief Asticou, a leader of the Wabanaki people around the time of the first European contact in the early 1600s, in the area that is now Acadia National Park.
Built at a time when wealthy “rusticators” transformed the area into a social playground for the likes of the Astors, Vanderbilts, and Rockefellers, the historic hotel dates back to 1883. The original inn was destroyed by fire in 1899 and rebuilt in 1901, and it was one of the few island buildings to survive the devastating Great Fire of 1947. Three generations of the Savage family owned the inn until it was purchased in the 1960s by the Asti-Kim Corporation, a consortium of residents and summer visitors.
The Asticou Hotel and its new pool
The Asticou Hotel
The Asticou was purchased in 2023 for just under $7 million by Maine-based hotelier Tim Harrington of Atlantic Hospitality and has undergone a year-long $28 million renovation.
“We’re thrilled to bring The Asticou into a new chapter while honoring the rich history and heritage that has made it such a beloved landmark in Maine,”
Harrington is the driving force behind the renovation of historic Maine resort properties, including The Claremont in Southwest Harbor, Bar Harbor’s Salt Cottages, and Dunes on the Waterfront in Ogunquit. He was a founder and remains a partner of the Kennebunkport Resort Collection, a company responsible for such lodging properties as Hidden Pond and The Tides, both located in Kennebunkport.
“We’re thrilled to bring The Asticou into a new chapter while honoring the rich history and heritage that has made it such a beloved landmark in Maine,” said Harrington, Chairman of Atlantic Hospitality, in a press statement. “This renovation is not just about enhancing the guest experience; it’s about preserving the essence of what has made The Asticou special for over a century. We’ve blended timeless elegance with modern comforts, creating a space where guests can experience the natural beauty of Mount Desert Island in a setting that feels both grand and intimate. We can’t wait to welcome both new and returning guests to this extraordinary destination.”
Guestroom at The Asticou Hotel
The Asticou Hotel
The Asticou will have 82 rooms, including 50 renovated guest rooms and suites inside the original inn, as well as the addition of 15 harborside cottages and 17 harbor-view spa suites with terraces. The interiors are courtesy of Atlantic Hospitality’s team of designers, Krista Stokes and Mark Cotto, who drew inspiration from the coastal landscape to incorporate colors such as bark, moss, slate, oyster, and lady slipper pink. The public spaces will showcase a custom toile wallpaper featuring artwork by David Allen, drawing inspiration from Martha Stewart’s nearby Skylands estate and gardens.
The property retains its classic shingle-style architecture, but other aspects of the hotel have been updated and reimagined, with landscaped grounds that reference the adjacent and legendary Asticou Azalea Garden, filled with rhododendrons and azaleas, and laid out in the style of a Japanese garden.
The Cottages at The Asticou Hotel
The Asticou Hotel
The 25-acre Asticou Hotel property offers a heated pool with a poolside bar and grille, a spa, and a fitness center. The dining options will include fine dining at Dahlia’s, the Moss Bar, and a cabana bar by the pool. The hotel plans to offer yoga, art classes, stargazing, guided hikes, and boat charters through The Asticou’s sister property, The Claremont Hotel in Southwest Harbor.
The Asticou Hotel is located just a mile from the village of Northeast Harbor, which offers a variety of restaurants, shops, museums, and galleries. The rusticators may be long gone, but for The Asticou Hotel, one of the last vestiges of that gilded age, the classic Maine summer endures.
For bookings, visit The Asticou Hotel.
The recent rain in Maine is easing the drought that parts of the state have been experiencing since the fall.
Scott Dean, a Spectrum meteorologist, said much of Maine has been at least “dry” for several months. Parts of the state, including Portland, Bangor and Bar Harbor, are under a “moderate” drought.
Much of the country is also experiencing a drought, Dean added. The Southeast is seeing extreme levels of drought, and the West coast has been under a drought for years. There are many factors that go into this, including climate change, weather patterns like El Niño and La Niña and other factors.
And, when an area does experience drought, it can become a feedback loop. With less moisture in the ground and atmosphere, the drought can “feed upon itself,” Dean said.
“It takes a while to get into a drought and it also takes a while to get out of one,” Dean said.
But, the rainy days in Maine have been alleviating the drought, Dean said. And, the trend is likely to continue — the forecast is predicting above average levels of precipitation for the next three to four weeks.
“Hopefully, we are continuing to head in the right direction as the drought has eased in these areas,” Dean said.
In fact, if these rains do continue, Maine could come out of the drought sometime this summer.
Craig Joseph Ahlemeyer
STANDISH – Craig J. Ahlemeyer, 48 of Standish, passed away unexpectedly, Saturday, June 13, 2026.A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m., Saturday, June 27 th at Standish Congregational Church, 25 Oak Hill Road in Standish. A reception will follow.To see Craig’s full obituary, share a memory or leave the family an online condolence, please visit http://www.athutchins.com.
“Do you ever think we could find some woods to walk in?” my outdoorsy 12-year-old asks me, every now and again. As a kid growing up in New York City, Anton appreciates all the skate parks and bagel shops, but he also really craves nature, like in his bones.
So, when school got out, I offered to take him for a weekend in Maine, a place with not only woods but also lakes and rocks and periwinkles that come out of their shells when you hum. We were both really excited.
The first night, we were lucky enough to snag a room at Aragosta, a beautiful small hotel in Deer Isle that Alison had recommended.
The chef-owner, Devin Finigan, is famous for her seasonal tasting menus, but we focused on the breakfast that came with the room, including these Maine blueberry pancakes. I don’t even usually like pancakes and these blew my mind.
We also played a LOT of chess on our little travel board.
After breakfast, we set out to hike up Blue Hill Mountain.
Here’s the summit!
In the afternoon, we explored the charming fishing village of Stonington…
…then joined my friend Julie (of Rudy Jude fame) and her family for dinner at the Burnt Cove Boil.
Basically, a crab gets plonked down in front of you, followed by a corn on the cob, then a lobster, then a classic ice-cream sandwich. Julie and her husband Anthony taught us how to get all the meat out. (Their kids were already pros.)
Afterward, the four boys scrambled around on the rocks, while the adults chatted. It’s always such a treat to hang out with people who live in the place you’re visiting, don’t you think? Julie and Anthony described how they brought their recently hatched chicks into their home to keep them warm, and all the peeping was sooooo loud — and then a cricket got into the house and added to the noise and no one could find it and everyone was going nuts, haha. Very different from city life!
The next day, Anton and I stayed at the lovely Asticou Hotel near Acadia National Park.
We drove to a couple trailheads but they were PACKED — you had to stand in a long line, just to start the hike! Luckily, we found a quieter area and took a long walk around Jordan Pond, playing Would You Rather and Categories along the way. Do you have any favorite travel games?
Finally, we skimmed stones on our last afternoon before heading back to Brooklyn.
Epic travel buddy
Oh, Maine, what a magical place! Not pictured, of course: traffic, grumpy preteen moments, locking our keys in the rental car, etc., but all that’s to be expected.
Have you been to Maine? Do you live there? What parts do you love? Any pro tips? I’d love to hear. xoxo
P.S. Our Maine trip — and another amazing hotel — when the boys were much younger, and a Maine home with a bedroom looking over water.
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