Topside Inn

Topside Inn is an 1860 hilltop sea captain's house in Boothbay Harbor, Maine, run as a 25-room small inn with what is, by local consensus, the best harbor view in town. The building sits on a high lot above the harbor — three stories tall, painted in the muted historic-coastal palette, with wraparound porches that frame the harbor's working fleet and the lobster boats coming in.

Boothbay Harbor is a small Mid-Coast Maine working-fishing town that becomes a summer-tourist town from June through September and quiets down considerably the rest of the year. The Topside is one of the substantive small inns that anchors the village.

The setting

On McKown Hill, a short walk above the harbor, with the Boothbay Harbor central pier and the village's restaurants a five-minute walk downhill. Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens (one of the better botanical gardens in New England) is fifteen minutes by car. The Boothbay Region Land Trust's coastal trails are within twenty minutes.

The drive from Portland is ninety minutes north on Route 1; from Boston, three and a half hours.

The building

An 1860 captain's house — three-story Victorian, white-clapboard, gabled roof, full-width porches on multiple levels. The interior is Neo-Victoriana of the proper Maine variety: period millwork, antique furniture, plank floors, a parlor with a fireplace. A connected smaller building holds additional rooms.

The renovation work has been gradual. The 1860 character is intact.

The rooms

Twenty-five rooms across the main house and the connected building. Categories climb from compact rooms (around $295) up through suites with private balconies, harbor views, and the better light. Beds are queens and kings, linens are good, bathrooms are functional and updated. The harbor-view rooms are the property's signature — the elevation gives them an unusual sweep across the working harbor.

There's no elevator. Stairs to the upper floors are part of the experience.

Food & drink

There's no full restaurant. A continental breakfast is included in the dining room. For dinner, the walk into Boothbay Harbor's restaurant strip reaches the Tugboat Inn restaurant, Ports of Italy, Mine Oyster, the Lobster Dock, and Brown Bag for breakfast pastries.

On the property

A small Maine inn with the basics.

• Continental breakfast included
• Wraparound porches with harbor views
• Walking distance to the harbor and the village
• Open seasonally (typically May through October)

Who it's for

• Travelers doing a Maine coast long weekend
• Couples who want a quiet hilltop with the best harbor view in town
• Repeat Mid-Coast visitors who've cycled through the working-port hotels
• Photographers — the harbor view is the property's draw

Who it's not for

• Year-round travelers — the inn is seasonal
• Travelers who want a contemporary boutique aesthetic
• Anyone who needs walking distance with no elevation (it's a hilltop; the walk back up is real)

Nearby

Walk five minutes downhill to Boothbay Harbor's central pier and the village restaurants. Take a boat — Cap'n Fish's whale watch, the Balmy Days excursion to Monhegan Island, or one of the lobster-boat tours. Drive fifteen minutes to Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens. Drive twenty minutes for the Damariscotta peninsula and the oyster farms. Drive thirty minutes for Pemaquid Point Light. Camden is forty-five minutes north for a long-day drive up the Mid-Coast.