|
|
|
|||||||
|
The Kennebunks A choice location facing the open Atlantic, comfortable accommodations and an excellent dining room commend this turreted Maine-style oceanfront inn with wraparound veranda. Veteran restaurateur Jack Nahil, who formerly owned the White Barn Inn and the Salt Marsh Tavern, acquired the Cape Arundel in 1997 and started upgrading. He added queen and kingsize beds and in-room telephones, created more windows for what he rightly bills as "bold ocean views" and completely refurnished the adjacent 1950s motel building in a country inn motif. He also refurbished the main inn’s living room and added oriental rugs. An artist and avid gardener, he has given free rein to his talents inside and out. Throughout, his emphasis was on enhancing this "great Shingle-style structure, which is a wonderful property. It just needed some attention." He succeeded handsomely in maintaining the appropriately simple grandeur without adding the glitz so common today. Rooms on the inn’s second floor are spacious and pleasantly traditional in circa 1890s style. Rooms 2 and 3 are most coveted. The former has a queen poster bed and a private balcony overlooking the ocean, and Room 3 has a king poster bed with bow window facing the ocean. We enjoyed Room 4 on the far-front corner, which is attractively decorated in blue and white, but the view was all: two chairs in the corner from which to take in the bird’s-eye panorama of the ocean and the George H.W. Bush compound at Walker Point. Room 1 at the opposite corner has a queen bed under a stained-glass window and is an expanse of yellow with a moss green carpet. Also in demand are the rooms in the adjacent building, now called Rockbound. Each has a full bath and TV, and a private balcony with a front-on view of the ocean beyond the garden. Our end room had a queen bed with a sturdy white wood headboard crafted by a local artisan, angled from the corner to take in that bold ocean view. A rear carriage house has a second-floor suite called Ocean Bluff, with a queen bed, a gas fireplace, TV/VCR, a deck and panoramic views over the main house. The inn’s expansive, wicker-filled veranda facing the ocean is a super place to curl up with a good book, enjoy a cocktail or a nightcap, or the morning newspaper before breakfast. Breakfast is a hearty continental buffet. Ours began with fresh orange juice, cereal, muesli, fruit and yogurt, and superior scones and croissants. The highlight was the day’s extra: toasted basil-parmesan bread and a small spanakopita, prepared by the chef’s wife and "presented" in the dinner style on an oversize plate. Dinner here is better than ever, thanks to the assured Jack Nahil touch (see Dining Spots). He enhanced the dining situation and extended the inn's season.
For more information: www.capearundelinn.com Thirteen rooms and one suite with private baths. Mid-June to mid-October, doubles $285 to $365. Rest of year: doubles $125 to $345. Two-night minimum weekends. Closed January and February.
Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
page |
Full destination index | |
|
|||||||||||||||||||
