The historic Cape Arundel Inn is open year round | Photo: Heidi Kirn PhotographyRelax and dine on the ocean at Cape Arundel Inn Matthew Elder October 19, 2024 577 This Kennebunkport jewel offers year-round comfort with an unmatched Atlantic view Each room is unique and comfortable – most with ocean views Photo: Heidi Kirn Photography After more than a century, Kennebunkport remains one of Montrealers’ favorite seacoast escapes. Little wonder, as it is little more than a five-hour drive, compared to the 12-hour marathon to Prince Edward Island, another historically favourite destination. An early-morning start gets you to the Maine coast in time for lunch. What’s more, it’s a wonderful drive across the rolling green hills of Vermont and through the dramatic mountain passes of New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Located in the heart of southern Maine’s beach shore, between Old Orchard in the north and Ogunquit and York to the south, Kennebunkport combines the charms of a picturesque 400-year-old fishing village, with luxurious but understated inns and gourmet restaurants. Cape Arundel Inn Main House, Seacrest king room Photo: Heidi Kirn Photography Many of Kennebunkport’s elite resorts are part of the Kennebunkport Resort Collection, comprising 10 inns and resorts located in and around town, most including gourmet restaurants. Arguably at the top of the group is the Cape Arundel Inn and Resort, nestled on the rocks on the point after which it is named, a few minutes’ drive from Dock Square in the village center. (More on the KRC’s other properties in the accompanying article.) The 129-year-old inn’s main building, overlooking Ocean Avenue and the open sea, has eight guestrooms in the main building and six more in the adjacent Rockbound Bungalows, plus the Ocean Bluff Suite nearby. The Clubhouse down the street has 14 rooms in its Carriage House. The rooms are spacious, with sitting areas and furnishings of traditional rich wood, luxurious linen sheets, thick cotton towels and premium bath products. A three-bedroom house, Ivy Cottage, next to the Clubhouse, with a fully equipped open-concept kitchen is also available. The author enjoyed fine cuisine in the elegant Ocean dining room The Inn has a laid-back yet elegant atmosphere, with its ground-floor common rooms offering an uninterrupted view of the sea from the building’s position well above the roadway below. There is a large living room with fireplace and the Ocean restaurant and bar, which serves a full breakfast and dinner daily. Afternoon cocktails are available in the living room area and outside on the long verandah and on Adirondack chairs on the front lawn. Cuisine is a big part of a stay at Cape Arundel Inn, and Ocean is one of Kennebunkport’s finest restaurants. Its mainstay is a multi-course prix-fixe menu with optional wine pairings. There are three courses plus dessert, and diners can choose among them to create three, four or five courses. At the time of the visit in September, the first-course choices included raw oysters, arugula salad, watermelon salad, calamari and corn chowder. The second course items were scallops, grilled octopus, a crab/avocado mélange atop gazpacho and crispy pork belly. There were seven main-course choices: halibut, lobster, bluefin tuna, filet mignon, osso bucco, duck breast and basil/ricotta ravioli. Examples of wine pairings were a Chateau l’Escallrelle Méditerranée rosé from France with the watermelon salad, a Te Pa Marlborough sauvignon blanc from New Zealand with the crab and avocado, and an E. Guigal Côte du Rhône white from France. Cape Arundel Inn Rockbound Bungalow Photo: Paula Havel, Jackie Greaney Three courses, even before considering dessert, might seem excessive, but the portion sizes are appropriately modest, creating a perfect varied gourmet experience. Breakfast at Ocean is not to be missed, with both light options (fruit/berry plate or yoghurt and granola) and the full deal (quiche, eggs any style with bacon or sausage, or a three-egg omelet.) The only distraction from our plated masterpieces was the landmark view, enjoyed through large picture windows, of waves crashing over the rocks off Cape Arundel, against the Atlantic seascape. Guests of Cape Arundel Inn have access to the outdoor swimming pool and clubhouse at the Club House, which also has a bar with vintage billiards table and a library. Bicycles can be borrowed from the inn. The most obvious and enticing activity is to take a walk along Ocean Avenue, southward along a row of fabulous New England homes and northward toward past Walker’s Point, the summer home of the presidential Bush family. You’ll know a member of the presidential is home if the Texas flag is flying beneath the Stars and Stripes on the nautical flagpole easily seen from the road. Cape Arundel Inn’s motto, “Where Relaxed Meets Refined”, sums up the guest experience nicely. It combines laid-back peace with understated luxury, and the result is Kennebunkport accommodation at its best. Contact: capearundelinn.com; 1-800 514-0968; 208 Ocean Ave., Kennebunkport, ME 04046 Sister properties offer wide range of accommodation Cape Arundel Inn offers a quiet, oceanfront experience. For those who prefer to be right in town, Kennebunk Resort Collection has a number of first-class offerings. One is the venerable Kennebunkport Inn, a classic New England Inn on Dock Square, the town center, and its steakhouse One Dock Prime. Around the corner, just off the square and literally right on the harbour, is The Boathouse Waterfront Hotel, with its cozy nautical-theme rooms and restaurant, David’s KPT, which features contemporary dining, a raw oyster bar and a fabulous deck overlooking the harbour. Also on Kennebunkport’s harbour is the Yachtsman Hotel & Marina Club, with 30 cozy bungalows with fireplaces. Up the street is The Grand Hotel, a large and new hotel on the hill overlooking the village. Two quieter properties round out the resort group’s in-town offerings. The Lodge on the Cove comprises spacious accommodations in several buildings on a quiet cove off the harbour. It includes The Dory restaurant, a casual poolside eatery known for its build-your-own burgers. Next door is The Cottages at Cabot Cove, a collection of traditional but luxurious cottages. Both resorts are an easy walk to Dock Square. A bit farther afield at Goose Rocks Beach is the Tides Beach Club and its classic seafood restaurant. The former Tides Inn-By-The-Sea was completely renovated and taken upscale a decade ago but retains the character of the hotel that has attracted summer visitors since 1900. It is directly on Goose Rocks Beach, long a favourite of Montreal families who still rent summer cottages in the area. Next door is a recent addition to the Collection, Goose Rocks Beach House, which comprises three large condo-style residences and open year-round. A few minutes inland is Hidden Pond, a luxury cottage resort set amid hiking trails and comprising its own farm. The resort includes Earth restaurant and its “field-to-fork” organic cuisine, as well as the Tree Spa with treatment rooms located in tree houses. Note that while Cape Arundel Inn is open year-round, some of the KRC properties close for the winter by the end of October. The hotel group has number of special offers, including a 15% discount for Canadian visitors. For more information: www.kennebunkportresortcollection.com/offers –Matthew Elder Kennebunkport Christmas-Tree-Lit-Up A coastal welcome to the Christmas season In early December, Kennebunkport puts on its Yuletide best for Christmas Prelude. For more than four decades the town hosts a 10-day festival featuring parades, tree-lightings and carols and fireworks. Highlights include the lighting of a huge Christmas tree in Dock Square, a number of parades (hats on Dec. 7; dogs on Dec. 15), and of course appearances by Santa Claus, who makes his first arrival by boat in the harbour on the first weekend, and makes another splashy arrival by fire engine a week later. Fireworks on Dec. 13. Cape Arundel Inn is in on the action, with a Murder Mystery Dinner on Dec. 5. As you enjoy a gourmet three-course dinner at Ocean, you become part of an interactive and suspenseful storyline, working with other guests to unravel the mystery and unmask the killer. On Dec. 13, the inn hosts a spa event at the Clubhouse. For more information on Kennebunkport Christmas Prelude, visit christmasprelude.com. Paint the Town Red Later in the winter, the regional chamber of commerce hosts its annual salute to Valentine’s, Paint the Paint the Town Red. During February, shops, restaurants and local landmarks will be festively decorated in red and will offer “red plate” specials and sales. Learn more at gokennebunks.com/paintthetownred Its cozy inside the Cape Arundel Inn during the winter How to get to Kennebunkport A vacation on the Maine seacoast actually begins en route. A series of winding but excellent highways take your through tight passes – or “notches”, as they are called in New England – through the White Mountains. Here are three recommended routes to Kennebunkport, following both Interstate and two-lane highways: Crawford Notch: The is the most direct route. Take A-10 east past Magog, then exit 121 on to A-55 south to the U.S. border at Derby Line, VT. Here you pick up I-91 south past St. Johnsbury, where you take exit 19 on to I-93 south past Littleton, then take exit 40 on to U.S. 302 east through Bethlehem on to Bretton Woods and the majestic Omni Mount Washington Hotel and down through Crawford Notch. Once through the White Mountains, a good lunch stop is North Conway. Then continue on U.S. 302 in the direction of Portland. Before Portland, take I-95 (the Maine Turnpike toll road) south to exit 25 at Kennebunk. Then follow state highway 35 east to Kennebunkport. Franconia Notch: Follow the above directions, instead of exiting on to U.S 302 east at Littleton, stay on I-93 south through Franconia Notch. This used to be known as the home of the Old Man of the Mountains, the iconic rock face that once graced a mountain on the right (west) side of the pass. Sadly the renowned formation collapsed two decades ago – although its familiar shape, a New Hampshire state symbol, lives on in highway route signs. At the south end of Franconia Notch is Lincoln, a good lunch stop, before you decide on which of several back-highway combinations to take eastward to the coast. The safest bet is, in Lincoln, to set your GPS to Kennebunkport as your destination and follow its recommended route. This will take you through on one side or the other of picturesque and vast Lake Winnipesaukee, through the seacoast lowlands to Kennebunkport. Freeways only: This is an equally scenic alternative, but slightly longer in terms of distance. Take A-10 east to exit 22 and south on Autoroute 35 to the U.S. border at Highgate Springs, VT. (The A-35 is scheduled for completion to the Vermont border later this year, but you may still have to follow Route 133 for the last part. Once in Vermont, follow Interstate 89 past Burlington all the way across Vermont and New Hampshire to the junction of I-93 near Concord, NH. Follow I-93 south to exit 7 and east on NH-101 (a freeway despite its number). NH-101 ends at I-95 near Portsmouth, NH; take 95 north to exit 25 at Kennebunk, then ME-35 east to Kennebunkport.
