Looking for Weekly Vacation Rental

I am researching weekly rentals on Mount Desert Island. Another couple will be traveling with us for a week in the area. Has anyone stayed at the any of the following properties that could provide relay their experiences (good or bad)?

Harper’s Acadia Lodge, Bar Harbor http://www.acadialodge.com/

Crane Road Cottage, Hall Quarry http://www.acadia.ws/crane-road-cottage/

Acadia Conifer Ridge Cottage, Salisbury http://www.acadia.net/conifer/index.html

Paul’s Cottage seasidecottages.com/Pages/pauls_cottage.html

We haven’t determined when we will visit yet but will most likely be May or September and I feel we need to get our reservations made soon. We need two bedrooms with king or queen beds and prefer two bathrooms for convenience. If you have stayed in other properties and had a positive experience, I’d love to hear about it.

Looking for Weekly Vacation Rental

Have you checked with the local real estate agents that specialize in weekly rentals? LS Robinson (www.lsrobinson.com); Daagy (www.daagy.com); Maine Island Properties (www.maineislandproperties.com); The Knowles Company (www.knowlesco.com). They offer a wide selection of properties all over the island. They also provide a lot of information about each property on their web sites and are also very honest about their listings when you call. Make your reservations soon but you should still have a really good choice of places since May/Sept are not peak seasons.

Looking for Weekly Vacation Rental

Definitely check out the realtors mrsomes listed. We have used LS Robinson and Knowlesco and we will use either again.

Two tips I would give you is to: 1. know what type of area you want to stay (i.e. in-town, away from town, ';quiet-side';...) and 2. know where each listing is on the Island.

Many rentals say ';Bar Harbor'; but that can still mean driving distance to town. If you were planning to be able to walk in to town, this is good to know.

If you are indifferent to May vs September I would choose September. Early May always has possibilities of rain (but we%26#39;ve yet to have a bad trip even in the rain.) In September, the Island Explorer bus is running and this is a great way to get around the Island without your car. It is free if you have a NP pass.

Thanks for the replies. I will check out the agencies. I saw several when I did searches, but was concerned over who was reputable.

We definitely want to stay on the quiet side of the island and enjoy the quietness of nature. I appreciate the tip on it being rainy in May. My friend and I enjoy photography as a hobby and it sounds like September would be a better choice for us.

As Acadiafan noted, a ';Bar Harbor'; listing doesn%26#39;t necessarily mean ';in the village.'; The island (and most of Maine) is organized into towns (think townships).

Given your alternatives of May and September, it doesn%26#39;t make much difference where you stay with respect to getting to the park---the picture changes somewhat in July and August.

May can be beautiful on MDI---late May really is our spring. However, it is true that the weather in September is likely to be better. You can inspect our weather history by going to:

www.wunderground.com/tripplanner/index.asp

Enter either Bar Harbor or the zip (04609) and the range of dates that interest you.

Late in September, you should see some autumn color.

There are photos of all of the seasons on MDI at

http://tinyurl.com/2w873s