Berry Manor Inn                             

81 Talbot Avenue

Rockland, Maine  04841

Reservations:  800-774-5692  

Business line:  207-596-7696

Fax: 207-596-9958

Email: info@berrymanorinn.com

URL:  www.berrymanorinn.com

Your hosts:  Cheryl Michaelsen, Mike LaPosta and family

 

General Description:  Once the stately home for one of Rockland’s most prominent merchants, today, Berry Manor Inn is among Maine’s most romantic B&B inns.  Down East Magazine calls it “The Wow House”. Renowned for its room amenities, grand hospitality with a Victorian flair, and a very unusual collection of toy hamsters, the Berry Manor Inn offers the ideal mid-coast location for exploring Maine’s arts, heritage and sights.  The Berry Manor Inn offers a host of amenities for everyone from those seeking a romantic getaway to travelers in search of business amenities including complimentary high-speed internet access, in-room phones and flexible breakfast schedules. 

 

Guest Rooms, Amenities and rates:  There are twelve spacious and uncluttered guest rooms – eight in the main inn (four each on 2nd and 3rd floors), and four in the Carriage House (all 2nd floor rooms).  Two of the Carriage House rooms can be converted to a two room/two bath suite.  All guest rooms have private luxury baths and air conditioning. Eleven of the twelve rooms have working fireplaces; eight rooms offer whirlpool baths (four are two-person) and four rooms offer walk-in, multi-jet showers for the vertical whirlpool experience.

 

Each of the twelve guest rooms are uniquely decorated in the warm, rich colors of the Victorian palette and furnished with a blend of antique and period reproductions.  Great care has been taken to preserve the features of this grand mansion, including the display of the original wallpaper in some rooms. Each guest room offers a telephone, wireless or cabled high-speed internet access, clock radio, hair dryer and warm, plush robes.  A lovely collection of signature soaps and shampoos are offered in each room. Guests may request TV, irons/ironing boards for their rooms.   Each night, staff turn down beds, leave chocolates on the pillows, and set the radio to soft classical music to welcome you home to your room.

 

In the quiet season, (mid-October through mid-June) room rates range from $105 (double occupancy) for some 3rd floor rooms with queen beds and private baths featuring claw tubs to $165 for luxury rooms featuring king beds, sitting areas, double whirlpools and multi-jetted showers.  Two-room luxury suites with two baths are $215 per night.  During the summer season, (mid-June through Mid-October) the same rooms range from $145 to $240 per night, with the two-room luxury suites at $330 per night.  Online booking is available.

 

Common Rooms: Guests are welcome to enjoy the inn’s many common rooms including the drawing room with TV, VCR, and Nintendo for those requiring an electronic fix; the formal parlor; a quiet and fully stocked second-floor library; the front porch; and the guest pantry complete with refrigerator, microwave and freshly baked treats.  Guests of the Carriage House also have use of their own living room, complete with a fully-stocked refrigerator and pantry.

 

Breakfast and other goodies: Guests should arrive hungry to the Berry Manor Inn, as the wonderful fare begins at 7:00am with fresh coffee in the 2nd floor library and Carriage House pantry.  Breakfast is served at individual tables between 8:00 and 9:30am in the elegantly appointed dining room, and features a multi-course meal including a choice of juice, fruit, Pastries and an entrée.  Entrees alternate between sweet and savory dishes, including lemon blueberry pancakes, banana stuffed French toast, baked eggs with tomatoes and basil, and even the famous lobster egg casserole, served during the world-famous Lobster Festival.

 

Each night, a different warm pie and ice cream is available, along with a choice of herbal and regular teas, and just in case you’re not hungry at night, those pies are available 24-hours a day in the guest pantry. To top the day off sweetly, chocolates are part of the evening turn-down service.

History:  Built in 1898 with all the grandeur of the Victorian age as a wedding gift for his new bride, this shingle-styled mansion was originally the residence of Charles H. Berry, a prominent local merchant and nephew of Civil War General, Hiram Berry. It was a center of grand and gracious hospitality for more than a century, first as the primary residence of four generations of the Berry family, then in the hands of another local family for fifty years.  Present owners, Cheryl Michaelsen and her husband Michael LaPosta bought the inn 100 years after it was built, attracted by its bold, symmetrical design and potential.  In 90 contractor days, they converted the inn from a private residence to an elegant bed and breakfast inn.  All renovation work met the standards imposed by the Department of the Interior to ensure the original architectural features of the property were both maintained and preserved.  The property is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. A complete history of the inn may be requested.

Accessibility, pets, smoking: While all ages are welcome, the inn caters to adults. There is a cat in the innkeepers’ residence.  Guests traveling with pets are encouraged to board cats and dogs at nearby facilities.  All guest rooms must be accessed by stairways.  Emergency horns and strobes for hearing or seeing impaired are found in every room.  The inn is completely non-smoking.   

Unique Features:  Berry Manor Inn is renowned for the following unique features:

·                     The only AAA four-diamond rated Historic Bed and Breakfast inn from Portland through the Midcoast and one of sixteen properties in all of the state to achieve this rating based on superior facilities, guest amenities and concierge services.

·                     A family affair – While Cheryl and Mike are the primary innkeepers, they are joined by both their parents, siblings and friends in providing hospitality for guests.  Both Moms bake pies for guests and during busy season, it’s all family and friends on deck, making the Berry Manor Inn the epitome of family-owned and operated.

·                     Frivolity within elegance – There is no doubt that the Berry Manor Inn is among Rockland’s most elegant inns.  What makes it special is light-hearted frivolity which highlights every guest’s stay.  A fabulous collection of dancing hamster toys is on display and offered for just about any special occasion a guest could be celebrating.  If you’re lucky, you may even be treated to Cheryl’s mother’s bird calls, which defy words and must been seen to be appreciated.  During lobster festival, both innkeepers and guests alike don lobster hats, and guests dine on red lobster-shaped pancakes and lobster eggs.

·                     Business traveler amenities – Berry Manor Inn offers everything that any corporate traveler might need, and it’s all complimentary – in-room phones with free local calls, high speed wireless internet access – both cabled and wireless, flexible breakfast hours for early travel, use of the fax machine and copier, a computer for guest use, concierge services and assistance with transportation needs.

Directions: From Portland, ME: Take I-95 to Rt. 295 North (Exit 44).  Follow to Exit 28, Bath/Brunswick Coastal Rt. 1 and follow approximately 55 miles into Rockland.  Take a left at the first traffic light onto Broadway (Route 1A). Go straight through the next traffic light, and continue for 4 more streets.  Turn right on Talbot Ave, and Berry Manor Inn is the second building on the left.