A few friends and I were visiting Portland, Maine this past weekend, and having thoroughly enjoyed the active Portland Old Port-area nightlife and dining, we decided that it'd be fun to stay in town. I've spent time at several Portland hotels over the years (see other reviews of the Eastland Park and Portland Regency), and we decided to try out the Portland Harbor Hotel. The hotel is clearly in the best location possible in town. Right down on Fore Street, one block off Commercial (waterfront). The hotel offers valet parking in an underground garage for around $15 per night. The parking is a little bit pricier than I expected, though it's worth it - and you won't need your car again anyway. Of note is the fact that the hotel is located on Fore Street and Union. The Old Port's most lively area is Wharf Street, the entry to which area is literally across Union from the hotel. It's loud, roudy and come 1am when it's last call, the cops line up across from the hotel to disband the drunken crowd. Now I don't see this as a bad thing at all (Portland's roudy drunk crowd is pretty tame - just kids having fun), but if you're offended by such things, you may wish to go to bed early. The most comparable hotel in Portland to the Portland Harbor is the Portland Regency (which is also great location, and only a few blocks away). The PHH is newly constructed at some point within the past 10 years, and lacks some of the character and ambience that the Regency has (Regency is an historic rehabbed building). The rooms are comfortable and clean, though not exciting in any way. Standard amenities, nicely appointment bathroom (3/4 glass shower, granite vanity). The common areas (lobby, lounge) were pleasant and comfortable, though a little cramped. The garage/valet entry is on the first floor, and the elevator from the garage will take you to the 2nd floor lobby level; thereafter, you need to switch elevator to get up to the guest room floors. There are 2 elevators (one garage to lobby, and one lobby to guest rooms) and they are SLOOOOOWWWWW! The hotel is 4 stories, and I spent way too much time standing in the lobby elevator landing waiting for the elevator transfers. Not much to be done about it I guess, but annoying nonetheless. Overall, I am pretty middle-of-the-road about this place. Comfortable, great location, but no "wow" factor at all. There are a few items which I was disappointed with, which triggered my "average" rating. They are: 1. I had probably 4 random occasions to interact with the front desk staff during my stay (including check-in and check-out). On each of these occasions I was assisted by different staff. On all 4 occasions I got the distinct sense of an almost snooty, superior attitude. I have not experienced this at Eastland or Regency (or many of the other hundreds of hotels - from 1 star to 6 - I've stayed at in my life). It's hard to quantify this issue in writing, but I always left the desk feeling as though I was but a troubling annoyance to them. 2. I have 1 occasion to interact with the conceigere, who sits at a strange little desk in the middle of the lobby lounge seating area, at strange intervals. We stopped to get a recommendation for breakfast on Sunday morning. We were dressed in jeans/sweatshirts (after getting banged-up Saturday night), and again there was the "attitude"... We simply asked "Can you recommend a nearby place for breakfast?" He immediately picked up the phone, to try and make a reservation for us at the restaurant 555 Congress. This is a nice restaurant (too nice for casual breakfast - not looking for wasabi-infused truffles - just some eggs and perhaps a bagel). When he was holding the phone to his ear, ignoring our objection to his recommendation, he became annoyed that we didn't wish to take his one-and-only recommendation. Not cool. 3. This may just be me, but I can't stand paying to lodge in a hotel which allows pets. I'm not sure what the pet policy is, or if there are specific rooms, etc, but there were at least 4 small dogs staying on the same floor I was (2nd floor). There's the occasional barking, annoying sniffing in the corridors, etc. Of course, once I know they allow pets, I'm looking around my room wondering how many dogs have pee'd on the carpet or dislodged fleas onto the chair. Complete irrational on my part, but this is a pet peeve (pun intended) of mine. So, to conclude this unnecessarily long review, this place is average. It does appear to be a little cheaper than the Regency, but slightly more than the Eastland Park. I paid around $150/nite, off-season Fri and Sat night. Unbeatable location. The valets were nice, pleasant and fun. The front desk staff were aloof and snooty. Clean, quiet ad generally comfortable. I'm not down with the pet thing.

My husband and I had a GREAT night. The beds were Very comfortable and the room was immaculate. We had a garden room and the view was of the small garden that was lit with twinkling lights on all the trees. VERY romantic. The restaurant servered great food. The floor was a little cold since it was located above the parking garage so I would suggest that you bring slippers if you plan on staying here in the winter. The parking valet was very courteous. The concierge was very helpful in recommending local restaurants and the type of food. I loved the shower being seperate from the garden tub and the towels were nice and thick, not thin like at other hotels we've stayed at. Since the hotel is located in the heart of Fore Street in the Old Port district of Portland, we were one block from the waterfront. I definitely will stay here again.

Celebrating my wife's birthday weekend , we selected the Portland Harbour Hotel for the friday and saturday nights . The personal on duty , valet , desk, waitstaff, were all excellent .The room was clean and fully supplied ,however was rather oddly layed out ,the view required minor gymnastics to enjoy because of a large intrusion right in the middle rendering a chair and small table unusable . We made reservations at the hotel restaurant ,mainly because of horrible weather ,as we usually like to try local favorites. Gladly we were not disapointed ,a fine dinner from beginning to end the waiter/bartender was on his game.The bar was unimpressive ,and not well stocked [neither Campari nor 43 available] The Hotel in general was fine, dinner and breakfast very good , the main issue was mandatory valet parking ,I don't like any one parking my vehicles,particularly when they are not responsible for any damage.At $15.00 per day plus tips!!

This hotel is expensive compared to others in Portland. The staff was polite but unknowledgable and unprofessional; they all seemed to be college students home for vacation. It's very unwelcoming to be greeted in the room with a bottle of $6.00 filtered water on the bureau.

A crane is dropping a big weight on a steel beam next door...every 20 seconds. Needless to day this destroyed any ambiance this hotel may offer...we're going to a Motel 6 on the Interstate today so we can get some rest. Certainly this is temporary but we thought you should know.