The Carriage Trade Inn
Close to Everything, Far from Ordinary
An Ogunquit B&B recommended by The New York Times (7/14/06)

The Carriage Trade Inn, located right on Shore Road and close to all the wonderful attractions of Ogunquit – the “beautiful place by the sea,” – combines in one gracious B&B all you could want in a romantic destination. The B&B is perfectly situated just two blocks from delightful Perkins Cove, where fishing boats and touring boats dock next to fine restaurants and New England shops. The B&B is also located just steps from the famed Marginal Way, the path along the rocks and shore between Perkins Cove and the center of Ogunquit. Or you can walk down Shore Road to Ogunquit Center, with its three night clubs and numerous fine restaurants, along the way. For those who do not wish to walk, the Ogunquit Trolley stops right outside our front door in season. So, even if you arrive by car, you can park the car and leave it parked until it is time for you to return to the real world.

The B&B is in a traditional Maine cape house built almost a century ago and renovated to remind us of the charm and character of a bygone era but providing the amenities of the 21st Century. Thus, the living room has the dark wood walls of an old sea captain’s home, but the dining room has the light and airy feel of a more contemporary home with a wall of windows looking southwest. The perennial gardens are crowded with flowers and buds during the summer months and they can be viewed either from the grounds or from the spacious deck off the dining room. This autumn, the B&B added a ten-person hot tub spa, just in time for the cooler fall nights.

The Carriage Trade Inn has five large bedrooms and an exceptionally large suite. Each bedroom has a private bath, a queen bed, individually-controlled air conditioning, television, vcr, and dvd players. Each room is tastefully furnished and no two rooms are the same. Returning guests may have forgotten their room number, but they always remember that they want the “bedroom with the very red bathroom” or the “room with the deck overlooking Shore Road for people-watching.” Free wireless internet is available throughout the B&B and, for those who want to leave their computers at home, the B&B also maintains a guest laptop computer in the living room perfect for that fix of email or the blogosphere.

The suite at the Carriage Trade Inn deserves special mention. Besides including a spacious bedroom like each of the other guest bedrooms, the suite contains its own dramatic living room and full kitchen. The suite living room has a large queen-sized couch that folds out into a second bed. It also has a working fireplace that is a favorite during the autumn nights or winter months. The enormous space in the suite makes it particularly attractive for small families or for three or four friends traveling together. The full kitchen in the suite also attracts those who are planning to stay for a week or more and who want to cook lunches and dinners for themselves. The spacious bay windows of the suite, complete with seating, oversee the sidewalk along Shore Road and give the guest the choice of privacy or, with open curtains, a sense of immediacy with the activity of this picturesque road dominated by pedestrians in season. Occasionally, when a company or group books the B&B for a retreat, the group will use the spacious suite living room as the group’s meeting room of choice.

Hospitality at the Carriage Trade Inn is not confined to its superb location and well-appointed rooms. During the day, free soda and water are available from the convenience kitchen on the main floor. Each morning, the hosts provide a sumptuous cold breakfast buffet including coffee, tea, juice, fresh-baked breads, fruit, cereals, yogurt, and whatever additional items strike the fancy of the cook. In addition to the breakfast buffet, your hosts also provide a choice of two hot entrees from the large commercial kitchen, typically an egg-based favorite (like omlettes, an asparagus puff, or a light quiche) and another breakfast favorite (like French toast, pancakes, or waffles). These are not the quick gulp-and-run continental breakfasts of some motels, but rather a leisurely substantial breakfast that allows time for you to get to know each other, the other guests, and your hosts. It is as though your hosts wanted to show you what your mother always told you, that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. The breakfast for two is included in the cost of your room.

In season, the Carriage Trade Inn also welcomes its guests from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. with an assortment of munchies and delectables that go well with a glass of wine or a cold soda or beer before dinner. This social time is a good time to compare notes with other guests and your hosts about the local restaurants, watering holes, and clubs. In Ogunquit, you can be exactly who you want to be and have the vacation that you want to have. You can be frenetically active … biking, kayaking, deep sea fishing, golfing, or running in the early morning as Ogunquit and Shore Road wake up. Or you can relax, read a book in the sun, stroll to the famous Ogunquit beaches, and only tax yourself in trying to decide between a dinner at a local lobster shack or an upscale dinner at nearby Five-O. And, when you suddenly remember that the Red Sox are playing today, ask your hosts to tune the 42-inch television in the living room to Fenway Park.

The Carriage Trade Inn would like to be your “home” in Downeast Maine. If comments from its new guestbook are any indication, its new owners, Rob Leary and Rich Yurko, are succeeding marvelously. From Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts to New York City to Dallas, Texas to northern Kentucky and back to the suburbs of Boston have come the accolades, like …..

“Thank you for everything. We had a wonderful time in our first visit to Ogunquit. You two were wonderful hosts! Thanks again!”

“Rob, it was a totally delightful stay! We hate to leave but we’ll be back. In the meantime, we’ll spread the word of this delightful Inn to all the Texans coming this way. Thanks for the gracious hospitality!”

“From a southerner who loves good hospitality, yours was the best! Thanks for everything!”

“If we were any more relaxed we’d be in a coma! Thanks for a wonderful time.”

“Thank you so much for your hospitality. You both made all of us feel right at home. Looking forward to our next stay. P.S. Thanks for the shirt!”

Recently, the Carriage Trade Inn was one of two Ogunquit inns recommended as a place to stay in Ogunquit by the New York Times (7/14/06)! It’s as though the Times had sneaked a peek at the guestbook.