Footbridge North Hotel

We just needed somewhere for the night while traveling from point A to B, and the room did the job. The outside looked old, so I worried about the interior, but it was very clean and well maintained. The bathroom wasn’t a spa experience, though it was clean. The pool area was nice too. The woman running the place was helpful and accommodating. Nearby hotels start in the $300s, so this felt like a real find.

We left around 5:30 a.m. after a terrible night with hardly any sleep. The walls were very thin, and we could hear the couple next door talking through the night, sometimes angrily, as well as the man’s repeated deep, phlegmy cough. One of the owners was already outside on the porch across the driveway. He smiled and waved, and we waved back. We wish him well, but we wouldn’t stay here again. There are good points. The staff and owners were friendly, kind, and eager to help. The location is excellent, close to several beaches on Maine’s Route 1 and near an I-95 exit. Parking was easy, just a few feet from our door. There’s an outdoor pool, and I think there may also be a play area for kids. Everything looked very clean, though the owners are working with a tired, motel-style group of rooms. There may be a nice suite in the adjoining house, but I’m not sure. The furnishings felt vintage and worn, and the highly varnished natural wood floor echoed even small sounds. The bed had a visible ridge down the middle before we sat on it, probably from people sleeping on the two sides instead of the center. Its thick, fluffy foam mattress was too soft for us, though others might like sinking into it. The clean sheets and bedcovers held a lot of fragrance, which filled the room. I’m allergic to it and woke several times with a raw throat. Odor-free laundry products would help. The little refrigerator seemed to have just two settings, off or cold enough to freeze our drinks overnight. The TV worked, but we couldn’t get our Roku to work through the HDMI ports. We weren’t comfortable entering our credentials into the hotel TV to access our usual channels. The bathroom was immaculate, but the toilet rocked side to side. Toiletries were thoughtfully provided. We were tired from a couple days of travel and wanted an early night, so we didn’t use the shower. The wall air conditioner worked well until it switched itself off overnight despite being set low. The room became hot and humid, and when we adjusted it, the unit ran for just a minute. It started again when we adjusted it in the morning, but we left before we could see how long it would stay on. The owners are clearly dealing with the limits of an older, perhaps 1950s-era motel wing and doing what they can within their budget. The number of occupied rooms suggests other guests may feel differently. I hope the nice people running it succeed and can make improvements over time.

The rooms are simple and clean, with wood floors and a kitchenette. Shower pressure was decent.

The room had several problems during our Friday-to-Monday stay. The TV wasn’t working when we arrived at 3 p.m. Friday, and no one was in the office after 5 unless it could wait until morning. I went over, but no one was there. At 8:30 Saturday morning, the office door was still locked. We finally got the TV working Saturday afternoon, so we had no TV Friday night or Saturday morning. There was mold along the bottom of the shower curtain. The light above the sink had room for three bulbs, but only one worked, with one bulb burned out and another socket empty. The shower water was extremely hot. The bedside light had no outlet to plug into. The room was very dark, and the freezer needed defrosting so there was no room to put anything in it. There was no room phone to call the front desk, which seems like a safety issue for someone traveling without a phone who needs to call 911. We got no housekeeping during our stay, and the garbage wasn’t emptied. When staff were available, we had to go to the office for towels and washcloths. For two people staying two days, I asked for four of each but was given only two towels and two washcloths. We also had to fetch an iron from the office. It would have been convenient to keep one in the room since someone isn’t always there.