A private, fully furnished home with ocean views and optional luxuries, like a personal chef or massage therapist, set Mermaid Crossing apart from many other vacation spots in York. If a guest wants something, from wine delivery to a stack of their favorite magazines, Mermaid Crossing’s management aims to make it happen. Read more

Formerly the Sise Inn, The Hotel Portsmouth is under new ownership and is adding a full-service boutique hotel option to downtown Portsmouth. Daniel Innis and Doug Palardy, the folks who brought elegant-cool accommodations to Portsmouth with the Ale House Inn, are helming this venture with the newly remodeled Hotel Portsmouth, just reopened this April. Read more

With its lakeside-lodge decor, crackling fireplaces, private beach, and walking-distance location to downtown Wolfeboro’s quaint shops, Wolfeboro Inn might just be the perfect Winnipesaukee escape. “You’re surrounded by Belknap Mountain, the tall trees, and Wolfeboro Bay in the distance,” says Lucy Van Cleve, director of sales and marketing at the inn. “It captures the essence of a New England escape.” Read more

Kim Swan is an accidental hotelier. She is a real estate agent first, but she loves renovating and turning over inn properties – and sometimes holding on to them. Swan purchased The Danforth in 2009. The previous owners had converted the 1823 mansion into a B&B about 20 years before, and Swan updated the décor. “I do not call myself a designer, I’m not educated in design” Swan says. “But it’s an absolute passion of mine.” She reconfigured some of the rooms to add more common space, and updated the color scheme. Last year, all the bathrooms were renovated. Read more

York Harbor Inn has grown considerably since brothers Joseph and Garry Dominguez first opened it over three decades ago. “We hoped to take the original inn building, fix it up, create a really strong restaurant clientele, remodel the 12 guest rooms, and then possibly look to open another property somewhere,” says innkeeper Garry Dominguez. That other property turned out to be closer than anticipated – right next door. This enabled them to expand the number of rooms, and add a ballroom and a large parking lot. Read more

“To me, a real B&B is in someone’s home,” says Anne Dodge, who owns 167 Water Bed and Breakfast with her husband Chuck Kennedy. The two-bedroom accommodation is indeed located in the couple’s house. Read more

A stay at Hidden Pond is a true vacation getaway. The 36 “rooms” are actually “these beautiful individual cottages, amid a 65-acre garden,” notes General Manager Justin Grimes. “You have the contrast between secluded wood enclaves and the coastal beach right at your fingertips.” Read more