Vacation Rentals by Owner

The Rice Cottage Featured in Country Living Magazine [#289645] | View Property

Southwest Harbor
Cottage, 3 Bedrooms, 2 Baths (Sleeps 6)
$1600-$2000/wk
Write a Review

Traveler Reviews (12)

• Annual fall girlfriend trip

  Annual fall girlfriend trip

  • Guest Karen H.
  • Date of stay 09/30/12
  • Review Submitted 10/11/12
  Rice Cottage was the perfect location for our girl trip. The house is fabulous, very comfortable. We would stay there again.

  Recommended for: Adventure seekers, age 55+, families with young children, girls getaway, pet owners, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

  Owner response: Thank you for taking the time to post a review. We enjoyed having you and look forward to you staying with us again.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0

• loved it

  loved it

  • Guest david
  • Date of stay 09/12/12
  • Review Submitted 09/28/12
  Stayed there with my family in September this year. Great location, very nice accommodations - the place was spotless, very charming, very comfortable and functional. Owners were very responsive and informative. If we ever return to Southwest Harbor I would definitely stay at Rice Cottage again!

  Owner response: Thank you so much for taking the time to write such a nice review! We would love to have you stay with us again. Diane and Jay

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0

• Absolutely Charming!

  Absolutely Charming!

  • Guest Violeta
  • Date of stay 07/02/12
  • Review Submitted 07/12/12
  Dear Jay & Diane, We want to thank you so much for providing us with such a beautiful home for our family vacation. The Rice Cottage was absolutely PERFECT! We were pleasantly surprised to see that the home was conveniently located just steps away from shops and restaurants of the quaint Southwest Harbor. We enjoyed the charming antique decor, the cleanliness of the home, the large selection of linens, the fully functional kitchen and especially the chairs in the back yard where we could watch the hundreds of butterflies in the fields for hours! I look forward to recommending our home to family and friends with future travel plans to Acadia. Most sincerely, Violeta

  Recommended for: Adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, tourists without a car, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

  Owner response: Thank you Violeta for taking the time to write such a nice review. We are happy you and your family had such a great time in Maine. Diane and Jay

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0

• This is a beautiful home! Met our expectations!

  This is a beautiful home! Met our expectations!

  • Guest Beth G.
  • Date of stay 08/07/11
  • Review Submitted 08/25/11
  Well appointed home in the center of Southwest Harbor. We walked to the bakery in the morning and out to dinner in the evenings. Lovely set up. Our teenage children were upstairs in the original house and we had our own suite in the new area. Clean, clean, clean. Plenty of towels and kitchen was superbly stocked with everything we needed for a comfortable stay. The owners have thought of everything to help make your vacation a special one.

  Recommended for: Age 55+, families with teenagers, romantic getaway.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/2

• Just Like Home

  Just Like Home

  • Guest bethebythebay
  • Date of stay 05/26/11
  • Review Submitted 06/08/11
  I recently rented the Rice Cottage for my my family. I saw pictures of this New England cottage on Home Away before I rented it but I could not have imagined how much it added to our amazing Vacation. It was like coming home to all of us the moment we walked through the door. The original cottage was precious with a studio addition that overlooks a beautiful meadow and was perfect for those of us who needed more privacy and could not do steps. It was very peaceful, private and quiet throughout the house. Everynight we would go into the main living room to enjoy a warm fire an tell stories of our daily activities. The house was well equipped with everything we needed. The linens and bedding were of the finest quality which made for a wonderful nights rest. The decor was amazing, while at the same time as beautiful as the cottage was we still felt we could make ourselves at home. The surrounding shops, homes, and residents of Southwest Harbor were idyllic and were a great addition to the quintessential New England community just a short distance from Bar Harbor. There is a library just a few doors down and the water can be seen just beyond the meadow. I gave this place five stars without a second thought. It is not the first time we have traveled and rented homes for family vacations but this certainly was the best we have ever experienced. The owners were very helpful and accommodating, I am sure we will return again and again. I am already looking at flight fairs for early fall.

  Recommended for: Adventure seekers, people with disabilities, age 55+, girls getaway, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 4/5

• Wonderful, relaxing vacation in Rice Cottage!

  Wonderful, relaxing vacation in Rice Cottage!

  • Guest Liz and Mike
  • Date of stay 08/28/10
  • Review Submitted 12/31/10
  Our family stayed in Rice Cottage at the end of August, 2010. We had a relaxing stay and loved the beautifully kept rooms and plentiful outdoor space. It was a bonus to be able to walk to the restaurants and shops in 'downtown' SW Harbor. Many nights we enjoyed walking all around the town and out to the town dock; there is easy accessibility to Bar Harbor and Acadia NP as well as Bass Harbor and other locations on the quietside of Mt. Desert Island. The owners were always available and helpful to us during our stay. We appreciated being able to take our do with us on vacation.... I would recommend Rice Cottage without reservation! Thank you, Jay The Reillys from Boston

  Recommended for: Age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, tourists without a car, pet owners, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 7/9

• WOW! Rice Cottage was perfect...

  WOW! Rice Cottage was perfect...

  • Guest catvoman
  • Date of stay 07/07/10
  • Review Submitted 07/31/10
  Rice Cottage was the perfect headquarters for our trip to ME. The location was perfect for us because we could walk to all the shops in town, which we did daily, walk to the water, which we also did daily, and hop in the car to tour the area. We were so glad to get back to Rice Cottage each evening where we were comfortable, cozy, and surrounded by beautiful furnishings. The linens, as advertised, are divine. It was great to have a w/d on sight, the kitchen was well equipped, and, as guests ended their stay, they left some great spices, teas, and even good coffee for the next visitors. We especially loved waking up each morning in the master suite, looking at the meadow outside, and watching birds, neighboring cats, and dogs frolicking. It was fun waving to the guests in the lodging next door, and kibitzing with those folks as we all had either our morning coffee, or our evening cocktails. All in all, it was a terrific cottage, well-appointed, convenient, and comfortable in all ways. I just hope we left it as clean as when we arrived. Thanks a lot - can't wait to go back! Sue Lorain & Joan Carter

  Recommended for: Adventure seekers, people with disabilities, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, tourists without a car, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/1

• Extremely disappointing

  Extremely disappointing

  • Guest Frustrated
  • Date of stay 07/01/10
  • Review Submitted 07/28/10
  After seeing the great pictures, rave reviews and that it was featured in the country living magazine we were really excited to book this cottage. However it was not at all we expected and infact had some serious cleanliness issues. The location is in the center of Southwest Harbor, however the house is now hidden between several other tall buildings surrounding it with little privacy and is difficult to locate. The lower level of the house is new and I must say that the new addition(master suite) is quite well done. However the furniture is so antique that you are almost afraid to use it. The house is full of the owner's personal stuff(with name tags and hence not for guest use) like sweaters, garments, stationery, etc. and is really inconvenient if you want to unpack your own bags. It was spooky to find that the house has a huge, dark basement(which is not mentioned on any of the websites) full of cobwebs and spiders. As good as the master suite is, the 2 bedroom upstairs have been completely ignored. These bedrooms are extremely small which is okay but we were shocked to see cockroaches, worms and other bugs in the upstair bathroom every night!!!! I was tired of killing them and did not seem like we were on vacation. Even the guest towels had bugs on them!!!!! We were appalled to see that after paying so much the house was not cleaned after the previous tenants left. The kitchen garbage was full of trash from previous tenants, the kitchen cabinets had half eaten packages of pasta, etc. and there was a winter coat in the guest bedroom closet upstairs which someone might have forgotten. Its not worth the price at all and I would rather stay in a good hotel.

  Owner response: After reading this review, we were perplexed. It is so contrary to the normal responses which we receive, that we had to ask ourselves what had gone wrong. To begin with, these guests had contacted us on very short notice only wanting to stay for three nights. We normally rent week to week, but made an exception. We arranged for our caretaker to meet them upon arrival with keys and necessary paperwork. They were given his phone number, as well as ours in case there were any problems. Not only did they choose not to call us or the caretaker, but they resorted to posting an anonymous negative review without any attempt to communicate their concerns. This property has been in our family for well over a hundred years and we have worked hard to maintain, upgrade, and keep it clean. We have an excellent housekeeper. Country Living loved the house and as the name implies, it feels like a home. The antiques we have chosen to furnish the house with help to enrich the “old world” Maine experience. We have just renovated both bathrooms, have never seen a cockroach in the cottage and as for the basement, there is a door at the cellar stairs which remains closed. We don’t fumigate for spiders. In five years of renting we have had many pleased visitors and a number of repeats. We are certainly sorry that these people were so unhappy and agree that a hotel would probably be a better choice next time.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 6/12

• Even more frustrated than "frustrated"!!!

  Even more frustrated than "frustrated"!!!

  • Guest steph
  • Date of stay 05/08/10
  • Review Submitted 08/03/10
  I hate to imagine how frustrated one might have to be to dream up the kind of horror show described by "frustrated" in review of the Rice Cottage! I personally cleaned the cottage not even 24 hours before the arrival of the poor frustrated family. I can assure you that there are no roaches or worms in the bathrooms. Diane and Jay both take great pride in the Rice Cottge and thanks to them for investing in the preservation of an important piece of Southwest Harbor history! To Mr., Ms. or whoever "Frustrated", sorry the beautiful antiques didn't suite you, although I did notice, by the crumbs in the seats, that they were handy enough to eat on! Yes, I also cleaned the cottage after you left!!! Please to future renters, do not let this extremely vindictive review deter you from a beautiful experience. Obviously these folks had issue with some part of the vacation but I know first hand that it could not have been the lovely accomodations!

  Recommended for: Adventure seekers, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, tourists without a car, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 8/11

• Coast to Coast Love Affair

  Guest comment entered by owner

  Coast to Coast Love Affair

  • Guest Sue Lorain
  • Date of stay 09/24/09
  • Review Submitted 01/19/10
  Location was awesome. House was charming and well appointed. Everything was perfect and we had everything we needed. We simply had a great stay. We loved Southwest Harbor.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 2/5

• Fabulous!

  Fabulous!

  • Guest Allison S.
  • Date of stay 08/08/09
  • Review Submitted 07/20/11
  We stayed here a few seasons ago and are anticipating a return visit. We were just checking availability online and realized that we failed to write a review. This house was so fabulous, that when we arrived we called the owners to make sure that they really wanted to rent it :) No detail was overlooked; the main house is charming and the addition is really spacious. We recommended the cottage to our friends and they also stayed and were thrilled. The location is awesome; close to Cadillac Mountain and Bar Harbor, Acadia, great shops, kayaking, and a wonderful bike shop on the block. We look forward to another stay!

  Recommended for: Adventure seekers, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/2

• Great house, great location!!

  Great house, great location!!

  • Guest Arlyss R.
  • Date of stay 08/01/09
  • Review Submitted 08/11/09
  Just back from a week in Southwest Harbor - we have spent many years there with family - this year rented the Rice cottage with us and our daughter, son-in-law and a 4 mo baby - worked out so beautifully!! The house is well protected from the street, but about 1 minute from the center of town, shops, coffee, etc. The master suite/apartment (new addition) is lovely and the other two bedrooms and bath in the old cottage are quite separate upstairs - so great for our group. The old cottage is decorated beautifully (lots of antiques - probably not great for lots of active kids as some are fragile) and the house has a wonderful openess with a huge lawn in the back. The old cottage has some angled flooring due to age and settling, etc, but gives a real "Old Maine feeling" while the new addition and updated kitchen make the house very au currant. Kitchen is well stocked, and nicely appointed. Really nice owners to work with, and, again - a wonderful location - close to trails, lobster pounds, town, etc. From one who knows the accomodations in Southwest Harbor quite well, this is a great find!! Thanks you Cummins and Diane! Arlyss

  Recommended for: Adventure seekers, people with disabilities, age 55+, families with teenagers, families with young children, girls getaway, tourists without a car, pet owners, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 9/10