The moment we arrived at Sounderosa we knew we would be repeat customers. The location is absolute blissful heaven with views of Somes Sound and Cadillac mountain. From sunrise to sunset you are enveloped by nature—the water on one side and the cozy Maine woods on the other. The sounds of birds calling to one another in the air collide with the loons’ song rising up from the sea and being a peace that would be tough to find on the (other) side of the island. Deer greeted us everyday and let us watch them as they chomped away on acorns and whatever else they could find amongst the rustling leaves in the woods. The house itself was immaculately clean and contained everything we needed to make our own meals (which we did most of the time) and of course our morning coffee which we always enjoyed on the deck. When it got chilly one night it took no time to get a fire started thanks to the wood stack set up prepared by the hosts, and we did use the heat which works well enough for the cooler fall evenings. We messaged Paul a couple of times about places to put our kayak in, etc and he responded immediately each time. The location is absolutely perfect for many reasons. I have only stayed in Bar Harbor the previous 3 times I’ve been in MDI and I will never stay anywhere but the “quiet side” from now on. It only took 20 minutes to get to the Hull Cove visitor center and Bar Harbor, and we had access to hiking trails with few to no other people on them they gave the same or better spectacular views as the crowded trails on the other side of the island. We kayaked on serene Echo Lake which is literally about 6 minutes from the cottage, used our stand up paddle boards on Long Pond (maybe 10-12 min away), hiked up Cadillac mountain with headlamps to catch sunrise (trail head was 20 min from the cottage), and explores Southwest Harbor, Bass Harbor, Pretty Marsh (total gem!) and never encountered crowds. We did also explore the more well known Sand Beach, Otter Cliffs/Cove, Thunder Hole and did some hikes in that area as well, but our favorite moments were back near our home away from home at Sounderosa Cottage, including just relaxing and reading on the deck or playing cribbage in the living room. I think it says a lot when the house you are staying at while on vacation is one of the “attractions” and you actually WANT to spend time there, not just use it as a home base for other activities. We didn’t want to leave and we can’t wait to come back. Exceptional.