Brown’s Wharf

Service was excellent, maybe a little too attentive. Meal was nicely done. Fresh oysters on half shell were good. If you are used to a Maryland Oyster, they won’t match up, but very good. Seared scallops were nice maybe a tad overdone, but still tender. Broiled haddock, shrimp, scallop comes with breading sprinkled on them. I asked for no breading and the dish was perfectly done. My wife had pumpkin bread pudding with caramel sauce that was excellent. Local beer on draught, named after the owner, Brown, made by local Brewer was very good. If we ever get back to Boothbay, Me. we will be back.

What a great night. We’re staying at Brown’s Wharf and were doubtful about the restaurant. We’ve stayed at this motel for 50 years and the décor hasn’t changed which is part of it’s charm. The restaurant has never been a top choice. However, we were incredibly surprised. First, the food was wonderful. We had the lobster, scalloped potatoes, and fresh broccoli. I also had the French Onion Soup which was home made with garden thyme. It was not greasy or overly breaded like so many lazy, old restaurants serve. Second, the fireplace was magical. It was like what you would imagine an old Maine lodge would feel. It crackled and popped and warmed the entire room.
So even though the motel has a hip 60’s décor, the food has kept pace with a 2015 palette.

Simply amazing. Whether it’s the view of the harbor from your balcony, breakfast and dinner outdoors in the restaurant, the selection of craft beer, the rocking chairs by the marina, the lobster tanks, the wonderful staff, the impeccably clean rooms, wi-​fi that works, the beautiful sunsets or the comfortable beds, Brown’s does everything well. A beautiful, peaceful place.

Great place to stay in Booth Bay Harbor! Nice rooms, with great views from balconies, at a reasonable price. Friendly staff and excellent food in the restaurant, which had quite a few locals dining. Nice location on the harbor with a picturesque marina at the edge of the restaurant’s outside deck.
We would definitely stay there again.

I can’t say enough good things about Brown’s Wharf Inn. Our 10 day stay there was comfortable in every respect. I took one of the other reviewer’s advice and made sure we were third floor, facing the harbor. The blankets and pillow cases were cotton instead of the usual polyester, the entire room, bathroom, and balcony were clean as a whistle. Our refrigerator was on and working when we arrived. The air conditioner worked. The phone worked. The lights were bright enough to see by, unusual these days. The laundry machines were clean, and detergent was provided free. When we asked for extra towels, they arrived within minutes. Very impressive.
I have never in my life had such consistently good service, and that held true throughout Boothbay Harbor. Someone is doing an excellent job training these folks; even the youngsters seemed aware that job = work, not time whining or sitting on your cell phone while customers wait. The maids, front desk people, even the gardener at this hotel (who patiently answered a few of my plant questions) were kind and welcoming.
The view from our room was spectacular, by the way. Sunsets, arriving sailboats, activity on the docks — all conspired to make us throw out any idea of going whale watching or visiting local attractions. Mostly, we walked to town (via the bridge, about 15 minute’s walk away), rode the trolley (free, from the hotel to various other points including several right in town), ate (very well, see below), and enjoyed our view.
If you are going to do any sight seeing I’d highly recommend the Pemaquid Lighthouse for a taste of «real Maine». The rocky cliffs, the little museum (very interesting, by the way), the museum caretaker (verbose, but with wonderful stories), and the seating areas all made for a comfortable afternoon. We also went for lobster at Muscongus Bay Lobster in Round Pond Harbor, which I can also highly recommend. Otherwise, we tried three or four places but weren’t very impressed with any of them.
About the restaurant — it was so good that after trying three other places for lobster, we finally just ate «at home». Crab cakes terrific, lobster priced same as «on the docks», steamers were wonderful. I’d say the local oysters were over-​priced ($ 14 for half a dozen), but commensurate with other restaurants in town. Try the calamari, it’s excellent.
Don’t miss the breakfast, and if you can, eat outside! First, because you can watch the seagulls try to steal packets of butter off the tables. (Pretty funny.) Second, because their chef is terrific. Home fries are way garlicky, real potatoes cut fresh, just crisp enough around the edges. Sausages fatty for my taste, and I wished there’d been a lower fat alternative, but still delicious. This is the first place I’ve been to that actually cooks «sunny side up» eggs correctly — perfectly crisp around the edges, perfectly breakable yolk.
We ate breakfast here six days of our stay, and the only disappointment was our checkout day — a Tuesday morning — when another chef was apparently in the kitchen. The food that morning was good, but nowhere near what we’d been eating. (For instance, the potatoes were just «meh».)
I was a little worried about noise — the Lobster Wharf one pier down has live music on weekends — but it always stopped well before 10 pm.
Yes, it’s a «motel type» in a tourist area — were people who complained about it being a motel property expecting The Plaza? No, it’s not inexpensive. It’s a tourist area.
If I had any complaint, it’s one the hotel can’t help me with. The ferries/​tourist boats go out with musical acts on board, and coming AND going they were incredibly loud and very VERY irritating. I will never understand why, when you have the singing of the gulls and the lap of the waves to entertain your ears, towns and restaurants think they have to provide music by people to go along with it. I really loved it when there was no «entertainment» in the harbor or on the docks, and I could enjoy the sound of the wind and water.
As to price, I think $ 200 per night is about what you’d expect to pay for this level of service and comfort. My only wish would be that they offer some sort of «deal» if you stay for longer periods — perhaps a «by the week» discount. And a basic AAA discount would be nice, too. But really, we can’t wait to go back.

I simply don’t understand the folks who don’t love this hotel and the restaurant.
The rooms were clean, thoughtful, simple, and IMO the staff went the extra mile to make every room outstanding. There is «No Smoking» in every room and every balcony. There is an elevator to the upper levels (and stairs), the bedspreads were cotton rather than polyester. Each room has a fridge. The baths were clean and maintained. Honestly we checked in three times over three days because we couldn’t find a better place in or around Boothbay Harbor.
As for the restaurant, we had only one meal there only because we wanted to sample other places. I had the Bouillabaisse and Caesar Salad and a few beers (more on that in a minute). The Bouillabaisse had six or seven fish types, was perfectly cooked for each type, the broth was delicious and came with the extra bread. Couldn’t ask for better, but would have appreciated ½ cup more broth. My wife had the Caprese salad and a Lobster dish with mashed potatoes and grilled cabbage. I preferred the Caprese to the Caesar; the lobster was perfectly done.
The beer selection was wonderful from local micro-​brews including a signature stout like beer which I didn’t like, so they brought me three others to sample.
All in all, a home run!

Brown’s is a clean, well-​maintained motel. All rooms look onto water & all have a deck. Located on the eastern side of the bay, it’s an easy, scenic 10 minute walk to the town center. The benefit of this location is the fantastic sunset view & view of the town. I did not eat in their restaurant since there are multiple dining options in the area that were fun to explore.

All of the food was… meh
Appetizer
Bread with roasted garlic – pretty good starter
Soup
Clam chowder – really watery (??) and… a bit.bland. I thought clam chowder was supposed to be thick/​rich?
Salad
Fresh Garden Salad w/​raspberry vinagrette dressing
Just.not interested…
Entrée
Shrimp Scampi – not bad?
boiled twin lobsters – entertaining to eat but. just bland… i would have considered the grilled lobster instead
Desert
Cheesecake — a large heap but nothing special
Décor: 5 stars for beautiful marina backdrop. We were seated on the deck overlooking the habor and it was perfect timing because the sun was just setting and lit the sky a very warm pink
Service: not bad. They served us well
Food: –2 Just. not what I was hoping for especially with the clam chowder. How could you be a seafood restaurant in Maine and have terrible clam chowder?!!
**Be warned that mosquitoes started attacking our table as the restaurant was closing**
Ate here late July 2013

I’ve stayed at Brown’s Wharf Inn many times with my wife and found the staff to be courteous and respectful. The rooms are clean and each one has a perfect view of the harbor. Their breakfasts and dinners are wonderful. I highly recommend staying there.

Had a very nice return stay at Brown’s Motel. Would recommend anytime.