Cliff House, Maine Resort: a Strange, Sunset-y Review

File Cliff House, Maine resort under: “Things I never told you about until over two years later.” In autumn of 2020, when things were still shut down and stir craziness simmered, I corralled my fancy credit card points to get away somewhere dramatic — ANYWHERE dramatic.

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An Oceanside New England Hotel

I scrolled the New England hotel options that would be covered my my hoarded points (which heaven knows hadn’t been touched for the previous six months due to… you know), and decided that ocean air was essential. Even better: I wanted to be on cliffs next to the ocean.

BOOM: Cliff House, Maine resort in Cape Neddick near Ogunquit — just 90 minutes from Boston — was the answer! As you can see from that Expedia link, or these photos I took there, or the reviews on Booking.com as well as those on Hotels.com, this is not just a luxury hotel: it is a beautiful place to stay that is literally on cliffs right against the water. Drama achieved!

An Odd Cliff House, Maine Review

Now, this will be a bit of a strange hotel review. Normally — as you can see in my Woodstock Inn, VT review, or review of Historic Summit Inn, PA — I’m all up every nook and cranny of a hotel I’m writing up, photographing the lobby, interior decorations, ornate table legs, and so on.

However, this Cliff House trip was during (ahem) October of 2020, so… there is not a single interior photo here, my friends. This is a pity, because I know the interior of the hotel is lovely. That said, I CAN tell you some other juicy and potentially relevant details about the place. On top of that, I shall also serenade your eyes with swoon-worthy ocean sunset photos I took whilst there.

Stunning Outdoor Spaces

My memories of this 36-hour trip are of walking loops, over and over, around the Cliff House grounds… around, and around, and around those grounds, until I knew every rock and slant of the paths. The good news is that there’s a walkway that traverses the entirety of the cliff series that the hotel sits upon.

The even better news is that this walkway continues into a peaceful path through the nearby woods. Once you loop back to the hotel grounds, revel in eyeing the glistening amenities such as the pool, deck chairs, and fire pit that I snapped, below. You can see why this property hosts weddings all the time!

Watch the Ocean Waves and Birds

Walking the cliff path all the way to the back pool (yes, there are multiple pools), I discovered a more hidden stretch of sea which was a stormy and formidable gray-blue most of the time I was there. Every tenth walking loop or so, I would stand by the side of that secluded cliff, watching hundreds of birds bobbing on the heaving waves, unperturbed by each icy slap.

How unlike those birds we humans were — we wildly fluttering and squawking beings who were being heaved by the events of 2020. I watched those birds at Cliff House for hours, if you string together all the loop looks I caught of them. They gave solace and inspiration for flowing with the ups and downs (and ups again) that come our way.

This was one of the strangest hotel stays I’ve ever had — even more isolated than the certain Bonaire resort, to which I’d randomly won a free trip… totally alone. But it was 100% dramatically refreshing as well. Of all the places to get away from the everyday, Cliff House, Maine delivers.

Book Cliff House, Maine

Curious to browse availability and pricing for Cliff House, and possibly even book? I found the links for you already:

• Click to see Cliff House on Expedia.com
• Click to see Cliff House on Booking.com
• Click to see Cliff House on Hotels.com

Oh, and if you’ve already been to this hotel and actually seen the inside beyond your room, do please share with our dear readers what your experience was like in the comments section, below!

Want more Maine resorts? Check out my review of the luxurious Inn by the Sea, Maine — which I actually DID get interior photos of!

Desiring more cliffs with an ocean view? Peruse this account of touring the famed Cliffs of Moher, Ireland — gusts of wind and all.

Want more Maine-area travel ideas? See my tips on visiting Portland, Maine, and nearby Portsmouth, NH, which is literally just steps from Kittery, Maine — and a short, scenic drive to a bunch of other cute towns that I enumerate in that article. Enjoy!