Mount Desert Board Supports Asticou Hotel Renovations

Dec 16, 2025

Sign for The Asticou Hotel in Northeast Harbor, featuring the text 'Since 1883,' with categories for 'Restaurant,' 'Bar,' and 'Spa' noted below. — File photo: Bar Harbor Story

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by First National Wealth Management.

MOUNT DESERT—After leaving executive session, the Mount Desert select board unanimously agreed to continue its consent agreement with the Asticou Hotel, and thanked the town’s code enforcement officer, Kim Keene, for her work.

The Asticou is owned by Tim Harrington who owns three hotels on MDI and one of his goals in renovating older hotels such as the Asticou, the Claremont in Southwest Harbor, and even the Salt Cottages (formerly the Colony Cottages) in Bar Harbor is preservation, he said in July.

The original inn building has 50 freshly renovated rooms. In addition to those 50 rooms, there are 15 standalone cottages called “Asticou Village.” There are also 17 spa terrace suites, each with a private harbor-view terrace.

In October, Harrington was accused of failing to pay eleven contractors (seven different companies) for a combined $14 million in work at the property. The property was purchased for $7 million in 2023.

In July, in an attempt to avoid litigation, the Mount Desert Select Board and Asticou Hotel entered into an administrative agreement, it was announced after a select board executive session and regular meeting vote, July 21, two days after the hotel announced that it was open after extensive renovations to the Northeast Harbor historic hotel.

The issues in the consent agreement were related to the Maine Uniform Plumbing Code and compliance over shower stalls in multiple rooms. Some issues have to do with toilet clearance, which is also part of the state’s plumbing codes. Other rooms were found compliant by Keene previously.