Hi all. I've never been to Portland and was looking at organizing a bachelor party (beer focused of course). I've read about all the usual suspects Duckfat, Novare Res, Allagash...etc. I was curious if there's any housing near these places and close to the downtown for about 10 - 15 guys. Or are hotels the only option?
There are several listings on AirBNB and www.homeaway.com for Portland, but I doubt that any one listing is big enough for a group of 10-15. Plus, these types of places often have a minimum stay of 3 nights. For hotels, I'll recommend La Quinta as a decent budget option in Portland. It's off the main drag (about a 30-minute walk from Novare Res), but it's well served by buses. It's also very close to the Portland SeaDogs baseball stadium, if you're interested in taking in a minor league ballgame. In downtown, the Holiday Inn is pretty much perfect for location and prices aren't as steep as other hotels in the immediate vicinity.
I too am organizing my friend's bachelor party in Portland for the weekend of June 14th. Thus far we have booked the Hampton Inn and are going to do a brewery bus tour. The prices for most of the hotels are pretty steep over the course of the Summer months, but will drop if your trip is in the later parts of the Fall. As Huuvola mentioned, La Quinta was the most reasonable of downtown hotels.
We did a bachelor party in Portland last year for about 10-15 guys and rented a 3 bedroom house for the week, but only used it for a long weekend. We only told them there was 8 guys and we had to rent it for a week because it was a holiday, but it was still cheaper than a hotel for that many dudes. I believe our organizer used the website flip key. We visited Smuttynose, Portsmouth, Sebago, Novare Res, Great Lost Bear, Maine Brewing, and Allagash. Solid trip.
I've gone to Portland for two bachelor parties now, and both were a blast. Both times, we stayed at the Inn at St. John on the edge of the peninsula (not too far from the Amtrak station and Maine Medical Center). It's a pretty easy, maybe 20 minute walk into the center of town (and it's on bus lines with cabs going by), but there are bars and restaurants along the way, including Salvage BBQ right next door, which has very good food and a great beer list. The rooms are clean and cheap for Portland, and we've had no problem getting space for 8-10 people in different rooms. If you don't mind a bit of a walk, I'd recommend it.
Just make sure when you go to Novare Res that you're not clean shaven or wearing a collared shirt or nice pants. They won't pay much attention to you if you're without a beard or don't look the part of craft beer brewer/fan. Just my experience. Great beer list, pretty terrible service and people, in my opinion. Won't get my money again. Good news: more for you all!
Lol. It's funny those "terrible people" greet me by name every time I'm in there, and taught me craft beer from the ground up, and I've only rarely been in there without a collared shirt.
Hence the "in my opinion." Went there once, was ignored and felt dissed. It was a sunny, busy day, gave them (too much) credit and vowed to come back. I did and was treated equally as badly. Like I said, more beer for you all. Cheers!
I'm also planning a bachelor party in Portland. We have a bunch of rooms reserved at the Holiday Inn and will be hitting beer bars within walking distance (Novare res, Infiniti, king's head..etc). But can anyone recommend a place for dinner and good beer that will accompany a large group ~10-15?
