Hotel News and Information...

Come For Dessert Stay For Dinner

Chef Glenn Lacoste loves dessert, and he wants to share that passion with you. Come to the Ocean's Edge Restaurant and enjoy his freshly made desserts. You can indulge in Chocolate French Silk Pie, Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie, Chocolate Cream Pie,Walnut Chocolate Chip Pie or Brownie Sundae. Not a chocolate fan? Try Banana Cream Pie, Coconut Cream Pie, Carrot Cake, Apple Pie, Or Hawaiian Pistachio Pineapple Pie. We also have the ever-popular Molten Fudge Cake and Cheesecake Xango. The Chef's recommendation for those on a diet: "Skip the meal and go straight to dessert." Chef Lacoste was honored in 2006 as having the Best Dessert in Waldo County by the readers of "The Citizen" newspaper.

Welcome Visitors!

Foliage Report for September 10, 2008

Maine's Fall Foliage Show Expected to be "Magnificent"

AUGUSTA, Maine – Maine's fall foliage season began today with the first foliage report from the state Department of Conservation. Officials are forecasting a colorful season based on the current health of Maine's forest.

"With a few localized exceptions, the forest statewide is in good health, thanks to the abundant and relatively well-distributed rain we've had since spring," said Bill Ostrofsky, a forest pathologist with the Department of Conservation, Maine Forest Service. "The great majority of hardwood trees have carried a full complement of healthy foliage, and appear to be on typical schedule for changing. Overall, I expect leaf coloration to be magnificent once again for this season."

The report also marks the start of the 50th season of tracking foliage color and leaf drop by forest service rangers. Maine's weekly public foliage reports began in 1959 under former Forestry Commissioner Austin Wilkins.

"In the early years of reporting, rangers simply took notes from their post and phoned or snail mailed their observations to forestry headquarters," said Department of Conservation Commissioner Patrick McGowan. "Today, rangers use email to share their observations and to send photographs of changing foliage that are posted on the official Maine foliage Web site," McGowan said.

Currently, rangers throughout the state are observing very low leaf color, or less than 10 percent toward peak, along with very low leaf drop. Just recently, overnight temperatures in far northern Maine began dropping to the low 40s and high 30s. Those cool nights and sunny days will spark the gradual change in leaf color from north to south.

Maine's fall foliage conditions will be updated on this site each Wednesday through October 15. Be sure to sign up to receive the weekly reports by email.

"We are looking forward to welcoming visitors who enjoy viewing our wonderful foliage by our scenic byways, on mountain and coastal trails, or from the seat of a canoe or kayak," said Pat Eltman, director of the Maine Office of Tourism.

Fun fall events happening this weekend include the 11th Annual MDI Garlic Festival in Southwest Harbor, the Lubec Fall Festival on the Downeast coast, and the Celebrate Bowdoinham Festival on Merrymeeting Bay.

To provide the most accurate foliage information, DOC rangers will report conditions statewide every Wednesday through Oct. 15. Updated reports and information can also be obtained by calling the Maine foliage hotline at 1-888-MAINE-45. Learn more about Maine's fall touring routes and outdoor activities at www.visitmaine.com.

94% Isn't Good Enough For Us

In the hotel business, we measure guest satisfaction with the question, "Would you recommend this hotel to a friend or business associate?" The industry average is 68%. Yes, that's sad. That means to us that 32 out of every 100 guests who stay with our competitors are unhappy with some aspect of their stay. Here at the Comfort Inn Ocean's Edge, 94% of our guests say, "yes". That's 38% better than the industry average. But, 94% isn't good enough for us. When you stay with us, we want to make sure that you have a clean, comfortable room, everything works in the room, the view is breathtaking, the breakfast is appealing, and our staff treat you like you are welcome in our home. This is why we are the proud recipients of the Gold Award for Hospitality (2005), The Platinum Award for Hospitality (2006), Best of Brand(2006), and The Platinum Award for Hospitality (2007).  Here's a sampling of comments from recent guests:

"Thank you for being a family-friendly hotel. It's a great convenience to have a yard, pool, beach & free breakfast available for us!!"

"This really was a great hotel. I would definitely stay again, during our next trip."

"The off-season rate was reasonable. Had a wonderful stay. Hope to come again."

"Great cleaning ladies! Everything looks and smells good."

"Thank you ever so much! Your hospitality was totally outstanding! I am going to send your questionnaire to HQ to let them know that you people here have gone above and beyond. Thank you again."


(Child scrawl) "You guys r a 4 star hotel out of 5 stars. We put all the stuff in one spot so it would be easy. Thanks for letting us stay. But add 1 more star for effert. 5stars!!!!"


"Our stay was superb. Kudos to all the staff at that hotel. I wanted to send this to HQ, but I didn't have the address."

"You have an excellent restaurant here. I had a great meal."

"Very clean, good view & water temp on pool - perfect. Barry was so nice and personal - excellent at customer service. Breakfast excellent - Good food, nice area. Very nice personnel."

"Very quiet and peaceful. Beautiful location."

"Basically, a very good place to stay."

"Your restaurant is really good. I had a great steak there."

"Always a stay here is a great joy for me and Mike. All staff are exactly as one would wish. Thank you."

Very quiet and restful."

"Staff was great! Enjoyed the pool and Hot Tub"

"The view is the crowning feature of our stay."

"Please add glazed donuts to the breakfast. Everything else was just perfect! Loved the extra touches such as nightlight in the bathroom, wonderful pillows, newspaper at the door. May we take your beds home with us?"

"Everything was great, as always.

"The attitude of your staff was unbelievably great!! Hope to return soon - will definitely recommend to others - want to return for vacation!!"

"Nicest Comfort Inn I've stayed at. I travel a lot and I usually stay at Hampton or H.I. Express, but if Comforts were all like this one, I'd never stay at the others."

The Benefits of Taking a Maine Vacation

1. Live Longer: Research done on 749 women aged 45-64 in Framingham, MA showed both homemakers and women who worked outside the home who took fewer vacations had a significant increase in the risk of heart attacks. Homemakers who took vacations once every six years or less had almost twice the risk of developing a heart attack as homemakers who took vacations two or more times per year.
2. Maintain Brain Cells: James Sands, from the South Coast Institute for Applied Gerontology, studied 112 women, aged 65-92 and found that there was a relationship between more stressful life events and a decline in intellectual functioning. However, there was a positive relationship between vacations and intellectual functioning.
3. Increase Life Satisfaction: The University of Tennessee Department of Psychology surveyed 128 employees before and after vacation. They found that there was an increase in life satisfaction after the vacation.
4. Decrease Burnout: External stresses and life events leave us feeling overwhelmed, tired, discouraged, disinterested, and even uncaring. Researchers at Tel Aviv University found that feelings of all 76 employees studied decreased significantly during their vacations.
5. Improve Family Life: Reported in Science Journal 1968, researchers analyzed the responses of 390 steel workers to an extended vacation. Workers reported more interactions and shared activities with spouses and children. 25% of the respondents felt that their work efficiency increased and that their jobs were more interesting after a vacation.
6. Reduce Job Stress: Two recent studies have each clearly demonstrated that an annual vacation significantly defuses job stress and cuts risks of most diseases by 20-30 percent the following year. An ongoing trial of 12,000 American men revealed that, during the five-year study, those who had the most vacations had a 20% lower risk of dying from any cause than those who took the fewest vacations. A similar Dutch study in 1999 provided similar results.