Maine Almost Never has Available Hotel Rooms During these Times

Ironically, I've hardly ever booked a room in Maine.

I suppose because I live here, I haven't spent as much time booking rooms in-state as I have in other places. I do my fair share of traveling, but it's always to get out of here, respectfully speaking. On the other hand, I've had plenty of friends and relatives come to visit over the years, and the hotel conversation usually goes one of two ways.

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Either they had no trouble at all finding a room, or it was near impossible to find one anywhere nearby. Granted, Maine is a tourism-driven state economically speaking, so scoring a room on short notice during peak season is hit or miss. But there are some times in the year where it's almost downright impossible.

One of my coworkers in the sales department actually used to own a hotel, and made an offhanded comment one day. He said something to the effect that there were five guaranteed times you'll never find a room in Maine. So naturally, I had to pick his brain to figure out what those were. Let's take a peek...

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The third week of August.

My friend says this is literally the worst time you can try and find anyplace to stay in pretty much the whole state. At first I thought this was odd, because there aren't any holidays or anything to speak of in August. But he pointed out that it's the last stretch of solid time off before kids start going back to school, so it's the last chance for a family vacation. It makes perfect sense, really.

Long Weekends.

When there's a long weekend, let's say Labor Day weekend for conversation's sake, you'll get all the travelers that get out when maybe there won't be as many kids around. So it's almost the opposite reason above. Folks with no kids, or kids who are grown, often take vacations at these times to take advantage of the lack of kids around. Can't really blame them there.

The days on either side of the 4th of July.

This goes back to the whole family vacation idea. As much as it feels like the 4th is the middle of the summer, in most places school has only been out for a matter of days. It's often the first chance for families to really get their stuff together to hit the road. And since no one wants to be on the road on the 4th, most people show up early and hang out for a bit after.

Annual high school basketball tourneys.

In Maine, high school basketball is a huge deal. Heck, we televise it statewide and people travel from one end of the state to the other through that whole period. Especially when the tourneys are at the beginning when there's dozens of teams competing. And it's statewide, north to south. It eats up rooms left and right during that week.

Large, outdoor concerts and festivals.

In Maine, we have the Maine Savings Amphitheater in Bangor, as well as Thompson's Point in Portland. Not to mention a slew of smaller annual festivals that soak up a lot of rooms. Have you ever tried to score a room in Bangor when there's a country show in town? Forget about it. It's just about impossible.

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There are definitely other times when rooms are hard to come by. Even just the summertime in general presents its challenges throughout Maine. Or super special events, like the upcoming solar eclipse. But if you're looking for a room in the middle of January, you'll find deals galore. It's just all about the timing...

Check out Maine's entry on this list...