Update From Janis and Peter

Updated: 5/15/2020

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Hi Everyone,

Greetings from the Camden Maine Stay Inn!

We hope you are doing well, and more importantly, feeling well these days. Hopefully you, your families and your friends have been spared the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

What’s Happening in Maine

Here in Maine, as you might expect, things have been fairly quiet during the past few months. Given our sparse population in Maine, particularly in rural areas like Camden, we have not experienced the heavier burdens of the pandemic.

Maine continues to be under a “safer-at-home” order from our Governor. However, the Governor recently has begun putting in place measures for a cautious, gradual reopening of the state’s economy, including the lodging industry. Some would argue that the Governor is being too restrictive, but we understand and empathize with her desire to protect the health of both Maine residents and our guests from away, and in this way, to ensure the future, long-term viability of the state’s economy.

Lodging Requirements in Maine

Within this general framework, the current rules pertaining to Maine’s lodging industry are as follows:

  • May – All lodging establishments are closed except to essential services workers and vulnerable populations (e.g., homeless persons and abuse victims). The same restrictions were in effect in April as well.
  • June – Lodging establishments will be able to reopen, but their guests can be only (a) Maine residents and (b) out-of-staters who have been in quarantine for 14 days after they have entered Maine and before they check into a Maine lodging establishment. Practically speaking, the quarantine requirement makes it all but impossible for non-Mainers to visit the state in June.
  • July and Beyond – At present, the same rules that are in effect in June, including the 14-day quarantine requirement, ostensibly will apply during July and subsequent months. However, there is a relatively good possibility that the Governor will relax or replace the quarantine requirement in due course. The drivers for whether and when this change will occur likely will be the relevant public health statistics (such as testing results, infections, hospitalizations and mortality), the actions taken by Maine’s neighboring states, legal challenges and public pressure. We will promptly update you if and when the lodging rules for July and beyond are changed in any meaningful way.

 

What We’re Doing

During the past few months, we have continued to work on improving the Inn in several ways. We totally overhauled and updated our website – www.camdenmainestayinn.com – to make it more approachable and easier to use, to include more information about the Inn and the many wonderful things there are to see and do in our area, and to show you through photos the captivating beauty of the Inn and our surroundings. We also have finished virtually all of our off-season renovation projects,

including updates to several guest rooms, and now are devoting much attention to our beautiful, spacious lawn and gardens.

More importantly, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are laser focused on identifying and implementing the public health requirements and best practices applicable to our property, staff, guests, vendors and operations. Our goal is to take all necessary and appropriate actions to preserve the health and safety of everyone who comes into contact with our Inn. The cleanliness of the Inn always has been a source of pride for us and satisfaction for our guests. We now are taking the Inn’s cleanliness to an entirely new level.

In addition, with our guests first and foremost in mind, we have made the following changes to our reservation modification and cancellation policies:

  • Modifying a Reservation to Reschedule a Stay in 2020 – If you want to modify a reservation to reschedule your stay at our Inn during 2020, you may do so as many times as you want, whenever you wish, and without any penalty, provided that your rescheduled stay begins within one year after the start date of your original stay.
  • Canceling a Reservation for a Stay in 2020 – If you want to cancel a reservation made directly with us for a stay at our Inn during 2020, regardless of when in 2020 your stay was to have been or when you cancel the reservation, we will refund 100% of your deposit, will not charge you for the remaining balance of the reservation, and will not impose any cancellation fee.

We hope you will view these policy changes as being flexible and guest-friendly and as demonstrating our unyielding commitment to make your stay at our Inn as easy and enjoyable as possible. In the unfortunate event that you decide to cancel a reservation, we hope you will want to stay with us at some point in the future whenever you deem a trip to Maine to be right for you.

 

Till We See You Next

We are anxious to begin the 2020 vacation season. Undoubtedly, it will be unlike any vacation season that has come before. We have buckled our belts and are ready for the ride.

As we all know, the pandemic has forced upon everyone an all-encompassing new normal. After all, who would have ever thought at the start of the year that a personal conversation, going to the store or a movie, eating a restaurant meal, taking a trip, or even a simple handshake would be fraught with such overriding health concerns? As a certain Nobel Prize winner in Literature once wrote, “The times – they are a-changin’.”

It is within this strange context that we will strive to provide you with the same wonderful B&B experience that is the Inn’s tradition and hallmark. At the same time, we are committed to taking new, advanced health and safety precautions in order to provide you and everyone else with not only a safe, sanitary environment but also peace of mind.

We look forward to seeing you whenever it’s right for you. In the meantime, please take care and stay well.

 

We look forward to seeing you whenever it’s right for you. In the meantime, please take care and stay well.

 

~ Peter and Janis