Tugboat Inn, Restaurant & Marina, Boothbay Harbor, Maine

On the waterfront in the heart of scenic Boothbay Harbor, the Tugboat Inn offers 64 rooms and suites facing (some over) the water, a full service restaurant, the Marina Lounge & Café with weekend/seasonal entertainment, and a sheltered marina with seasonal and transient slips and moorings.

Long a fixture of the working harbor, the Tugboat Inn and its 5 buildings boast a colorful past as home to all sorts of businesses and local landmarks. The Red Building was once the location of an army/navy surplus store, a ships’ chandlery and the Beauty Box Hair Salon. The three-story Main Inn is the former site of the Clipper Inn and the Boothbay Boatel. You can still see the old carved wooden sign with the clipper ship on the street by the office. The Wharf Pier was the original home of the Boothbay Harbor Yacht Club, then more recently the locally infamous Sea Shanty. Many visitors and residents will recall when Marine Service operated off the dock that is now the Tugboat Pier. At first, our restaurant was out over the water on the first level with guest rooms above. In the early 70’s, the owners at that time purchased the former working tugboat “Maine”, brought her to Boothbay Harbor, moved her up to her current location on Commercial Street and the Tugboat Lounge was born. Later the restaurant was moved to its current location and attached to the tugboat and additional guest rooms were added to the first level of the pier.

In 1993, the Tugboat Inn was purchased by David J. Witham (owner/innkeeper of the Bar Harbor Inn) and underwent an extensive three-year $2.5 million transformation into one of Boothbay Harbor’s premier establishments. Present owners, Danny & Carla Lafayette, are committed to maintaining the high quality of the facility and providing the best in Maine Hospitality.

The Tugboat Inn offers 64 nonsmoking rooms and suites located in 5 different buildings. All accommodations are tastefully decorated and feature king or queen beds, private bath (most with combination shower/tub, a few with large shower) with personal amenities and hair dryer, individual climate control, direct dial touchtone telephone, remote controlled cable television, and in-room brewed coffee. Some rooms have irons and ironing boards.

The first level features 3 large guestrooms that share an oversize deck overlooking the outer harbor. The one bedroom “Crow’s Nest” suite on the 2nd level features a jetted bathtub, living room, fully equipped kitchen and large private deck with a superb harbor view. Most rooms have deck space outside their door.

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