Top U.S. Seaside Inns

Prouts Neck, Maine

On a craggy peninsula just south of Portland, the gray-shingled 1878 Black Point Inn (doubles from $480, including breakfast and dinner) occupies a prime waterfront location. The owners have updated the public spaces and 25 nautical-themed rooms. Now you’ll find a geothermally heated sauna and outdoor pool, Frette linens, and flat-screen televisions. Watch sailboats from a wicker rocker on the porch, stroll the sandy beaches (a Down East rarity), or hike the Cliff Walk, a nearby trail where artist Winslow Homer painted scenes of the coast.

Don’t Miss: Picnicking at Ferry Beach State Park. Pick up supplies—country pâtés; Fern Hill Farm goat cheese; Pink Lady apples—at the Cheese Iron, in Scarborough.