Harbor Ridge, ME: HOA-owned weeks available for FREE!

[amycurl]

As many of you know, I am on the board of Harbor Ridge resort in Southwest Harbor, ME. This is the *only* timeshare on Mount Desert Island, which is where Bar Harbor and the vast majority of Acadia National Park is located. With only 40 units, the resort is a Premier II resort and is governed by an independent, owner-run board which directly hires the resort management (no third-party management companies involved.)

This is a fixed week, fixed unit resort, with both EY and EOY ownership options (see below.) These are townhouse-style units. Day use is permitted by owners year-round, and many locals own many of the off-season weeks because of this. There is an indoor pool and hot tub and a clubhouse with amazing ocean views. (You can see the ocean while sitting in the hot tub--always a bonus!) In the off-season, there is excellent, groomed cross-country skiing available on the carriage paths in Acadia and ice skating on a local pond in SW Harbor. Weeks that fall between Memorial Day and mid-October are "tiger traders" in II; "shoulder season" weeks are also pretty powerful, based on reports from other owners. With an early June week (which we purchased pre-construction,) I have gotten trades that included oceanfront on Maui during Christmas, Marriotts in Aruba, Hilton Head, Myrtle Beach, and Orlando over Spring Break, etc. One year, we traded back in using II for a Christmas week, and then used "owner getaway" pricing to stay an extra week. We loved being here over the holidays, and even sledded on a small hill between two of the buildings.

The resort can transfer any of the deeds below to you for FREE!; the HOA just wants these weeks to find their next owner and you'll only be charged $300 for the deed work, which is done by the resort management (no need for an outside closing company.) MF for 2025 were $680 per week; property taxes vary based on season. Property taxes are paid with the MF to the resort, so most weeks are about $700-$720 inclusive of tax. Folks can see the MF history here: https://harborridge.com/faq-s/. The 2026 budget will be passed in December. We've never had a special assessment in the history of the resort. (And this is a seaside resort high on an exposed ridge line with a significant winter season.)

Below is the list of weeks currently available (click the list to expand it.) If you're interested in any of these, please send me a message and I'll connect you to resort management to get the process started. I'll keep this thread updated as weeks come and go. Unit numbers starting with a "1" are in the highest building and tend to have the best ocean views. Unit numbers ending in a "1" or "8" are end units that have an additional window in the living room.

UNIT	WEEK	YEAR	SIZE OF UNIT	SLEEPS
43	14	ODD	Two Bedroom	6
55	14	EVERY	Two Bedroom	6
41	16	EVEN	Two Bedroom	6
31	16	EVERY	Two Bedroom	6
24	17	EVERY	Two Bedroom	6
16	18	ODD	One Bedroom	4
15	19	EVERY	One Bedroom	4
15	40	EVERY	One Bedroom	4
16	41	EVEN	One Bedroom	4
24	47	EVERY	Two Bedroom	6
58	51	EVERY	Two Bedroom	6
18	52	EVERY	Two Bedroom	6

Don't hesitate to contact me or post with any questions you might have. I want to have others fall in love with this resort the way my family has (my mother is here for the whole month of August, in unit 55.)

 

[klpca]

Great location! If we weren't west coast based, I would be interested.

 

[kwelty]

We own week 26 (early June) and love it. It is an excellent trader and has as many I.I. points assigned to it as a lot of Marriotts. Sometimes we purchase extra points, at a good price, from the HOA to use to trade for Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach Marriotts. But we always use our home week ourselfs. I did a review on TUG two or three years ago.
The HOA does a great job as well as Harbor Ridge staff, thank you Amycurl for serving on the HOA.

 

[TravelJoy]

We own week 26 (early June) and love it. It is an excellent trader and has as many I.I. points assigned to it as a lot of Marriotts. Sometimes we purchase extra points, at a good price, from the HOA to use to trade for Hilton Head and Myrtle Beach Marriotts. But we always use our home week ourselfs. I did a review on TUG two or three years ago.
The HOA does a great job as well as Harbor Ridge staff, thank you Amycurl for serving on the HOA.

Wait so II assigns points to this resort although it is deeded fixed week or was it converted to points?

 

[buzglyd]

I stayed here once and it was great. Kinda far from Carlsbad to use regularly. Love the area.

 

[kwelty]

Wait so II assigns points to this resort although it is deeded fixed week or was it converted to points?

You can join the I.I. points program through the HOA for only $500 and that gives you prepaid membership for two years and a startup of 35,000 points. I still use my fixed week but I could deposit it to I.I. and get 105,000 points which would get me a high season Marriott 2 BR at many desireable places.
From a previous newsletter:
"Harbor Ridge is still offering Interval’s Club Interval Gold (CIG) points based membership for an extremely low price of $495, which includes a two-year CIG membership and an initial deposit of 35,000 points."
More info can be found at https://harborridge.com/club-interval-gold-membership/

 

[jp10558]

I think I see why they're giving these weeks away though - unless you did like cross country skiing I think it's too cold most of the weeks in the list. I guess I should keep an eye open for sales of summer weeks if anyone ever does sell them on though - I enjoyed going to Acadia in August a few years ago for my birthday, but the hotels were insane.

 

[amycurl]

There are summer weeks for sale, but not for free; the resort serves as a broker (of sorts) for the owners of those weeks. You can contact the resort directly at 207- 244-7000 to inquire about those weeks.

I would say that the holiday weeks are great; most of these free weeks would be considered shoulder season (early Spring and late fall still get decent trades in II.) My DD brought friends up from their college in NYC during their Spring Break at the end of March--probably week 12 or 13?--and had a great time. They hiked all over the island, drove Ocean Drive (the part of the Loop Road that remains open year-round,) and even swam (for a bit!) in one of the lakes. Global warming has, alas, come to Maine as well. None of these weeks fall into the height of winter (Jan/Feb.)

Week 14 is the first week listed and falls during the first week of April; in 2026 that week would start on Easter weekend, which is a pretty pleasant time to be on the island. My aunt lived in the Albany area most of her life; her winters were *much* more harsh there than here, as the ocean moderates the temps on the island during the winter. (Our family has lived full-time on MDI for chunks of time.) The weeks 40 and 41 are early October weeks, and the weather is usually fantastic in October. The resort does run a rental pool on behalf of owners, but owners also use VRBO and rent directly as well. Those October weeks would make good rentals. A quick search shows hotel rooms on the island renting for $300-$500/night during week 40 and 41, and they won't be as spacious as even the one-bedroom unit.

The one bedroom units listed have private multi-person jetted tubs on the lowest level.

@kwelty, thanks for answering the questions about the II points program and your successful use of it. This is another way to leverage some of the shoulder season weeks.

 

[Panina]

If I was going to get a week for trading in II I would grab the week 40 or 41. Decent Mf, good trade value, possible rental too. I am tempted but already have too much vacation to use.

 

[silentg]

What airport is closest to the resort?

 

[#1 Cowboys Fan]

As far as a decent choice.....Bangor International Airport is about an hour and fifteen minutes away.

 

[amycurl]

Bar Harbor airport is in Trenton, ME, just on the other side of the bridge. Cape Air offers flights there through Boston and other NE cities. The closest airport with major carriers is Bangor, ME, which is just a little over an hour away. Portland, ME is about 2-3 hours away.

 

[silentg]

What airport is closest to the resort?

Is this week available? What dates is it?

16

18

ODD

One Bedroom

4

 

[amycurl]

Yes, it is! I’ll send you a PM with next steps. Week 18 in 2025 was May 4-11 (my birthday week); it would be similar in 2026.

 

[iftravel]

You can join the I.I. points program through the HOA for only $500 and that gives you prepaid membership for two years and a startup of 35,000 points. I still use my fixed week but I could deposit it to I.I. and get 105,000 points which would get me a high season Marriott 2 BR at many desireable places.
From a previous newsletter:
"Harbor Ridge is still offering Interval’s Club Interval Gold (CIG) points based membership for an extremely low price of $495, which includes a two-year CIG membership and an initial deposit of 35,000 points."
More info can be found at https://harborridge.com/club-interval-gold-membership/

can this be added to one's individual II account? (so don't have to pay for two membership fees?)

 

[zentraveler]

We stayed there for a week in late April this year before the tourist/summer season which is mid-May to mid-October mostly, but Memorial Day -Labor Day for some business, restaurants etc. We came from SFO to visit Maine and Acadia and it was certainly not an easy trip from here. No non-stops to anywhere in Maine except Boston, but still a long drive to the far eastern areas. It is far easier from the east coast.

We liked Harbor Ridge but would offer a few caveats about it. There is nowhere to walk from the resort. It is a drive to anywhere and although Southwest Harbor is a cute enough little town, and not far from the resort, it was barely coming alive even this close to mid-May. It is really quiet during the off season, which is most of the year, as is Bar Harbor and just about anywhere in that area. And very quiet means almost nothing (restaurants, shops etc) is open and what is open has vastly restricted hours especially in the fully off season. This applies not just to Southwest Harbor but all of the towns in the area.

The front desk at HR is very nice and helpful, but what we got when we arrived was an extensive list of what we were to do when we checked out (attached and quite extensive - we've never seen anything like it in 25 years of time shares stays. Check out is also 9 am, which is unheard of in our TS experience, and they charge by the hour for every hour you are not out after that.

There is plentiful parking at the resort and we parked steps outside our unit in what seemed like a dedicated space for our unit - extremely handy. It is a spacious property and our 3 level unit was quite spacious as well. There were BBQ grills, games in the clubhouse etc. The resort seems well run and family kind of resort. There are no dining or eating/drinking options at the resort. There is a gift shop, but nothing that sells food, groceries,beer/wine or the kind of last minute items one might forget.

I imagine in the full season it feels different and people flock to the area then. We did appreciate being enough ahead of the curve to have quiet drives through Acadia, and other lovely sights. The weather was just fine for us and we missed any snow although I hear it can happen into May.

 

[kwelty]

can this be added to one's individual II account? (so don't have to pay for two membership fees?)

I'm sure you could, but ask Annette or Margaret at Harbor Ridge at 866-384-0231. Both are great to work with.

 

[missyrcrews]

Huh. I do all that stuff when I leave any timeshare anyhow. Trash/dishes/beds/towels, etc. Kind of like to leave things better than I found them.

And give me an off-season week in that area ANY DAY. I went to Acadia two summers ago. NEVER AGAIN. Far too many people for my taste. I got as close as Ellsworth this year and couldn't get out fast enough. To each his own! Wish I was a little closer to retirement!

 

[zentraveler]

I do all that stuff when I leave any timeshare anyhow.

Shower curtains....really?

 

[WinniWoman]

Shower curtains....really?

Yeah- some of those things seem over the top with bagging and so forth.

And what’s with the housekeeping gratuity? Do they come in during the week to clean?

 

[WinniWoman]

I wanted to get a weeks rental there for 2nd week of June to escape bike week here, but never anything available.

 

[CericRushmore]

We liked Harbor Ridge but would offer a few caveats about it. There is nowhere to walk from the resort. It is a drive to anywhere and although Southwest Harbor is a cute enough little town, and not far from the resort, it was barely coming alive even this close to mid-May.

We stayed for 2 weeks in October 2023 and also like it. You can actually walk down to the little town from the resort via the walking path in the back. It goes down to a side street, walk a block and take a right. Town is a couple blocks down.

 

[#1 Cowboys Fan]

I wanted to get a weeks rental there for 2nd week of June to escape bike week here, but never anything available.

Winni I won that week, but EOY (Odd)

 

[#1 Cowboys Fan]

Ooops, let's try that again

Winni I OWN that week, but EOY (Odd)

 

[silentg]

This would be difficult for me to get to living in Florida.