Whitehall is anything but.
Cerulean, yes. Robin’s egg blue, sure. Jade, eggplant, goldenrod — plenty of those.
But white? White is used only as a blank canvas, from which the turquoise stairway, fire engine-red sofa, and purple pillows pop.
The boutique hotel in coastal Camden, Maine, all but bursts into Technicolor Oz as you walk into the lobby, a palette of Crayola bolds.
There are azure curtains; fern green pillows, lipstick-red chairs on animal hide rugs. A glass plate over a tree stump serves as a prominent coffee table; lines of tin-potted plants adorn wooden shelves, stalks of fresh flowers burst from pale blue vases and bright blue glass jars. There are sliced-open geodes, ringed in greens, mounted just-so over beds to accentuate jade blankets and sea-foam-colored throw pillows.
These things help showcase a beaut of a property, nestled between Mount Battie and Penobscot Bay, with 36 rooms and suites, open country porches, backyard fire pits and on-site restaurant and bar, Pig + Poet. All of it eye candy.
The hotel, which opens for the season May 8, is old-school, rustic, L.L. Bean Maine meets new-school, millennial, hipster Maine — from the outdoor fire pits, shuffleboard, fireplaces, and clawfoot bathtubs on the rustic side, to the Apple TV, iPads in every room, iPod docks and West Coast-hip tapas breakfast.
Playing off Camden’s town motto, “Where the mountains meet the sea,’’ Boston-based Rachel Reider Interiors wove natural elements into the hotel’s interior — you’ll see grasscloth, weathered woods, aged metals, barn board, and rope.
At the on-site restaurant, Pig + Poet, the lighting fixtures look like tree branches, or perhaps large twigs of drift wood. The walls appear to be lined with birch trees, which, with all the live plants, complete a feeling of dining under a forest canopy. There’s also a patio, if you choose to actually dine al fresco.
Pig + Poet’s menu is both farm-to-table and sea-to-table — sample fare includes local broiled oysters with biscuit crumbs, garlic, oregano, and spicy pork; and buttermilk fried chicken with duck fat roasted potatoes, kale chips, and Poet hot sauce.
After dinner, watch the sunset with a glass of wine or seasonally-inspired cocktail out by the fire pit, or play shuffleboard under twinkling lights.
Wake to coffee and a tapas breakfast out on the porch. Sample small-plate fare includes fresh scones, breads, hard-boiled eggs, fruit salads, frittata, and cheese plates.
Stroll 10 minutes from the property to browse and shop in quaint Camden village. Pack a picnic and take a gentle hike up the cliffs of Mount Battie — get ready to Instagram — then walk the beach, or take a swim, at Camden Harbor.
WHITEHALL Rates start at $129. 52 High St., Camden, Maine. 207-236-3391. www.larkhotels.com/whitehall
Lauren Daley can be reached at ldaley33@gmail.com.
