The Stone Turret

"Shawn is the nicest of hosts at first until we checked out! We stayed 2 months while I house hunted and closed on my new home. The place is by a park to walk your pets. Access into rooms is tough. Host told us not to worried about deep cleaning the place when I checked in before checkout. Then wrote a bad airbnb review on me. He expected us to move furniture and vacuum under it. We paid a large cleaning deposit but we spent 2 hours cleaning more than we thought we should...but he complained anyway. Place is loud with very thin walls. Sometimes neighbors in the room across from us would turn our TV off. We heard all the conversations of the host and his partner each night. You don't get heat until October he has it turned off. AC is a small very loud unit above door so you can't control it since its 8 ft up. Parking is tight and near impossible if you drive a truck or SUV."

"Annual long weekend in Augusta area and we wanted to avoid repeating the underwhelming hotel scene. The Stone Turret website doesn’t sell itself as well as it should as we were beyond impressed with the actual experience we discovered. Here are the top 5 thoughts on our stay. 1. The rooms are a unique and memorable fusion of mill era church architecture and modern design with warm accents. Suite 3 felt like a hip apartment with an inescapable fascination for the past. 2. Real furniture - not hotel dormitory furniture. The beds were high end comfort with luxurious linens. The plush couch sucked you right in. Coffee tables and nightstands were all right sized and not some awkward bulk buy one size fits all. Modern vanities with Oversized mirrors and a clever blue LED backlight. Full size apartment fridge that you don’t have to pull the shelves out of to fit your stuff from your cooler in. 3. Spacious ¾ round shower with a glorious city water pressure rainfall head. Couple that with the complimentary homemade ultra-lathering soap and you will want to shower three times a day. 4. The breakfast – Served in the round turret room next to an open window and overflowing petunia window planter. A bountiful bowl of prepared fruits waited for us with fresh coffee followed by an ample, well designed entrée breakfast that ranged from skillet egg soufflé to poached eggs with avocado and goat cheese. The portions couldn’t have been larger or more perfectly prepared. Most impressively Shawn was able to accommodate Celiac level gluten free without even batting an eye. 5. Shawn, the owner and host, takes pride in his establishment and it shows throughout. He reads guests quickly and adapts to and appropriate level of interaction and hospitality. No real cons but a couple things to note. Gardiner is a sleepy town that is just starting to develop it’s new downtown culture. Hallowell however is just up the river a little bit and has an active entertainment district, far better than Augusta has to offer. We enjoyed dining and some fine beers on the patio at the Quarry Taproom. Suite 3 has a spiral staircase, which we chose for the loft experience, but it’s probably not for everyone."

"My daughter and I spent this past Saturday night at the Stone Turret. It's former live was a beautiful church and is now a Bed & Breakfast. My niece got married this past weekend and being from out of state, I wanted to stay close to the venue, which was less than a mile away. I was pleasantly surprised to see on line The Stone Turret. I looked out of curiosity, thinking I probably couldn't afford to stay there, but after pricing other regular "run of the mill" hotels more than 10 minutes away, it was comparable! Thankfully, there was a suite available, so I booked it right away. I love that this is a converted old church and that Shawn, the owner, has an background in architecture and sees the beauty it still has to offer. Everywhere you look, there are stained glass windows. Our bed was beyond comfortable, the bathroom was beautiful and our suite was like a home away from home. We even had our own private entrance. Don't get me started on breakfast....! Fresh fruit, warm from the oven homemade muffins, juice and coffee awaited us in the quaint breakfast area. For the breakfast main course, Shawn made us perfectly cooked bacon and the most delicious omelet I think I have ever tasted! Trust me, if you ever get the chance to be in Gardiner Maine and need a place to stay, check into The Stone Turret - you won't be disappointed! Although we didn't get a chance to go sightseeing, I hear there is a river very nearby, which is popular for canoeing and kayaking. Thank you, Shawn for being such a great host! Kimberly & Alexa"

"What a fun place, if you get the chance make sure you get a room here and enjoy some relaxation. Your host is very nice and welcoming, willing to make you feel like you are really a guest of his in thehouse. The fresh pastries and coffee are top notch and if you want some conversation just hang out in the kitchen."

"We were charmed by Shawn, the architect-innkeeper, and his re-invention of this old stone church. Just up the hill from the town's main street, and walking distance from the A1 Diner (apparently a stop on Guy FIeri's Diner Drive), this B&B is a short drive from Augusta. Room 4 is the biggest and most spacious; Room 3 has a loft.."