Surrounded by abundant New England flora, just minutes from Goose Rocks Beach, Hidden Pond is quaintly nestled in the natural world. Emily Nelson, general manager of the Kennebunkport Resort Collection, which features 10 different “boutique destinations,” has been a steward of this rich haven of hospitality for the last decade. “You pull in, and you’re not quite sure where you are,” she says fondly. “But, actually, you are 10 minutes from downtown Kennebunkport and one mile from the beach.”
The resort first opened in 2008 as a 14-cottage showcase, explains Nelson. Local designers were given a budget and the freedom to realize their aesthetic vision for each cottage, imagined around themes like rustic tranquility and the natural landscape. The second phase of its development in 2011 saw the addition of two more cottages and 20 king bungalows, as well as The Barn, the Tree Spa, and the famous farm-to-fork restaurant, Earth, which has been named one of the 50 Most Beautiful Restaurants in America by People Magazine. By 2020, Hidden Pond included 10 glorious treetop lodges, in which it might seem almost sacrilegious to use a cell phone.
Indeed, with its proximity to the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust Nature Preserve, Hidden Pond invites guests to tap into a world barely touched by technology. They can walk, bike, take a “forest bath,” and even spend time with the on-site gardener and enjoy a bounty they can pick themselves. The Tree Spa offers elevation in the literal sense while guests enjoy massage and yoga in a treehouse-like setting with an accompanying chorus of birdsong. Children, too, can unplug in favor of art classes, marine science camp, and playing on the beach.
As the air, sea, and sun work their magic, the staff of Hidden Pond is present to answer every call. “Our staff’s on-property presence tries to be as anticipatory as possible,” explains Nelson. “We try to fill a guest’s need before they want it.” That “anticipatory” awareness starts even before visitors set foot on the property. By the time a guest arrives, the concierge has already reached out to them, inquired about their holiday hopes, and made the appropriate arrangements for dining, tours, and wellness.
And the guest list is diverse. A cozy family vacation, an anniversary weekend, a multi-generational celebration, the “mini-moon” of a couple unwinding from their wedding. Folks from Boston, New York, and over the pond have found solace in the permission that Hidden Pond gives them to “hang up and hang out,” even for just a few days.
How does Kennebunkport’s Hidden Pond resort staff know that the spell they have cast is working? “From that first arrival moment,” Nelson reflects, “people are stressed from the drive or flight and coming off of their daily lives. But by day two, they’ve received their coffee and pastry, and have begun to relax.” As one day leads into the next, she says, the staff members get to witness the decompression of their grateful guests.
Ralph Waldo Emerson once wrote, “In the woods, we return to reason and faith. There I feel that nothing can befall me in life,—no disgrace, no calamity, (leaving me my eyes,) which nature cannot repair.” Emerson is clear that it is up to us as human beings to seek out this kind of clarity and peace, but it is a task that can seem downright impossible in the havoc of schedules and notifications and worldly worries. Fortunately, the creative minds behind Kennebunkport’s Hidden Pond have combined the giddy element of discovery and the healing immersion of nature into a resort haven that awaits the weary modern mind.
Hidden Pond is open from the start of May to late October and Earth is open year-round.