Harvest Hosts: An Early Review
Our accommodations at Cisco Brewers in Portsmouth, NH
During the summer of 2020, we found ourselves looking for cheap places to park the van on extended trips. Truck stops seemed a little sketchy, but not out of the question. There really isn’t a whole lot of public land that allows dispersed camping in our part of the country (think BLM land out West). Campgrounds, both private and public, can get expensive quickly. Enter, Harvest Hosts!
We signed up for a year-long membership and were fortunate enough to get 15% off the standard price of $79 with a coupon code. Once you sign up and download the app, you’ll see a detailed map of the participating breweries, wineries, farms, and museums. There are also a ton golf courses that offer additional services for an another $40 per year over the basic plan. Seemed like a good deal, but we’re not golfers. Once you find an area with a host, you can click on their profile to view their basic details: number of spots available, if pets are allowed, and a link to their website if they have one. It also displays their contact information, hours, amenities and reviews from other members that stayed there.
Figuring that even if we only use them 3-4 times during the remainder of the summer, we’d be money ahead compared to staying at even the most inexpensive campgrounds. Quite possibly the best perk of the locations? There’s nothing like a hot meal and cold beverage after a day on the road! We probably would have spent that money at a brewery or restaurant anyway if we didn’t feel like cooking, and it supports the local business and keeps them motivated to continue to offer accommodations for members. Great food and beverage obviously aren’t available all Host locations, but we plan on renewing our membership and updating this review in the future.
As it relates to our Maine 2020 trip, Harvest Hosts really helped us break up the higher mileage days and allowed us to travel slowly. Since we went the week of Labor Day, during a pandemic where everyone simultaneously decided camping was the best form of vacationing, many places were booked or required a two-night minimum stay. Given that our only solid plans were to spend three nights in Acadia, we couldn’t justify booking more than one night at any given spot along the way. We did still have our 9-5 jobs to return to, and we didn’t have the vacation-day-budget to be away for more than a week or so. We did book those three nights at a private campground on Mt. Desert Island due to the perfect location and lack of State Park options (all closed due to the rona), so we wanted to do the remainder of the trip as cheaply as possible.
The first brewery we stayed at was Cisco Brewery in Portsmouth NH. Their beer was so good that we made a stop on the way back home to pick up another case to share with friends. They also had a kitchen with a reasonable menu, so we ordered food shortly after we arrived. They closed up over the Winter of 2020/2021, but it looks like they’ll be accepting Harvest Host reservations in the Spring of 2021.
The next place we stayed was at Boothbay Craft Brewery in Boothbay, ME. This place welcomes Harvest Host members, as well as longer-stay RV-ers that need water and electric connections. Those spots can be booked separately on their website. They have great craft beer and make their own woodfired pizzas. Oh yea, free WIFI! Cell reception was patchy, so we didn’t mind jumping on their network to plan some stops for the next couple days. We actually stayed here again on the way back from Acadia as it was the perfect distance between our semi-planned destinations, and they had an open parking spot for the evening.
Although this is a preliminary review, we feel we’ve already gotten our money’s worth over the course of just three nights. Hosts were very friendly, businesses were unique with a lot to offer, and parking places felt very safe. The membership makes breaking up long travel days so much easier than scrambling to find a safe place to park as the daylight slips away. Or maybe worse; overpaying for accommodations you won’t be there long enough to take advantage of. We’ll be sure to update this post with additional Host reviews in the future.