Nestled on 3.5 acres of beautifully landscaped property, The Coast Village Inn & Cottages is located in the quaint seaside town of Wells, Maine. A short trolley ride from Wells Beach, it offers a range of accommodations, including guest rooms, vacation suites and cottages. The beautiful gardens feature an outdoor pool as well as a picnic and grilling area.
Julianna Acheson bought the Coast Village Inn and Cottages in 2017 and has just finished her second season as a hotel owner and operator. She had no prior experience in the hotel industry but many transferable skills and convinced a local bank to give her a small business loan. Her interest in hotels stems from her grandparents owning seven hotels in Maine, including the Augusta House, the Elmwood Hotel, the Belgrade Hotel, the Hotel Elmwood, the Hotel Moody, the Dewitt, and the Hotel Rockland.
Julianna comes to us today with the following question:
I would like to accommodate family and high school reunions, milestone birthdays, anniversaries, and retreats. How do I take my shoestring budget and turn an old, dated 2.5 star motel into feeling like a 3-star resort?
Although she was always interested in becoming a hotelier, Julianna ended up following in the footsteps of her father, James Acheson, and became a cultural anthropologist. Her father fostered her interest in the economics of Maine with his many research studies of the Maine lobster industry.
Julianna is one of seven children and has three daughters of her own. After having given up her tenured professorship at the University of Maine, Farmington to support her husband’s business, she found herself divorced. Even with her PhD in cultural anthropology, 25 years of experience, and fifty plus job applications, Julianna couldn't find a job in her chosen field. So she bought a hotel to follow in her grandparents' footsteps.
Julianna loves her new profession of providing a vacation spot with “the best backyard in coastal southern Maine” at her newly acquired hotel Coast Village Inn and Cottages. She has found that helping people enjoy their vacations is an absolute joy, and she intends to expand Acheson Hotels LLC.