<p class="ingestion featured-caption">I stayed at The Inn at St. John in Portland, Maine. The inn felt historic yet updated.Erin McDowell/Business Insider</p><ul class="summary-list"><li>I recently stayed at The Inn at St. John, a historic hotel in Portland, Maine.</li><li>The hotel was cozy, comfortable, and rich with history.</li></ul><p>I pulled my suitcase through the elegant front doors of The Inn at St. John, weary from hours of travel from Connecticut to Portland, Maine.</p><p>It was one of the busiest — and most expensive — August weekends in Portland, and I felt relief as I dropped my bags at one of the city's most historic hotels.</p><p>Described on <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.innatstjohn.com/our-history">the hotel's website</a> as a charming Victorian-era inn, The Inn at St. John was established by railroad tycoon John Deering in 1897, toward the end of the <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gilded-age-mansion-vanderbilt-rhode-island-breakers-photos-2024-8">Gilded Age</a>.</p><p>It was originally built to accommodate travelers passing through a railway station that used to be located across the street. Now, the hotel claims the title of being the <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/historic-hotels-us-oldest-2017-9">oldest continually operating hotel</a> in Portland.</p><p>However, the inn's rich history is only one of the reasons I would return to this <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blind-tiger-portland-maine-review-victorian-historic-hotel-2024-9">cozy hotel</a>.</p><p>Here's what it was like to stay at The Inn at St. John in Portland, Maine.</p>