We have been owners and have enjoyed coming to our Samoset timeshare condo for a few decades. The setting is storybook - viewing the whole breakwater, it's lighthouse, Owls Head lighthouse, the ferries traversing the bay, seals hauled out on the rocks, and lobster boats heading out to fetch a favorite dinner. To own this timeshare is all about location, location, and location. We have loved coming every year and intend to continue for many more. Rockland has great restaurants (especially Archers) and a number of inviting shops and museums. The unit itself has a comfortable bed, ample storage, and nice furniture.
That being said, we sadly report the decline in the units themselves. It seems like each year, the assessments increase and the quality decreases. When we arrived this year, a lightbulb flickered and needed replacement. Next morning, the tub was clogged and needed maintenance. When we took out the trash, there were no extra trash bags. The kitchen takes the prize for the worst designed kitchen ever. Apparently they installed refrigerators that were too large and the door could not open, so they put the doors on backwards. They the microwave doors could not open without hitting the refrigerator, so it is impossible to open a microwave door fully - which leads to a terribly dangerous situation taking out microwaved hot dishes sideways and spilling. I presume their kitchen designer has by now been fired. WIFI is slow to non-existent, blinking off and on at whim. If you are dependent upon WIFI during your stay at the Samoset, do not come. It is worthless. Fortunately, I could use a mobile hotspot, but anyone with a normal laptop is doomed to spend hours trying to make it work. I wanted to set up my Alexa, so I could enjoy my music. Neither the front desk nor the tech support could get it working, so I endured a week without music. I have never had this problem at any hotel or motel, but somehow the Samoset WIFI had a virus - and by the way, it's the only time in years my email got hacked. The heater, which sounds like a motorcycle racing uphill at high speed, goes through a vent in the bedroom which is poorly finished to a tiny vent in the Living area which looked like it was installed by the bottom of the class of a tech school - crooked, unfinished, and sloppy to look at. Very amateurish. In the bedroom, try to plug in a power strip and you will see a single plug with multiple boxes plugged into each - a dangerous and even dramatic safety concern. There are insufficient outlets in all rooms and some are overloaded with three in one plug adapters. The toilet works ok, but flushing is a fine art. Hold down once, and it won't go. Hold down ten seconds, and it doesn't go. The secret seems to be to flush the handle for 3.5 seconds, and it will finally flush. And then, there is the rug. Ugh. Ugly. Awful.
And so, as an owner for many decades, I would still return, for the location and view is unbeatable, but the units themselves have declined to the point that the Samoset is no longer worthy to be considered a Gold Crown resort, by a longshot. It has become, sadly, in the words of the Germans, ersatz. read more
