On my way to Maine i stopped by The Barn to see the new owner. Officer Taco told me that one of the books says it is closed. its not. the owners name is Doc and he seems nice. Smiley stayed with him. Doc has cleaned it up and it looks great. no more smoking in the barn though. his bikes were also stolen so no more bike rides to town. it is not a bad walk though. just thought thru hikers should know the scoop.
dirty bird
Maybe they only want you to know by word of mouth till your 5 days away from Gorham to like a club. That’s why OT didn’t know. With a Capitol G.
Greg Forester
Greg
It’s on Wingnut’s map, but marked “Closed” and not listed in the Gorham write up. The ALDHA Companion says “longtime Gorham hostel ‘the Barn’ has closed”. I read on the at-l months ago that it was open again, but Scavenger doesn’t work there anymore.
Tarpeze
I did the field editing for the Gorham section of The Companion last August and had a long talk with Scavenger and Paul the former owner. They assured me they would only sell to an owner who’d keep the hostel so I listed them as open. I suppose it was changed in the final editing because the new owner didn’t have a chance to say yea or nea to the listing before the editing deadline.
Celt
Just a few words in relation to the Hostels in Gorham; this I know to be true:
-Hikers paradise owners do not like hikers, they bad mouth all the hikers that come in, oh sure they act all nice and happy when you arrive, but behind your back they say some pretty bad things about you all, all they want is your money.
-Do not store your gear there while out hiking; they WILL go thru it and take what they want.
-DO NOT leave tips out in the open if you rent a room, the owners wife will pocket it and NOT give it to the housekeepers.
-If you need cooking fuel, you would be better to go to the local hardware store, or walmart, the Paradise owners buy it from there and mark up the price.
-Dont get all excited about the food, it is pre-mix and then frozen for a later date to be used, nothing is fresh as far as the food is concerned
Bad News
If you indeed “know this to be true” then put your real name on it. Slamming someone or some place on a Trail site without putting your name on it does not give much credence to your comments. You’ve said some strong things…either back em up by telling us who you are and when you stayed there, or let it go.
Anonymous attacks, especially outrageous ones, do little credit to the folks that post them, and should not be taken particularly seriously.
(And no…I’m not a friend or employee of the place that’s being slammed; in fact, I haven’t stayed there, by choice, for many years. I just hate to see stuff like this here or anywhere else. If you feel strongly enough about a place to talk like this, then you should have the integrity to take credit for what you have to say. And if what you have to say isn’t worthy of being signed, then perhaps it’s better off not said at all.
Jack Tarlin
There’s been a lot of talk and speculation on the Internet and elsewhere about the Barn.
I’m very pleased to report that I called the Barn today and talked to Dr. Regan, the new owner.
The Barn will be open as a hiker hostel this year, and the new owners are very enthusiastic about keeping the place as a hostel. The price (bunk and shower) will be $14.00.
Rooms are also available in the main house, which will continue as a very nice B&B.
I hope word about this gets around, as several publications, including the Thru-Hikers Handbook, stated that the Barn was closed as a hostel.
This was always one of the best hostels on the Trail, and I hope this continues in 2004 and afterwards.
Jack Tarlin
…because I still live in town of Gorham, I will not give my name, but you can bet all that i have said IS true, I worked there, as did my girlfriend, and the guy that was the cook there had TOLD me directly about the tip incident, but I will let you be the judge. And as far as the opinions made by the owners about hikers; I was told this to my face, as I personaly have ALOT of respect for those that hike the trail.
Bad News