There's that old saying that "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all". Unfortunately, that does not apply to tourists who have visited Portland's Old Port in the last year or so. If you visit Trip Advisor, you'll find that most of the reviews for the Old Port rate as excellent or very good. But the ones that rate as poor or terrible....well those just need to be dissected.

Smells Like A Landfill

"Had the misfortune of visiting the Old Port area of Portland ME. This has to be the most filthy port area I have ever visited in my life. The entire area smells and feels like an open air dump" --ManchVegas_03103  Manchester, NH

There are obviously some easy jokes to be made about a person from Manchester, NH ripping Portland, ME to shreds. Just so curious though, what part of the Old Port did they spend all their time in? The back end of a dock on a steamy hot day after some fish had been discarded? Every port town is going to have its days of smelling not so fresh, but an open air dump? Come on!

Few Attractions, Costly Hotels. 

"Portland seemed like a nice place with where we expected we would find some live music. Rather disappointed. All the bars we encountered were sports bar with big TVs. Not very many interesting boutiques or things to see"  --DiveRaftClimb    Montreal, QC

Another bizarre review. Off the top of your head, you can easily add up bars in the Old Port that don't even have TVs, let alone TVs that are constantly showing sports. If DiveRaftClimb ever returns to Portland, perhaps they should check out our 5 Underground Bars suggestion to spice things up.

Didn't Quite Understand It

"I guess this place might be nice in summer ?.....it was cold which is not unsual in this area, and everything on the port seemed to be close ?... We walked the wharfs and not single fishing boat on site" --Victor1247

Well big vicky, March typically isn't the warmest month of the year so perhaps your "guess" that the Old Port might be nicer in the summer is correct. That being said, are you surprised that in the dead of winter, businesses on the waterfront with outdoor decks were closed? That the coastline wasn't littered with active fishing boats? Not trying to sound condescending here but...no, never mind. I am.

Stay Away, very poor food.

"Calamari, fries, haddock sandwich all slightly undercooked and drenched in oil, all soggy. Unfortunately." --Frescobot  Collinsville, Connecticut

This review will undoubtedly pour some gasoline on the fire for people who truly put so much work into making Portland's restaurants a culinary destination. What's hilarious about this review, is there is absolutely no mention of the exact restaurant they visited to get such poor food.

 

Dirty

"Very dirty area, needs a good clean thru. Nice restaurants around but needs a scrub. Restaurants close for a few hours on the weekend in the afternoon which is a little inconvenient."  -Bingarakath   Sydney, Australia

If ALL the restaurants were closed, why didn't you just throw another shrimp on the barbie! Sorry, couldn't help myself. I'm no world traveler, but something tells me that everywhere in downtown Sydney is not spotless. Also, Bingarakath must have found the 3 spots in the Old Port that are closed for lunch on the weekends. By the way, how does closed establishments equate to a dirty review?

 

So there you have it. Some of those friendly tourists that visit beautiful Portland, Maine that just couldn't find a nice thing to say. They also struggled with specifics, details or anything resembling a coherent thought. Thank god for the internet.

 

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