The Cost of Hotels Near Houlton, Maine, Surges for the Solar Eclipse

As the solar eclipse approaches, people are eagerly awaiting their opportunity to see the collision of the sun and moon grace the sky with an eye-candy type of display.

The town of Houlton, Maine, way up in "the county" (Aroostook) has been dubbed the best spot in Maine for viewing the upcoming solar eclipse on April 8. What is normally a quiet town without many tourists has unexpectedly found itself in the limelight as the prime viewing location. The town is expecting thousands as people are flocking at the opportunity to catch the best glimpse.

As you can probably imagine, there isn't enough lodging in the area to host everyone. Houlton hotels have been quickly snatched up by eager travelers. As a result, most nearby accommodations are sold out, with the remaining few showing a big surge in prices and catching many visitors off-guard with the sudden influx.

According to WABI, the hotel manager of the Ivey Motor Lodge said that 80% of their rooms are already booked as they plan to host eclipse viewers from around the country.

As the availability of rooms in Houlton slowly dwindles to nothing, people are now succumbing to neighboring towns like Presque Isle, with their hotels also selling out and surging in price. According to hotels.com, at the time of this article, there were only two hotels left, and prices hovered in the mid-three hundreds.

If you're finding yourself in one of these situations, you can always camp. Nearby campsites have also reported increased bookings and limited availability, but as you would imagine, the option to have a roof over your head and an actual bathroom outweighs the demand of setting up a tent in the woods. So it should be easier to camp if you have your mind set on making the trek north for the big day.