Less than a year after significant renovations to restore its historic appeal, Scarborough’s Black Point Inn has been named one of 150 top hotels in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by National Geographic Traveler magazine.

The hotels are “the best at blending location-inspired architecture, ambiance and amenities, eco-stewardship and an ethic of giving back to the community,” the magazine said. The winners were named to the magazine’s first Stay List based on input from local experts and seasoned travelers, detailed questionnaires to nominated hotels and visits by the magazine’s own staff.

Also named was Cape Elizabeth’s Inn By the Sea on Bowery Beach Road, which has 57 guest rooms, suites and cottages “designed to pamper you with comfort in a sophisticated palette of deep red, cognac and charcoal with maple furnishings and locally commissioned artwork, according to the inn’s Web site. A telephone call to the inn was not returned by Current deadline.

The Stay List hotels range from “rustic to luxurious, dirt cheap to splurge,” the magazine said, but all “cherish a sense of place and offer a sweet night’s sleep.”

The magazine, which has a circulation of 8 million, praised Black Point Inn’s “immaculate revamp,” which has “resuscitated the classic 1878 inn’s old-fashioned charms.”

It’s yet another honor for brothers Neil and Tim Porta and partner Jesse Henry, who lease and run the hotel through their partnership, True North Hospitality. True North is the former owner of Migis Lodge in South Casco, now wholly owned by Tim Porta and his wife. The lodge was also named to National Geographic Traveler’s Stay List.

Migis Lodge has received numerous accolades in the 29 years the Porta family has run it, including being named “Maine’s Best-Kept Secret” by Bon Appetit magazine.

Inn By the Sea’s awards include being selected as one of the top 100 hotels in the United States and Canada by Travel & Leisure magazine.

In addition to the three local inns, Hope-Nest Farm in Fayette was also selected for the Stay List.

“We were happy,” Neil Porta said of the newest award.

He said he was aware of National Geographic Traveler’s visit because the representatives asked him to fill out a questionnaire, but he said he didn’t know what the Stay List was because 2008 is its inaugural year.

“I knew I was filling out a thing for National Geographic,” he said nonchalantly. “All I knew is, National Geographic is a great magazine.”

Certainly, Neil Porta has other things on his mind. As he walked through the hotel on a recent afternoon, mats and battered carpets covered newly restored floors, the bar was largely an open space with an odd floor covering and one lone stainless-steel double sink, and carpets on the guest floors were in various stages of being replaced. The season opening is in mid-May, and the second season of frenetic top-to-bottom renovation is drawing to a close.

Yet in all the chaos, it’s clear why the hotel attracted the attention last season of guests as far away as Europe.

The sense that one is approaching an old-fashioned “ocean resort,” as Neil Porta likes to call the inn, begins long before visitors enter the front door. For many, it likely begins during the long, languid drive through the Scarborough’s marshes, the village of Black Point and the quiet, well-cared for homes of Prout’s Neck. A sign alongside the road about a mile from the inn warns “Dead End,” the speed limit is 25 mph, public beaches pass by, and the ocean winks through the trees.

As though it’s intentionally reflecting the ocean behind it, the inn itself is long and weather-beaten gray, three simple stories topped by a widow’s walk. No columns. No bronze. No shutters. Just weathered gray shingles. A long, enclosed porch with white wicker furniture and walls that glow light gold in the sun. A widow’s walk stands like a beacon atop the roof. Wide front steps and a heavy, wooden door in a recessed front porch welcome guests inside.

The interior is a sharp contrast to the unpretentious facade. Ceilings in the main lobby are at 13-plus feet high, with huge, dark, exposed beams crisscrossing white plaster. The room is enormous, with a fireplace at one end, sea-faring oil paintings, clusters of antique chairs and sofas upholstered in dark brocades and leather, and Oriental rugs over dark plank floors. Wide doors lead into the chart room dining area, featuring professionally bound nautical maps and, overlooking the ocean, the bar area. Other rooms lead to The Point, the main, formal dining room, and smaller dining rooms for private gatherings. Outside is a stone-flanked geothermal-heated pool.

The 25 rooms and suites – all on the second and third floors – feature private balconies or panoramic ocean views, down bedding, and unique and interesting furniture, wallpaper and architectural quirks. No two are alike.

A stay at the inn is pricey – $230 to $290 per room for one adult, plus $150 for each additional adult – but the fee includes breakfast, afternoon tea and dinner in the Point Room.

The inn, which has four and soon six geothermal wells for heating and cooling and recently installed 70 new windows to help reduce its carbon footprint, is certified as an Environmental Leader by the Department of Environmental Protection.

And the widow’s walk? If you go to the third floor and sneak open a wooden door, a set of steep narrow wooden steps – only a few inches wide – leads to a small platform in the widow’s walk. Neil Porta says he often finds couples there in the evening, sipping wine and watching the ocean tide.

“We do not block it off (the widow’s walk) but we do not encourage it either,” he says.

‘Immaculate revamp’ ‘Immaculate revamp’