Room with a Review - Hotel de Haro
We had a meeting with the planning and lodging department at the resort to discuss some lingering questions regarding the wedding planning process. The biggest issue we have is the question of lodging on the day of our wedding. If you book the venue with the resort, Roche Harbor offers the honeymoon suite for free for one night on the day of your wedding BUT we’re also required to be present at the resort the day before our wedding. If we have to check out of our room at 11am and we can’t check in to our honeymoon suite until 3pm, where do we go during that time to get ready? Since Roche Harbor doesn’t have a designated bridal or groom suite, their only solution was either having us bunk with a guest during the wedding or pay for two nights in a hotel room that we will only sleep in for one night. I wasn’t particularly pleased with either solution. This is still an on-going discussion with the resort and we’re still negotiating what the ultimate lodging plan will be so stay tuned.
As the wedding plans get made, we will be making frequent trips to the island and I thought it might be a good opportunity to stay in a different room each time we go. Roche Harbor offers 6 different styles of accommodations and this past weekend, we got to try out a room in Hotel De Haro. I’ve been going to Roche Harbor on and off for the past two decades and this is the first time ever I got to stay at Hotel De Haro. I originally wanted the John Wayne Suite but after some scheduling issues, we were put in a standard king size room instead. Luckily it was one of the rooms that has its own bathroom (there are four rooms in the hotel that have a shared bathroom down the hall). When we checked in, we were informed that our room is one of the more recently updated units. As we stepped inside, the floors had a noticeable slope and the décor looked as though it hasn’t changed in 100 years. Granted, it looked as though it was built yesterday but in the year 1918. Everything was polished and clean but the resort kept the original atheistic of when it was first built.
The carpets were fresh and no signs of damage, the walls were decorated with clean wallpaper flecked with gold leaf (or at least, that's what it looked like). The bed was a standard king size bed but the bedding was from Afterglow, the onsite spa. Even though we haven't updated our wedding registry yet, spoiler alert - the bedding from the resort will be on it.
The one surprising thing that Chris quickly realized was there was no TV. We assumed an updated room would mean updated technologies but I believe the resort wants to stay true to the original feel of the hotel. They do have wi-fi but it's shared with everyone in the hotel so it was faster using LTE or 4G.
The bathroom was the most 'updated' of the room with a magnify mirror, modern sink, faucet, countertop and an all glass shower behind the door. The only draw back is there is no ventilation in the shower so when you use it, the moisture collects and then falls back down from the ceiling; i.e when you take a shower, you get rained on.
Even though this review is about Hotel De Haro, I would like to make a quick shout out to the homes on the island in general. The majority of our time on the island was actually going to other people’s homes. The San Juan Island Artist Studio was happening when we arrived and since I’m a sucker for anything local and handmade, we took full advantage. There were over 20 ‘booths’ available to visit and when I say booths, I meant $2.5 million homes where the artist live. Commonly, each ‘booth’ consist of a few successful artist living in a beautiful home with a driveway that can hold 23 cars and a sweeping view of the Haro Straight. We primarily focused on watercolor and oil painters and got to marvel both at their works and their homes. In the end we left the island with multiple vases, a couple of business cards from some of our new favorite artists and a pair of $50 earrings that went mysteriously missing in our room later that day.
