Clousie

Has anyone stayed at either the States Inn Lodge near Roche Harbor or Harrison House in Friday Harbor?

Any thoughts on staying right in or outside of Friday Harbor? We have a group of 12 adults, so must find a larger place to accommodate us all.

Clousie

Has anyone heard of either place?

i_am_kane

Your title was confusing to me, so I googled Roche Harbor and found out it is in the State of Washington.

Never heard about it before, but it looks nice. Maybe you should repost with the State of Washington in your title? You may get more responses, unless I'm the only one who never heard of this place.

Good luck.

joan

Clousie, a couple of years ago we stayed in Friday Harbor, at the Tucker House Inn. We were with another couple and rented their two bedroom, two bath suite. It was cozy, comfortable, and well located. The best part was the breakfast - you filled out a menu form the night before, and they delivered hot delicious breakfast casseroles ..mmm I can still remember those! Along with fruit and coffee tea etc. One morning the four of us donned our robes, opened the champagne, and watched movies while enoying our breakfast. Anyway, highly recommended!

I would recommend staying in town, there is more to do and the group can walk to shopping and dining, rather than have to wait for each other to get in the car. And for 12 adults, you'd need at least 2 vans...

We saw Harrison House, great location, but this website says 2-10 guests:

http://harrisonhousesuites.com/Splash_TH_HH.htm

Have fun, it's so beautiful!

LoveItaly

Hi Clousie, I have family that lives on Friday Harbor. I plan on phoning them Sunday. I will ask them what they think and where they think you could have accomodations for 12 people. You are going to such a beautiful area!!

Clousie

Thanks for your comments Joan and LoveItaly.

If we didn't stay in town, is the parking really difficult in Friday Harbor or do restaurants have parking lots?

We'll be there from Sunday night through Wednesday, so perhaps it's a bit less crowded during the week. At the moment, the group seems to like the States Inn Ranch. LoveItaly, please ask your family if they know anything about it. Thanks.

LoveItaly

Hi Clousie, I called awhile ago, they were not home. I will try again tomorrow and I will ask. I emailed this thread to myself so I will have it handy.

Clousie

We're also concerned about the people there and your family with the recent storms. Hope they didn't have too much damage. I know it's usually protected, but who knows what is happening with the crazy storms that are affecting all different places now

April

We didn't find parking anywhere a problem - although we were there in the off season. Nothing is very far away so, for me, I'd rather stay in the lovely countryside.

April

Although... in looking at the Harrison House website that looks pretty nice too, especially if there are water views. I think I'd have a hard time deciding!

LoveItaly

Hello Clousie, well first of all thank you for the warm thoughts regarding my family in Friday Harbor. I just had a long talk with my BIL. There was a bad storm but nothing bad happened on their property (which is along the shoreline on the western side of the island). My BIL said it is quite a "mess" on several roads that will need to be cleaned up of course. They did have about 9 inches of snow (not at all typical) but that is all melted now.

Now accomodation suggestions.

My BIL said States Inn is about 5 miles from Roche Harbor. It is not on the water. It is nice.

He strongly suggested that you check the Roche Harbor Condos. There are 3 to 4 buildings and 4 to 6 condos per building. A lot of them are two bedroom units and he thinks some are 1 bedroom units. They stayed there quite awhile ago while property "hunting" and they were pleased with this property.

There are several places including the BestWestern in the town of Friday Harbor. He would stay outside of FH also (as April suggested). It is a small island so nothing is far from anywhere else.

My BIL strongly suggested that you send a postcard to the SanJuan Islands Chamber of Commerce, PO Box 98, Friday Harbor, WA 98250. He said they have fabulous brochures which they will mail to you and in his opinion that would give all of you the best idea as to where you would enjoy staying. He suggested that in your message you explain you are looking for accomodations for 12 adults. He also asked when you would be visiting but I didn't know. He said if your visit is going to be during the "busy" months to make your reservations ASAP. He also said although the town of Friday Harbor gets a lot of visitors it is quite later in the evening.

I hope this information helps. I will look forward to your trip report.

NWWanderer

I've stayed at Harrison House suites--they're nice. It's far enough outside the town that you're not in the thick of things but you can still walk to restaurants and such. That said, I've been to San Juan Island a bunch of times and have never had a problem staying outside of town and finding parking when we drove in for dinner. I've never stayed at the States Inn but I've driven by there--it has a pastoral, farm-like setting but I don't know what the rooms are like.

I second the suggestion of looking into the Roche Harbor condos if you want to be away from town and want to be on the water. The nice thing about staying there (or within walking distance of Friday Harbor for that matter) for a group is that there are a variety of things to do there and so the group wouldn't have to stick together every minute if they didn't want to.