written by Lauren Kramer | photography by Friday Harbor House
Take a deserted, log-strewn beach littered with kelp. Add a scenic byway where pastoral fields yield to jaw-dropping ocean views, and toss in meals lovingly crafted with island-grown produce. Now add a boutique hotel where harborside views calm the soul and jetted in-room tubs massage sore muscles. The venue is Friday Harbor House, and the result is the ultimate Pacific Northwest weekend.
Perched on a bluff overlooking the most picturesque harbor in the San Juans, this deluxe, twenty-three-room hotel feels intimate, cozy and deeply peaceful. Built in 1995, it came under new ownership in 2015, and one of its six owning partners is John Oppenheimer, founder of Seattle-based Columbia Hospitality.
ACCOMMODATIONS
The suites at Friday Harbor House feature gas fireplaces, flat-screen televisions and tea and coffee-making facilities with Chemex pour-over coffee brewed on San Juan Island. The large, jetted in-room tubs, with bath salts at the ready, are a treat on a cold winter’s night, but the bathrooms also have walk-in showers with premium L’Occitane bathing products. Our room came with a deck overlooking the harbor and the San Juan Channel, a view that was captivating day and night. And if there was a prize for the best hotel bathrobes, this hotel would take first place for its decadently soft gowns.
DINING
The Restaurant at Friday Harbor House serves breakfast daily and dinner Friday through Tuesday in the winter. The twenty-seven-seat dining room trebles in size in the summer, when the adjoining outdoor deck is open, giving guests enviable views of the bay and the boat and ferry traffic plying the harbor. The menu offers a selection of American fare including burgers, halibut, short rib and mussels. In the summer months, a raw bar adds a second, casual food offering with outdoor seating.
AMENITIES
Guests can mingle outside on the Adiron-dack chairs overlooking the harbor, where gas fire pits are lit on request. Complimentary coffee is available in the mornings, and free snacks and drinks are laid out on the third floor in the afternoons.
DON’T MISS
The easily walkable town of Friday Harbor has everything you need to keep busy for a weekend away: bookstores where you can steep yourself in literature, two theatres, museums of art and history and a delightful array of gift and apparel shops. Be sure to stop at San Juan Island Sea Salt to explore its many unique, salt-infused products. Salty at Heart Island Apothecary is another gem of a store, selling natural remedies and made-in-Washington skin products, with a courtyard canopied by an iconic, 125-year-old camperdown elm tree.
130 WEST ST.
FRIDAY HARBOR
www.fridayharborhouse.com
