Island Retreat Rosario Resort Undergoes Changes
There’s only one thing wrong with Washington’s San Juan Islands: Too many people want to visit them.
So, unless you enjoy waiting for ferries in sun-baked parking lots, spring and fall are the best times to visit. Lines at the ferry terminals are (mostly) gone, the weather can be perfect, and the islands are as lovely as ever.
And a nice place to stay for a weekend retreat is Rosario Resort, a well-known hideaway on Orcas Island.
Its centerpiece, the Robert Moran mansion, was built around the turn of the century and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Its 54 rooms feature such niceties as mahogany and teak paneling, a 1,972-pipe organ, and 6,000 square feet of parquet flooring that took two years to install.
The resort itself sprawls over 33 acres, with buildings climbing up a steep hill (there are no guest rooms in the main lodge itself). The unit where I stayed had a lovely view of the mansion, marina (open to the public) and Cascade Bay, and was huge and comfortable. But the recent remodeling job resulted in a basic Motel 6 interior, lacking much charm.
The resort is famous for its Sunday champagne brunch, featuring fresh and smoked seafood, omelettes cooked to order and a nice variety of salads and other breakfast-y stuff. The price of $20 was reasonable for adults, but $12 seemed a bit stiff for a 4-year-old child.
At another meal, the dinner cuisine was very good, but service was mediocre. Our waiter rattled off the specials, then rushed us to order, forgot to serve the bread, didn’t clear dishes and disappeared entirely for long periods of time.
My family and I visited Rosario in August, when lines for Puget Sound ferries can be at their longest. So we parked our car at the Anacortes terminal and boarded the ferry as foot passengers (for whom there is always room). The Rosario van then picked us up (at no charge) for the half-hour drive to the resort.
This plan was convenient, but I wouldn’t always recommend it, since being without a car - especially on a rainy weekend - proved to be a major drawback. You can can take a Rosario van into Eastsound (the island’s largest town), and there is also scheduled bus service. But you don’t have the freedom to poke around or explore the rest of the island, including a state park crowned by 2,409-foot Mount Constitution.
Rosario itself is in a state of transition. The resort had been allowed to run down, but it came under new ownership in August 1994 and the food, service and buildings are being upgraded. Parts of the resort are lovely: the landscaped grounds (there’ll be even more gardens once the staff comes up with a way to keep out the deer), the beautiful main building, the views. Parts are tacky - the pool and spa in the basement were ancient, dimly lit and none too clean (though they are being remodeled). And the outdoor pool in front of the resort, the one with the best view, wasn’t open at all.
But Rosario is better now than a year ago, and it will be better yet. General Manager Dirk Oldenburg says the goal is to keep it an affordable destination, not a superluxury resort. “We’re aiming for quality, outstanding food and very good service,” he says. “We want to make this what it used to be and what it should be - a wonderful resort.”
For more information:
Rosario Resort: (800) 562-8820. Off-season rates (after Sept. 23) range from $83 to $165 per night for two people; ask about weekend and holiday specials, too. The resort also has packages that include air or high-speed ferry service from Seattle.
Washington State Ferries: (800) 84-FERRY (within Washington) or (206) 464-6400.
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MEMO: Do you have a favorite hideaway around the Northwest, a secluded retreat that you would recommend to others? We’d like to hear about it. Write to: Travel Editor, The SpokesmanReview, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210. Or fax (509) 459-5098.