Hotel Bellwether

My wife and I stayed here for our wedding night! Everyone was absolutely lovely to talk to and helped us get our check in done quickly and efficiently. We loved the free parking, and our room was delightful. Ten percent off the restaurant was a nice little bonus, too! We loved the jacuzzi jets and the window from the bath to the main room. The fireplace was lovely too. I can’t think of anything we didn’t like – we highly recommend this hotel!

My husband and I stayed here for only one night, but we loved the hotel. Great location on the water and a nice room with a fireplace and large tub. Wonderful service throughout the hotel (even champagne at check-​in). The bartender was excellent. We didn’t eat at the restaurant other than some happy hour food and dessert, but all of that was great, and the restaurant has a beautiful view. I’d definitely recommend this place.

I had made my reservation months ahead of time and so I had been talking to Carli and Erin before I had arrived. Once I got into town and met them at the hotel I felt as if they were old friends. Like, family. They both were bubbly and efflorescence and were very nice to me. Kate and Savannah were wonderful, marvelous and fabulously accommodating too! Everyone from the manager to the assistant manager was wonderful. They put me on the first floor at the Executive Plaza room and I felt like a President for my entire stay. The accommodations were excellent. The fair and awards ceremony was in their ballroom and everything moved like clockwork.
I come from a major motion picture film locations background and so I decided to take lots of exterior photos. The Hotel Bellwether would make for a great James Bond 007 flick. It has all of the elements. take a look at my pictures and I think that you will agree. I thank everyone from Erin to Carli to the assist manager and manager for a memorial stay.
I came to attend the Books By The Bay Book Fair and the Chanticleer Book Awards of which I won the Journey Grand Prize for my book. Thanks to you all for a wonderful time.

We stayed here for the weekend recently, and throughly enjoyed the room and hotel. Service was good to great, especially the glass of champagne upon arrival! Room on the third floor had an amazing view. The large tub for two was nice, as was the fireplace and bed. The bar and restaurant had great views as well.
Would stay again!

While Bellingham lacks high quality hotels, the Bellwether and Chrysalis go neck and neck for the title of «best». Having stayed at both more than once, Chrysalis (despite a disastrous spa experience a few years back) takes the cake in the room department.
There is nothing majorly wrong with Bellwether, don’t get me wrong.
The location and views are among the best. You can bike anywhere from here. It has a very good on-​site restaurant that made us quite possibly the best martinis we’ve ever had.
The rooms are spacious, and the beds and pillows are very comfortable. The bathrooms, however, were in severe need of updating. The gold trim gave away its 90’s time stamp, but the one thing that I had a hard time looking past was how dirty the shower appeared with it’s dark stained (I.e dirty appearing) grout floor. Having had a shower with this type of base in the past, I know it is extremely hard to keep clean. Why on Earth they’d choose it for a hotel shower that is used by countless strangers is beyond me. It made me want to shower with my flip flops on.
FYI, there is no on-​site swimming pool, and the spa is in a different establishment (Zazen) that shares the same parking lot.
Knowing this, my husband booked a jacuzzi suite. While lovely, please just be aware that this is a one person tub. You won’t be comfortably nuzzling with your loved one and sipping wine. You’ll be awkwardly struggling to find a way for you each to fit in there, and you won’t find it. We are not big people, either.
Finally, the water pressure in both shower and bath was terrible. It took eons to rinse the shampoo out of my chin length hair. On the last day, I gave up and washed my hair in the tub, which was only slightly better.
Rooms were clean and nicely appointed otherwise, though. Housekeeping staff was very friendly and accommodating.
Would I stay here again? Absolutely, without hesitation. Is it showing the beginning stages of age? Yes, it is.
One last thing: Parking is free and in a secured garage, which is an awesome perk, especially if you have bikes with you. However, be aware that a few spots (I think the pic I’m attaching was spot #31) are underneath some sort of electrical boxes that are dripping what appears to be an corrosive fluid onto the ground. It was strong enough to eat away at the pavement, so I can only imagine what it’d do to the paint of your car.
All in all, Bellwether is a solid choice for your stay in Bellingham. Would definitely recommend and stay here again.

What a fantastic hotel! This was my first time in Bellingham, and what a special place to stay. Gorgeous location, charming details everywhere, super lovely staff who are eager to please. I highly recommend this hotel and will come back!

This hotel is charming and close enough to Seattle be a perfect place for a last minute romantic getaway. The lobby is cozy with a big grandfather clock and a fireplace.
These rooms have fantastic bathtubs with jets and a heater to keep the water warm. The front desk sells bath bombs that are locally made and highly recommend.
The wall between the bathtub and bedroom folds open so you can watch the in room fireplace or the ocean just out the balcony from the bathtub.
The reason this hotel didn’t get a 5 star rating is because the hotel has extremely limited food options. In the parking lot is a very fancy restaurant, a sushi place, and a subway. Sushi and subway close by like 9 so you are left to drive a few miles or walk 20 minutes to get to food.
There IS a company that delivers takeout through the night. We used them and were happy with the service.

Pt1. We have stayed here a few times. Mostly as a quick «getaway from kids, dogs, chickens, laundry, dishes etc». We checked in to find anothers bags in our room. No prob. Asked staff to come get them. Over course of next 3 hours was 4 more knocks on the door asking us to retrieve special pillows, ecig chargers etc. Not a deal breaker as far as far off vacations go, but for «mom and dad time», no. Granted staff is apologetic and giving us free «desert menu tokens». But desert isn’t what we came here for. Holding my wife crying for thinking she screwed up my birthday is certainly not what we came for. Will post Pt2 on how they handle… Apart from desert tokens.
Pt2. Staff was very apologetic and took 50% off the bill. Rooms are great. No issues there. Back to 4 stars.

I got a great deal online for Friday night for my husband’s birthday. The hotel was beautiful and the staff was helpful.
Pros: by the water, free water bottles in room, lots of restaurants nearby, they had Starbucks coffee in room (I hate hotel coffee usually), and helpful staff. They also had a bbq in their courtyard with music and drinks, which was fun.
Cons: loud, creaky bed and a really small tv for the size of the room.
Overall, it was a great mini vacation and I think I will come back again in the winter.

Had dinner Saturday night loved every bite. App of oysters from humboldt bay, salad was eh. The main was seafood risotto, very delicious but lots of cheese? Service was excellent. There was a wedding outside but inside was not busy at all. The only off thing i will say is the bar is very cramped.

I booked this hotel for a college reunion/​girls getaway with 3 friends and when we showed up to check in, we were told that our Early Bird reservations had somehow been canceled online and that the hotel was fully booked for the night. The manager assumed control of the situation and worked quickly to find alternative lodging of equal quality for the night, when most of the area hotels were already booked. This situation could have been handled a multitude of ways – good or bad – and I greatly appreciate her willingness to work with our multiple requests and would return again (except this time, I might confirm my reservation before arriving, just in case).
While we waited, the manager held our luggage and comped some appetizers in their lounge – two things she didn’t have to do, but it showed the difference between good and great customer service. (It’s also a win for the hotel, since we purchased a round of drinks to go with it). We appreciated the unexpected snack and enjoyed the view, while she scrambled to find us a place to stay for the night.
Even though we ultimately stayed elsewhere, I’m pleased enough with how this situation was resolved that I look forward to returning to the Hotel Bellwether.

My stay at Bellwether was a very pleasant one. The room was very clean, comfy, and cozy. Views of the water, and did I mention the king-​sized bed was comfy and cozy as well? Good price for a great room. Would definitely stay here again and recommend to other people to stay as well. I have stayed here and at the Chrysalis near Fairhaven. The two places are similar in price and amenities. The main difference is the spa features the Chrysalis offers, while Bellwether is located more near the main town, the Chrysalis located on the outskirts near Fairhaven, and that’s about it. Bellingham is a great town to stay in and offer two upper-​notch hotels. You can’t go wrong with either place you choose. King-​sized beds, large tubs, and extreme comfort in a quiet, relaxing town. Don’t hesitate to stay here. You won’t be sorry.

The Hotel Bellwether is a classy Hotel on Bellingham’s waterfront located in and around shopping, dining, walking trails and marinas. It’s a short distance from downtown located on the shore of Bellingham Bay.
The rooms/​suites are well designed, beautifully decorated, comfortable, immaculately clean, throughly stocked and quiet. The staff is knowledgeable, friendly, helpful and polite. I’ve been here maybe a half a dozen times and have always had an enjoyable stay.

Just had our Christmas stay here. We enjoyed a third floor room with a great view of the bay. The lobby had lots of differently decorated Christmas trees and was very festive. Check in was easy, and they have there own parking section in the underground lot below.
The room was spacious with a huge bed, fire place, the jet tub, and a balcony with a small table and two chairs. We enjoyed the complimentary water, which was a nice touch.
The front desk was super nice, and I know how crappy it is to work on a holiday when you’d rather be with family and friends, but everyone we talked to was smiling and happy.
Although or stay was lovely, there are two things I would like to point out for the future. If they ever renovate or remodel these would be the things is keep in mind.
1. A freight elevator. There is only one elevator in the hotel as far as we could tell. On a couple different occasions we had to take the stairs up and down, because of maids with carts or equipment being taken up or down. Not that big of a deal for us, but if you have trouble with stairs I’d recommend the ground floor to save you the trouble.
2. The key card access point for the parking lot. This is weirdly placed. On several occasions we dropped the card and had to get out to re-​slide it. I have a small car and this was awkward trying not to hit the gate and swiping. If you had anything bigger than a car I could see this giving you lots of trouble.
If you want a beautiful place to stay in bellingham I would defiantly recommend this hotel. Go for the bay view and you won’t be disappointed!

We decided to go to Bellingham on the Labour Day long weekend and stay over-​night and be able to take our time rather than rushing around. I thought it’d be a nice change to stay at one of the only two (I think?) upscale hotels downtown rather than going the budget route. In hindsight, we should have opted for budget because it really amounted to about the same in terms of service and quality.
When speaking with a booking representative we asked for a higher floor of the hotel, which we were told we could have. When we arrived, we were given the first floor with a patio, on the same level as… the PARKING LOT! We had a lovely view of cars constantly driving right past our sliding glass doors with only some low bushes as a barrier. Let’s not forget a perfect view of the all-​glass (sushi ?) restaurant right across from us. I got the impression the patio should have had at least a chair or two, given that there was a small short wrought iron table sitting out there, but no, just the table that barely came up to my knee.
There was a wardrobe where the 32″ TV was hidden along with a few drawers to put clothes in. That was fine except the wardrobe doors didn’t open very wide so it blocked the view somewhat, even when laying in bed. You certainly couldn’t see it from the 2 person Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. I’ll get to the bathroom in a sec. Let’s talk about the bed. It squeaked like CRAZY! If you put any pressure against the headboard, it squeaked loudly. I think it had something to do with the headboard itself, and perhaps the fact that the plastic corners protecting the box spring were against the wall. Don’t know, but it sucked.
Now, onto the bathroom. Let’s start with the fact that I went to use it when we dropped off our stuff in the room, the door wouldn’t close! The latch wouldn’t catch. I tried shutting it gently, then slamming it, and nothing worked. We were going to head back out again, and there happened to be a maintenance fellow right next door fixing something in the room beside us, so we asked him to fix it and we also told the front desk as well. They had a sort of «Oh, OK» attitude about it. Didn’t seem all that concerned. So on to the rest of it. the wall which separates the bathroom from the room itself is partially closed off by shutters which you can open. This way, you can perhaps lounge about in the tub with a glass of wine and watch a movie (which you can’t see because of the wardrobe doors blocking the screen), or look out your sliding glass doors at the lovely view (except ours was the parking lot). Sounds nice in theory, what wasn’t nice, was the fact that these shutters wouldn’t shut, the latch was broken so they wouldn’t stay closed– a real privacy issue. It felt like using the bathroom right in the room itself. The towels in the bathroom were clean, but very rough feeling. One of the two robes they provided had a broken loop. The bed linens were decent. There was also the fact that we were woken up at 7:45 am to the sound of cleaners in the room above vacuuming and cleaning. Not much of a holiday sleep in, especially considering check out is at noon. We ended up just getting up and leaving early. Who wants to listen to that?! It’s not like we could go sit on our patio with a cup of coffee, even if we did have a decent view. no chairs to go with that little table!
Perhaps it sounds like I’m really picking at things, but when you add up all these «little things» it shows a real lack of attention and thought on the hotel’s part, and seems quite shabby to me. Particularly when it’s supposed to be an upscale resort-​type hotel with a spa. We paid $ 249 for a single night, with a king size bed. Way, way over-​priced!!! Honestly, the budget hotel we stayed at the last time we were here was less than half the price, with a King size bed, and very close to equally as nice a room.
Also, we decided we wanted to get some drinks for the room, bottle of wine, etc. There’s a small convenience store on site, but not actually in the hotel, but within the parking area. We asked the front desk where it was, and when got there it was closed, and it apparently appears to always be closed on Sundays. Um, shouldn’t the Front Desk staff know that?
A questionnaire of sorts was included with our check out bill, and believe me, I filled it out and then some. We did the express check out, so I left it in the room. I haven’t heard a thing from them, even though I left contact info. Doubt I will.
I highly recommend choosing another hotel to avoid disappointment. At least if you’re staying at a budget hotel, you’re not expecting a whole lot. This place warrants a 1.5 star rating, but since they don’t have that option, I’ll be generous and give them 2.

My husband took me out for Mother’s Day weekend. We stayed at the Bellwether because we wanted to wander around downtown Bellingham without the need to drive. We were planning on having a few drinks.
We checked in and quickly left to have dinner at the Copper Hog. That was a bit of a walk but not all that bad. After trying for dessert at the Oyster Bar on Bay St. we arrived back at our hotel room just before 10 pm. Not wanting the night to be over we turned around and left for the Elizabeth Station.
When we finally came back. We decided to enjoy the jet spa tub. Bubble bath was included with complementary toiletries. The front desk had a few board games to choose from.
We paid an extra $ 19 when we reserved our room for the breakfast on the bay package. This included a $ 30 voucher to be used at the Lighthouse Bar and Grill. The restaurant was very nice. I had the west coast omelet. The crab was generously portioned and tasted fresh. The omelet also included boursin cheese and avocado and topped with house made Hollandaise. It was fabulous!
The Best part about the Bellwether is the view of the bay. Beautiful!

We’ve stayed here many times over the years and usually have a wonderful experience. We usually get a suite on the second floor near the Lighthouse Suite on the south side of the hotel. This time we booked one of the smaller suites on the third floor. Also very nice… comfy bed… wonderful tub… but this time time we had a few problems.
First, was the terrible internet connection. It was spotty most of the weekend. Their router’s DNS server was screwed up.
Secondly. there happened to be a party with loud music on a boat in the marina next to the hotel. It was pretty annoying. the front desk said that «. it happens once in a while if you stay over on a Friday or Saturday ngiht.»
Also… two years ago we parked our brand new car in the parking garage and accidentally parked under a leaking sprinkler head. We arrived the next morning to find a HUGE white calcium stain on the roof of our car. We were able to get towels from the front desk to clean up our car. Ironically enough, it’s been two years later and there is an orange cone sitting in the parking spot of the same leaking sprinkler head. To bad they can’t fix this leak… two years later…
In spite of the issues… it’s a nice place, so we’ll probably stay there again.

We stayed in the lighthouse suite. The room was pretty cool, though the coffee machine does not work. The nice kid at the desk warned us, and it seemed odd at the time when he said that the coffee available in the lobby was a lot stronger than the coffee in the room. That’s because the machine in the room doesn’t work… now I get it.
It was very pleasant to be at this hotel and the room was great. Nice bed and spacious. Bathroom was good. We had four of us and one kid slept on a couch.
Two TVs in the place, and the one in the master bedroom was large.
Would recommend to others, though we didn’t interact with the rest of the hotel that much.

This was supposed to be a getaway weekend for my husband and I, but things got off track and our daughter ended up having to come with us. Not at all the weekend I was hoping for, but a wonderful place to stay none the less. Thankfully I’d reserved one of their larger rooms with a private bedroom. The beautiful leather couch was a pull out bed for our 11 yo. She had a tv with a dvd player so she could watch her own movie at night. There was also a tv in our room.
I don’t know if all the rooms and bathrooms are as nice as ours, but the towels were wonderful and the robes very comfy (my husband thought a bit small for a unisex robe though). They warn you with a little sign that the water takes a bit to warm up. It took several minutes for the water in the sink to get hot when we first used it, but didn’t seem to take all that long the rest of the stay.
We didn’t eat at the restaurant downstairs, but did visit the bar during Happy Hour (4 – 6 pm and 8−10pm) after we got back from dinner. Did not end up partaking of Happy Hour but enjoyed their desserts and a glass of wine.
Parking is provided under the hotel and internet was free, both a plus. It was not a cheap stay though and have a hard time imagine staying there during the «On Season».

Didn’t stay, just walked around the hotel and the grounds. That said, after what I saw, next time I’m in the area, I will be making reservations here. Everything about this place is wonderful, the grounds are so clean, the staff is really friendly, and the views are nothing short of spectacular. I give it four stars for now, but after a stay and meal here, I’m not ruling out the possibility of a rare five star review from me. Thanks how much I like this place.