I love the San Juans & had wanted to stay at Roche Harbor for a long time ... what a disappointment!! We stayed in the Presidential Suite in Hotel de Haro. I expected clean, well-preserved & restored, and an elegant restaurant. What we got was a filthy suite which had an overwhelming smell of dank dirt & mold, cheap 1960s attempts at repairs -- sprayed ceilings which were water marked & falling down, peeling & faded linoleum on the spongy rotten bathroom floor (with pools of water in all the depressions because the toilet leaked) -- & a restaurant, McMillans, that had all the atmosphere of MacDonalds, poor service & outrageous prices. We asked for a different room for the 2nd night & while the clerk expressed surprise that we were not satisfied with the suite, she did not ask why (they don't really want to know). She offered us a 1 bedroom condo, "But it's not historical" ("historical" at Hotel de Haro apparently means filthy & in disrepair). The condo was modern, cold, dirty & depressing -- we left & stayed at the Best Western. Roche Harbor is in a wonderful setting, very elegant, quaint & beautiful on the exterior, and certainly worth a day trip on a nice summers day. That's it. If you want to stay amidst historical elegance, go to Charleston, Savannah or San Francisco!

This is an amazing resort. There are MANY housing options--configurations and price ranges. We had a large group. We saw the old hotel (Charming--loads of character, with some mold), the cottages (Great space--clean and perfect for families) and the condos (Our favorite--across from the main resort, but super clean, great space, lovely views, and a fireplace!) The customer service was outstanding. We can't wait until they open the new spa!

Where do I start, OK do not go here, stay in Friday Harbor. The condos are a death trap for todlers with 2nd and 3rd floor stairs and balconies that have 10 inches openings. Bathrooms that do not work and leak to the bottom floor. Cannot drink the water, it tastes so bad, does not have washer and dryer in condo have to go outside and pay, even though they have plenty of space to put them in. No pans in the kitchen and no spatulas I guess they want you to go out to dinner. Only 15 minutes of hot water at a time before you have a cold shower so plan ahead. One small tv with no vrc or dvd, three bedroom condo but only space for four people to sit in living room. Only one grill in the entire complex again if you want to make dinner yourself good luck. All this for $350 a night until we got $100 off per night for the non working, leaking sink.

You get the picture.

I'm glad others have enjoyed their stay at Roche Harbor, but the previous reviews misled us to expect a much, much nicer place. The minute we stepped into our condo, the sight and smell made our spirits sag. The condos are vintage 1970's ticky tacky, with furnishings at a Motel 6 standard. Our kids immediately noticed a smell of sweat and chlorine. Yuck. The refrigerator had rust spots, the walls were made of cardboard (we heard every step from our neighbors above). View of harbor was okay, but the walk from condo to dining area was fairly long, not comfortable to do with luggage (we had flown in rather than driven).

But as much as the condos were a disappointment, the worst was yet to come. We walked over to have dinner at the Madrona Bar and Grill. The outside deck was full so we were offered a table in the inside room. However, after waiting for 15 minutes in what turned out to be a very uncomfortable spot (glaring bright, hot sun, no shades on the windows, our fellow diners also writhing in discomfort except for two tables who were fortunate to have shoji screens protecting them), we finally managed to catch the eye of a waitress who was taking the order of people who had been seated after us. She looked up and grumpily said "I see you!" When she approached and said "what do you want to drink?" (No friendly welcome, just a peremptory question), I told her the kids were hungry and we were ready to order. She humphed, took out her order card, and continued to be grumpy as we cheerily placed our order. (She didn't like the fact that when she offered my 9 year old some soda to drink I requested milk instead). I was prepared to say "thank you" in Czech, as the young lady's name pin identified her as being from that country, but she turned on her heel and exited too quickly. A half an hour later we had no food, and there was no sign of our waitress, while the three tables that came in after us had all been served. I was about to go look for her when she appeared, carrying a tray which she set down far from us while she set about doing something about an item which had fallen over. It was the shrimp cocktail, which is served in a margarita glass. It had fallen on my daughter's pizza and on my salad. She came over, dumped my eldest daughter's salmon/lettuce wraps unceremoniously in front of her, slapped down my salad plate, and then said "I will have chef make a new pizza and shrimp cocktail. And if you don't want her salad with the shrimp cocktail that fell on it, you can have a new one." No apology whatsoever, no acknowledgement of our long wait and the fact that we were about to have a longer one. I asked her if there was anything she could do to hurry the pizza for my 9 year old, who was now sitting head in hands, contemplating the empty spot in front of her.

After a few minutes our waitress returned with the SAME pizza which she had clearly wiped off her with her hands (finger marks through the cheese) and said to my daughter "you can eat two of the pieces, they are not so bad and then we will get you another one" as if this was a great favor. My shrimp cocktail had been remade (although I now wonder how much of it was just dumped back into the glass) and was so highly spiced as to be inedible. However, my maytag blue cheese salad and my daughter's salmon in lettuce wraps were fine. At any rate, we did not see our waitress again (despite my desperately wanting to order some mineral water - the tap water they use in their water glasses tastes awful!) until 15 minutes later when she brought another (partially burnt) pizza. At this point it had been an hour since our initial order! My youngest daughter had no desire to eat anything any more and we all just wanted to leave. There had been no offer to comp the bad pizza or in any way acknowledge what a wretched time we were having. We asked for the check and left as soon as we could, vowing never to return. The mediocre food is to be expected at places like this, but the rude, ghastly service is inexcusable!

The only saving grace was a delightful after-dinner walk through the adjacent Wescott Sculpture Park - it is not affiliated with Roche Harbor, but sits just outside the gates. Don't miss it - a great place to stroll for adults or kids and a surprisingly good selection of sculptures. (And blackberries to be picked and savored which helped with the sour after taste of our meal!)