Hotel Leo — Hotel in Bellingham

Do not stay here. No.. turn around immediately, save yourself. This place is not only a rip off but it’s disgusting. I have no idea how this place is considered a 4-star hotel 🤢. We rented a two bedroom suite with a full kitchen. The kitchen is EMPTY. For over $420 a NIGHT for a WEEK I expect this to be amazing. They not only make it impossible to use but refuse to give any cleaning supplies. We reserved a two bedroom suite with a full kitchen that is not stocked with any dishes, glasses, silverware, mixing bowls, anything to bake with including sheet pans, measuring cups/spoons, or cutting boards. They ended up providing us with the bare minimum glasses, cups and bowls but that’s it. There is nothing to clean the kitchen with and when I asked for spray cleaner, I was brought paper towels. When I asked again if I could have spray cleaner her response was “we can’t give you industrial spray cleaner, that’s illegal” in a very condescending and mad at me for asking??Tone (as if I somehow should have known that??). She then made the housekeeper come in and spray and wipe the counters in front of me instead of just letting me do it… so awkward. I can’t call the housekeeper to wipe our counters after every meal 😂. If you can’t provide things to utilize and clean the kitchen then don't let people reserve the suite. There are other cleaners in the world that are not industrial. (Update: they tried to give me spray cleaner after this review…. I said “we don’t need it anymore because you told us it was illegal and had to buy our own so we did.. you also treated me like crap when I requested it”) I found a pill on the floor in our bedroom this morning that was some cholesterol medication from a previous guest that if my children would have found it first could have been a hospital visit. We also have had the room “cleaned” twice and all they do is remake beds and replace towels. If we can’t have things to clean the space, then clean it FOR US when coming in. I was told “Well, most people don’t rent it this long” and “guests need to buy their own cleaners” I don’t care… we DID rent it this long… I don’t care about your previous guests and how long they stayed. And I’m sorry even if I rented this for a day or two I would want to be able to utilize and clean the kitchen that is a part of our reservation. The windows have zero safety screens and the lock was completely broken off on one. The laundry room is disgusting and will steal your money. I started a wash in two different machines that took my money then beeped “out of order” after soaking my clothes. One machine that is out of order literally smells like dead fish.

Gym is jenky and had the biggest dead cockroach by the bike. All bathrooms in the basement by the gym, laundry, and theater are locked with a code. So that tells you they have homeless people trying to use restrooms on different floors than just the lobby frequently.

That being said, we are very happy to be leaving and will not ever be staying here again. Just the worst hospitality I’ve ever seen when I ask pretty simple questions about being able to utilize the amenities offered and the amenities in our room that are a part of our reservation.

A note to the hotel: it would literally cost you $20 at the dollar store to stock this kitchen. Such a weird...

My niece wanted to give her dad (my brother) a weekend trip to Bellingham for Father’s Day this year, and wanted me to come with (as well as pay for it but I’m not splitting hairs here). My friends had recommended Hotel Leo so I booked us a suite and despite it being pricier than I’m usually comfortable with for a one night stay, I was excited to stay there. I want to be clear that every service team member there was absolutely lovely, and there were many nice touches in the lobby (coffee, tea, and pastries). However, the room overall left something to be desired, especially with a $250 price tag.

We stayed in Nooksack, one of the river suites, which I had booked specifically because there was a bedroom and a pull-out sofa. Since it also was advertised as having a full kitchen, we planned to get groceries at the farmers market and come back to the room to make dinner. When we got to our room, there were no knives (beyond the four butter knives in the silverware drawer) so I called down to the front desk and mentioned we were going to cook steak for dinner and were hoping they could bring us some knives. Within two minutes, a staff member was at the door with knives and a cutting board - great! Then we started looking for a pan… and despite there being an induction stove, there was nothing to cook food in on top of it. Another call to the front desk, and then they delivered a bin full of several pans, a pot, and some basic cooking utensils. Excellent.

I started having a hunch since I’d needed to ask for a few things I thought would already be in a room with a full kitchen, so I checked the pull out couch and there were no linens. Nothing in the closets either, so another call was made and a bag of linens (with exactly one pillow) was delivered. I’m not sure I’ve ever had to make my own bed the first night I’ve stayed at a hotel but I suppose there’s a first time for everything. These experiences paired with a shower with mildew, a heat pump that needed a good cleaning, and an entire wall of outlets that didn’t function, and I do not plan on visiting Hotel Leo in my next trip to Bellingham, unfortunately.

Also, about the train - I love the train. I appreciate the earplugs (and brought my own) and think it’s pretty safe to assume that if you’re staying anywhere in Bellingham proper or Fairhaven that you’re not going to be able to avoid...

Hotel Leo has potential but unless you are shopping for a location I’d avoid it. We were in town to MTB and wanted a spot so we wouldn’t have to drive in the evenings.

First off they advise on their website you can’t bring bikes into your room, ignore this, not only do the staff not care but the “locked” storage area is a glass walled room at ground level. I’m sorry but I don’t want my bike there. All it takes is one tweaker figuring out they’re a brick away from a handful of bikes.

The service was ok. But check in/out was a pain with a toddler, bikes, and associated bits. We booked a first floor room, they warn you that the elevator is a situation but what the don’t warn you about is that the 1st floor isn’t the first floor. The elevator situation is a mess as the whole hotel is on a split level layout with exception of a service elevator near the parking lot. Said elevator is marked employees only so get ready to shlep. The stairs also lock behind you with no key card access…it’s a pretty inconvenient setup and seems like changes were made to deal with a rough transient situation. They’d benefit a ton by explaining this and providing options for guest access.

The rooms are spartan with minimal amenities it’s crazy how small the bathroom was when the rest of the room was empty. It just seemed off. Oh and the rooms on the 1st floor next to the deck…they’re smoking rooms…not because you can smoke because people smoke on the deck and it ends up in your room.

The internet was clearly setup by someone who thinks Russian spies might be on to them but probably doesn’t know what a WPS button does. It’s slow(less than 2mbps down, slightly faster up) and segmented by room…but the routers are only in a few of the rooms so when your neighbor decides to need that outlet your internet goes out. The front desk staff is helpful enough and will get you on a different network. Get ready for a password you probably can’t remember and no pen and pad in the room.

Basically it’s an over complicated experience with few redeeming qualities. Hopefully they’ll sort out the experience...