Dew Drop Inn — Hotel in Forks

My stay could have been much better if management would have made disclosures up front. Instead I learned these the hard way, upon arrival. So I share my personal experience. My stay was during the Festival.||1-First and most importantly, some rooms do not have CELL SERVICE. (Just the building construction method) Their website and emails hid this yet upon arrival this was the very FIRST thing that was said to me. Staff attempted to minimize that this is not important saying they have WiFi to connect to. I was shocked at the gaslighting attempt. The only way I could take off work for the Festival was to bring my work with me. And the government agency that owns my work devices has a policy- immediate grounds for termination if connect to unauthorized Wi-Fi. And of course there was No Vacancy anywhere, or I would have walked away. So if you are to work while here…Just Know Before You Go.||So there I was, not being able to work while in the room. Was very inconvenient to have to go out to be able to connect to the satellite. So KNOW before you book- are you okay with being out of communication, no voice, no text, no data if you work doesn’t allow you to connect to unauthorized WiFi? Next if you don’t have that need, are you willing to go comm dark when the hotel WiFi connection is so weak streaming services won’t load, email won’t download, basically your thousand dollar phone instantly becomes a paperweight?||They know this and choose not to disclose it…so they immediately tell you once you are standing in front of them.||-While the first one was a deal breaker, these next ones are if you know now, you can prepare to make it an okay stay.||2-UNPLUG clocks once you get into the room or else you may have an alarm sounding at 4am. Ask your neighbors to do the same….the alarm can be heard rooms way, waking up everyone.||3-Bring a speaker to connect to the tv. The HVAC blower is so loud it overtakes any sound from your tv, iPhone if listening to your favorite songs. This is a room so the distance between unit and TV is only a few feet. So add this to your packing list. Also, the sound comes from under the TV or just to the rear. If your TV is resting close to or on furniture, grab something to tilt it to free the sound. Remember- the sound comes from behind..so knock on your neighbor’s door and ask them to check to see if it’s on your wall-unless you are watching the same thing you are gonna hear what they are watching all night.||4-Bring universal remote. You will notice the remote provided does not belong to the TV, but rather their cable/satellite provider for their box. The response I was given when I went to the office was “we didn’t get them”. This was the second gaslighting attempt. While technically being accurate as the clerk didn’t get to hold one, each tv came with one but management took them not wanting the guest to be able to control their tv. Put this on your packing list. If you forget- the tv itself has controls hidden on the frame. Just feel around, use a flashlight…once you find them you can change the input to HDMI 1, HDMI 2 so you can connect your dvd player or other device.||5-My room did not have a closet rod, no where to hang clothes. Tip- use the ironing board to hand your clothes. If you have a loft, wipe down the guard rail and drape your clothes on it.||6-Be proactive and time your showers. Nothing worse than needed if a shower and there’s not hot water. So morning/night you won’t have hit water. Maybe get up a little early before everyone else gets up to enjoy a hot shower.||7-Moist towels, not sure if the dryer was broken or what… tip- if you have an oven turn it on, pull up a chair, and drape your towel so it can dry. Do not put it in the oven! Or if you have the time, take your blow dryer.||8-If you opt for a room with a kitchen you will notice burners not level. Just find the one that is. If you are qualified, try to get the burner adjusted to be level. I wasn’t able to do the 4 burner stove was actually a two burner stove.||9-Store your snacks in the microwave if you do not want to munch on added protein. I’ll leave it here.||10-The refrigerator is another place for storage to prevent things with more legs than you from entering.||11-Be mindful that not everyone is there for the Festival. Remember the alarm clock that may go off at 4am…some use their phones and will place it on their side table, next to the wall…where just inches away through Sheetrock and a 2x4 is your pillow. …so just know before you go- you may be awake each day before the sun comes out.||Management of hotels, motels, lodging in general can’t be held responsible for what some of their guests do. That wouldn’t be fair. What they can be held responsible for is by hiding vital information in hopes you will book your stay so they can at least try to gaslight you once you get there. Hey, it works for them. ||So for the Dew Drop Inn, they have been told by countless guests, and now my name was added to that list. If all you need is a bed-this place is for you. But if you want to sleep in that bed, Just Know...

My son and I stayed at Dew Drop Inn for 2 nights as second of our 3 stops on our visit to Olympic NP (Port Angeles stop 1; Quinault RF stop 3). As I didn't finalize our itinerary until late May, lodging options were very limited for a mid-July stay. We booked the Bella Suites as it was the only double-bedded room left at both Dew Drop and its sister motel Forks Motel. Yes, prices are high for what essentially is a run-of-the-mill motel, but we are visiting during the high tourist season.||Bella Suites is a tad larger than the other rooms, basically a slight outcropping which isn't really usable (the black area in the photos). Management put the mini-fridge and microwave in that space. The only other difference between Bella Suites and the other rooms is the decor - other rooms are your basic motel look. In Bella Suites, everything is in red or black, including towels, napkins, beddings, and even the sofa. We are not into Twilight, so this is lost on us. I think they charge Bella Suites more than the other double rooms, but again, this was the only option left when I booked in late May.||The Bella Suites is upstairs so you have to walk up 1 flight of stairs. All the rooms have a couch and coffee table, which is nice if you want to sit and relax in the room. All upstair rooms have a balcony too but only 1 outdoor chair is provided. The housekeeping staff keeps the place very clean. Given this is a motel, it's next to HWY 101, so bring earplugs if you are sensitive to traffic noise.||Check-in and check-out is straightforward. The office has free coffee all day. Unlike Forks Motel, Dew Drop doesn't have a pool nor onsite laundry. But there is a self-service laundromat right next door, which is convenient (and fast!). Across from HWY 101 is Pacific Pizza where we ate, and Forks Outfitter where we grabbed provisions such as fruits and picnic sandwiches. ||We picked Forks as our second stop for its location - 45 minutes to Hoh RF, and 20 minutes to the La Push/Mora Beaches (First, Second, Rialto). While you are in Forks, you MUST stop by John's Beachcombing Museum. You will never see anything else like this again and you will be awed and amazed by it. When we initially passed by, we were a bit skeptical of it. But after our visit we were...

Stay in Port Angeles. It's not unreasonable to expect a certain level of refinement when they check in text is "We hope your room has exceeded your expectations. Kindly contact us via text or phone call should you need anything during your stay. Have a wonderful day! -Guest Services” Nothing here exceeds anything. Not to mention you can't even text them as stated. Tried two numbers and both returned messages they don't receive texts. We stayed in garage suite B. A little worried when you pull up and see that as your accommodations. As expected you don't see that mentioned or pictured on their site. Many issues. Being your staying in a steel garage retrofit to be rooms you get no cell service. They offer Wi-Fi and it's quick enough but you get no calls in or out. The door doesn't close fully so you always get a breeze in and a lot of noise. The HVAC is upstairs which doesn't help warm the bottom floor. There is a small in-wall space heater by the bathroom area. The handles on the oven were melted, one burner didn't work, no fire extinguisher in the room, super unsafe and I'm assuming not code. One smoke detector upstairs. Hope you don't hear that because it may be too late, small window up there no escape route. Chairs and couches with stains, lamp shade busted, spiders. Then, I didn't think it was possible, but it has a tank water heater. My guess is it's 20-30 gallons as you get 13-15 minutes of warm water and if you are in there for 30 minutes you'll mostly rush hypothermia because it goes to basically Pacific cool. If you're hiking all day it would be nice to have a warm soak and you're not going to get that here. No towel racks in the bathroom, no coat racks in the room. You would think being the town totes itself for being the town with the most annual rainfall in the contiguous US that they would have...