Blue Elk Inn — Hotel in Leavenworth

This is a very nice, quaint hotel with the ambiance of a B & B. It sits on the west end of town behind the Icicle Inn. Because of the location it is a short walk (10 min) to the downtown area. But if it’s quiet and seclusion that you’re looking for then this is the place. The back side of the property is private and well maintained. It includes a large backyard, large patio, and pool/hot tub area.

The hotel is under new ownership and after talking to the new owner/operator (Chris) it is evident that he wants the business to be successful and has the customers comfort and happiness as his number one priority. He has surrounded himself with great help and was continually making improvements to the property during our stay and has plans for future renovations.

Now for the nuts and bolts of the review. We have stayed at a lot of hotels over the years so I have ample properties to compare the Alpenrose Inn to. I believe in telling the truth and would not hesitate to say if this hotel was not desirable. Let me assure you that this is a quality hotel, clean from top to bottom with comfortable rooms and beds. Don’t be scared off by some negative reviews. Most are from the previous owners era and the rest are pretty trivial items that if thought about aren’t really noteworthy. Are some of the items dated? That’s a personal judgement call. I didn’t feel anything was dated in fact if anything add to the old world ambience and charm of the Inn, which Leavenworth is known for. But if you have reservations remember this is under new ownership and they are making continual improvements to the property. The nightly dessert is a nice touch one just has to sign up for it along with morning coffee service to your room and the complimentary breakfast. This is a courtesy to the food preparers so they know how much to prepare and only takes but a second. One reviewer complained about having to do this process. If you don’t like doing this…then don’t…more for me. The coffee is good quality and we enjoyed the morning service. The breakfast is good quality, warm, and filling. What more could one ask for? The pool/hot tub area is nice. One reviewer complained about missing tiles in the pool. You have to understand that if it’s not a recent build it would be next to impossible to find a perfect match and it’s not feasible to completely re-tile the pool for a few trim tiles. Definitely not a deal breaker!

This facility is a great alternative to the hustle and bustle of the hotels on the main strip. Because of its size you receive a more personal touch than the larger hotels in Leavenworth. My wife and I enjoyed our stay here so much that we booked two rooms for our friends and us during Oktoberfest. See you soon Chris and gang.

A few things to remember: 1. If the walk to downtown is too far for you there is a shuttle company in Leavenworth. Also Chris purchased bicycles for customers the day we checked out. 2. They provide menus for quite a few restaurants around Leavenworth (we didn’t find them until our last day). 3. Two items that made us feel stupid: To enter the pool there is a locking mechanism that one has to pull up on to unlock the gate. (Don’t stand there rattling the gate forever like we did…thank you whoever it was that helped us). And lastly, if you sign up for the morning coffee don’t expect a knock on the door when it’s delivered or it might get cold waiting for you. Just open your door and check around the time you signed up for...

Update 8/3/2020 - Since the recent renovations, we will reconsider... and give the place a second chance!

Thank you for the response Cody, we would love to come take a look at how you've changed things since our stay 7 months ago. Added a star for your response and upgrades... They look great! Original Review... We stayed the last 2 nights here. Overall I would not stay again unless there was no place else.

Room amenities are: TV DVD player WIFI (which was pretty fast 75 down / 15 up) Queen Bed Fireplace Towels Dresser Bedside table 2 corner chairs Lighting 2 very small paintings

PROS Dog friendly ($20/night) Free Breakfast lobby/dining area was nicely decorated and modernized

CONS The room was very plain with almost no decoration. If it were not for the 2 small pictures on the walls they would have been completely bare. This gave the room an unwelcoming feeling. Expensive (300/night when we stayed... normally $150) Lose (puckering) carpet Visible water damage in the bathroom Disappointed that there was no in room coffee It was very hot each night for no reason, did not run any heating devices, just got hot each night. Refrigerator in the room was sparking each time the condenser shut off, staff asked that I unplug it. No in room phone, desk, notepad, adverts, etc. No room service No one in the lobby on staff all night, only from 7:AM to 9:PM Check-in desk is just that, a desk, not a typical standing lobby No dogie bags for cleaning after your pets or a place designated to put it. We always carry our own. However, I feel that this is a MUST if you offer to take on pets and charge a fee for it. Because this was lacking we did see many leaving it where it was laid atop the snow, and probably plenty below, YUCK.

Staff While the staff was friendly, they did not give you the feeling of professionalism. It felt more laid back to the point of being very close to unprofessional had they not been friendly. No one wore name tags and only the cleaning and kitchen staff wore anything resembling a uniform (black golf tee with the hotel name on it). There was no-one to help with luggage and no offer to help. The hostesses wore street cloths. I would not know them from the guests but that they were posted behind the front desk or front office.

Breakfast Breakfast time was from requested of us as 8, 8:30, or 9 so as to not put out too much food. This baffled me since it sounds like breakfast was only an hour and a half long... The only hot food I saw was Sausage, Eggs, and some kind of hash-brown casserole. The rest was coffee cake, cold cereal, Fruit, toast, muffins, etc. Pretty typical stuff. No Waffles, which is something I've gotten used to seeing but they did not have that. What I ate was good but...

10/10 experience at the Blue Elk Inn. I hope they will always thrive and we can return for many years.

First off, the bed! One of the most comfortable beds I’ve slept on, including the pillows! We slept so well! We stayed 3 nights in room 207 on the second floor with a king bed and fireplace. The room was spacious, immaculately clean, quiet, felt modern/new and was well appointed. We loved the view of the mountains, the artwork and appreciated the blackout curtains. Breakfast each morning was just what we needed. Our favorites were the coffee cake, fresh fruit and french toast on Saturday. Absolutely loved the garden! It was apparent how much they cared for and took pride in the property. There were always groundskeepers working. We enjoyed the pool/hot tub/lounge chairs and loved that they had saunas as an option! There were always clean pool towels available. Also really appreciated the complimentary bike rentals, this was a huge selling point for us and we had so much fun cruising around town. We walked to and from the main street in town several times and also around enchantment park so felt like it was convenient location. We were able to get a cheap uber ride into town when we were trying to get to a reservation. The only things that would be great to improve if they could swing it and keep prices reasonable are upgrades to the bath towels and the shower/hand soaps.

Overall - extremely comfortable bed for great nights sleep, walkable location, gorgeous garden, clean pool/hot tub/sauna, good breakfast and complimentary beach cruisers to borrow.

Thank you Blue Elk Inn, we’ll be back. My husband even...