Rosario Village — Hotel in Orcas Island

Amateur stuff all around. I hope they get their act together. Strong Fawlty Towers vibes.

The location is gorgeous. Given the lack of services, flying in is ill advised.

Replies to reviews look insecure. At best, nobody reads them, at worst, they make bad reviews look worse. Maybe go easy on that.

It looks like the place is under new management. There is no front desk, and instead there is a text message service which is incessant and generally unhelpful. Calling this place a resort is charitable. Both pools and the main restaurant are being renovated. There is no round the clock store. The advertised boat/kayak tours don't all leave from the marina and that is not clear. We flew in and found out we booked a tour from a different marina; there is no shuttle service. The tour company was nice enough to apply the total to a trip that left from the Rosario marina but that was not guaranteed and screams poor coordination. We paid around $900 for two nights in a suite and that was frankly is a rip-off. It also turned out that the suite (which has not been renovated since it was built in the 1970s) was an uphill hike from the marina. I saw an elderly gentleman hobbling around on crutches and that did not look fun. Any good resort would have an on-site shuttle service; also a shuttle service to town.

I have stayed in hundreds of hotels over the past 20 years. I have never been explicitly notified that I would be charged for stains, burns, scratches, etc. It's disrespectful. If someone trashes the room, of course, charge them. But, messages like this are not appropriate for anything fancier than a hostel. First, you must have the facilities to clean up minor stains, etc. Second, preemptively accusing customers does not convey a welcoming vibe. Third, there were SEVERAL large stains on the carpet. So, the implication is that if I left a wine stain, I'd be charged, and the hotel would then not clean it.

The lack of coordination could be fatal to the business if not addressed. Had there been a front desk, there would be enough complaints in passing that I expect the items would be addressed. Not everyone will take the time to leave a review. A couple of items stand out.

The first is minor but annoying as hell. We were told to only use the special hotel-provided fire logs in the fire place. There were none. We notified the "front desk", were apologized to profusely, and were promised prompt delivery of logs which never came. Not having the logs is not a big deal; promising and not delivering is.

The second could have been a disaster. Our whale watching tour left late because of delays earlier in the day. They were nice enough to give us the full 3+ hours, but, as we were heading back, we realized that we might not make it before the kitchen closed. We called were told that it closes at 740 PM. That's it. No answer as to whether they might stay open a few extra minutes. We made it just in time but it would have been bad otherwise.

Let me tell you how a real resort would handle this: you coordinate between the services you advertise. There needs to be a provision to keep the restaurant open should an advertised tour run late. Whether these services are owned or contracted does not matter. Not feeding your guests is criminal.

There is a store. Though, it closes at 8 PM and is VERY poorly stocked. There is almost no food; there are canned items and no can openers in the rooms. The tour store has better food but closes at 4 PM.

The restaurant: the staff are very nice but they're all young and seem like they've not only never worked in a restaurant in the US, they might not have been to a restaurant in the US. The food was good but I overheard someone receiving an undercooked pizza and my chicken sandwich had ham on it. I like surprise ham. Someone keeping Kosher might not. I was told they did not have ingredients for an old fashioned but did for a manhattan; so no real bartender either then. Whether or not the restaurant is a separate entity does not matter. It is...

We stayed two nights in June here and staying at Rosario Resort was a let down in a few ways. Before I get into what went wrong, there are two stand-out employees that deserve mention. Riley at the front desk is amazing. The second is I believe the facilities manager or physical plant director, he seems to run the place but also delivers ice to rooms, etc. Very responsive.

What went wrong? First, the photos on their website definitely oversold the actual rooms. It may be helpful to know that only the mansion - where there are no guest rooms - is historic. The lodging is in outbuildings far away from the mansion and look to not have been updated since being built, and based on appearances I'd say that was 25-30 years ago. By appearances it feels as if the marketing of the Rosario is that it was a resort destination in a long ago era (for example, the photos in the spa/pool area are not of the property, but do give the appearance that long ago people stayed here). The mansion has some impressive areas, none of which benefit you in your stay, and so much of the property seems underutilized or neglected.

The biggest issue we ran into was level of service. We were in a suite-style room. On the property map it shows where we can find ice and vending machines. Instead we found an empty room full of leaves and debris - where it seems very long ago there once may have been an ice machine. On our first evening, we were considering eating in the dining room. Dessert was most important to us - so that was going to determine where we ate. We looked at the menus, didn't see a dessert listing, so I asked an employee (dressed as a server, behind the bar prepping for the evening) and she told me she couldn't tell me what the desserts are, which is a silly response. I went back out front and we asked the host - who seemed really annoyed we were looking over the menus, but when we asked our question, he took us back to the bar and asked the same staff person for us. In response she looked very annoyed and said "I am not going to inform you of the desserts because we run out of them sometimes." This is just unacceptable for a few reasons. First, why be rude to a customer asking a reasonable question? Second, it was 4pm, surely the kitchen knows what's on the dessert menu. Another staff member standing behind the bar realized what terrible customer service this was and said she had seen them working on macaroons and strawberry shortcake. We decided not to eat there, not only based on this exchange, but because of a few other factors (hearing kitchen employees complain about their jobs, etc.). As it turns out, the desserts are plated up on the other side of a glass window in the lobby, so I was able to stand in the lobby and READ the whiteboard list of desserts (why again was the server so rude?) and as I watched a cook plate them up I was not at all impressed with the quality. For what this place charges and for the level of restaurant they sell themselves to be, it struck me that the level of care, pride and food did not match the image of the place.

The views are very pretty, and you are close to Moran State Park. The room was clean. I had to call and ask for towels. I had to call to ask for ice. Both were brought to the room quickly. The hot water worked. But clean rooms and hot water are a pretty low bar.

My overall impression is quite poor, and given that the property is again for sale, I cannot see it getting better...

My husband and I knew that we wanted to have our wedding on Orcas Island, and for us, the only option was Rosario. The property was perfect for our tastes as it is both charming and beautiful, well-kept and rustic. Jolene Versailles and Lori Fast were a dream to work with. They are easy to reach and keep in communication with you throughout the planning process. The site where we got married – the Point Lawn – is seriously the stuff of dreams. Pristinely manicured landscaping atop a hairpin bluff that overlooks the water and rolling hills of the island with 360 views – Breathtaking. Then the reception venue, the beach house is just a short 5 min walk. It has a deck with more beautiful views, a well-manicured side-lawn and deck perfect for cocktails, and the front of the reception hall has floor-to-ceiling windows with views of the water, which makes a perfect setting for the head table. The venue is made for your band, as there is an alcove for them in the back, and the beach house deck has shade and power hook-ups for them to do a small set during your cocktail hour. The ONLY negative thing I will say in this review is that the beach house does have a rather dated/conference roomy look to it, the carpet is pretty ugly ect... but this is nothing that a good florist and decorations person can’t fix. Then when the party is over, people can walk 5-10 minutes to their room. This is a BIG reason why we loved this venue – it is so easy for guests, there is so much to enjoy right on the property, and there is no drunk driving after your reception. Now to the catering. If you have your wedding at the resort you are required to use their catering and drink services, you can find your own pastry chef for your cake. Trust me this is not a problem; the catering menu is AMAZING. We had the soy-glazed salmon and coconut rice and Rosemary steak as entree options – people are still raving to me about the passed appetizers and food at our wedding 2 months later. The drinks were really spot on as well, and they were very flexible in catering to our signature cocktails, finding fresh ingredients to make it taste artisanal. The service staff are incredibly professional. I brought my own recipe for a cookies and cream cake that their pastry chef executed past my expectations. My mouth waters just thinking about it. So many elements of our wedding were tied in with the resort and they were all executed flawlessly. They really work hard to make your vision of your wedding come true here. The adult pool is amazing, and there are lots of organized events that can depart from the docks of the resort – we organized a private whale watching tour that our guests really loved. PLUS for those who are flying in, they can land via seaplane on the docks of the resort – doesn’t get more direct than that! The prices for rooms are very reasonable and you will NOT have any problems holding enough rooms for your guests – they really bend over backwards to make sure all guests have a room. If you are looking to have a fairy tale wedding of your dreams on Orcas Island or anywhere in the San Juans, stop looking around and call Rosario. You can...