Tyee Restaurant and Hotel — Restaurant in Coupeville

There aren't a lot of choices in or around Coupeville, WA when it comes to pet-friendly hotels, but the Tyee Motel and Restaurant was available, and less than a mile from Front Street, so it quickly became the obvious choice. Now, when it comes to hotels, I'm not all that picky about where I rest my head. As long as there is a clean bed, shower and toilet, I'll be just fine. With few exceptions, I don't travel to stay in a hotel; it's just a place to stop and recharge, before heading out to see the things I came to see. The Tyee motel itself, however, tested the limits of this philosophy of mine.

We had planned on taking the ferry from Port Townsend early in the afternoon, but due to high winds, several ferries were cancelled, and there was no guarantee the winds would abate enough for any ferry to disembark that day. We reserved Tone of the very last ferries of the day, and hoped things would calm down by then. I called the Tyee to inform them of this, and the woman who answered, whom I believe to have been the owner/manager, was very sweet, understanding and helpful. She informed me that if we were unable to make it, she wouldn't charge us for the room (despite being beyond the cancellation period), and that she could easily fill the room, if it came to that. Thankful for her understanding, we felt better about our predicament, and ended up catching an evening ferry and checking in to the hotel a little after 7pm, without any issues.

All hotel business is handled at the bar within the adjacent restaurant, and the check in (and check out) process was simple. We headed to our rooms, and encountered the kind of low-budget motel experience we expected. There were, however, some things that made us cringe: pubic hairs on the toilet seat; a squeaky, less than comfortable bed; strange stains on the floor and the walls near the runner at the bottom, and an overall sense of uncleanliness throughout. I checked the bed for bed bugs, just in case.

The restaurant and bar are a different story. The bar itself is divey, but in a comforting, home-to-the-locals sort of way, with a small furnace giving off enough warmth to fill the place. We had a couple drinks there later that night, right before bed, but did have to explain the recipe for one, even though it's rather common. We also partook of breakfast the next morning, which was a hearty and tasty, home-cooked meal, enough to split between the two of us. Our server was less than expedient and a little flighty, but pleasant enough.

Overall, the Tyee did everything it needed to do, some things better than others. The management exceeded all expectations, and the bar and restaurant were competent enough, which helped to offset the disappointment caused by the housekeeping staff and condition of the motel itself. Everything else fell squarely into the "you get what you pay for" category of the budget motel experience. Know what you're getting in to, don't set your expectations too high, and the Tyee will do its job. Don't expect a mint on your pillow; instead, turn it over once or twice, to make sure there are no other...

This is not a reflection of whatever kind of rooms they have. This is purely a review of their bar/restaurant.

My family of 4 came in for breakfast this morning. It was the worse my breakfast experience I’ve ever had in my life.

We ordered a round of coffees and water for beverages. A full carafe never once made a full trip around the table. Nearly every cup of coffee was poured with a separate to the back. We all shared a single spoon to stir. Also, the price of coffee is not disclosed on their paper menu. If it is, not noticeably.

The business was not busy, only 2 other tables were occupied. It was evident they were short staffed and the waitress was stressed. We were in no hurry, which turned out to be a very good thing.

Our table ordered:

#6 - The Breakfast Sampler: an egg, 2 pieces of French Toast, and 2 Links.

#8 - Corned Beef Hash and Eggs: Caned Corned Beef Hash with eggs. This person also ordered white bread toast, but it was never served.

A Side of Oatmeal: Oatmeal with raisins and brown sugar - cream wasn’t offered, but I used coffee cream.

A “Hot Buttered Cinnamon Roll” : This was not served hot, with butter or buttered, and had a side cup of cream-cheese frosting. It was most definitely from a can or pre-baked. There’s no way this was homemade.

And the order messed up the most - A #1- Tyee Breakfast “Served All Day”: 2 eggs over medium, bacon - crispy, and a dry toasted English muffin. This order was never served. First, half of a buttered English muffin was brought. The second half had been dropped but she was going to put another in. She forgot. The rest of the table was served with no flatware. We waited and waited and eventually asked for flatware at the counter. Then the waitress came back with a “#10 Country Scramble”. We notified her that it wasn’t what was ordered and she took the food back to the kitchen. She came back empty handed and notified us of her mistake. She’d put the order in incorrectly. “What do you want to do about it? I can put in a new order but it’ll be 25 minutes.” Ideally, we shouldn’t have to wait until after everyone else’s order since we ordered first and the mistake was on the restaurant’s part. After being there nearly 45 minutes at this point and with everyone else having food before them, our table asked for oatmeal instead so it wouldn’t take so long. It was taking a long time still. When we flagged our waitress down again, she asked what we were talking about. She said we had told her we didn’t need anything else. The oatmeal we were waiting on, was never coming. We decided to ask for the check and get our unfed friend some other food elsewhere. Our coffees were comped because our...

Unfortunately, I spent the night at The Tyee Motel and ate at TheTyee Café before I thought to do a Google search and read the reviews. ||On a vacation road trip, Hung around Front St. later than I planned and all the B&Bs were booked but, wasn't ready to leave the area yet. Was told that this was the only "Motel" in the area, so I called for availability and yes they have rooms available. I was even offered a choice of 3 options, I took the room with 1 Queen. Bad Choice!! The room was a middle room with no ventilation, no fans, no AC. The room was HOT! The room SMELLED! That moldy, musty, mildew(?), sicky sweet smell (Thank Goodness there is a market across the street, Air Freshener). The room was as loud as if your were just outside the bar! You couldn't close the windows, the smell and the HEAT would be unbearable! Oh, at least they told me NOT to move my car after 8pm, so I had my car close, because after 9:30pm, I couldn't move it even if I tried! The bar patrons filled the entire parking area. AND THE NOISE!!||Had breakfast in the Café after a miserable night. Nasty, overcooked, bitter coffee. Scrambled eggs with diced ham, hash browns with lightly toasted bread. Easy, right? Not here! 25 minutes after ordering, during which time the waitress NEVER came even once to refill the coffee, my breakfast was kind of served. The eggs had that brown crust on them (Overcooked) with cold hash beige (too pale to be Browns), no offer of a refill of coffee. I had to ask the waitress 2 times for my toast, when it came , it was burnt. See the pattern here, burnt and cold. The length of time to serve the food wasn't because of the crowd, there wasn't any!||This place is defiantly a place that relies on New business because I can't see ANY reason to come back! ||Found out that Oak Harbor is just down the road with several Motels that are a LOT Nicer, Cheaper, has WiFi, AC, and 3 prong...