sun starved Gayle
TUG Member
We have just returned from our three day weekend at Birch Bay. We spent one night in a 1 BR unit booked through bonus time, and moved to a SN penthouse (only penthouse available at booking) when the rest our family joined us.
I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the units were, especially the penthouse which was HUGE with a private hot tub on the deck, a deck that ran the length of the unit and plenty of windows. Nice, newish linens. Well stocked kitchen with larger coffee mugs and both red and white wine glasses. Granite counter tops, and robes in all the bedrooms. The run-down bar across the street looks like it is out of business so we did not have to deal with noise from there. It does partially obstruct the view, but I can live with that. The view was still good in my opinion. We saw whale spouts sitting at the table having breakfast, and so may bald eagles, herons, and seagulls dropping shellfish to crack open to eat. There is noise from the street, which runs directly in front of the unit. That might be a problem in the summer if you wanted to sleep with the windows open.
A few negatives about our SN penthouse unit. The dishwasher back flow valve over flowed water on the counter every time we ran it, we learned to put dish towels around it to absorb the water. And the sofa was ridiculous, old, low and uncomfortably sloping back towards the back frame. You had to climb out of it. Needs replacing badly. The counters were lower, as it was a SN unit, but the bar stools were normal height, making the counter way to low to eat or work from.
The salespeople at the parking-pass pick up were HARD SELL, and left a lingering bad taste in my mouth. They would not take no for an answer and insisted on going through the whole schtick, even after I told them repeatedly I was not interested. In fact the young woman became somewhat belligerent when I interrupted her to tell her I was not interested for the third time (we had just driven 275 miles, and I wanted to use the rest room!) and insisted I hear the whole song and dance. They wanted to come to our unit at 8:30 AM with a "welcome gift" which I refused. I do not want anyone at my door at that time of the morning while I am on vacation. I heard another woman in the elevator complaining about that also.
I enjoyed our stay here. If you had teens there might not be enough to do, but we were very content. We ate at CJ's Beach House down the street (fish tacos were good but not great and were spendy), Drayton Bay Oysters in Blaine, (Fabulous ! But only if you like oysters because that is all they serve) and got big cinnamon rolls to take back to the unit from C Shop Cafe. We bought some groceries from Market at Birch Bay in the Blaine shopping Center. They had a wonderful selection of gourmet items and had the prices to match.
My husband had the inclination to visit Point Roberts. You have to go thorough customs into Canada, drive to Tsawwassen and go thorough customs again to return to US soil to get there. Interesting history on how this small point off the Canadian mainland is part of Washington State. http://www.changesinlongitude.com/visit ... ashington/ Saw dozens of bald eagles. We stopped at Tim Horton's on the way back in Tsawwassen for coffee and doughnuts.
Thanks to all who gave me advice and info about this property.
I was pleasantly surprised at how nice the units were, especially the penthouse which was HUGE with a private hot tub on the deck, a deck that ran the length of the unit and plenty of windows. Nice, newish linens. Well stocked kitchen with larger coffee mugs and both red and white wine glasses. Granite counter tops, and robes in all the bedrooms. The run-down bar across the street looks like it is out of business so we did not have to deal with noise from there. It does partially obstruct the view, but I can live with that. The view was still good in my opinion. We saw whale spouts sitting at the table having breakfast, and so may bald eagles, herons, and seagulls dropping shellfish to crack open to eat. There is noise from the street, which runs directly in front of the unit. That might be a problem in the summer if you wanted to sleep with the windows open.
A few negatives about our SN penthouse unit. The dishwasher back flow valve over flowed water on the counter every time we ran it, we learned to put dish towels around it to absorb the water. And the sofa was ridiculous, old, low and uncomfortably sloping back towards the back frame. You had to climb out of it. Needs replacing badly. The counters were lower, as it was a SN unit, but the bar stools were normal height, making the counter way to low to eat or work from.
The salespeople at the parking-pass pick up were HARD SELL, and left a lingering bad taste in my mouth. They would not take no for an answer and insisted on going through the whole schtick, even after I told them repeatedly I was not interested. In fact the young woman became somewhat belligerent when I interrupted her to tell her I was not interested for the third time (we had just driven 275 miles, and I wanted to use the rest room!) and insisted I hear the whole song and dance. They wanted to come to our unit at 8:30 AM with a "welcome gift" which I refused. I do not want anyone at my door at that time of the morning while I am on vacation. I heard another woman in the elevator complaining about that also.
I enjoyed our stay here. If you had teens there might not be enough to do, but we were very content. We ate at CJ's Beach House down the street (fish tacos were good but not great and were spendy), Drayton Bay Oysters in Blaine, (Fabulous ! But only if you like oysters because that is all they serve) and got big cinnamon rolls to take back to the unit from C Shop Cafe. We bought some groceries from Market at Birch Bay in the Blaine shopping Center. They had a wonderful selection of gourmet items and had the prices to match.
My husband had the inclination to visit Point Roberts. You have to go thorough customs into Canada, drive to Tsawwassen and go thorough customs again to return to US soil to get there. Interesting history on how this small point off the Canadian mainland is part of Washington State. http://www.changesinlongitude.com/visit ... ashington/ Saw dozens of bald eagles. We stopped at Tim Horton's on the way back in Tsawwassen for coffee and doughnuts.
Thanks to all who gave me advice and info about this property.
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