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Thursday, October 21, 2004
Short Trips: Resorts offer golfing, gaming and relaxation
By JEFF LARSEN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER PHOTOGRAPHER
When you're the world's worst gambler, a casino wouldn't seem like a high-priority destination. But after I wrote last summer about the Quinault Beach Resort and Casino near Ocean Shores, I just had to try gambling one more time -- this time a little closer to home in Bow, a small berg just north of Burlington, about 70 miles north of Seattle. After all, I had another $30 to burn (i.e. lose).
The Skagit -- shortened from Skagit Valley Casino Resort -- is managed by the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe and now has teamed with the tribe's newly acquired property, the well-known Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine. The casino has been transformed over the years from just another gambling joint into a full-blown vacation-style destination, especially with the Semiahmoo acquisition.
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 | Jeff Larsen / P-I | |
| Sunsets suitable for framing are enjoyed from the Semiahmoo Resort grounds. | ||
Two years ago the casino, adjacent to Interstate 5 with easy access to the freeway, opened a 103-room hotel and conference center attached to the 64,000 square-foot Nevada-style casino. It's hard to miss in Bow. In fact, you could say it is Bow. The Skagit, interesting to note, is the only combination casino/resort hotel on the Interstate 5 corridor in Washington. The Tulalip Casino in Marysville is much larger but doesn't include a hotel.
The Skagit hotel pleasantly surprised me. It is tidy, well-managed and reasonably priced, with simple but tastefully decorated rooms, and generally straightforward as far as hotels go, with few extra frills other than a tasty continental breakfast in the lobby each morning for guests. Plenty of free parking for hotel guests is available as well.
Slightly different than a Vegas, Reno or Tahoe hotel/casino experience, the hotel is like an oasis from the clatter of the casino, which is more like next door than part of the hotel. Guests have to walk outside of the hotel to reach the casino, even though the buildings are adjoined.
Unfortunately -- and what I found very annoying for non-smokers -- to reach any of the three restaurants, guests have to walk through the casino where smoking is allowed throughout. There is no outside access to the restaurants. The upper-end Moon Beach Fine Dining seemed a bit pricey for Bow, but it is a nice interlude from the smoky casino. My New York steak ($24.95) was done perfectly and on par with some of the high-end steakhouses in Seattle.
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| Jeff Larsen / P-I | |
| Kayakers off Semiahmoo Resort and Spa enjoy a sunny day near Blaine. | ||
The service, however, was slow at best. Even with only eight other guests in the restaurant, it took almost 30-minutes before I got my steamed clam appetizer ($10), then another half-hour to get my salad. I was an hour and a half into dinner before I knew it. The casino serves more casual fare at the Northern Lights deli and the Market Buffet and Grill.
Besides a 450-seat showroom where national headliner acts and Nevada-style revues take the stage, the hotel features a glass-enclosed swimming pool with a retractable roof, hot tub, sauna and fitness room showers.
The casino proper features more than 670 slot machines, including video draw poker, keno and bingo. Table games include blackjack, craps, roulette, three-card poker, pai gow poker, let it ride and keno.
Watch out for a nasty little version of blackjack, where guests can place a bet to match the dealer's up card along with their regular bet.
The odds are astronomical against the bet, so I ignored it and lost my $30 the old fashioned way -- hitting 12 and 13 with a face card without the dealer busting four times in a row. All blackjack dealers use multiple decks with a shoe.
Semiahmoo is even farther removed from The Skagit gambling casino than The Skagit hotel next door -- about 40 or so miles farther removed. Built in the mid-1980s on a sand spit north of Bellingham in Blaine, the scenic resort, unfortunately, has had a few complicated ownership twists and turns over the years.
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| Jeff Larsen / P-I | |
| Situated north of Burlington, The Skagit is managed by the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe. It is paired with the Semiahmoo Resort in Blaine, which the tribe also owns. | ||
Partly because of all of the changes, the resort's quality suffered notably, which tarnished its earlier, well-earned reputation as a first-class resort and golf destination.
About a year ago the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe took over management of the property, including the two golf courses -- Semiahmoo Golf & Country Club and Loomis Trail Golf Club -- and immediately began to pump millions of dollars into the hotel infrastructure and appearance. It shows. The luster is back.
The first thing returning guests probably will notice is the refinished wood in the lobby -- floors, stair railings, the works. All the polished woodwork shines like I remember when the resort opened in 1987. To me the natural wood look has always been part of the resort's signature, especially the lobby floor.
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| Jeff Larsen / P-I | |
| All the wood in the newly refurbished lobby of the Semiahmoo Resort, right, has been restored to its former splendor. | ||
Across the parking lot from the lobby, adjacent to the indoor/outdoor swimming pool, are the new full-service, European-style spa, an attractive addition to the pool area, as well as the exercise center, which still features an indoor track, steam room, sauna, Jacuzzi and tennis courts. More conference space has been added with the addition of the new Garden Plaza at Loomis Trail Golf Club and the new Clubhouse Pavilion at Semiahmoo Golf & Country Club, boosting the total to 35,000 square feet.
Built on the site of an historic salmon packinghouse, Packers Lounge and Oyster Bar features probably one of the best water views in the region and still is the place to go after a round of golf or a spa treatment. Deck seating is available seasonally. The food is good and the service and ambience are even better.
The Great Blue Heron Bar & Grill at Semiahmoo Golf & Country Club is closer to the golf action and also offers excellent food with a view looking up the 18th fairway, past a greenside lake with a fountain. Try Stars for much more elegant dining, with a first-class menu and wine list.
Other improvements to the hotel's original 198 guest rooms, plus two suites and hospitality parlors, include new corridor and guestroom carpet, new lobby furnishings and new decor and wall treatments in the restaurants.
Since they combined operations last year, The Skagit and Semiahmoo Resort officially operate under the public relations umbrella of the Premier Resort Group. A shuttle operates between the two by request for Semiahmoo guests who want to gamble or The Skagit guests who want to golf. It's about a 45-minute drive between the two.
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| Jeff Larsen / P-I | |
| Semiahmoo Resort’s Packers Lounge offers food, libations and, perhaps best of all, views of Semiahmoo Bay and the lights of White Rock, B.C. | ||
I didn't know it at the time, but the lounge in The Skagit casino is called The Winner's Lounge. After I lost my $30 at the blackjack table in record time, I'm surprised they let me in.
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