Earthbox Inn & Spa
A 1960s motor lodge reimagined — 18 rooms, indoor pool, family-owned.
Earthbox Inn & Spa is a 1960s motor lodge reimagined as an 18-room contemporary inn in Friday Harbor, the main town on San Juan Island. Indoor pool, full spa, family-owned, and the kind of playful-retro aesthetic that's deliberate rather than incidental. It's the small contemporary alternative to the island's Victorian-era B&Bs and the chain motels at the ferry landing.
San Juan Island sits in the San Juan Islands archipelago at the northwestern corner of Washington State. Friday Harbor is the largest town and the ferry hub. The island is reached by ferry from Anacortes; the trip takes about an hour. Cars come along, though many visitors leave them on the mainland.
The setting
On Argyle Avenue in Friday Harbor, two blocks from the ferry landing and three blocks from the central Spring Street restaurant strip. The walk into the village's restaurants and shops is five minutes. The Whale Museum and the various whale-watching boat operators are walking distance.
The ferry from Anacortes runs about an hour. From Seattle, it's ninety minutes' drive to Anacortes plus the ferry. Kenmore Air's seaplane from Lake Union runs in season — about an hour from downtown Seattle.
The building
A 1960s motor-lodge structure, reimagined into a contemporary inn with the original courtyard layout intact and the rooms updated to a current standard. The aesthetic is playful-retro upscale-bohemian — pine paneling on accent walls, vintage furnishings repurposed, local art, and a reading-room lobby that runs more curated than the original 1960s motor-lodge format would have permitted.
The renovation has been deliberate. The motor-lodge character is honored rather than erased.
The rooms
Eighteen rooms across the courtyard layout. Categories climb from compact rooms (around $245) up through suites with the better courtyard exposure and slightly larger floor plans. Beds are queens and kings, linens are good, bathrooms are functional and updated. Several units have small private patios.
Food & drink
There's no on-site restaurant. Continental breakfast is included. For dinner, the walk into Friday Harbor's Spring Street reaches the town's restaurants — Backdoor Kitchen, the Place at Cask, Coho Restaurant, and Madrona Bar & Grill. Coffee at Crows Nest or San Juan Coffee Roasting Company in the morning.
On the property
A small contemporary inn with surprising amenities.
- Indoor heated pool
- Full-menu spa
- Sauna and hot tub
- Continental breakfast included
- Walking distance to the ferry and downtown
- Open year-round
Who it's for
- Travelers doing a San Juan Islands long weekend
- Couples who want walking distance to the ferry without committing to a chain motel
- Repeat San Juan visitors who've cycled through the Roche Harbor and Friday Harbor House anchors
- Whale-watching travelers — the season runs spring through fall
Who it's not for
- Travelers seeking a Victorian-era B&B aesthetic
- Anyone looking for direct waterfront rooms (the inn is two blocks back from the harbor)
- Light packers — multi-day Pacific Northwest weather requires layers
Nearby
Walk two blocks to the ferry landing and the working harbor. Walk three blocks to Spring Street's restaurants and shops. The Whale Museum is two blocks. Whale-watching boats run from the Friday Harbor docks — pods of southern resident orcas (less frequent in recent years) and transient orcas frequent the Haro Strait. Drive twenty minutes for Roche Harbor on the north side of the island — the historic resort and the lime kilns. Drive twenty-five minutes for Lime Kiln Point State Park (the "whale watching from shore" park on the island's west side). Drive longer for English Camp (one of the two American Camp / English Camp sites of the Pig War of 1859).
