Background:

On a recent trip from Spokane to Astoria we decided to take a side trip to Seattle and Northwest Washington in order to visit my best friend who is an executive chef at a Casino outside Anacortes, Washington. After checking several websites I booked the Tulip Valley Inn in Mount Vernon Washington which is half way between my friend’s work and his home on Camano Island.

Mount Vernon is 45 miles north of Seattle and 35 miles south of the Canadian Border.

Making the Reservation:

I checked Hotwire, Travelocity plus the websites of the major hotel chains. After looking at all the prices I booked a room through Travelocity for $40.00 a night which was about $8-10 dollars less the other motels in the area.

Location:

The Tulip Valley Inn is located right off of Interstate 15 exit 227 (college way) about one mile from downtown Mount Vernon. After getting off the freeway you go west to just past the exit and turn right (north) onto Freeway Drive and the motel is on the right.

Checking Inn:

The motel is two stories with parking in front of the rooms and pretty much a standard cookie cutter affair and does not have a pool. The office is small but is stocked with brochures and such. The couple running the motel was extremely friendly and it turned out they previously managed a motel in Astoria so we spent a few minutes talking about that.

The Room:

The room was somewhat on the small size but was adequate for us. As we entered the room there was two queen sized beds to the left and to the right there a desk then a cabinet that held a 25” television and dresser below, and then there was a chair.
Straight in from the door was a closet and to the left of the closet was the bathroom that had a full size tub, toilet and a sink. The bathroom was also equipped with a hair dryer. The room was also equipped with a coffee maker, iron and ironing board. Also, between the two beds was a night stand that had a box of tissues and a digital alarm clock.

Surrounding Area:

There are two gas stations/convenience stores at the corner of College Way and Freeway Drive to get gas, snacks and beverages. East of the freeway is a mall along with a large number of restaurants.

The motel says that the restaurants are with in walking distance which is true for someone like me who walks a lot, but many people will not like the distance and the traffic can be very bad so I recommend driving.

Also there is a factory outlet center located a mile from the motel.

Skagit Transit Route 207 passes directly has a bus stop in front of the motel and provides every half hour service Monday-Friday and hourly service on Saturdays. The route passes along the north side of the mall area and goes downtown which makes it convenient to avoid downtown parking. However you have to pre-purchase tickets to ride the bus which makes it very inconvenient for visitors.

Mount Vernon is also home to the famous Tulip Festival and other events in the area. The motel also makes a good base camp for exploring the North Cascade Mountains, Whidbey Island and other scenic areas.


Breakfast:

The motel also features a continental breakfast which includes coffee, milk, juices, donuts, pastries, toast and assorted other items. On a scale from one to five I would give the breakfast offerings about a 3. The also have coffee in the lobby throughout the day in addition to the coffee makers in the room.

Check Out:

Check out was quick and easy and the people working in the morning where just a friendly as the couple that ran the office in the afternoon. Within a couple of minutes the check out process was done and we where on our way.

Overall:

I would highly recommend the Tulip Valley Inn. The staff was friendly, the prices reasonable, and the room was well equipped. While I personally prefer restaurants a within a more convenient/safe walking distance, they where close enough that it wasn’t a major hassle to get to them. If you are traveling in the area I highly recommend the motel as a reasonably priced motel for the money.


Once again I like to thank SurgRN911 for adding this to the website.

Recommended: Yes