Wellspring Spa At Mt Rainier, Ashford

Not clean, tiny log cabin, shower did work but only for one person. Caretakers rude, unyielding. Breakfast Basket was a joke- actually a waste of time.

i LOVE the care put into the infrastructure and grounds of this exquisite haven of peace and beauty. magic abounds. this place is built to accentuate the profound natural surroundings, while also creating darling, intimate, expansive, and comfortable spaces for human habitation. the flow between indoors and out is lovely. the friendliness and support of the staff and caretakers is unprecedented.

I stayed for several days in Tatoosh Lodge with a large group, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Highlights of Wellspring for me were: the beautiful natural setting, the thoughtful hand-crafted construction throughout the property, the most amazing Labyrinth I’ve ever encountered (right out of a children’s storybook), the outdoor hot-tub situated under a canopy of grand trees, the bell mounted within a tree trunk (a must-see), the lovely 1-mile hiking loop that passes by a refreshing stream, and the proximity of the one-and-only Mt. Rainier. For our group, this was a perfect setting to connect with nature and with each other. It is not luxurious, in the sense of modern hotels with chandeliers. It is much more authentic than that. Wellspring is rustic, quiet, very comfortable, and stunningly beautiful. Oh, and the owner is clearly responsive to customers and feedback on sites like this one, with an aim to improve the overall experience. Case in point: the disappointing pull-out bed in Tatoosh Lodge, as experienced by “Expected Much More Given Reviews” in Feb 2010, has quite clearly been replaced, because the convertible sofa bed that is there now will rival any traditional bed out there, and with ample sleeping space. You simply have to try it to understand.

This is a unique place and it would be possible to have a uniquely delightful experience. That is what we expected when we saw Wellspring Spa, the different buildings and the grounds. Our first negative feelings came when we examined our breakfast basket for the next morning. Our hostess, who had taken us to our log cottage hastily removed an aging brown banana when she showed us the basket. Later she returned with a couple of tiny, also aging tangerines. But when it came time to get into bed we looked at decidedly dingy sheets, the top one of which had large tears going the length of it, which caught our feel all night. But besides that the mattress (apparently memory foam) was very uncomfortable and threw both of us from our sides into a collision in the middle of the bed. The pillows, also dingy in appearance, were hard, dried up shapeless foam. We discovered , when we opened our breakfast basket that it contained two boxes of mixed fruit juice, such as kids take to school, two containers of yoghurt, which my husband enjoyed but which I cannot eat, and two lengths of string cheese. I had a cup of tea for breakfast.. Our son had a lovely, large log cabin and no difficulties with the amenities. But his room did not come with a breakfast basket so he had no complaints. The ambience and the uniqueness of this spa resort cannot be faulted. But compared to other B&Bs where we stayed in Washington, Victoria and Oregon, it simply did not come close in comfort and furnishings.

If you actually like the outdoors, a little adventure, and a non-traditional retreat (you don't actually see the staff), then Wellspring is the place for you. I took my boyfriend there for his birthday and we stayed in the treehouse, it was too cute, and he LOVED it! When we got there, we found our envelope on the information board, and checked to make sure our names were on the reservation list for the hottub we had requested the day before. They weren't there, but it only took a 2 minute call on the red "information" phone to verify that we did in fact have reservations for the hot tub that evening. We followed the path to the base of the treehouse, and really, the whole thing is like a fort, because there is not just two trees, but a bunch of sappling around the trees as well, so it's pretty enclosed. There are swinging saloon type doors at the "entrance", and when you walk through those, you see the table and chairs (with soft white mini-lights under the unbrella!), a mini-fridge, counter and cabinet with dishes and utensils. Under the tree house is a hammock for lounging, along with the bucket used to lift bags up to the treehouse, my boyfriend had a lot of fun hoisting our stuff up with the pully system. The treehouse itself is tiny, which was great for us. The bed takes up 90% of the room and was SUPER comfy. There is space on the far side of the bed for your bags, and it was nice to be able to watch movies on the TV. The treehouse is also equipped with a space heater that does its job well, and all the fixings for hot cocoa, coffee and tea, though you do have to leave the fort and use the bathroom sink if you didn't bring your own water. The bathroom is only about ten steps outside the swinging doors. It is very well decorated and clean, and that was where we found our breakfast basket as well, which was full of yogurt, cheese, fruit and juice boxes. The Greenhouse hot tub was wonderfully relaxing. It is only separated from the Turiya room by a 6 ft high fence that can be looked over if you are at the top of the hot tub. Once you are in though, all you can hear is the babbling stream on the other side of the fence. There is a bathroom for changing as well which is nice since it was raining while we were there and didn't want to have to walk back to the treehouse in our wet and cold bathing suits. Everyone we saw at Wellspring were very friendly and seemed to be having as much fun as we were. The grounds are well kept and there are a few trails to explore. My boyfriend is a bit more adventurous and imaginative than I am, so he had a fantastic time checking out all the unique things Wellspring has to offer. We definitely want to go back, and next time will stay for at least two nights. He is interested in some of the cabins, though we would not mind staying in the treehouse again as it was nostaglic and brought out our inner children.

I really loved everything about the stay. I am truelly blessed to have stayed at Wellspring. We are going to get married here in May 2010

Everything was perfect, starting with the "check in" of finding your name on a board with your key, to the abundance of firewood. Wellspring came highly recommended, and we have passed on this wonderful secret.

My wife and I stayed two nights in a deluxe cabin, which featured a great stone fireplace, jacuzzi bath and comfy bed. Located at the foot of Mt. Rainier, the location couldn't be nicer. Very happy with the accommodations until we discovered the lovely feather bed was infested with bed bugs. Disgusting. We ended our romantic weekend covered in bites, itchy and red. The hot tub charge - $10/person/hour - is unreasonable. Especially since half of our scheduled time was taken up with attending to a circuit breaker that failed, causing the tub to be cold and without jets. We were able to switch to a different tub, but no offer from the staff to partially refund our money. The tubs are also not very private as both of them look into the windows of guest residences. Honestly, the tub time should be included with you stay or be much cheaper than it is. The "Labyrinth" is an arrangement of river rocks and is not worth your time. This is a romantic little spot with all the makings of a great weekend destination, and I really would like to give it higher marks. The staff was always pleasant, but the bed bugs and spa prices make me think I probably won't go back. Unfortunate.

I didn't actually make it to Wellspring. My wife and I were very excited to find such reasonably priced and well-reviewed accommodations near Mt. Rainier for our anniversary. We booked a room for a night in mid-September 2009, and several days later got a call from someone in the office explaining that someone had actually already booked the cabin we booked, and that the error was due to the new website's design. That's fine. I, too, have had to deal with bugs in new websites and there's no reason to get upset over it. The problem came when this individual with Wellspring suggested a different room and stated, "of course that one is $155 a night rather than the $115 for the one you originally wanted, but I assure you it's well worth the extra cost." My jaw hit the floor that an error on their part was being used as an opportunity to up-sale. My only other option was to take a less-luxurious cabin with a hideous design theme and a "bathroom down the trail" (which was a design my wife and I purposely avoided when making our original plans) for the same price. This person was not rude to me in conversation, but was unyielding when I suggested that since the error was on their end and not mine that I should be upgraded at no cost to me. She did not hesitate for a moment when I said that I would have to cancel my reservation. I'm sure they'll book all their cabins by the time for what would have been my trip arrives, and they won't lose a penny. I find it very disappointing, however, that keeping a customer wasn't worth $40 to them.

Wellspring is definitely a romantic destination. Very quite and secluded. We will definitely be back for a much longer stay.