<p>So, we are headed to Seattle and suddenly discover it will be easier to spend one night up near the border. Does anyone have recomendations for hotels in the Bellingham area?</p>
<p>The Bellwater in Bellingham is snazzy, but you might really get a great deal at the Inn at Semiahmoo:</p>
<p>[Semiahmoo</a> Resort | Hotel Reservations: 800-770-7992](<a href=“http://www.semiahmoo.com/]Semiahmoo”>http://www.semiahmoo.com/)</p>
<p>Right by the border, easy to run up to Vancouver for the day if you want (PM me for hints if you are doing this) and a great deal in a lovely setting. No night life, though. If you want walking around a small city, then you want Bellingham.</p>
<p>Bellingham is exits 250-258 off the 5, Semiahmoo is exit 274, the border is 276. (SeaTac is about 165 I think)</p>
<p>If you have been on the dressing young thread and have girls, stop at the exit 230ish outlet malls for the Lululemon Outlet store :D</p>
<p>My H just stayed at Semiahmoo on business for several days. He was happy with it, and they made room service breakfast for him earlier than normal hours. I had lunch there once; it’s nice.</p>
<p>I have been seeing cheaper rooms available north of the border, but my family’s hotel standards are probably more relaxed than the OP’s. I’m very familiar with that area (from exit 189, lol) and the comments on CC are good. IMHO, the better outlet mall is at exit 200/202 in Marysville/Tulalip next to the casino (good lunch buffet and a hotel, about an hour from the border). Bellingham is a nice city, but there is not much nightlife. Remember to get gas on the WA side to save a couple dollars.</p>
<p>dragonmom, do you have a few spare hours to check out the tulips and daffodils? I believe the festival officially starts next week, but there should plenty of fields in full bloom or close to it right now. [The</a> 27th Annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival](<a href=“http://www.tulipfestival.org/]The”>http://www.tulipfestival.org/)</p>
<p>I agree with Seatide that the hotel and the outlets in Tulalip are very nice, and the drive to the border is not that long.</p>
<p>Added: The website says that TulipTown is going to open March 26!</p>
<p>Yes, the premium outlet mall at 200-202 is much better than the one at 230, but the 230 outlet has lulu 
so it depends on what you are looking for</p>
<p>Plan ahead for possible delays at the Blaine vehicle border crossing. Make SURE you have your passport. Things have changed a bit in recent years with regard to getting through ‘customs’ at the Canadian border. And it’s not the Canadians’ fault.</p>
<p>The La Quinta is clean, decent, and has a free breakfast. Price isn’t bad either.</p>
<p>Travel to the border now is risky. Watch out for the Canadian drug cartels. Violence has increased along the border and the locals have been unable to control it. Mounties have been called in to quell the atrocities. Hordes of roving Canadian thugs from Kamloops and Ear Falls and Trois Riveres control most of the Viagra and statin border traffic now but they are fighting for control of the profitable WA/BC border. Most violence is contained to areas plagued by panderers of prostitution and tourist watercolors. </p>
<p>Our State Department has issued the following Travel Advisory : Americans should be prepared for noogies, wet-willies, got-your-nose, and manual rotations of your nipples. ;)</p>
<p>^ Thanks for my laugh of the day. </p>
<p>My two cents worth: If you stay in Bellingham, and have a GPS in your car (but not a Nexus fast pass), I encourage you to go through the Linden/Abbotsford crossing, and not the Blaine/Peach Arch crossing. It adds exactly 20 minutes to your drive, but can save you a ton of wait time if the Peace Arch/Blaine crossing is busy (which is common these days). I would also suggest taking the ‘truck’ exit at the Peace Arch crossing over the regular exit. Cars are allowed but it’s typically faster (AND if you stop to shop at the Duty Free, you can cut back into the line wayyyy far up there :)).</p>
<p>I have done this a thousand times over the years I feel I have it down to a science.</p>
<p>Listen to the radio station 1130 AM, it gives traffic & border reports every 10 minutes “on the ones” and starbright is right, it is a lovely drive to Lynden (take Sweet street to Badger to the Guide Meridian for the prettiest drive if there is any sun) and the Peace Arch crossing is for tourists, the truck crossing for those in the know, and Lynden/Aldergrove or Abbotsford/Sumas (another 20 minutes east of Lynden) tend to be the easiest crossings. Plus Lynden is a quaint little Dutch town (a bit Stepfordian for those who live there, though!)</p>
<p>You laugh, Curm, but a house down the road a mile or two was recently confiscated when the owner was caught bringing in E on his jet ski! I have border patrol friends and the stories they tell are just amazing examples of “Stooopid”</p>
<p>I’ll just point out that the Lynden crossing doesn’t open until 8 AM.</p>
<p>Don’t tell people about the duty-free shopping trick! Then everyone will do it. (NOTE: they sell chocolate at the duty free.)</p>
<p>I couldn’t remember the name of the other crossing. I see now that it is Lynden. Lynden is pleasant, but we encountered delays down the road the closer we got to Vancouver proper. Then again, it was weekday rush hour.</p>
<p>As an aside, I get amused when I tell east coast greenhorn friends about the Canadian border out west. It’s been a few years but much of the border between Washington State and British Columbia is essentially private backyards and farms and not fortified.</p>
<p>The Abbotsford/Sumas (often called Huntingdon/Sumas) crossing seems to be rarely busy and is very close to Tim Horton’s and other shopping on the BC side. If you’re driving in the dark, note that some of the roads in that area are 50MPH with little or no shoulder. It was surprising that borer waits have not been as long as people’ve expected, even during the Olympics.</p>