Most of our students fly in from around the country (and the world) and are looking for the best deals on airfares and hotels. Here's a quick guide for getting the best rates on travel to our class.

Camping & staying with other students

During most of the year the weather in this area is mild and suitable for camping (be sure and check the weather report). You should of course be prepared for rain since we are very close to Seattle.   The local joke about the weather is that we have nine months of rain and three months of visitors.

If you would like to camp near the class we recommend either the Snohomish County Parks campgrounds or the Wallace Falls State Park camp ground. Snohomish County Parks and Recreation Campsites and Wallace Falls State Park camp ground.  The closest county park that allows overnight camping is Wallace Falls, but the Flowing Lake park isn't to far away.   At Flowing Lake you can also rent a cabin or a yurt at very reasonable rates.

Furthermore, on the first day of class students often meet up with others in the class who live locally and can offer them a guest room, bedroll space or a couch to sleep on. This is a very good way to "network" with your fellow students and also find out more about the area.

Searching online

We recommend Travelocity for online travel searches because they seem to have the best deal on trips to the Seattle area.

If you book airfare, hotel and rental car all together you can get extra "package" discounts as well.

Hotels, Motels and Bed & Breakfasts

Recommended B&B:

Wallace Falls Lodge

Would you like to stay at a REAL log home bed & breakfast, built and owned by members of the Log Home Builders Association? We recommend the Wallace Falls Lodge in Goldbar, Washington (about 20 minutes away from our class location). Visit the Wallace Falls Lodge website.

Another Recommended B&B:

Gaylord House B&B

If you would be interested in staying at a local bed and breakfast, we can wholeheartedly recommend Gaylord House. You can read a review of Gaylord House B&B by one of our members. Contact information is in the review, and also in our list of local bed & breakfasts below. If you call the Gaylord House, ask for the Log Home Builders Association special -- they offer our members three nights for the price of two, which is a terrific bargain. You can fly in for class on Friday and stay till Monday morning, and only pay for two nights!

 

Recommended HOTEL: The Best Western in Monroe, Washington, is very close to our ranch (about 5 miles away). It is also convenient to "downtown" Monroe with lots of shopping centers, food, etc. Here is their contact information:
Best Western Monroe Inn
19233 Highway 2, Monroe, Washington, 98272
Phone: (360)794-3111

The Best Western offers our members a discounted rate. Call the above phone number to book and ask for the Log Home Builders Association discount. If you have any trouble, ask to speak with the manager. The discount for our members is their "Corporate Rate" discount, which they usually do not allow on weekends -- however they offer our members the corporate rate whenever there is a class, including weekends.

You can also read a review of the Monroe Best Western (written by one of our students) at Epinions.com.

Recommended HOTEL: GuestHouse Inn & Suites in Monroe is another good option with an indoor pool and Internet connections available. This hotel is in the same shopping area as the Best Western, about 5 miles from our ranch.

GuestHouse Inn & Suites
19103 Highway 2
Monroe, WA 98272
Phone: (360) 863-1900

The GuestHouse offers our members a discounted rate. Call the above phone number to book and ask for the Log Home Builders Association discount. If you have any trouble, ask to speak with the manager.

If you are looking for something a little less expensive you might want to check the Monroe Motel. They usually charge around $45 per night for a single room. Here is there contact information:

Monroe Motel
20310 Old Owen Rd
Monroe, WA 98272-9751
Phone: (360) 794-6751

Our students have told us that the Fairground Inn in Monroe is not acceptable and we recommend avoiding them. However if you can't find other accommodations you can give them a try. Their rates vary by room size, but the smaller rooms go for about $50 per night for one person, with a $5 charge for each additional person.

Fairground Inn
18950 State Route 2
Monroe, WA 98272
Phone: (360) 794-5401

For something a little more intimate, you might want to try a Bed & Breakfast. Their rates are usually a little higher than the standard business hotel but they usually have a much more cozy atmosphere.

Wallace Falls Lodge (a real butt-and-pass log home bed & breakfast, built by members of the Association)
Goldbar, WA
Phone: (360) 793-8784 (Please do not call after 9pm or before 8am Pacific Time)
Website: Wallace Falls Lodge

Gaylord House (read a review of Gaylord House B&B by one of our members)
Ask for the LHBA discount -- three nights for the price of two
3301 Grand Avenue
Everett, WA
Phone: (425) 339-9153
Toll-Free (888) 507-7177
Website: Gaylord House

Two Shoes Inn
124 Ave. D
Snohomish, WA 98290
Phone: 866-896-7463
Website: Two Shoes Inn

Countryman Bed & Breakfast
119 Cedar Ave
Snohomish, WA
Phone: (360) 568-9622
Website: Countryman Inn

Pillows & Platters Bed & Breakfast
502 Avenue C
Snohomish, WA 98290
Phone (360) 862-8944
Toll-Free (800) 214-1305
Website: Pillows and Platters

Harbor Hill Inn Bed & Breakfast
Everett, WA
Phone: (425) 269-3925
Toll-Free: (888) 572-3925

If the above accomodations are booked during your class, you may need to go out a little further. These should all be 15-30 minutes from the class location (by car).

Comfort Inn & Suites
1414 228th St. SE
Bothell, Washington
Phone: (425) 402-0900

Residence Inn by Marriot Bothell
11920 NE 195th St.
Bothell, WA
Phone: (425) 485-3030

SpringHill Suites by Marriott Bothell
3850 Monte Villa Parkway
Bothell, WA 98021 USA
Phone: (425) 398-9700

Comfort Inn & Suites
101 128th St. SE Building B
Everett, Washington
Phone: (425) 609-4550

Seatac Rental Cars

At the Seatac airport there are five rental car companies that have a desk at the airport and on-location cars. The next four offer on-site counter but you take a bus to their lot to retrieve your car. And there are a few more near the airport that do not have a desk at the airport (but will probably have the best rate).

On-site counter and cars
Alamo: (206) 431-7588, 1-800-462-5266
Avis: 1-800-331-1212
Budget: 1-800-435-1880
Hertz: 1-800-654-3131
National: 1-800-328-4567
On-site counter, off-site cars
Advantage: 1-800-777-5500, (206) 824-0161
Dollar: (206) 433-5825
Enterprise: (206) 248-9013
Thrifty: (206) 246-7566
Off-site counter and cars
Ace Extra Car Rentals: (206) 248-3452
Century/Rent Rite: (206) 246-5039
U Save: (206) 242-9778
Payless Car Rental: (206) 241-5756

Airfare

With the Internet it's pretty easy to find good travel bargains, but we thought we'd list out a few tips in case you haven't heard of these options.

JetBlue
JetBlue is a new passenger airplane company that only sells their tickets on the Internet at their website. They usually have outstanding fares. Unfortunately, the only flights to Seattle on JetBlue are from JFK in New York City. However the rate is very good (as of this writing, $99 each way) so it might be worth driving to JFK if you are in the New York area.

Southwest Airlines
Anywhere that Southwest flies always has much lower airfares. As far as we know they do not currently fly out of New York City, but they do fly out of several nearby airports, such as Hartford, Albany, Providence, etc. We strongly recommend checking their web site to see if there are any airports near you that are serviced by them. It might be worth the extra hassle of driving to a slightly farther-away airport to save a couple hundred bucks.

Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines has excellent, inexpensive service to Seattle from all around the West Coast. We recommend checking their web site for the latest fares.

United Airlines
United Airlines usually offers some "Internet Only" deals on their web site. As of this writing they are offering a roundtrip from Denver for $176 per person. Those deals don't usually last long, so when you see a good rate on the web site you need to jump on it.

Travel Sites

After you've combed the above airlines for the best rates, compare them to rates you find on Travelocity ,Expedia, CheapTickets, Orbitz, TravelZoo and Priceline. If you still haven't gotten the fare you want, call your local travel agent and ask them to find the lowest fare for you. Be sure and tell them that you want them to check prices with their consolidators (companies that specialize in bulk discount tickets).

You might also try SideStep, an outboard software program that searches multiple sources on the Internet at once and compares them for you. We've heard good things from our members about it, so it might be worth a try.