Lake Chelan- Day One

My kids have been waiting all year to come back to Lake Chelan!  We absolutely love it here!  There is only one thing we don't love.  And that is the prices the hotels charge.  For years, we stayed at a lake front hotel called the Caravel.  Well, the Caravel turned into Grandview by the Lake and with that name change, came a HUGE pay change.

Now, instead of paying in the high $100s a night, we are playing in the mid $300s which is super expensive for a small lake town vacation for three nights.  This year, we broke tradition and decided to try another hotel that was a bit more cost effective.  Lakeside Lodge and Suites (Best Western) is the name of the new hotel.  This of course, meant staying in a hotel that was not directly on the lake and didn't have private access to the lake.  The lake is a short three minute walk but it is situated at a city beach which is open to the public.

The hotel did have an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, but no water slide in the pool (like the Grandview).  One main perk of the hotel was the free continental breakfast.  It had a great selection and we all loved it!  So there it is in a nutshell.  A lot of differences but worth a try!   

We were put in an awesome room on third floor which gave us a great view of the lake.  It was beautiful, but nothing can beat the view of the lake from the Grandview.  The kids loved the pool and the lake was really fun to swim in because of the shoreline.  At the other hotel, you can only enter the lake from jumping off the dock or sliding down a slide which goes straight into the lake.  The kids enjoyed playing on the sand and being able to play in the lake rather than just swim in the lake.  We brought a picnic lunch, lots of snacks, and established a home base which was really cool considering how many of us were there!

In the late afternoon, my parents, sisters, Claire Fox, and I went to a cool winery called Tsillan Cellars.  The views were amazing and it was nice to enjoy my family and be without the kids for a few hours.  

We enjoyed watching the sunset from the beach, at a delicious dinner poolside, and all of us truly relaxed and enjoyed our time in this beautiful city.  We have had a great first day here and can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us!