Chamber Featured Member

The Earthbox crew on retreat – Contributed photo

Earthbox Inn & Spa is the San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce Featured Member of the Month

One quiet evening in Portland, OR, sometime after the birth of their second daughter, Laura Saccio and her family fantasized about finding a way to make a living without having to choose between raising children and having a career, something that would combine her Masters in International Management, her love for outdoor adventures and the outstanding customer service Laura provides with such ease, with enough time to see her daughters grow up. The idea of buying a small hotel somewhere in paradise was born and the hunt was on. In 2001, Laura found the cute B&B Friday’s Historic Inn and relocated to beautiful San Juan Island.

After several years of renovating, renaming the venue the Bird Rock Hotel and establishing it as one of the most sought after boutique accommodations on San Juan Island, Laura toured the terribly neglected and practically defunct Inn at Friday Harbor, a 72 room, 1960’s vintage motel in the heart of Friday Harbor. While the project looked huge compared to the quaint Bird Rock Hotel with its 15 rooms, Laura was tickled pink about the possibilities of another project, creating more jobs for Islanders, renovating and decorating the run-down place and providing comfortable, uncomplicated accommodations to visitors of San Juan Island. Laura and her family bought the motel in 2003.

Making good on her promise to create badly needed, year-round, full time jobs on the island, Laura hired long time islander Cindy Radden as the General Manager in 2003. The two women have been the face of the Earthbox Inn & Spa ever since. Laura and Cindy run the hotels like they run their families; with love, care and fun. They employ a core group of loyal staff, many of them having worked for the company for decades and others coming back year after year for the Summer season. The two women are applying their motto: “Maximize life so you’re living life fully and making it as fun as you can” not only to themselves, but also to their staff and guests, and it shows.

Over the years, Laura and Cindy renovated every room of the inn, added beautiful gardens, revamped the pool house and its patio and in 2007 added a full-service spa. To reflect the closeness to nature and the elements, and to give homage to its motor inn heritage, they renamed the place the Earthbox Inn & Spa.

Both the Bird Rock Hotel and the Earthbox Inn & Spa are labors of love and works in progress. Every Summer, Laura sets some money aside to renovate, update or add a cool feature to either places in the Winter, to continue her commitment to provide island visitors with exceptional customer service and two unique base camps for authentic island experiences.

The Earthbox Inn & Spa – 410 Spring Street, Friday Harbor, WA 98250, 360.378.4000

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