By David Rosen

Aside from area Bed and Breakfast spots like the Villa Heidelberg, West Seattle really has had only one option for short term accommodations for many years.
But that option, for many has been less than desirable. Finally, that's about to change and The Grove, West Seattle Inn at 3512 SW Alaska Street will be hosting their open house from 4:00 pm - 7:00 pm on Monday June 27 to show off their completely remodeled facility.

The changes made include:

o 46 newly renovated guestrooms and suites
o 100 percent non-smoking accommodations
o 32-inch flat-screen High-Definition TVs
o 300-thread count linens
o In-room coffee service, mini fridge, and hairdryers

and complimentary continental breakfast and free wi-fi in the lobby.

For many years the hotel was called the Mar-Lyn, and became a Travelodge for brief period, then was purchased and recrhristened the West Seattle Inn. It gained a poor reputation through mismanagement and the frequency of drug dealing and other criminal activity there.

The West Seattle Herald talked with Lynn Sweeney, owner.

“We purchased the property back in October and with the intent at the time of cleaning it up. Essentially, at the time we were keeping it open and operating as it was. We were sort of cleaning it up in phases but then when the S.W.A.T. incident that happened in March we just really felt like it made more sense to close it down, to be able to really just get in and do it quicker. The goal was to definitely to have it reopen by summer time so that we could take advantage of the high season here in West Seattle.

I’m 3rd or 4th generation, from West Seattle, been here for a long time, been business owners here for a long time, and this is sort of one of those places that you kind of, well some people were coming here, but a lot of us just drove by it without ever really knowing that it was here.

We decided it was a real opportunity to be able to clean it up and offer a place to stay because so many of us who live here, have lived here for a long time, you know there is never anywhere.

The B & B is in town but there hasn’t been the more full service guest lodging for anyone, we decided it was a good opportunity to bring that to the community.

We have 8 that are double-bedded rooms, we have 29 that are queen-bedded rooms and then there will be one double-queen room, there are 7 king rooms, and then we have one little family suite, which is basically a bunk room for younger kids and then that’s paired with a king room essentially.

There are 2 two-room suites where there is a separate living room and kitchenette and then a king bedroom and then there are 2 rooms which have kitchenettes in them and those are joining rooms.

So its really nice for example, with the summer season we're getting a lot of wedding group traffic, (...) We will have 33 units ready to be open July 1st or close to it, we can start selling rooms by then, and then the full remaining 46 will probably be over the course of the summer as the last 13 rooms get built out."

The pace of remodeling will slow once the hotel reopens to minimize disruption for guests.

The Grove's prices are:

Standard Queen $99.00
Standard 2-Bedroom $109.00
Suite with Kitchenette $139.00
Suite with Jacuzzi 169.00

To find out more information about The Grove, West Seattle Inn, please check them out at http://grovewestseattle.com or call (206) 937-9920 .

Other lodging options in West Seattle

In addition to the Grove, West Seattle does have a few places to stay for short periods including condos through Seattle Bed and Breakfast and these local bed and breakfast establishments:

Seattle Bed and Breakfast

Villa Heidelberg

Chittenden House

Wildwood Bed and Breakfast

Alki Sunshine Bed and Breakfast