Member Spotlight:
Maitland Manor—A bed & breakfast for everyone By Iain Woessner
Maitland Manor embodies the best of the many wonderful elements that make the Evergreen State enchanting. Located right in the scenic city of Port Angeles, just up the hill from the waterfront, this Victorian-style bed and breakfast looks upon both the mountains and the sea, its historic aesthetic giving way to a modern interior decor. High-speed fiber optic internet and smart TV’s join a suite of modern comforts to ensure you truly have it all. “There is a bed and breakfast for everyone,” Sydney Rubin, co-owner of Maitland Manor along with her husband Alex, said. “We take the responsibility of making the stay special for all of our guests very seriously. We know that when you go on vacation and you are getting away, you’ve probably spent a fair amount of money … the littlest thing can change the trajectory of your trip and we wanted to take the responsibility that we are adding onto your travels and not detracting from them.” Comforts include full gourmet breakfasts served each morning at 8:30 a.m. The Manor boasts locally-sourced ingredients. Special arrangements can be made so that guests receive a packaged breakfast sandwich to take with them as they enjoy the sights and features of Port Angeles and the Olympic Peninsula. For the Rubins, the Manor embraces a shared love of hospitality that they’ve held for years. “We spent over 30 years in the broadcast industry as journalists and decided that we wanted to do something else -- we weren’t ready to retire,” Rubin said. “We wanted to get out of the TV industry and always had a love of entertaining 26 │ wahospitality.org
and cooking and we had talked over the years about having a bed and breakfast, so we just decided we were going to go after that dream.” This is a big new adventure for the Rubins, whose bed & breakfast has only been open just shy of a year, but they said they were fortunate not to have to go it alone. “We have to give a shout-out to the Washington Independent Inns network, which is the state organization for small lodging, boutique and bed and breakfasts … we actually joined their aspiring innkeepers program and we were paired up with three sets of mentors who really walked us through,” Rubin said. “A lot of it is still self-taught, but we felt we were prepared to open thanks to all the help we got.” The historic manor is well-situated in Port Angeles, and Marc Abshire, executive director of the Port Angeles Chamber of Commerce, said he was glad to see it in good hands. “We’re very pleased to see Sydney and Alex take on this important property in our community,” Abshire said. “Historically, it’s been in a key location in our town and to have them take that on and preserve it and use it for the enjoyment of all the visitors who come to our area is a positive.” Maitland Manor is open year-round. Its three rooms feature en suite private bathrooms, and its front door is secured by an electronic smart lock, providing state-of-the-art security while maintaining a charming vintage aesthetic. You can book ahead of time and request special accommodations, as well as check out beautiful photos of the location, at their website www.maitlandmanor.com.
