We visited Fuurin-Oka on Bainbridge Island. It's just a thirty minute ferry ride from downtown Seattle to downtown Bainbridge and a quick 15 minute drive up the highway. It feels remote and exclusive, but it's welcoming and enjoyable.
Fuurin-Oka is a Japanese-style bed and breakfast, but the bed was actually a floor futon, complete with buckwheat pillows. The "Futon and Breakfast" featured a separate cabin, similar to that of our honeymoon B&B, The Markham House on Vancouver Island. It was a small cabin, comprised mostly of a main room with an adjoining sunroom, shower room and large vanity bathroom, and a kitchenette, and it was perfect.
The entire cabin smelled of fresh, clean, dry bamboo and sunlight, if sunlight could be smelled. The innkeepers were new to innkeeping, but the quality of the cabin and the creativity of the breakfasts belied their inexperience. The rooms were perfectly cleaned, and the innkeepers had even left us an anniversary card and two little mochi (rice dumplings with filling).
Since Josh is allergic to gluten, it's always a little scary to inquire of breakfast options that are sure to cause the innkeeper some small amount of inconvenience. Renee, the innkeeper, did a marvelous job, and her response to our dietary requests was a dream. "Your gluten-free needs will certainly be accommodated, " she emailed, and then she proceeded to explain which foods she would use and which ones she would avoid in order to keep the meal safe. AWESOME.
The futons were a little unusual, but Josh and I were comfortable with camping and floor sleeping, so that wasn't the hard part. I think the most difficult part of futon assembly was pressing the beds together and trying to keep them together. When I was folding up the futons the next day, I noticed that Josh's pillow had crept to the center of the bed (that's normal) but that there was a three-inch gap between our two futons. Hehe. Good thing we were so close to the floor. For the sleep-deprived spouses: It's a great way to sleep if you don't want to cuddle. Ahem.
Back to the actual futons. The bed set included a foam pad; which was about 4 1/2 inches thick, plenty plush enough to support us from the bamboo mat-lined floor; the actual futon, which was more like a cushion layer; a top quilt later; and plenty of sheets and blankets. The buckwheat and American style pillows were a bit flat for my taste, but we had brought along our foam contoured pillows, so that was an easy fix. We had to assemble them ourselves, so I would count it as "real camping," but they came together easily, so it was no inconvenience. I was so inspired by the futons, that I even struck up a conversation about switching to futons in our studio. Or not..see paragraph above.
The breakfasts are always something I anticipate when going to B&B's. This one definitely stole the show. At Fuurin-Oka, guests can choose from a Northwest themed breakfast, using ingredients procured locally and some even grown on their own property, including the chicken eggs. Guests can also choose a Japanese-style breakfast. Since we stayed two nights, we chose one of each.The Japanese breakfast was splendid and generous. It came with two different sushi rolls, two ball-shaped rice rolls, house-made miso soup, and fresh fruit. The rolls were tightly compressed, showing that Renee had practiced a good bit to get those right. I was really impressed, because if anyone has tried my sushi, then one knows that I struggle with getting the roll tight enough while maintaining a cylindrical shape. That breakfast set us up for a day of Bainbridge Island wandering, and we weren't even hungry for a while.
The next morning's breakfast was also just as generous and creative. Thick, gluten-free blueberry pancakes cascaded on their plates, and little egg cups with Canadian bacon and pesto provided the protein. Fresh, sweet kiwi fruit, fresh berries, and Greek style yogurt rounded out the full meal. There was so much food I didn't actually finish! There's a first for me!The final feature of the cabin that sealed the deal was the shower room. It was lined with cedar (we think) panels, which absorbed the shower's moisture and released a "just-rained" freshness. The soaking tub or "ofuro" was splendid. It was stone, large enough for two people, and sized perfectly. We filled the tub with hot water, enjoyed a night-soak, and then covered it with the foam lid and left it through the night. We started our morning with a warm soak in the tub again. Yep, sure did! It was a really great way to wake up, and it let us use the water more efficiently and sustainably.
I don't usually wax eloquent about places we stay, especially since I post so infrequently on our family blog. This one, however, merited some extra coverage. If you come to Washington and want to stay in a B&B that is far enough from the city to get some fresh air but not so far that you're driving for a while, then Bainbridge could be your spot, and this could be a great option for you.
If you go:
Fuurin-Oka
| 12580 Vista Drive Northeast Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 http://www.fuurin-oka.com/ |
