A Hotel on This Beautiful Island in Washington Just Reopened With Waterfront Views and a Restaurant Worth Booking For

The Inn at Langley

• Passage is an intimate 28-seat restaurant where chef-owner Johnny Spero, formerly of Washington, D.C.'s Michelin-starred Reverie, serves a hyper-local tasting menu.

• Whales frequently pass through Saratoga Passage in front of the hotel, and staff alert guests with a text message and the ringing of the property's whale bell.

• Langley's historic downtown is steps from the hotel's front door, with charming shops and a classic 1930s movie theatre.

To the tune of softly lapping waves, The Inn at Langley revealed its cards slowly in the way quiet luxury tends to do. It started at check-in, when I realized what appeared to be a two-level hotel is in fact a four-story architectural beacon cascading down a bluff to the seawall below.

The hotel dates back to the 1900s, when the original Howard Hotel was built on this plot. After shuttering some five decades later, the land was largely vacant until the former mayor of Seattle, Paul Schell, and his wife, Pam, built their dream hotel from the ground up. The Inn at Langley opened in 1989, becoming a cherished getaway for guests craving a blend of island time and all-American charm, only about an hour away from Seattle. Then in 2025, the Inn was sold to L.A.-based boutique hotel operator Akin Hospitality, which renovated it. Wrapped in wooden shingles and surrounded by evergreens, indigenous plants, and sea-rich air, this Whidbey Island property reopened in July.

Walking to my guestroom, metal key in hand (no cards here), I caught the aroma of fresh herbs sizzling in butter. It was from the kitchen window of Passage , the Inn's new restaurant, where executive chef-owner Johnny Spero cooks up multicourse tasting menus studded with coastal surprises, like the sweet wisps of fresh-caught Dungeness crab hidden beneath a bed of congee-style rice in one of his signature dishes.

"When you have ingredients that have been out of the water for less than 12 hours, less is more," says Spero, who moved to the area with his family from Washington, D.C., last year, where he helmed the Michelin-starred Reverie. Pulling crab traps with his three kids and the five-minute commute to work are perks of his newfound island life. At Passage, he works closely with island farmers, fishers, and foragers on his tasting menus, using heaps of local seafood, meat from Washington and Oregon, and herbs, berries, and apples from the Inn's own garden.

The sense of place extends well beyond the dining room. In the guest rooms, the tastefully redone interiors share the spotlight with expansive views of Saratoga Passage and the Cascade Mountains beyond, spilling through the floor-to-ceiling windows. New patio chairs are covered with plush cushions, but the wooden deck railing still has a soulful saltwater patina. It's the perfect place for whale-watching, although the two-person soaker tubs are a close second. "Last Tuesday we had grey whales right out front," says Meggan Lubach, the hotel's director of operations. "They feed here where it's shallow. We texted all the guests immediately, 'Whale out front!'" 

Below, my complete review of The Inn at Langley.

The Rooms

Each of the 28 guest rooms has waterfront views and has been completely refreshed by interior designer Cate Ellison Mills of  Ellison Mills Studio  (whose work includes New York City's Hotel Chelsea and Mercer Hotel). For more privacy, two two-story cottages are also available to book.

My guest room had a nature-inspired palette of olive-green tiles, white oak furnishings, and bouquets of fresh snapdragons, along with a real wood-burning fireplace and plush brown carpets. The bathroom, stocked with botanical toiletries by Sangre De Fruta, spanned the entire room's length and was redone in cream-hued tiles. (Be warned, though: Kayakers paddle by, so don't leave your window shade up.)

Instead of TVs, the rooms offer a curation of vintage books. The only item on my daily to-do list was remembering to fill out a room service card for the following morning's breakfast delivery. It is included for all guests and, although it can be enjoyed in the restaurant, I opted to have it al fresco on my patio.

Food and Drink

Breakfast is an elaborate spread of pork sausages, fresh apple juice, marionberry kouign-amann pastries, pots of yogurt with granola, and plump apricots that arrived on wooden trays in my room. It's a breakfast of champions, Whidbey-style, which could well satiate you until dinner, when attention shifts to Passage.

One evening, my husband and I waited with a few others in the garden, the air thick with lavender. At the stroke of 5:30 p.m., the restaurant's double doors unlocked dramatically, and we were treated to seven courses as Spero and his small team did what he describes as "this beautiful, chaotic dance all night." Every table got a personalized storytelling moment with each course.

The menu highlights slivers of geoduck enveloped in a creamy mussel emulsion, and Spero's signature Haenuki rice made with milled rice and Dungeness crab. "It's creamy and comforting, like a hug in a bowl," says Spero. If that's the hug, the goodnight kiss is dessert: a hazelnut-strawberry ice cream with candied pinecone and black trumpet mushrooms, followed by pâte de fruits infused with local saffron served on a rainbow-hued abalone shell.

Wine pairings are on point and include a crisp rosé from Whidbey's Dancing Fish Vineyards. (Non-alcoholic pairings are offered as well.)

Take note: If you secure an early reservation, you'll be perfectly timed to wrap up, unrushed, and catch a 7:30 p.m. show at the tiny Clyde Theatre in town, as we did. (The Inn gives out complimentary movie tickets).

The Spa

At the beach-level spa, the windows were left wide open during my 60-minute Salt Air Reset massage, making all-natural birdsong and waves the soundtrack of my treatment. The spa uses organic Eminence products for its facials, and offers add-ons like enzyme peels, CBD muscle relief, and 30-minute steam sessions in a room outfitted with a tiled, hammam-style lounger. 

My husband steamed while I got my massage, and afterward, we floated out in our slowed-down states to sip tea, eat salted caramels, and flip through the eye candy of Taschen's "Favorite Spas." The next day, inspired by two women swimming across the passage at dawn, we took an exhilaratingly frigid ocean dip under the big-eyed gaze of two sea lions. Nature's spa didn't disappoint either.

The hotel doesn't have a gym, but bikes and yoga mats are available.

Accessibility

The Inn at Langley has one ADA-compliant two-bedroom guest room. Passage restaurant is accessible as well.

How to Book

Nightly rates at The Inn at Langley start from $480. The hotel welcomes guests aged 12+.

Every T+L hotel review is written by an editor or reporter who has stayed at the property, and each hotel selected aligns with our core values .

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