Sleeping Lady Resort finishing remodels, expansions
Posted on 05. Mar, 2010 by admin in News
$1.75 million project nearly complete
by Yvette Davis
Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort in Leavenworth will finish a year-long $1.75-million renovation in April that will add seating, upgraded guest rooms and expanded on-site spa services. The resort also added a family hospitality room and launched a new Web site. The changes coincide with a shift in the resort’s marketing strategy and new Amtrak train service to Leavenworth.
The remodel began in April 2009 at the Kingfisher Dining Lodge with the addition of a new demonstration-style kitchen with a wood stone hearth oven and a new La Cornue range. A new serpentine copper servery line splits the former single buffet into hot foods, salads, and desserts, allowing for less congestion at meal times. The lodge also now serves spirits in addition to wine and beer, and has added a free-standing wine bar. While the work didn’t add any square footage to the lodge, it did add 12 more seats. Executive chef Ken MacDonald’s focus is on serving local cuisine.
Nearby at the Grotto, a heated flagstone patio with a water feature added 35 more seats, and year-round comfort for guests willing to brave the cold. The heated stones shed the snow and a fire pit keeps guests warm, ensuring winter use.
The resort revamped its 58 guest rooms, replacing mattresses for the 162 beds and updating paint, artwork, linens and lighting.
Sleeping Lady has also formed a new partnership with Solstice Spa & Suites of Leavenworth to provide expanded spa services. With a small remodel to the sauna building located near the pool and fitness room, the resort now has double the capacity and can offer couple’s massage and spa treatments. The resort previously offered massage but has added facials and body treatments through this new arrangement. Reservations for services are available through Sleeping Lady’s front desk and start at $90 for a 60-minute massage and $95 for a 60-minute facial. Solstice Spa & Suites is owned by Julie Hamstreet and Tambra Zimmermann.
The last construction project is a new year-round family hospitality room called The Barn, which will be completed in April. The room will offer games, an indoor toddler play area and small stage (for budding thespians) and provide a respite from the summer heat.
Lori Vandenbrink, director of sales and marketing for Sleeping Lady, said the resort’s focus for many years has been geared towards attracting large business groups. About 70 percent of its business has come from that sector, Vandenbrink said, but in recent years the company has seen business groups cutting back on travel due to the economy. These days the retreat is re-focusing its marketing efforts toward leisure travelers and families, many of whom can now choose to travel here by train, thanks to the new Leavenworth Amtrak station that opened last fall. Sleeping Lady provides shuttle transportation for guests that take the train, and offers a “Ride the Rails Package” on the Web site for train travelers. Vandenbrink said the rail travel option works well the company’s mission of promoting eco-friendly travel options.
Harriet Bullitt, owner of Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort. Courtesy photo.
Lastly, the company created a new Web site that allows people to make overnight reservations online. Eventually, the resort will sell gift cards and make dining room reservations online as well, Vandenbrink said. But no other major changes were planned for the resort this year.
“We will take a year off now and enjoy the all the new features,” Vandenbrink said.
Harriet Bullitt purchased the 67-acre property in 1991 and redeveloped it into a mountain retreat. Prior to that, the site had been used as a base by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s, as a dude ranch and as a Camp for the Catholic Youth Organization. Bullitt opened Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort in 1995. A portion of Sleeping Lady’s profits benefit the Icicle Fund which supports the environment, arts and the history of the Wenatchee River watershed and neighboring landscapes.
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