Wine tourism means more B&Bs in Walla Walla

Walla Walla's hot wine-tourism industry has also created a boom in high-end lodging, as many Seattle transplants and retirees have bought colonial-style homes and farmhouses to convert into upscale bed-and-breakfasts and cottages.

Recent B&B additions include the Fat Duck Inn, with its five-course wine dinners; Areus, with its yoga retreat and spa; and the Girasol Inn & Vineyard, with its breathtaking views of the Blue Mountains.

And lodging, food and relaxation aren't all they offer: Girasol guests next year will be allowed to help during harvest in the 8-acre vineyard if they want to get the "full wine experience."

About a dozen other innkeepers are rushing to get in on the high-end lodging act, after seeing how tourists are loading up their trunks with cases of wines that go for $45 a bottle. At least 15 new B&Bs have opened in Walla Walla this year alone, and several more are expected in coming months, local tourism officials said.

The most spectacular accommodation remains the Inn at Abeja, which opened in 2003.

A century-old farmstead east of town was converted into five private cottages with gardens and great views of the Blue Mountains, vineyards and wheat fields. It's the most sought-after place by tourists and also the kind of secluded, high-end lodging that many innkeepers aspire to create.

A host will greet guests with Abeja's signature cabernet served in a Riedel wine glass and also offer a personal wine tasting, sometimes with winemaker John Abbott, who makes some of the best cabernets in the state. The rooms range from $210 to $280 a night and are often booked months in advance.

Other lodging additions include 36 new rooms this summer at downtown's historic Marcus Whitman Hotel. And in the near future, Cayuse Vineyards will open a luxury boutique hotel with four to six suites on Main Street.

Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656 or tvinh@seattletimes.com