From the first week Anderson school opened (2015 if I recall correctly) me and my family where there in attendance. With passports in my little girls hands visited the secret room in Bend,OR which they loved to coast to play golf Gearhart was so close to becoming a cosmic tipster just prior to COVID. Loving close by me and my two daughters watched movies their many times and making memories I think even a 5 year wouldn't forget. The tripster ride came to an end for me but am proud to say I tought my daughter how to swim in their pool. It felt like or I think I may have been one of the few guests still going to the pool as i noticed the UV lighting and cuts I the roof of the pool knowing that the UV lighting keeps things sanitary and if strong enough kills viruses, probably not COVID but turned out the risks were were it. I say all this because this structural engineering office manager and father suffered a divorced during those troubling times which caused me to move down to LA LA land (SoCal) and hadn't been back to Anderson. School since the outbreak. I was visiting my aunt for east brunch which I invited her too and going through a sad but happily I used McMenimens hotels for visiting clients and sites in Oregon which tallied up a couple free nights stay. In need of a serious break and visiting relatives back home in the PNW was looking forward to some resolution and close on my 20 year marriage with children in a house we sold in Olympics hills not too far aways.... Well I expected or thought it would be healing as the employees have always been awesome and more friends than wait staff..... That is untill a kid or guy...not sure what to call him but went by the name "Kent" ruined it such that I was going to report fraud as he gave me a shitty bitter attitude over using the points I earned and just a sour melon. I shrugged it off. Next day the same, shirt asshole comments and not the time of day. Shrugged it off and within a half hour of checking out I get fraud alerts from my bank for $200 which locked up my account and messed up me paying for lunch with a client. I quickly moved and secured my money but then the bank put a 1-3 day hold on it. Frustrated I still let it go since he didn't get the money and here the fraudulent behavior, I did receive one call before he tried to start pulling money. NOW! Here's why I am giving my once favorite place and kids favorite place a 3 star given the truly unprofessional and things he's smart talking to a guy with a masters in structural engineering and has idea... Was the young man that worked the night shift. In all honestly he saved possibly calling the police with the fraud as without a call I come to see Kent presume try to charge multiple cards in hand every few hours. I believe the night crew gentlemen was named right. I knew and bumped into him because in bought some cigars from the gift shop and would walk out to the smokers area in the middle of the nice to smoke one. Now cigars can be messy and stink which I never did here from that guys Kent which should never be client facing in my book but when I called Ryan (night crew guy) picked up and he wasn't sirr but heard that Kent assumed I was smoking in the room. So without asking his own staff, giving me a call he locked up my accounts as I was meeting a client of a company which owns most all cell towers in the US and may revenue what I guess and almost invited $20k in during Covid's and would have if the divorce went in motion ...hmmm $180k - $200k in revenue which is alot more than my firm... Anyways, my last name is Grant and I apologize this Kent and king of all that is not customer service took all those years and memories and pissed in them and did so with a bad attitude. I hope someone up the chain reads this and I will have to say, absolutely impressed with the night crew guy Ryan as he talked me down off a ledge and with logic as he saw me walking and out and chatted with him once over the few days, should be in Kent's position if your were going to ask me. That kids smart, open minded and for working night crew which I didn't years in college, has a great attitude. Thanks Ryan! Kent, give me that stank look while silent running all my cards without so much as a word of concern again...and apologize for my French but will knock your dick in the dirt kids. Luckily I was able to have a colleague help me last minute for me meeting downtown. And love you Mcminamin brothers, will always be in support of the family friend magic you guys prisoner to make. James E Grant, PE read more

My husband and I planned our 11years old birthday party there for Jan. We made reservations for a lunch in the Lagoon, Swimming in the pool and then finish with a movie for all of the girls. Our lunch in the Lagoon was terrific we had a private room that was perfect for (10) 11 year olds. The menu was spot on and the price was very reasonable. The staff was great as was the service and atmosphere. Now onto the poor pool experience. We were scheduled to use the pool at the 1pm session. Around 12:30 a person from the pool came up to let us know that there was lot of "fog" in the pool area and that is might be later than 1 before we could enter the pool. I wasn't sure what they meant by fog but we could see down into the pool area from our private room in the lagoon and could see fog around the pool area. We were still finishing up with desert and then went downstairs. We arrived there and were informed that the "fog" still was to deep in the pool and for safety reasons they could not have people in the pool. Being a parent I could understand this but was unclear how an indoor pool could have "fog" in it. It was explained to us that the pool area has a opening in the roof which was an additional to this during the design phase of this property. Not sure why someone would make an opening in a pool that was already an indoor pool in Seattle when we get probably three months of great weather here but that's their issue. We then waited for another hour for the fog to leave. After waiting with 10 girls for the party for an hour and a half we decided to try an find a space on the property to wait for the pool to open or wait for our movie which was starting at 2:45. My husband located a room near the theater and came back to get our group to use that room. It was raining and there are not a lot of indoor areas other than the pool area or restaurants on the property if the weather is bad. Once we all relocated over there they were now setting up that room for an event and we were told we couldn't use that space. We then headed back to the hotel lobby area where there was a nice fireplace and we waited there for the movie to start seating. We finally arrived at the movie theater which is a very nice venue. We got our group all together and seated and went out to purchase treats for the girls. While waiting in line one of the other guests asked us if we were the ones who bought the group of girls to watch the movie. We said yes and then she informed us that she hoped that they wouldn't be screaming because she and her husband came to watch a movie in a quiet theater. By this point I was over the top because of the entire pool issue and our daughter was very disappointed that her birthday party was turning into a real bummer. I replied that this is a hotel with a lot of amenities for families and that our girls were 11 and that they wouldn't be screaming during the movie. My husband then stayed with the girls until the movie ended all the girls were well behaved so I hope the women who had to make her nasty comment was satisfied that she could watch her movie without an issue. The pool was now open so my husband and about four of the girls that were still left with us were able to enjoy it. They were nice and only charged us for 2 of the girls rather than four. I would like to suggest to the management that they put some type of notice on their website about the pool issue or at the very least when we booked the party let us know that this was a possibility so that we could have a plan "b". There were at least 10-15 other families that were waiting with us to us this pool and not many of them left happy. Also let people know that they don't provide "towels" for other than hotel guests in the pool. We had several girls in our group that didn't bring them and we again were not informed about that. The assistant manager said she would bring us some if the pool opened. She didn't offer it I had to suggest it. The girls did have a good time in the end but a party that was from 11:30-5:30 ended up going until almost 7:30. read more

When it comes to McMenamins, you either "get it" or you don't. My wife and I have been visiting the McMenamins properties in Oregon for years. The whole point is to spend hours or even days immersing yourself in the art, the culture and relaxing with friends. McMenamins is one of the only places we have visited where complete strangers can become friends within minutes of meeting one another. It happens to us every single time we visit. If you show up to one of these properties on the weekend (especially on opening weekend as we did at Anderson School) and expect rapid service so you can get in and out in a jiffy, you will be disappointed. If that's what you're looking for, look anywhere else on the east side. You'll find TONS of businesses willing to accommodate your busy schedule. If however, you are looking for a one-of-a-kind experience surrounded by incredible art, local history, fantastic food, libations and friendly people, this is your place. Every part of Anderson School has it's own unique feel. If you're looking to party, play pool and watch the Seahawks, head to the Woodshop. If you want a taste of the tropical, the North Shore Lagoon has you covered. If you're just looking to chill and talk with friends, The Shed, The Principals Office or any of the many fire pits will be perfect. You can even watch a live concert or take in a movie while there. The Anderson School staff were an absolute pleasure. My wife and I visited for three days during opening weekend and made friends with many of them while there. Opening weekend was incredibly crowded and I know it was stressful for all of the staff. We personally witnessed multiple occasions where patrons chewed out staff members because they were told it would be a 30 minute wait for food, but 35 minutes had already passed. Each time something like this happened, the staff were kind, courteous, remained composed and proved themselves classy and professional. We were very impressed. Visit Anderson School if... - You love art, local history, & music - You enjoy meeting new & friendly people - You love beer, wine, or spirits - You are not in a hurry - You are looking for something unique - You appreciate attention to detail - You enjoy life and are determined to have a great time Don't Visit Anderson School if... - You are in a big hurry. Speed and efficiency mean everything in your incredibly hectic life. You will make time to relax when you're dead. Maybe. - You are not a social person and don't enjoy crowds - You don't really appreciate art or eclectic decorating - You generally don't like being around alcohol - Friendly people kinda freak you out - Your time is far too valuable to be spent standing in lines or having to wait for anything. In fact, people should be paying you to stand in lines. - Your head explodes and people might get hurt when your food arrives 5 minutes later than you were promised during opening weekend at a massively popular and very crowded venue. read more

I always want to stay positive and I am only giving this three stars in hopes that someone sees it and takes in to consideration a few things that would be helpful. For their business sake. we went to the pool, on a Sunday evening. It wasn't really busy at all, maybe 10 people in the pool. But we took two 15 yer old girls and two 10 year old girls. Two moms, four kids. We thought that the girls could have fun for an hour and then we could all eat. While they were swimming we could go have an appetizer. Nope. We were promptly stopped by the guy at the desk who informed us that anyone under 18 has to be accompanied by an adult. Ok, we under stood that, even though the pool is 4 feet at the deepest and there were lifeguards present. While the girls went to get changed we went to check out the upstairs (we had not been there yet). Not even five minutes later the guy at the counter came looking for us to go back downstairs, like we were going to sneak and stay up there ( a little embarrassing). So we go back downstairs to watch the kids in the pool and there are no chairs, benches... nothing. Nothing but aggregate, wet concrete. When we asked about chairs our ever friendly guy at the desk told us we could bring our own chairs. Ummmmm? We let the girls swim for about 30 minutes and then decided it was time to stop standing and time to go eat. Our guy, menusin hand asked if we were ready to be seated and we politely declined and went across the street to the Ranch Drive In. I'm not going to tell McMenamins how to run their business but I am going to make a couple suggestions. 1. Maybe put in a pager system for the parents at the pool. I understand liability, but if parents only want to go upstairs maybe give them a flashing pager in case something goes awry. there are lifeguards and seriously, if a 5'8" teenager is going to drown in a 4ft pool, I would be surprised. 2. If you don't want to or can't have that flexibility, then put in some benches. Or bistro tables. They would fit. Then you can place a server for the pool area for adults. Trust me, we were starving and we would have placed an order (money for the restaurant, we would have stayed longer, server would have made tip money). I am certain that adults watching their kids swim would take that relaxing time to catch up and enjoy the food and non-alcoholic beverage (since we are driving them home). Honestly, just a place to sit or set our handbags down that isn't going to ruin the leather. Please. 3. Had we been treated with a little kindness and explanation we totally would have stayed for dinner. Especially if we had the opportunity to pre-order some food for hungry kids so it was ready when they got out of the pool. So, like I said, I am not trying to be negative. It is a great idea and addition to the Bothell community. Maybe it is still a work in progress, I don't know. But we haven't been back and probably won't be until we know we aren't tethered to kids with no place to sit and enjoy ourselves as well. read more

Ok, so it's week 2 and understandably there are some kinks to work out. We started at the Shed for a cocktail. The problem we encountered is they have no bussers so all the patrons were busing their own tables. After about 20 minutes a waitress showed up, took our order and then came back to tell us they were out of apple cider so we needed to pick another drink, which was a bummer. We ordered a couple Hammerheads - one arrived, one didn't. In the meantime, we received a text stating our table was available. We closed our tab at the Shed, and paid for 2 beers, even though we only received one. The waitress wouldn't take it off the bill, and said to come back by after we ate and she would get it for us. At that point we were waiting so long for service at every turn, we just brushed it off as a penalty for being here on week 2. So off we went to Tavern on the Square where we sat for 30 minutes before we had the first sighting of our waiter. At that point we wanted to find out if the apple cider was really out and ordered the drink we were recommended over at the Shed - surprisingly, (or unsurprisingly) they did have the missing ingredient (apple cider) - so we got to try the Apple Pie drink - it is, in fact quite tasty. We opted out of ordering food because it was clear it would have taken at least an hour and a half to receive - just not an option at that point. I'm sure service will get tighter and crowds will die down - but there is a lot to work on at this point. Side note, parking is a beast so pack your patience. read more

If I could give a 0 star I would! If you're a woman or not white then you just want get service. Our waiter was rude, non attentive and obvious had a problem with one of our friends. He coped an attitude as soon as our Asian tattooed friend showed up didn't let him sit down before asking for I.D. and cut him off after 2 COORS LIGHTS!! and 2 shots, making a scene and continuing to try to say our friend is drunk and getting mad???? Me, as a female and the other two women couldn't get his attention to save our lives!! I didn't even get all my drinks! I was tired of waiting for them, they weren't even alcohol drinks. To make matters worse I had my husband find a manager and the lady wasn't paying much attention to what I was saying and then cut me off asking me to wait there and that she was going to handle it. We waited and the next thing I know the waiter came out to try to apologize!! Which normally, would be great, but it wasn't an apology, he basically tried to say he wasn't in the wrong the WHOLE TIME, trying to say he was at the table every 5 minutes (which he wasn't) and that he wanted to get everyone home safe and then proceeded to tell me he knew why he was "being rude toward our friend", cryptic and didn't give me much hope. He hated our friend so much he had the manager tell "The Woodshop" not to serve him!! He wasn't drunk! Never going back again! read more

gave it another try and now it is officially OFF the list! The Woodshop doesn't understand that they cannot seat everyone that comes in the door....if they cannot support the service. Seated outside where the service was lackluster at best. First round and one appetizer was about all that went well. When dinner was delivered and the staff asked "is there anything else I can get for you?" he wasn't really asking.....more of words he is required to say when leaving a table. We never got the second round of drinks nor the sauces we asked for. When we tried to get the attention of another staff member, they simply picked up the pace past our table and tried not to make eye contact. WE KNOW YOU HEARD US!!! RUDE!! Our guest seemed shocked, but I share that this is just the level of customer service you can expect from McMenamins....it is what it is. Not willing to give up, we went for a nightcap at the Lagoon. Drinks do not match the pictures. Staff was overwhelmed and it was a L-O-N-G time between order and delivery. There are so many great places in Bothell that are willing to take your money in exchange for ACTUAL customer service. You are better off anywhere else. read more

Came here for first time on the 28th. Went to the tavern and avoided the wait by sitting at the bar. Bartender promptly told us would be a 45 min wait for food. Okay. Food came and wasn't very good and cold. basically service was great. Enjoyed the beer/booze selection. The property is great. However the food is mediocre based on the one experience. I think Denny's would do a better job at breakfast than what I had and I would never go to Denny's - I hope as they work out he growing pains with this location they address food quality. I would try it again just to give a chance but otherwise without okay good quality all this is just a big place to drink which might be nice if you live close but not worth a trip in otherwise. Updating with a lower review - little 2 seater tables in the lagoon bar ( in the actual bar) are these seat yourself? Like any other place in America - I don't know let me check? No they are not. Great let's wait to sit in a gloomy spot that other than has a pool by it feels nothing like a tropical hangout. Short of drinking beer outside I wouldn't bother coming here. read more

I've been here a handful of times and it is hit or miss. I'm giving it four stars for a few reasons: 1) Great atmosphere and love the fire pits outside. Reminds me of camping. 2) Tater tots are delicious at Woodshop 3) Generally friendly service most of the time, including Tavern On the Square. 4) Minus a star for the wait time. A few times the food took forever to come out. I keep thinking that they are just trying to get their rhythm going since it had just opened. I've also been on good days when the wait time was reasonable. Honestly, I'm not going here for the food. If that were the case, then I'd be visiting a foodie restaurant in Seattle instead. Rather, I'm here for the overall ambience and selection of bar to restaurant options in one place. They also have shuffle board and have done a great job on bringing the school back to life. Come on, the Principal's office is a bar :) read more