The Somm brings big change to Woodinville in the form of a big hotel, fancy spa, and rooftop bar.
Of course Woodinville’s newest high-end hotel is wine-themed; it's not like a new joint in this town would be a Circus Circus or backpacker hostel. Wine themes can get tired easily—think “wine mom” vibes or just too much maroon and burgundy. But the Somm Hotel and Spa—yes, short for sommelier, a.k.a. a certified wine expert—finds a path through the obvious (wine barrel decor!) to a promising beyond.
As the number of local wineries, distilleries, and cideries in Woodinville has ballooned past 100, it has become less of a remote industrial center for winemaking and more of a tasting room destination. More overnight accommodations feel inevitable.
The Somm dares to ask the question “What would Sasquatch drink?”
It could be hard for visitors to believe that Woodinville was once a rural farm town, given that the sizable hotel is flanked by new-construction condos and a soon-to-open outdoor mall called Harvest. Later in 2026, it will add even more tasting rooms, restaurants, and high-end shops. From the middle of the shiny new construction, Woodinville starts to feel a lot more like Bellevue than Walla Walla.
For Out-of-Towners
Opened in late September, the 164-room Somm is almost twice the size of nearby Willows Lodge, the only other significant vacation hotel in Woodinville. Piles of wine barrels decorate the entryway, leading guests toward the tasting rooms, walking distance, just beyond.
Woodland murals in each room play into the whimsy.
The project gained Marriott Autograph Collection branding partway through its development, but still manages noncorporate vibes. Rooms are almost aggressively whimsical; there's the sconce shaped like a fist holding a wine glass in the bathroom and a wood map of local wineries next to the toilet. The hallway carpets resemble the round red stains a wine glass leaves on a white tablecloth.
But where the Somm fails to capture the area's rustic past, it delivers on big views and a sophisticated spa. Staff will deliver a Peleton bike to a guest room for private workouts. Chateau Ste. Michelle is visible from the rooftop bar (and within listening distance during summer concerts, one assumes). Speaking of which, the Shed, as the bar is called, was built with retractable screens to keep it open year-round.
There's a splash of both cheesy (like the mascot, Sasquatch holding a wine glass, who appears in giant silhouette in the lobby) and charming (like the toadstool sculptures in the hallway). As a whole, the hotel manages to be memorable in mostly good ways, though my parting impression was mostly of the $31 it cost to self-park in the garage overnight. This is not the Woodinville of old.
The Shed, the hotel's rooftop bar, was constructed with year-round operations in mind.
For In-Towners
I'll admit it: the Somm's signature wine-blending activity charmed even me, a cynical writer averse to manufactured, capitol-E Experiences. The class is free for hotel guests and $89 per person otherwise, and led by a sommelier-in-training (our personable guide has passed his first level and is working on his blind taste test).
Wine blending, free for hotel guests, takes place in rooms off the lobby.
Seats in the dedicated blending area are set up like lab benches, the few wine glasses dwarfed by beakers and graduated cylinders. We tasted four simple Washington-grown house red wines—merlot, malbec, cabernet sauvignon, and Syrah—noted what we liked. (I wrote “mellow” twice, so what do I know.) Then we were let loose to combine them however we pleased, advised to do so in an orderly way using the measuring equipment. I sipped, I spilled, I had mostly good flashbacks to chemistry lab.
After recording which percentages worked best, we poured our final blends into a bottle that was corked and topped with wax. I have not yet served my personal blend and am not quitting my day job to become a winemaker, but the activity was a good balance of conversation (what are you trying?) and more interactive than a simple tasting. Will wine blending replace those make-your-own-perfume classes that always pop up in bachelorette parties? I vote yes.
Chef Maximillian Petty leads Bin 47 restaurant.
Then there's the most exciting aspect of the Somm for Seattleites: the restaurant, Bin 47, from local chef Maximillian Petty. Seattle Met editor Naomi Tomky called his Eden Hill an “exciting upstart matured into a reliable standard” when its closing was announced in spring; he was nominated three times for James Beard Awards. Petty has plenty of room in Woodinville as executive chef—he also oversees the casual-dining Shed on the roof—and the menu is having as much fun as the hotel decor.
Maybe too much fun at times. We ordered the beef tartare with its truffle and aioli on the side (I'm the mushroom-hater) and found the pared-down version perfect; the egg drizzle, meat, and crisp brioche had my ideal texture blend. When we saw the full version delivered to other tables, drowning in thick sauce, we felt lucky.
But, mostly, Petty's fun works. Sure, there's a waygu tenderloin to match the dining room's polished but conventional wine-crate decor, but also a better hanger steak in a punchy red chile fish sauce. Gouda grits were topped with an almond sourdough mole I ended up scooping up by the spoonful.
Hotel views are of still-undeveloped parts of the Sammamish River Valley.
The Verdict
Given that everything in and around the Somm is brand-new, the whole complex can feel a little slick to anyone used to, say, Woodinville's shaggy warehouse district or Petty's brick-exterior Queen Anne restaurant. The high-end shops to come will likely feel like another step away from the region's agricultural roots. But new doesn't always mean bad, and the Somm has the foresight to add a lot of substance to its wine shtick.