Thanks! I booked the Olympic Club, but I might switch... it's pretty expensive and parking is absurd at $70/night (and I'm from the Bay Area!)
I'm bummed about the Arctic Club, it was such a cool hotel and seemed fitting for point of departure for the Olympic Peninsula... I passed over the Mayflower because it looked more 1997 than 1927, but I might reconsider because the Fairmont's way overpriced. Unfortunately, we'll have a car - I'm renting from SeaTac when we arrive on 10/19 because we're crossing the Bainbridge ferry early morning on 10/20.
We're planning to make a lot of stops along the way - the whiskey distillery in Bainbridge and the seafood place in Squamash for smoked salmon, fresh oysters, cooked Dungeness and other good stuff to pack into our cabin... there's a country store somewhere under the rain shadow where we could prob stock up on other supplies. There's also supposed to be a microwave in our cabin, and I want to try to avoid the monopoly concessionaire monsters in the forest by picking up whatever good fresh produce, eggs, bacon, coffee, snacks - anything to not contribute to the coffers of slumlord corporations exploiting prison labor & poor children in Chicago public schools with countless labor violations!
Plus we're gonna try to drive up to Hurricane Ridge and explore a bit of Port Angeles and maybe drive along the Elwha River to Madison Creek Falls... it looks like the days are short and the two morning ferries (9:35, 10:40) are quite popular and fill up, so we're hoping to get a head start. Renting at the airport was easiest and cost offset somewhat by not dealing with taxis.
Anyhow, I'm looking forward to the ONP rainy season... I just bought a pair of full grain leather hiking boots that I hope will hold up to the elements!
We're spending 3 nights in one of the Roosevelt cabins at Lake Crescent, 3 more nights in the lodge at Lake Quinault, then flying out of PDX. Plus lots of stops between, incl. all around the Oregon side of the Columbia River Gorge. I've been wanting to do this forever.