Start Your E-Bike Excursion at the Charming Swantown Inn Bed and Breakfast in Olympia

Finding new ways for visitors and locals to actively explore the beautiful Olympia area is why the Swantown Inn offers e-bikes to rent at the historic and charming bed and breakfast. Innkeepers Nathan and Casey Allan are knowledgeable about area trails, restaurants, and local attractions for you to discover or re-discover on your e-bike excursion.

*Article by Nancy Krier, originally published on ThurstonTalk.com July 26, 2024

E-bikes have a battery that provides an “assist” to your pedaling, enabling you to ride longer distances with less effort, while keeping fit. Nathan recalls one guest returned to the inn with a big smile on her face after renting an e-bike for a half-day, telling him, “I just rode 39 miles, and I have never ridden that far in my life.”

E-bikes give you the ability to go farther without exhausting yourself,” explains Nathan. “Just up the assist.”

“They help you go,” adds Casey.

And that’s just one reason the charming inn is a wonderful place to start your local e-bike trek.

A historic bed and breakfast with purple and red flowers in the front yard and the sun shining directly overhead
he historic Swantown Inn in Olympia is a charming location to start your e-bike excursion. If you don’t bring your own e-bike when you stay, no worries. The bed and breakfast offers six e-bikes for rent to overnight guests and the public.
Credit: Swantown Inn

Swantown Inn Can Help Plan Your Olympia Area Jaunt When Renting E-Bikes

Swantown Inn offers six e-bikes for rent for both overnight guests and the public. Given the limited fleet, reservations are required. Rentals are $25 per hour, $40 for a half day of four hours, or $90 for a full day of eight hours. Overnight guests are offered a 20% discount on e-bike rentals. The inn will give a $10 credit toward your next rental If you take photos and post them and the inn’s hashtag publicly on social media.

Nathan and Casey will onboard you with instructions and safety tips on using their Rad Power Bikes, plus provide a helmet and lock. They also will help you plan your biking itinerary. They recommend using guides such as the Thurston Regional Planning Bicycle Map. They say popular routes from the inn lead to the Karen Fraser Woodland Trail and Chehalis Western Trail, as well as to points around town. And check out this page to find out more details about e-biking in Thurston County. Nathan and Casey also have lots of suggestions for places to see and where to eat while e-biking or visiting the area.

The innkeepers at the Swantown Inn Bed and Breakfast pose at their check-in counter for a photo.
Innkeepers Casey (left) and Nathan (right) Allan invite e-bike riders and other visitors to stay at their Swantown Inn. The bed and breakfast in Olympia is known for its unique and convenient setting.
Credit: Nancy Krier

Swantown Inn Welcomes E-Bike Riders and Others to Historic Mansion and Event Center

The Swantown Inn is a 10-minute walk to downtown Olympia and just over a mile to the State Capitol Campus. Before its life as a bed and breakfast beginning in 1997, the mansion was known as the White House. Carpenter and lumberman William G. White and his wife Amanda built the 17-room Victorian/Queen Anne Revival style home with its iconic spires, three-story tower and gabled roof lines. “When this large house was built in 1887 it was located in Swantown, a densely wooded and remote town and overlooking the Swantown Slough, a narrow tidal inlet that separated it from the town of Olympia,” the inn’s website explains of the inn’s current name. “The house remains largely as built.”

The inn has several accommodations if you are an overnight guest looking to relax after a day of e-biking or visiting the area. The inn’s four bedrooms with king beds each have bathrooms, plus you can reserve the two-bedroom suite. With your bedroom comes a gourmet three-course breakfast in the dining room located just off the parlor. Breakfast includes coffee and a varying menu of items like savory scones with lemon rosemary, Italian parmesan eggs, or puffed pancakes with a rhubarb raspberry sauce and a sour cream topping. Nathan and Casey are happy to suggest local eateries to try for lunch and dinner.

When not e-biking or sightseeing in the area, overnight guests can unwind in the downstairs parlor and work on a puzzle, hang out in the living room or chill out in the gardens. While retaining the delights of an historic home, the inn provides modern amenities like Wi-Fi, air conditioning, laundry facilities, an electric car to rent and an electrical vehicle charging station. The inn’s Grand Victorian Ballroom seats up to 60 and can be booked for weddings, gatherings, meetings and events.

An e-bike on a patio
The Swantown Inn rents six e-bikes for overnight guests and the public to actively explore the area while keeping fit. Rental details are on the inn’s website.
Credit: Nancy Krier

Begin Your Relaxing E-Bike Trip and More at Olympia’s Notable Swantown Inn

Nathan says about 60 percent of their guests are from Washington. The notable bed and breakfast is a showcase travel destination. Travel + Leisure magazine recently highlighted Swantown Inn as a featured place to stay in Olympia in its article “15 Best Places to Travel In June 2024.”

The parlor of a historic bed and breakfast in Olympia, WA featuring a fireplace and a table with puzzles.
The Swantown Inn parlor provides a space for overnight guests to unwind, piece together a puzzle, and just relax. Delectable breakfasts are served in the adjacent dining room. E-bike riders and other area visitors will want to reserve a room at the historic bed and breakfast.
Credit: Nancy Krier

Nathan and Casey are all about service and experience. “We love it,” says Nathan. Swantown Inn is open year-round and is busiest during the weekends. The innkeepers can meet you at the Amtrak Station outside Lacey if you arrive by train. If you want to e-bike in the Olympia area, are looking for local overnight accommodations, or seek a unique setting for a wedding or other event, contact Swantown Inn to make a reservation.

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