If you’ve lived in the Snoqualmie Valley for any length of time, you’ve probably heard this one before: North Bend is getting a hotel. Except this time, there were hard hats, golden shovels, and actual dirt being turned.
On Tuesday, September 8, 2026, community leaders, developers, elected officials and project partners gathered at North Bend Outlet Mall to officially break ground on a new Wyndham hotel — marking a milestone that has been more than a decade in the making.
And for the City of North Bend, this is a big deal. The city has been trying to bring a hotel to town for years. Living Snoqualmie first wrote about a proposed hotel at the corner of Bendigo Blvd and South Fork Ave back in 2013. Site work followed, and by 2015, plans called for a 99-room Marriott Fairfield Inn & Suites that was supposed to open in 2017. By 2020, the Marriott project was officially dead, but North Bend’s hotel hopes weren’t.
A new proposal surfaced in 2021 when hotel developers began looking at building a Wyndham hotel at North Bend Premium Outlets. The project required its own lengthy planning process, including a change to city code to accommodate a taller hotel building.
Over the following years, the project continued inching forward. A portion of the outlet mall was eventually demolished to make room for the development. Then, this week, shovels went into the ground. Speeches were made. Thanks were extended. Smiles were big from all involved.
Former North Bend Mayor and current City Councilmember Rob McFarland also spoke at the groundbreaking, saying, “I am very proud that in 2021, during my administration, we found a path that led us to this day. City staff, together with the Planning Commission and Council, helped us land on modern hotel performance standards in line with today’s needs. Those council-approved code changes finally made for an economically viable project.”
“It feels like just yesterday. Two years ago, I joined Rob Christensen – hardhat and all – onsite as demolition began,” said North Bend Mayor Mary Miller. “He said it then and I agree with him today: This is a long-awaited and much needed project in our community.”
According to project organizers, the new Wyndham hotel represents a significant investment in the Snoqualmie Valley’s tourism infrastructure and is intended to provide lodging for the growing number of visitors coming to the area – particularly for outdoor recreation – as North Bend is surrounded by some numerous popular hiking destinations and is a short drive from Snoqualmie Pass ski slopes. The new hotel will help meet lodging demand while also supporting tourism, improving the visitor experience, and contributing to continued economic growth.
So, for newer residents, it may simply look like another construction project getting underway. For those who have watched North Bend try — and try again — to get a hotel built, the groundbreaking represented something considerably bigger: a longtime goal at last executed.
Construction of the new hotel is anticipated to be complete in March 2028.
[Photo credit City of North Bend]
