All breakfasts should begin with “honey from heaven,” where servers dole out spoonfuls by stretching their arms way overhead and letting nature’s nectar fall via a tiny stream atop flaky, freshly baked buttermilk biscuits.

The resort’s ritual started in 1916 as an homage to the impressive Snoqualmie Falls cascading just outside the windows — which at 268 feet are 100 feet taller than those at Niagara. But as delightful a morning tradition as it is, tasting how the honey — sourced from an apiary on the property that yields more than 2,000 pounds every year — is used creatively behind the bar proves an even sweeter experience.

About an hour from Seattle, the 86-room Salish Lodge & Spa is a dreamy Pacific Northwest retreat, where fragrant spruces and neon green-tipped Douglas firs tower over hillsides, and a descent to the river’s edge rewards hikers with an up-close vantage point of the falls, complete with a cooling, ethereal mist said to connect heaven and Earth. In 2019 the indigenous Snoqualmie Indian Tribe purchased the property and 45 acres of the surrounding landscape to preserve it and prevent further development. (Two hydroelectric plants dating back to 1899 generate power for the region.) It’s indeed a pristine paradise.

Blueberry Lavender Haze at Club 268 © Kelly Magyarics

When guests aren’t exploring, they’re partaking in regionally inspired food and beverage options, including creative cocktails for
which bartenders reach for the honey dipper. Since 2011 Salish has worked with apiary expert Daniel Sullivan to combat the bee crisis through education and access to local honey; symbols of nature’s golden-winged artisans dot the menus.

The Restaurant & Terrace Bar at Salish, reimagined this past spring to include year-round patio and tiered seating perched atop the falls, is as good a place as any to drink in the liquid gold. If it’s 8 a.m. and you’re jonesing for a spirited pre-hike eye opener, no one will give you the side eye if you order an espresso Negroni or blood orange cooler; the latter mixes blood orange liqueur and juice with lemon and Salish’s dry honey cider. (The spicy-yet-bright Dale Cooper with gin, clove, cardamom and lemon also adds a splash of the fizzy elixir.) And a bourbon and amaro cocktail with lime, honey and ginger beer, smoked tableside with pine branches, offers a marvelous accoutrement to one of Salish’s stunning sunsets, which transforms the sky into a watercolor-meets-technicolor canvas of pink, peach, orange and lemon yellow.

Next to the check-in desk, The Lounge, an inviting lobby bar, offers couch seating; live music; and honey-infused sips like Salish Bliss (gin, Cointreau, lime and raspberries) and a spirit-free spritz with Seedlip Gin, pineapple, cucumber, mint, celery and bubbly.

Follow up a milk-and-honey scrub or peel with a 50-minute private booking in the spa’s soaking pool, and you can indulge in a Bee’s Knees riff with floral liqueur delivered directly to your seat in the bubbling warm water with the press of a button.

Depending on the time of year and what the bees are pollinating, Salish’s honey picks up heady notes of lavender, blackberry or citrus; no matter the month, though, it has a lighter, almost airy mouth feel that’s distinctly different than more unctuous commercial versions.

For the ultimate in buzzy beverages (and luxe vibes all around), reserve a spa-level riverside guestroom for access to Club 268. This private enclave boasts sumptuous leather furnishings; a cozy fireplace; library; breakfast; all-day snacks; and early-evening cocktails that shake and stir that precious amber essence, from a fig- honey margarita to a gin concoction with blueberry and lavender.