Our Hotel Washington Family

Born and raised on the Island, Shanae has been on the team at Hotel Washington since 2014. As Facilities Manager, Shanae keeps the Hotel humming year round. She’s grateful for the team she works with everyday to welcome guests and visitors into the Hotel’s charm. She loves to see how people are immediately drawn into the Hotel’s character when the walk in for the first time, and when they return for another visit they feel at home. Hospitality may be in Shanae’s genes as her great grandparents Pearl and Frank Gibson bought Gibson’s West Harbor and her Aunt Marianna and Uncle Herb run it now.

Finding her way to the island in 2019, it only took a few sunsets and lake plunges before she knew that this midwest island life was meant to be. Amanda has been living in pastry world for over 10 years, she enjoys making pretty cakes and fun ice cream flavors. You can find her doing laps around the Hotel during the busy season and roaming around the desert in her off season.

Born in the suburbs of Chicago, Matt Poole spent his first 18 years asking anyone who would listen every question that he could think of. At 31 he convinced Jill Henemeyer at Marie Catrib’s to give him a chance in the kitchen and all the loose ends of his life came together in cooking. He took his passion, curiosity and creativity with him to California in 2013 searching for new opportunities. Through his time at Desco in Oakland and Chez Panisse in Berkeley he began to understand the power that restaurants have to nourish people and surprise them, to build economies around passionate producers and support the people who they employ.

As a year round resident of the island, you can find Ricky sitting by a giant bonfire, enjoying a nice walk through the woods or writing. Catch him riding up to work in style on his red 4 wheeler. Ricky would work one million hours a week at the Hotel if we let him. Sometimes we have to remind him to stop and eat a snack with us. Ricky puts his heart and soul into his work and is always there to support his special HW family. We just couldn’t function properly without him. He reminds us daily - “don’t worry, be happy”

Sarah lives on Washington Island where she has taught yoga at Hotel Washington since 2014. Her classes are inspired by her own love for movement ranging from gentle and stretchy to powerful and primal. Sarah’s mission is to bring more awareness to your body through mindful dynamic movement with a fun and freeing approach.

“Island life drew me in from my first visit to Washington Island. Boarding the ferry, winding country roads, and a quaint little town put my soul right at ease. Home. The wild wonder of creating a life of serving up movement and food, and then quickly returning to the peace of nature with a float on the water at sunset right after a work shift is what I consider balance. “

Hollis grew up in West Michigan and loves getting to know new spaces and trying new foods. After working as a nurse for a year in Washington State, she is so excited to make her way over to an island of the same name. Besides being a practiced taste-tester, Hollis knows from experience working at a few specialty delis that she loves meeting new guests and team members, getting outside to plant and harvest, and laughing at mostly everything.

Rylee has some serious roots here at the Hotel. Growing up on the island, she's watched this place move through all of its stages in life. She’s found her way into the kitchen with us, following in her father’s footsteps and served up plenty of smiles to guests in the front of house. Rylee is currently living on the island year-round working as the Managing and Artistic Director for Island Players (a non-profit community theater group) and serving on the board for The TPAC.

Lillian was born and raised on Washington Island. With deep familial roots, the island will always be home. Starting at the hotel in 2016, Lillian has grown and expanded along with the hotel, striving to make everyone’s dining experience as lovely as the environment it’s a part of. When she’s not working you will find her on the beach, in the water, or playing in her moms garden next to some really beautiful cows.

Samantha’s path has led her to work in the hospitality industry stretching from the depths of Crater Lake National Park to the high desert in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She has spent years traveling all over the world where she was welcomed by communities, families, friends—and it was then she experienced the beauty of how different cultures expressed their hospitality so genuinely. She works to achieve sharing these teachings in one of her most treasured places, the shores of Lake Michigan. Though she grew up on the other side of the pond in Michigan, Samantha was called to Hotel Washington by her sister Amanda (fellow HW dreamer). Since then the Island has become a place where morning coffee sips and Lake Michigan dips are better together.

Suzanne, the organizational consultant for our Hotel Washington & Studio team, helps us bring our vision to life. Mostly, she listens and supports us in working enthusiastically, effectively and collaboratively. When we are pulling together we bring a spirit of joy and nurturing to our little corner of Washington Island and all who visit, her wisdom has been so crucial to our success.

Suzanne was born and grew up in Wisconsin and still spends summer here. She and her husband, Al Sinclair, live in Ohio now where they started a retreat and learning center, Hope Springs Institute.

Husband of Suzanne Stevens and dear friend of Jeannie. Al has done a wide variety of woodworking projects for the Hotel. The spalted maple beds and nite stands were made in his " Wood Creations " shop in Ohio. Last summer he did various improvement projects to our buildings and Hotel and is currently building some beautiful wooden benches for the dining room. He takes great pride in helping the Hotel gang. We love having him around and are constantly in awe of his craftsmanship and creativity.

Alessandra grows veggies, herbs and flowers with her family at Hoot Blossom Farm on Washington Island. With other folks on the Island, she helped found Gathering Ground, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting communities to the environment and their food through work and play. As its first executive director, she's excited to be a part of its growing educational and community programs. Alessandra is also a poet and you can find her writing here.

Russell was recovering from completing an MA in philosophy from the University of Chicago when he discovered that he needed to be outdoors more to feel fulfilled. He now grows veggies, herbs and flowers at Hoot Blossom Farm and manages the vineyards and orchards for Gathering Ground. Russell is passionate about growing good food, pondering how humans can live within the ecological bounds of the earth, and throwing rocks with his son at Schoolhouse Beach.

Lover of sheeps and dumping out the bucket of lawn games. He loves visiting his friends at Hotel Washington and spoiling them with smiles and giggles. And we like spoiling him back with ice cream and games of hide and seek.

Shawn, with her partner Casey, run Folk Tree Farm, located at the center of Washington Island. She spends the warmer days of the year sowing seeds and tending the garden that provides many of the vegetables to Hotel Washington’s Farm to Table menu. As Composter for the Hotel, she is partly responsible for converting any food scraps from the kitchen back into soil by returning them to the farms for composting. Much of her time on the farm is spent working with her Oberhasli dairy goats, making natural soaps, weaving, reading, and caring for the farm’s Airbnb guests. She also works for Island Orchard Cider, pruning trees and harvesting apples for OIC’s delicious hard cider.

Click here for a link to their Airbnb!

Casey moved to Washington Island in 2018 with his partner Shawn to start Folk Tree Farm. It was a perfect convergence of their dream to steward a farm and Hotel Washington's dream of pushing the boundaries of farm-to-table cuisine. The farm currently supplies vegetables, herbs, and strawberries to the Hotel. However, the long term vision for the farm includes apples, pears, plums, apricots, peaches, berries, and nut trees. The tree crops are Casey's passion and he continues to propagate and plant new trees every year, both at Folk Tree Farm and for Island Orchard Cider where he manages the orchard. When not working on the farm, Casey enjoys going for hikes, mushroom hunting, and playing banjo.