Hood River
Markus enjoying the stop at Multnomah Falls
As part of our route, we made two stops in Oregon - once on the first day of the road trip and the other on the last day as we were coming home. For these two stops, we stayed at different hotels and because this is a blog about discovering the Pacific Northwest together, I wanted to do a special post on these two locations in Oregon, starting with this one, which overs the second half of our trip, when we stopped at Hood River, Oregon for a night.
We didn't do as much exploring as we normally would at both of these stops. Since we visit Oregon pretty frequently, we mostly just drove through the state (with one planned stop at Crater Lake). Our plan was to stay at areas we hadn't been to before to, at the very least, get a taste of the area and anything we might be missing out on. There were a few hikes we were hoping to do if we had time, but we ended up not being able to. We look forward to doing some of these hikes in the future!
Best Western Plus Hood River
Type: Hotel (3-star)
Pet Fee: $15/night
Suite Available: No
When we were checking into this hotel, the front desk set the bar high by proclaiming that they like to think of themselves as the best Best Western. I remember thinking wow, that's a bold claim, but let's see if they can live up to it.
And wow, they might have a point. Of all the Best Westerns I've been to, this one is definitely up there as one of the best, if not the actual best.
The Best Best Western
There are a combination of things that made this stay so enjoyable. First, the dog fee is super competitive. At $15 a night, this might have been the lowest dog fee that we've seen yet.
I appreciated the fact that they let us know up front that there was nothing for the dog. With a $15 pet fee, you wouldn't expect to get anything anyways. Sometimes you pay up to $50 for a night for the pet fee and you don't get anything for it and it really makes you wonder what you're paying for. The $15 a night for the cleaning felt appropriate and even though they didn't have treats or bowls to accommodate Markus, they accommodated us in other ways.
Before leaving for the road trip, we called hotels ahead of time to let them know we had a dog with us. We also put in the request that if at all possible, we preferred a room that's away from foot traffic or noise because our dog can get triggered into barking by the voices or footsteps outside.
Most hotels are pretty good at putting us a bit further down in the hallway or someplace quieter, though not all hotels do something. We've had some stays where we were placed right in front of the elevator and Markus ends up being on guard throughout night as people came and went. This Best Western placed us in a room in a really quiet area of the hallway. With the way the hotel was laid out, we didn't really have neighbours and it was exactly what we were looking for. Their customer service really did us a solid there.
The room that we got was also pretty big for what I felt we paid for and I wonder if it was because they knew we were travelling with a dog and gave us a bigger space. What was also neat about the room was that there was a back door that allowed us to go right outside along Hood River. For dog owners, this is so convenient because it allows us to take him outside without having to cut through the hotel for the exits.
The Breakfast Thing
Another amazing amentity about this hotel was the restaurant. When chain hotels like Best Western or Holiday Inn come with breakfast, you're generally thinking it's going to be continental breakfast. You're likely expecting some pastries, cereal, milk, coffee and if you're lucky, hot food like eggs and some type of protein and maybe the classic waffle machine where you fill a cup with a batter and pour into a machine that counts down for you.
This Best Western has a full restaurant that's attached to the hotel. At first, we thought we had gone the wrong way and had missed the breakfast room. Even when we realized it was at the restaurant, we thought there was going to be a dedicated continental breakfast area at the back, but no. The included breakfast was an entree off their menu with a drink like coffee, juice or tea.
I was delightfully surprised by the class of food and the breakfast choices, which were beyond your usual bacon and eggs. I've often believed that hospitality is best shown through food or a meal and this was just another way this Best Western took care of their guests.
And we’ll be back again!
They also had a lot of construction and renovations happening on-site. The building felt like it was either new or just recently renovated and it looked as though they had even more renovations planned. They didn't get in the way at all, though, so there were no worries there. Actually, we didn't see any construction work while we were there, so I have a feeling they planned the work to start after check out time.
If I haven't made it clear yet, we really enjoyed our stay. We were only there overnight and we had to leave fairly quickly the next morning to get back into Vancouver. We saw a few interesting hikes and trails in the area (Tamanawas Falls, Tom Dick and Harry Mountain, Smith Rock, etc.) that we just didn't have time to get to this time around.
We'll be sure to visit this area in the near future to check out a few of these trails and hikes. When we do, we are going to stay at the Best Western Plus Hood River for sure.
Our Recommendation for Reactive Dogs
It’s easy for us to recommend this hotel because they took such good care of us and helped us make sure we were in a room that was quieter and also had access to the grassy areas outside through back door. Although it was short, we enjoyed our stay here and will be back again.
Disclaimer
Markus is a reactive, but not aggressive dog. His instinct is to avoid other dogs and he may growl, bark or lunge if provoked, but will not attack. We normally do not have issues with leashed dogs when both sides are controlled, but we will be on guard when an oncoming dog is not leashed. There are varying levels to a dog’s reactivity and only you can decide if this park, trail or hotel is appropriate for your dog. Our visits generally will not include off-leash areas; most experiences shared on The Markus Project are within leashed or undefined areas.
Please remember that our past experience visiting a park, trail or hotel may not be the same as your experience at the same park, trail or hotel. We have no control of who visits the park and whether they adhere to park rules - like leashing their dogs on leash-required paths - or not. Please use your discretion with the information provided and with your personal knowledge of your dog’s reactivity when visiting these parks, trails or hotels.
