Columbia Gorge Hotel & Spa

I adore historic hotels, and the Columbia Gorge Hotel's position on the National Register of Historic Places says it all. The architecture, the location, the decor: as a friend put it, we kept expecting Hercule Poirot to walk into the reception room. But the grounds, the grounds! We were there in the first few days of January, so the holiday lights were still all aglow. I took a few snowy evening strolls to take them in, and wish I'd done more. Best of all, it's a short jaunt over the highway to downtown Hood River. We've been meeting friends in town for a decade or more, and have recently convinced them to stay at this end of town rather than at the Celilo Inn up past the Dalles. (Lovely place but a bit of a trek to get to HR.) The ability to drive a few minutes for breakfast at Bette's or just to stroll Oak Street makes the Columbia Gorge Hotel even better as a center of operations. And the room! We had a garden view room on the 3rd floor, and as it was on the corner we had windows overlooking the stream just where it met the waterfall. It was spacious, very comfortable, and so well appointed. At one point while my wife and I were enjoying a nightcap at the bar, I commented that a sign of maturity is having a selection of favorite hotels in areas you go back to. The Columbia Gorge Hotel is now our favorite place to stay in one of our favorite places to visit. It joins The Benbow Inn (another '20s-era luxury getaway, originally for Hollywood royalty) at the southern tip of the Avenue of the Giants in the California redwoods, and the Ashland Springs Hotel in Ashland.

Scott