This is a really solid 4-star hotel, and I think if they stick with the current trajectory it'll be a 5-star one soon!
Why it earned 4 stars: The room overall is very clean, it has everything you'd expect (but no microwave, not a huge deal to me). They have eco friendly soaps and seem to care much more about being environmentally conscious than many other hotels of a similar price range. The soaps even smell amazing! The bed was comfortable, nothing too fancy but keep in mind most of these rooms are ~$60/night so if you expect a bed like a $200/night room would have, you'll be disappointed (and naive...). They have a nice selection of tea and coffee in the room. The bathroom is vintage- the tiles appear to be original and some of the fixtures as well. I love the vintage feel but I will add that in my particular room, the shower to bath valve didn't switch fully so the shower had half the water and the bath faucet had the other half. Surprisingly it didn't affect water pressure negatively, it was just a little bit loud. Not a deal breaker for me! A microwave would be nice but they have a mini fridge and that's more important to me than a microwave. Regarding breakfast, it's very simple. They had two types of cereal, some juices and milk, coffee, tea, yogurt, fruit, oatmeal, and bagels/breads. They also had local coffee and a box of donuts from a local shop. Glad they're supporting some local businesses! They also had a compost and recycle bin which earns them many more bonus points. More places need to do that. They use real dishes and utensils- less waste overall and feels more homelike.
Why it's not quite 5 stars yet: The two mugs in the room were a little dirty and I can't tell if it's just dust from linens or if they weren't washed well. It's a little gross but i didn't mind just giving a mug a quick wash in the sink, though some people may be really turned off by it. There was some hair in the shower and on the bathroom floor which is really really gross. There wasn't a lot or I may have called the desk but other people's hair is my worst nightmare!
The thing about the shower and bath faucets not switching completely is a little weird because it's loud. The hotel is doing a lot of renovations right now and may get around to fixing it, who knows. The lobby is nice and the breakfast was good mostly. I wish they'd had a little bit more to choose from on the protein side of things but yogurt is close enough for now. The hotel overall seems very environmentally conscious but it was odd they had a bunch of single use plastic water bottles in the breakfast area. That's incredibly wasteful and most people are happy with tap water. For some reason they also put butter and cream cheese in tiny plastic cups and they didn't really put enough for a single serving in each so I ended up using three plastic containers for cream cheese on my one bagel. The little cream cheese packages other hotels usually have would be a little less wasteful just because there's more in them...
Overall I was impressed and pleased with my stay. The people working were extremely friendly and the rooms and general vibe of the hotel are really great. It has a retro feel and I appreciate their eco friendly mindset. They still have a little ways to go before being excellent but I have faith they will get there soon. PS there's a lovely courtyard with bird feeders and gardens, and in the back you can see the Cascades park. A nice outdoorsy feel to it all. read more