Background:

My wife and I where planning a trip up to Astoria, Oregon which is an area that we love.
The last time we spent the night there we stayed at the Red Lion and the room rate was only $59.00 a night. When I looked on line for this trip the least expensive rate was almost $80.00 a night and it was the off-season. Astoria is a town that tends to have high lodging prices, and it turned out the Red Lion was the least expensive of the franchise/chain motels/hotels.

So I decided to try the Chamber of Commerce/Visitors Center website and see what I could find.

After some searching I came across the Astoria Rivershore Motel. It is located right on Marine Drive, which is the main drag through Astoria, and is located near the major attractions.

While I had driven past this motel on previous trips, I never saw paid much attention to it so I was not sure what we would find. Our room rate ended up being $39.00 a night for a one bed kitchen suite which was considerable cheaper than any of the other motels or hotels, so did we find a great bargain or something that would cause us to run screaming?

The Motel:

Hotel Information:
Astoria Rivershore Motel
59 Marine Drive (US Highway 30)
Astoria, Oregon 97103
503-325-2921
866-322-8047
http://www.astoriarivershoremotel.com/

While they do have a website, you do have to call in order to book reservations but they are planning to have online reservation booking in the near future.

The hotel is just a couple of blocks east of the Astoria-Megler Bridge that crosses the Columbia River into Washington State, and only a few blocks west of Downtown Astoria.

The motel is a typical motor court motel with the main part of the motel being two stories in an “L” shape with parking in front of the lower level rooms. There are also more rooms to the east of the main motel behind the office that are extended stay rooms.

The motel has the standard single and double bed rooms plus two bed suites, in addition they also have one and two bed kitchen suites. Since my wife and I where planning to stay for several days we opted for a one bed kitchen suite.

All room feature:
-25 Inch TV (our room still had a 19” which where being replaced)
-Microwave
-Compact or Full Size Refrigerator
-Coffee Makers
-Free High Speed Wireless Internet (the entire city is a free wireless hot spot)
-Free Local Calls
-Hair Dryers
-Phones with Voicemail and Dataports
-The Kitchen Suites like ours also has a full range of cooking utensils.

The hotel does not have a continental breakfast or a swimming pool.

Check In:

As is typical in many of these types of motels, the office is at the front of the facility as you drive into the motel. The lobby is small with just enough room for a couple of people to stand in front of the counter. The lobby did have a literature holder with a large number of the tourist brochures that you find in most lodging facilities.

The person that checked us in was friendly and was willing to help out by giving direction and making suggestions to help your in making your stay more pleasant.

The Room:

Our room was on the second floor about halfway down the walkway. The first thing I thought of when I saw the room is that at one time it was an apartment that had been converted to use as a motel room. After seeing the entire room I am pretty sure that this used to be a small apartment.

The Front Room:

As you entered the room you had a couch to the right followed by a stand where the one telephones sat. To the left in front of the window, there was a very comfortable chair followed by a television on an old TV stand that looked to be from the 60’s. Across from the couch was a dining room table and chairs. Against the back wall of the room was the kitchen area which had a full size (15 cubic foot) refrigerator with a microwave placed on top of it, then counter tops with the coffee maker, a kitchen sink and the full size range.

The front room had carpeting except for the kitchen area, which was done in a laminate wood floor. The carpet was looking a little worn but was clean and the floor in the kitchen looked brand new.

Bathroom and Bedroom:

The bathroom was first up with the vanity along the wall backing the kitchen with a tub and the toilet in its own separate room. The vanity area had a hair dryer and facial tissue dispenser on the fall against the toilet/bathtub area.

Then you entered the bedroom, which had the bed on the wall to the left and a large closet on the right, which ran along the whole wall. As I stated the layout of the room gives the feeling that it was formerly an apartment complex. The bed itself appeared to be fairly new although was a little too soft for our taste but we still where able to get good nights sleeps so it did what it was designed to do. On each side of the bed was a nightstand with a lamp and one by the window had another telephone by it.

Overall:

Most of the furniture including the kitchen appliances appears to be fairly new. The only downside on the room was the television, which was an old 19” model. However they where upgrading the televisions while we where there.

The television was equipped with cable television and had about 70 channels including most of the popular ones.

Note:

If you choose the two-bed kitchen suite you get a second bed in place of the couch in the front room.

Nearby Restaurants:

The motel has no food service so here are some nearby restaurants and fast food places that we have eaten at:

-Subway is next door (The best Subway I have been in)
-Stephanie’s Cabin is across the Street (overpriced and bad service)
-Pig N’ Pancake is two blocks away (great food and service at reasonable prices)
-Panda Inn is two blocks away with good Chinese food and low prices
-McDonalds is three blocks away
-KFC is just three blocks away
-Burger King is a couple of blocks away
-Dairy Queen is about a mile away
-Geno’s Pizzas-N-Burgers is on the far east side of town-great burgers
-Hong Kong-East side of town with good Chinese food
-Plaza Jalisco is near downtown with excellent Mexican food

Nearby Attractions:

From our room you could see the Columbia River and the many cargo ships that would pass by. You could also see the Astoria Trolley as it made its journey back and forth across the waterfront area.

Attractions you can walk (or drive to): Columbia River Maritime Museum, the Flavel House Museum, Astoria-Megler Bridge, and the many shops of downtown.

Attractions to drive to (or some you can take Sunset Transit which is the local transit agency): Astoria Column, Fort Clatsop National Memorial, Fort Stevens State Park, Uppertown Firefighters Museum & Astoria Children’s Museum, Fort Astoria, and others.

If you are a movie buff, I would recommend you get the brochure at the Chamber of Commerce office that shows the locations of the movies that where filmed in Astoria. Among them is “Short Circuit”, “Kindergarten Cop”, and of course “The Goonies” along with many others.

Check Out:

Check out was also a breeze. There where none of those “gotcha” fees that seem to be creeping into more and more hotel bills.

Overall:

Well as you might have guessed, we ended up find a good bargain.

As it turned out the motel provided exactly what it was supposed to: A nice room to sleep in along with some other amenities in the room to make an extended stay more pleasurable. In addition the staff was friendly and extremely helpful which makes the journey even better.

If you are going to be traveling along the Oregon Coast Astoria is worth a stop. The Astoria Rivershore Motel will provide you a nice room, with great service, and will save you money over one of the franchise chains in the area. The motel usually has a web special so check their website before booking.


Recommended: Yes