Best Western Newberg Inn

I booked through Booking.com for a small Valentine’s Day staycation. We live in McMinnville, and I’d only recently started getting around without a wheelchair after literally breaking my ankle in half. I thought a romantic night with my husband would be nice. Booking.com, which partners with BW, didn’t say that a whole floor had rooms you could only reach by stairs. I later saw the no-elevator note on the BW site, buried near the end, but it wasn’t in the listing I used. Before going to our room, I told the front desk I couldn’t manage a second-floor room because my doctor had told me not to use stairs yet. The response was that there’d be no refund. We couldn’t afford to lose that much of our Valentine’s budget, so I painfully made my way up and down the stairs. Then the bed was so hard I couldn’t sleep. At 4 a.m. I called to ask about changing rooms, getting a mattress topper, or anything that might help. A man who sounded half asleep said it was beyond his pay grade and I’d need to talk to a manager. I called three times and never reached her. I also complained to BW corporate and got an email that amounted to “sorry not sorry.” Booking.com checked the listing and agreed there was no mention of the stairs, explaining that its ads use descriptions supplied by the hotels. Their representative also tried to reach the manager without success, filed a complaint, and said she’d update me. Booking.com returned its commission, but couldn’t refund the room charge because BW had taken that payment directly. BW has lost my business for good. They refused to do anything to make this right, and I won’t stay with them again.

The hotel sits by very loud traffic, and a huge LED sign next door flashes red, green, and yellow all night. It felt like the Vegas Strip without any of the fun. Sandy at reception pounded on my door so hard I thought there was an emergency. Earlier, I’d texted reception that my child was asleep and asked them not to call when my food delivery arrived, since I’d come down myself. About an hour later Sandy said someone had complained that my dog was noisy. I was stunned. We’d been in the room since checking in at 6, getting my toddler to bed, and the dog had been quiet. She has a hurt leg right now and was just resting. Sandy asked if we’d left her alone; when I said no, she rudely replied that she’d received the complaint, as if that proved it was true or even about our room. The complaint itself could have been raised with me, whether it was true or not. The way she handled it was the problem. Banging on the door like that was an inappropriate way to deal with a noise concern, and it woke my toddler. He then spent another hour after 9 p.m. running around, screaming, and banging things. Sandy caused far more noise with that obnoxious pounding than my dog ever did.

The room was in great shape, and the staff were friendly. We needed an affordable place within ride-hailing distance of Newberg’s many wineries, and this worked well. There’s also a massive indoor pool. The hotel Wi-Fi connected, but wouldn’t communicate properly with my PS5. I’d stay here again.

On our way back from the coast, my mom and I spent two nights at Newberg Inn and really liked it. We had a ground-floor room opening onto a grassy side yard, which worked well since we had our dog with us. The room was clean and had what we needed, and there’s even a coin washer and dryer. Staff were very friendly and accommodating. Breakfast was the full spread, from pancakes to biscuits and gravy. Next time you need a place to crash in lovely Newberg, look no further.