States Motel

The rooms are as bare-bones as they come, but Bobby at the front desk was incredible. I’d entered the wrong booking date and had spent three hours trying to reach Expedia when I also had to talk a family friend off a bridge. It was the worst day of my life. Bobby took charge and insisted they fix the date, then let me check out late the next day when he could see how rough things had been. He made an awful day a little better, and I’m so grateful.

I’m giving this three stars to keep the review neutral. I’ve never stayed here myself, so one or two stars didn’t seem fair. But after seeing so many bad reviews and hearing my parents’ story, I’m surprised the States Motel is still operating. Here’s what they told me. They stayed in the very early '90s, before I was born, after flying in late from the East Coast to visit my grandparents. My grandpa had booked the room as a favor. They knew the area was old and run down and expected nothing fancy, just an okay place for one night. My dad said the older Indian man at the front desk was nice enough, and Indian music was playing. The room seemed run down, and the same music came through the thin walls, making it hard to sleep. A few minutes later, they heard men arguing in the lobby. For several minutes, maybe hours, gunshots punctuated the music and arguing. My parents lay there frozen, scared to leave the room and just wanting to get out. They left as quickly as they could the next morning. Years later, when I was little, we moved to Oregon and often visited Portland. Whenever we went to Northeast Portland to see family, my parents would nervously laugh and talk about the States Motel and how frightened they’d been. I looked it up today out of curiosity and found that it was still there, along with lots of bad reviews that sounded much like their story from the early '90s. It seems little has changed since 1992. You’re probably better off avoiding this place.

That location is a big draw. I’m looking forward to staying here, it looks promising. Picture pickle, rest, video games, pickle, then repeat. Location, location, location.

I only needed somewhere quick to sleep for a few hours after a delayed flight. It was the cheapest motel nearby, but still cost way too much. The room was dirty, the carpet felt crunchy, there was hair in the bathroom, and the blinds were broken. No lamps, no cold water at the sink, no shower liner, and the smoke detector was broken too. It felt like the owner didn’t care at all. A little cleaning and TLC could have made this a two or three star motel, which makes it sad, especially as a business owner myself. If my family had been with me, we would have left.