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Salve for a chilly soul on a cold, winter’s day

26 Dec

An Old-Fashioned with a Balinese twist.Tapping into the web is a lot like Christmas shopping — you have to wade through a lot of dreck before you find the absolutely perfect thing for that special someone.

Which is why we’re sharing a cool new recipe for the Old-Fashioned, one of cocktailing’s classics.

What does the Old Fashioned have to do with the Hood River Hotel? C’mon, did you even have to ask? The Hood River Hotel is … old (and comfy-gorgeous, like that favorite pair of slippers). We date back to 1911. And the Old-Fashioned is, as its name says, “old.” It began its evolution in the early 19th century, and came to its classic structure about 16 years before the Hood River Hotel rose from the ground to welcome train travelers heading east from Portland for a taste of the Columbia River Gorge.

For more than 100 years, we at the hotel have loved travel (we can’t say for certain that all of our team have loved Old-Fashioneds, but if they don’t, that’s their problem).

There are different ways to travel. Hawaii in Winter parties. Cooking Spanish food. Or, in this case, sipping an Old-Fashioned built around the spices of Bali.

Until you can get here, why not 1) think about traveling, 2) to Bali, because 3) all you can really afford is Hood River, and boy, are we ever affordable?

So, while you’re thinking about Bali and us, whip up the Bali Spice Old-Fashioned, the recipe for which originally appeared on the web site of AFAR, one of our favorite travel magazines. Go there for the details.

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Mountain biking trip to Hood River Hotel first leads couple through marriage proposal

19 Dec
Mike Sabo and Kim Stanek have a special place in their hearts for the Hood River Hotel (and each other).

Mike Sabo and Kim Stanek have a special place in their hearts for the Hood River Hotel.

 

Kim Stanek thought she was headed to Hood River last August with boyfriend Mike Sabo for a long-delayed weekend of mountain biking. Sabo had something else in mind.

In the spring, Sabo had graduated from Oregon State University with a master’s in mechanical engineering, and the couple decided to celebrate on the multiple ups and downs scattered in the woods around Hood River.

“It’s probably the best mountain biking I’ve done so far,” Stanek says. “The trails up there are so much different. You’ve got this steep climbing, and then awesome downhill.”

But before they could make it out to the Hood, Sabo secured a job with the Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, and Stanek dove headlong into the final months of her own master’s degree studies in public health.

Sabo finally found time to fly back for an Aug. 2 biking getaway.

Before they hit the trails, though, they checked in to the Hood River Hotel, found their room, started talking about dinner –  and got engaged.

They were sharing a bottle of wine, as Stanek recalls, planning their evening.

“I could tell he was getting nervous,” she says. “His initial plan was to wait for the perfect time. But we got into the room, we’re having some wine, and he went and got the ring. He got down on his knee, and had his little spiel. He said he knew the day he met me that we were going to get married.”

Although she quickly said “Yes,” she recalls feeling no similar sense of certainty when they met two years earlier. It was another six months before they even started dating.

By proposing earlier than he had originally planned, Sabo cast a special glow over the rest of their weekend.

“I’m not a big production type of person,” Stanek says. “It was nice that it was private.”

Once they had that little matter of a lifetime together settled, they finished their wine, went to Double Mountain Brewing for a couple of beers, then grabbed dinner at the nearby Celilo Restaurant (“Our celebration dinner”).

She is planning a move south to Albuquerque before year’s end. They’ll be married there in October 2013. But before they tie the knot, they’re planning a return trip to Hood River.

“We have plans of revisiting each year and staying in the same room to celebrate,” Stanek says. “The Hood River Hotel is a very special place to us now, and always will be. It was the perfect amount of fun and romance all mixed in one.”

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Travel cheapskate helps show you where to stretch your dollar

18 Dec

Not that we want you to travel anywhere but here, but we at the Hood River Hotel appreciate value. It’s what provide, after all, great full-service and historic rooms at prices below those of competing contemporary properties.

So, when you’re thinking of going somewhere else, where should you go to stretch a dollar? Tim Leffel has some ideas. He’s a cheapskate, and proud of it, so much so that he blogs about it at his Cheapest Destinations Blog. He has collected his research into a book, as well, which he discusses in this interview on the Gadling travel web site.

See how much we care about helping you maximize your travel dollars?

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Mega snow dump gives skiers extra incentive to tap lift ticket, room discount deals

18 Dec

One week until Christmas, and a good time to remind you that you also have a full week to take best advantage of the Mt. Hood Meadows lift ticket discount available to guests of the Hood River Hotel.

That’s right, through Dec. 25, guests get an adult lift ticket for $50 (vs. $74 normally), and juniors can  hit the slopes for $40 (vs. $46 normally).

From Dec. 26 through Dec. 31, and also on weekends in January and February, you still get a price break, but not quite as much. This “peak season” adjustment means hotel guests can get an adult ticket for $70 (vs. $89 to walk-up skiers) on those dates. Junior pricing remains the same.

Pair those up with some tasty room pricing at the Hood River Hotel, and you’ve got the makings of a little extra cash to … go Christmas shopping. Or whatever. Remember, through December, our river view rooms are priced at $89. And through February, any available room on any night is no more than $100.

Interested? Book a room now to tap all that fresh pow-pow. Three days, three feet of fluffy stuff. Yow. Get on it.

And, if you’re a snowboarder, mark your calendar for this coming Friday, and the chance to demo new Burton gear during the Burton Mountain Festival.

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Are you ready for some football? Our kitchen will kick it off

12 Dec

fiesta_logoThere’s nothing like a good breakfast to stoke the engines for a day of watching … and watching … and watching college football bowl games. Nutrition is important, and you don’t want to rely entirely on a bowl of … well, Tostitos.

With that in mind, we at the Hood River Hotel and Cornerstone Cuisine are here for you fans.

The insanity starts on Dec. 15, with the Gilden New Mexico bowl (huh?), and peaks on Jan. 7 with the Discover BCS National Championship.

But the epicenter is New Year’s Day, with six bowl games, and New Year’s Eve (day, Dec. 31), with four.

So, plan now to pop in to the Hood River Hotel’s Cornerstone Cuisine for fuel (food) between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. on New Year’s Eve day, and from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on New Year’s Day.

Yeah, team! Oh, if you want the bowl game schedule, here’s the full lineup. And remember, if you’ve got nowhere else to watch the games, we’ve got a comfy sofa upstairs in our mezzanine, aimed squarely at a big-screen TV.

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OK, if you insist — we’ll “Enjoy Hood River Holidays”

12 Dec
The welcome mat is out in downtown Hood River -- ground zero for a walking-shopping-latte-sipping-wine tasting good ol' time.

The welcome mat is out in downtown Hood River — ground zero for a walking-shopping-latte-sipping-wine tasting good ol’ time. If you’re not already here, come on out. The weather has been great this fall and winter (no snow down low, but plenty up high, if you ski or just want to tromp around in it).

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Prithee, Tosspots, attend ye wondrous well anon carouse

5 Dec

Two blocks and centuries away, those whacky folks at Naked Winery are ramping up preparations for their annual Medieval Banquet wine dinner at 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 26.

This will be their fourth return to the times of yore, with munchies consumed only with the assist of hands (no implements). Costumes are encouraged. And, yes, wine will be available.

The Naked tasting room is one block west and one block north of the Hood River Hotel. Book at room (just $100, remember), and walk to and fro the festivities.

And, so you can speak well at the event,  you may want to bone up on medieval language. Forsooth.

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And while you’re here this week, check out these cool holiday bazaars

4 Dec

We won’t repeat the detail here, just point you in the direction of a roundup on another local blog about two large holiday gift bazaars on the calendar in and around Hood River this week. Pop on out to da Hood, get a room at the Hood River Hotel for $100 (any room, any night), and go shopping. Woo-hoo!

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As many prices continue to rise, ours just stay where they were in 2010

4 Dec

We’ve got remarkably good news for you. Some prices are not rising like a rocket. Such as? Well, those for rooms at the Hood River Hotel.

But first, bear with us. A little context, if you will. The national consumer price index shows that the collective costs for a variety of purchases has increased 7 percent since January of 2010 — roughly the last three years. Real estate has been sluggish, but gas prices (up 9% in the last year) and health care (4% in the last year) have continued to rise.

During that period, ours have increased … not at all.

Remember 1993? Gas cost $1.10 a gallon. Remember July of 2008, when gas prices hit $4.11 a gallon? Well, they’re back down to $3.50 a gallon, but not likely ever to get back to 1993 rates.

But in the last three years, room prices at the Hood River Hotel have remained basically flat. That’s right, as your cereal box gets smaller (but the price stays the same), as your bar of Irish Spring gets smaller (but the price stays the same), as your newspaper gets smaller (but the price goes up), as your cars get smaller (but the prices get larger), our rooms are available at three-years-ago prices.

Now, through the month of January, any available room, on any night is just $100. That means you get an auto upgrade if you’re looking for something roomier than one of our lovely courtyard abodes, which typically go for $99.

And, on-street parking is easy to find.

An additional note, comparing the size of our … boxes, with the size and price of theirs. Though our prices have stayed the same — or, for the season, fallen back a bit — for the last three years, we have not reduced our room sizes one tiny bit.

Take THAT, Shredded Wheat.

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We’re getting lit … for the holidays, and you

27 Nov

Downtown Hood River is all dressed up … have you got somewhere to go? Of course you do — HERE, anytime during the coming holiday season, but most definitely on the evening of Friday, Nov. 30, when the city kicks off its Hood River Holidays celebration with the annual parade and tree lighting ceremony. Parade starts at 6 p.m. along Oak Avenue, and winds up at Overlook Park for tree lighting and caroling and full-on fun. Be here!

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