Columbia River Hotel and Conference Center, an Ascend Collection Hotel

Worst Than The Bates Motel It is hard to believe that this is part the ‘Ascend’ Collection. The AI generated photos should have been the first clue that something was amiss with this place. I get that they are going through a renovation, but this place is not customer ready. In addition to it not being ADA accessible to enter into the building, there are no elevators present and you have work through multiple areas to get to from lobby to some of the rooms. When asked if a person with a wheelchair needed assistance, the front desk stated they would only put them on the first floor. (Still how would they get in the building without a ramp?) The room decor is outdated from the 1980’s and 1990’s. The HVAC system is old, dirty, moldy and sounds like an airplane landing/taking off. The shower set up is more complicated than need be. Well my first one didn’t work. My first room, was not clean. It crumbs on the floor, dirt by the bed, and bugs at the head of the bed. Serving breakfast bags were sparse and lacking is ideal either. The only saving grace is the Portage Grill. The bar/waitstaff were helpful, professional, and wonderful. The food was great. I was placed in another room due to my shower not working. I had from move said room because the night auditor place in a room already booked for a family of four (or that was that was the story I was given). The General Manager called me at work to tell me that I needed to move that morning. After I had worked 12-hours. (Before I would have to return back to work for another 12-hour shift.) Out of ALL the rooms in this place, my room was the ONLY one they could get sleep in. Needless to say I was upset, but I moved with the help of coworker. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS PLACE. STAY SOMEWHERE ELSE. Even it’s the Bate’s Motel!!! I am including actual photos of the hotel and NOT AI generated ones.

You don't get what you pay for. We had just traveled from a popular destination in Lake Chelan, and paid 125 for the night for a lovely room. We also stayed in an Airbnb with a kitchenette, living room, large bathroom, which included a homemade breakfast, where we paid about 125 as well, and were surprised by the 175+ price tag at the Shilo. We were exhausted and decided to take the room. The person at the front desk was friendlyish, but definitely exasperated by her job. We told her we had called in to make a reservation 10 minutes prior. She stated she hadn't made a reservation 10 minutes ago, as though she couldn't think of any other way that may be possible. She insisted she couldn't find us until we told her we called an 800# online and like magic she found our reservation. She seemed to make easy things painfully difficult. Once we got to our room, the lotion dispenser had fallen into the sink, leaving quite a mess for me to clean up. We found the second sink in the shower room had about a quarter inch of sawdust the length of the countertop. We of course didn't have any kind of vacuum to clean it up, so we called the front desk. We were surprised to find the front desk receptionist was the one who had to come clean it up. We assumed there was maintenance of some sort. She was very nice about it. We just felt badly for her. There was dust around the perimeter of the room in certain areas, some pieces of hardware on the floor, and when we woke up to take a shower, I noticed there was no bathroom fan, which in this case turned out OK, because there was not a single drop of hot water at around 7:20AM. It's very surprising how diligently their automated text system is in asking for feedback. Through text, I let both Kristina Thornton and Doug know my impression of the place. Kristina admitted a refund of some kind was in order, but stopped texting back as did Doug. I called today to check in and got a careless employee named Belle who struggled to find the energy to take my number down. I am a motel owner myself, and I understand how tricky remodels can be but I am also horrified by the willingness of these employees to hide from customers instead of just tackling the issue. I'm just not sure this room was quite worth the price we paid and I certainly don't find the employees to be committed to any type of follow-through.

Not a pleasant experience. We were there in a bus tour. We had a dinner at the hotel for our group, but they ran out of food before everyone got a chance to eat. When we got to our room, there was no shower curtain and the hairdryer wasn’t fastened to the wall, but was laying on the counter. There were 2 sinks, which was nice, but the sink in the bathroom had no soap. The room had minimal electrical outlets which we needed for CPAP and charging our devices. At breakfast, they ran out of food, plates, coffee and coffee cups before even 1/2 of our group had eaten. It wasn’t restocked until we were about ready to board our bus. The only trash can was overflowing until the day shift person came and and emptied it and worked on getting more food and coffee. I realize they are short staffed, but many if these things should not have happened.

Outdated and Unsecure First of all I reserved through Booking.com and rented two rooms for 4 gals for a girls weekend. I reserved suites with two beds and requested upper floors that were pet free and next to each other. The Hotel responded and said they could give upper floor and pet free rooms. I then called the week of our trip and spoke to the front desk asking if there pool was open and if rooms we requested had views and were next to each other. The young man that answered said rooms would have view of the Columbia River and dam and that our rooms would be near each other. We arrived early Saturday after a 5K in Hood River. One room was ready but the other was still being cleaning so we waited at the pool. The one room was downstairs and the one we were waiting for was upstairs. I said I had requested rooms on top floor next to each other and the desk clerk said she could see the notes on one room but not both I rented. I asked if they could be moved near us and that I had called twice to confirm during the week. She said I must have called Booking.com because they had no notes. I assured her I spoke to a young man on one day and a woman on the next and they were front desk clerks. She was rude and said rooms are only issued on the day of check-in. We waited at the pool for our other room to be ready and it wasn't ready until 4:00. When I moved our things to the upper room it had a distinct body odor and room was really old with stains to the sleeper sofa. The next morning breakfast was a joke with very bad tasting biscuits, greasy sausage patties, eggs that tasted like plastic and really bad coffee. The only decent thing to eat was a bagel and cream cheese. This hotel does not have locking doors to the hallways so anyone can walk in from the outside without checking in. Hallways smell like weed and are not clean. I would not recommend staying here and will not be back.

Go to motel 6 instead. First, be wary of outfits claiming to be the hotel itself. Reservations.com is not to be trusted. We booked through them unknowingly for $107 night. Actual was $167 with fees and taxes. The hotel itself should be bulldozed. No hangers in the room, sink was broken, only two dim lights in the bedroom, a toilet that flushed every 20 minutes during the night, sliding door to the deck that hardly slides, threadbare linens… We’d been better off in Motel 6. No, we didn’t complain, we’re writing this review instead. It’s just paying attention that irks us.