Summer Lake Hot Springs — Hotel in Altamont

This is the second time I stayed here; I call it my dark sky trip because that's why I go - to see stars at night, since living in the Willamette Valley (Salem) I don't get to see a lot of stars. The positives: (1) the incredible starry night sky when it's dark and not overcast; (2) the place is super QUIET! Guests are very considerate at night, keeping things quiet and dark and there's minimal road noise; (3) pet friendly; (4) the big sky view; (5) the bed was comfortable and the kitchen adequate; and (6) the hot springs water feels great - rising up out of the big pool, you can feel gravity starting to take hold again. The negatives: (1) BUGS! I was there in early June, specifically hoping it wouldn't be too buggy yet. I see other reviewers complaining about dead bugs in the cabins. I WISH the bugs I had to contend with were dead! I actually found one big black one (beetle? roach? I don't know) up my pj sleeve (while I was wearing it!) and lots of others flying or crawling around in the cabin, around my head, on my dog, on the floor etc. I STILL feel itchy, days later! There are lots of cracks and gaps in these old cabins so the bugs get in easily. The owners look to have made efforts to improve the screens - I wish the doors (front and back in the cabins) had screen doors because the air coming in the window screens doesn't help as much when it gets hot out. I did find that keeping the overhead fan on high helped tamp down my experience of flying insects. (2) Mouse! (mice?) Again, the cabins are not sealed tight and twice I saw a mouse - in the kitchen trash, which only had one thing in it, a popcorn bag rolled up tight with just crumbs in the bottom). So I put the trash can out back and didn't see a mouse again. So keep that in mind! (3) I like to hike, but have learned that I don't much enjoy hikes through low scrub - I'd rather be in the woods. Which is where I went after Summer Lake - quite a contrast but again, I went for the starry nights close to a new moon. So it's a mixed bag. I actually think I may have felt better in a tent or camper where I could better control the...

I've been visiting Summer Lake Hot Springs for about 20 years, but hadn't been there in a few. Some friends and I recently rented the Homestead Cabin which had availability last minute, which I was hesitant about because it was memorably bad when I stayed there a decade ago. Dirty, rodents scratching in the walls at night, etc.

Things haven't changed much at all since I was there last. The Homestead Cabin is 100 years old and dilapidated. I would describe it as a step up from camping. And for sure it was nice to have a roof over our heads and an indoor place to cook and hang out. My bed was fine (bring your own sheets -- the ones they provided were rough and pilled), kitchen / living room were adequate (for four people -- you'll run out of seats if your group is any larger), bathroom was OK but the shower was dirty (used the one at the hot spring instead). I didn't personally hear rodents in the walls of the room I stayed in this time, but I did hear that our housemates did. Bring ear plugs. This cabin is not a romantic destination in any way, so if you're looking for that, look elsewhere. For our friend group it was fine. I'd say if you are squeamish at all, find a different place to stay.

Make sure to bring plenty of drinking water! They do not have any palatable drinking water on site, but sell it for $5/gallon. They did not mention this in our reservation confirmation.

The indoor pool is empty in the winter these days, but I think that's a good thing because now all three outdoor pools are open and are very hot. When I visited for a soak a few winters ago, all the pools were tepid and that was disappointing. So, I'm glad they've figured that out.

As always, it's a beautiful place with great hiking / bird watching / scenery and a great place to shut your phone off and relax. I'll definitely be back, but will plan ahead to book a nicer cabin, or camp if the weather...

IF YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR HEALTH PLEASE READ! The view is beautiful, but I wish I never came. I was VERY excited about coming here after a friend had raved about it. We decided to make the 4.5 hour trek and stay two nights. Upon arrival I was shocked that this was the place my friend had so wholeheartedly praised. Run down cabins, dirty, trash on the ground, construction noises, etc. Didn’t seem very relaxing. Hmm.. maybe more to the naked eye. We fought past the bugs to our cabin where, to my surprise, there seemed to be more bugs INSIDE. No biggie. I’m from the country. But, be warned. Excited to use the pools, and hopeful to discover the selling feature of the property, we walked out to what they refer to as the “bat house”. Fun play on words.. I thought (bath/bat). We showered off in the rustic tin roofed barnlike structure containing the largest of the pools. Hastily, we got in expecting to relax and unwind. Instead, I soon started FREAKING OUT. I looked above and saw birds. LOTS of birds. The beams marked with their feces. A LOT of feces. I looked down in the water and there was bird feces and what I must assume also bat feces floating all through the “healing waters”. A bat flew by. I got out, showered again, and explained to my friend just how toxic guano is. I could not believe that children had been playing in these waters all day. I was outraged. Histoplasmosis is a very serious disease caused by bird and bat feces. My friend was embarrassed to say the least. We decided to try and make the most of our trip and just relax and sun bathe. However, when it came to relaxing there wasn’t much of that either. I was unable to sleep because of the sound of mice scratching around my room all night. She used to keep this place a secret to protect the property from riff raff and keep this place sacred. But now we will be letting everyone know to stay far...