Near the pier boutique hotel — Hotel in Astoria

Booked through the business’s website and the calendar was not intuitive and I booked the wrong night. My bad. I realized my mistake the next day and tried to cancel less than 24hrs after booking. I was informed I was within 30days of the stay date so I was not eligible for a refund. I was in fact 30days from the stay date. The owner figured they were doing a favor by offering to refund 50%. The rationale: it’s a small business in a competitive market and cancellations make booking difficult so they have to be strict about their policy. To a degree, I understand this, but the benefit of being a small business is the flexibility you have when communicating directly with your customers. But before 60 days for a full refund, before 30days for 50%, and after 30days NO refund?? This is an unnecessary policy, one that I’ve never seen in any privately owned hotel/motel/b&b.

Two days after the initial 50% refund offer I reached out again and was told that offer was no longer available. So the options are to cancel for no refund so the owner can conceivably double their money by booking the room again or to keep the room and leave it empty. Congrats on the easiest money you’ve ever received, I guess. This policy works more as a customer punishment or some sort of accountability method…?

Don’t offer to book this through your website when you’re also offering it on Airbnb. I get using different platforms but you’re not standardized across the platforms. If you’re going to continue this ridiculous policy, update your website to make that refund cancellation policy WAY more obvious.

The only reason I’m giving a star for service is the caretaker was pleasant even though they are left mediating while the owner manages from outside of Astoria.

Would not recommend this place based on principle alone. I’ll update this if we end up staying here, but this experience has really soured it for me and we weren’t planning on staying that night anyway.

UPDATE: Owner is not having it. They apparently misunderstood what happened. I booked two rooms. Next day called to cancel (30days from reservation). They offered 50% refund. I had to confer with other party involved with the stay. Responded two days later wondering if the 50% was still available. It was not. Asked if I wanted to cancel for no refund. So no. I do not want to cancel my reservation just so you can potentially rebook the room and get double the money. Is that petty? Maybe. But if I am going to be forced pay for a reservation I’d rather just keep it and do with it as I please. And now they’re bolstering their star rating with fake reviews.

Change your cancellation policy timeframe to a week, even two. If you can’t book rooms within that timeframe in your Airbnb that you manage from afar, that unfortunately sounds like a...

TL; DR 5/5. Clean, cute, comfy, great location. Bring earplugs for the weird wooshy sound in 261.

This is a gorgeous old house. It comes with the creaks and random noises that old homes make. This is something that old houses just do so make of that what you will. I certainly don't fault the owners.

The decor is adorable. Lots of antique furniture. My husband and I are in room 261. Owing to how the house was built (again not a fault of the owners), this room gets cooked by the sun when it's out. There are quite a few fans in here, though, and you can open a window to cool off.

The bed is comfy, the sheets are clean and soft. The pillows are too soft for my own liking but that's honestly just a personal preference. The shower, toilet and sink are beautifully clean. The carpet is clean and soft. There are cute little signs on all the cabinets and doors that tell you where everything is.

This house is wonderfully close to downtown Astoria. Park your car out front and just walk to everything. It's great!

There is a weird sound that is in this room that sounds kind of like a TARDIS wooshing. It's keeping me awake, for sure. We tried to figure out what is making the noise but can't. My only suggestion to the owners is to provide some ear plugs to drown that sound out. Staying in an old house like this can be a little nerve wracking for some and that sound is definitely not helping. I'm a light sleeper by nature and every building has it's random noises. Some people might be comforted by the sound.

I would definitely stay here again and even still honestly rate this place 5 stars. Real effort has been put into this place to make folks comfortable and I definitely think it shows. Thank you for your hard work in keeping a gorgeous house like this...

Wonderful old home in a great location. Walkable to restaurants, food carts, and coffee shops. (I recommend The Rusty Cup for a good cuppa.) Our room was on the top floor, and ran from front to rear of home. Everything was clean and cozy, there is a claw foot tub in this room, and a stall shower. There is a small fridge, a Keurig machine, and a microwave in the room as well. Temperature was comfortable but there are space heaters if you want it warmer. Very soon after checking out, I got a text to let me know I had left my earrings behind. Luckily I was still in the area, and was able to pick them up easily. Overall we enjoyed our one night at Near the Pier, and happily recommend it to anyone that wants something different from the usual hotel stay. My only complaint, and it's not really a complaint, more just a suggestion, there is no handle on the inside of the shower door. You have to reach over the top of the rail to shut it to shower. I am only 5 feet tall, and was just able to do that. Other than that, a lovely, clean, and quiet...