Anchor Inn Resort — Hotel in Lincoln City

A charming themed boutique hotel. Some ups, some downs, mostly ups. I traveled with my two daughters and myself. And stayed only one night.

First, let me say, I have spent 10yrs working in hotel marketing. I'm a little biased and picky. But my experience is with boutiques and not franchises.

This is a lovely themed hotel. I love what they owners have done with the place. Our experience overall was really enjoyable. My children loved the patio, the fire pit, the sand pit, playing Croquet out back and I appreciated that we were able to walk to the beach from the hotel. This was the first time my children ever saw the ocean, so being able to check in and then walk to the beach for an hour, was fantastic. Also, there is a great breakfast place across the street, I will mention at the end of my review. Also, the amenities room and the game room are just wonderful. If you are traveling with kids and have some dirty laundry, this is GREAT. I really appreciated having the free washer and dryer there. Sure, a chain hotel might have this on site, and might have more units, but it will be coin operated. This was such a life safer.

They also have an onsite restaurant/bar. We ordered the pizza. It was good, but I don't know if it was worth $15 for a 10 inch that could have been from a frozen box.... but.. you know, you're paying for the convenance. They brought it to our room, and I didn't have to drive some place. After a long drive getting into town, this was nice. Dad had himself an Old Fashion and we roasted s'mores. The patio area is great, and like I said, if you have kids, they can play and socialize with other kids. And there were a number of other families staying when I stayed. Who also made use of the space and also did s'mores. The s'more kits are a nice touch, btw.

My, Nit-Picks.

While the website mentioned the Key-less mobile access, I would STRONGLY recommend if the owner is reading these reviews, you need to update the website. THEY DO NOT HAVE AN ONSITE LOBBY. It's a virtual self service lobby. You don't go to a human to check in. You get a text message, and download the app. Now this is cool. I use this for my AirB&B rentals. BUT.... I all I saw on the website was "Office hours are 11am-5pm daily." - which left me panicked that I had to get there by 5pm to check in. No where on the website is AUTOMATED CHECKIN mentioned. GUYS, this is a SELLING point. It was awesome. But I rushed to get there by 5pm, so this is my nit pick. Spell this out somewhere on your website. Let people know the check in process. I even walked around the hotel confused until I found the little check in sign by the lobby. You've already got some great automation in place. You need to get this detail automated to make people aware. Just a minor detail.

Second nit-pick - The cabins don't have AC.... like really? Not a huge deal. There was a fan in the closet... but.... not sure I wanted to leave my windows open and it was a touch warm in our cabin. I dunno, if the automation is saving you money, consider investing in a mini-split or overhead ceiling fans. Something.

Third nit-pick - I'm a not a huge dude. And I'm used to showering in an Airstream. But, if you are a tall person and overweight, which according to the CDC 78% of Americans are now considered obese, well, you will think the showers in the cabins are small. I thought it was kind of fitting. But the shower head placement in #2 is weird. I didn't take a photo, but it's as if they want all the water out on the floor. Still, good enough for me. Just a minor detail. Not going to ruin your stay in the slightest.

FINAL THOUGHTS This hotel was fun. We will return, and I'll bring my whole family. I will recommend this place as well to friends and family. This is a great choice. There is also a great breakfast place within walking distance called Otis Cafe. I highly recommend...

First, the location is a bummer. If you're sensitive to noise, be aware they supply ear plugs for a reason.

You can stay in the main hotel building or a set of "cabins". There is a respectable historical offering in the main building.

The pizza and bar is only open select nights. The "convenience" store is an honor system for candy, soda, single serving cereal, ice cream. Breakfast sandwiches and burritos were listed but not there the 4 mornings we were there.

There is a great "Amenities Room" that is available to guests anytime (with a lock code). The room has an extra Keurig machine and pods, hot chocolate and tea, towels, blankets, trash bags, toilet paper, paper towels, mugs, toothbrushes, toothpaste, razors, ear plugs, small bags of complimentary ice, blankets for dogs, s'mores roasting sticks, a washer and dryer and a large bookshelf of DVDs.

There is another room available that has a couple of small arcade type games, large yard games, some board games and a NES setup.

The courtyard was popular. There are three propane fire areas, large enough for 6-8 people to sit around. There is one wood burning fire pit that is also large. A couple of picnic tables and a separate covered sand box area with toys.

There is no daily housekeeping. You can change your towels out yourself via the amenity room.

The pet relief area is through the side parking lot and behind the building. Not a quick walk. There is also a wood burning fire pit area, corn hole and a mini golf style course but with mallets and croquet balls.

The "beach access" is a bit deceiving. Technically, you walk out the back of the property to the road that leads to the beach. You are walking through blocks of neighborhood before you're at the beach.

Accommodating the dogs was a huge deal and it seemed every other guest has their dogs too. The property supplies water bowls, blankets and towels specifically for them.

If this were somewhere other than along the hwy and the rooms were cleaner, it would easily be one of our favorite spots.

Do yourself a favor and hit up the Pacific Grind coffee shop around the corner. The breakfast sandwiches, bagels and burritos were unbelievably good. After we found them, it was breakfast only from there! Prices were such as unbelievably good.

There are two bigger family cabins, 1 and 13. We didn't get the family cabin we reserved and they were not able to accommodate us so we were in the smaller of the two that is also the closest to the...

I stayed one night and wish I hadn't. To start with the positives, it is a cute place with a very different atmosphere that gives it a lot of charm. The room was tidy and there were some complementary drink and food, which was a nice surprise. It is also in a great location with lots of sights and attractions nearby.

As for the negatives, it was almost strenuous to get checked in and into our room. The instructions to find the "front desk" were not clear and they force you to call the on-site staff from a room away. The process is weird and convoluted. They were also not the most inviting and were a little rude. The phone app key does not work if you don't book on their site, but they don't bother to contact you to correct it before you arrive. There are about 3 different locks on the door with no indication on which one the app will unlock. It took about 25 minutes from parking to putting stuff down in the room. Additionally, Anchor Inn says they are open to pets. On the room instructions they lay out the charges for any damages or advanced cleaning. One of these is a $50 charge for pet hair in the bedding. I find it absurd that someone who brings their pet has to ensure they do not leave behind fur on something that should be washed after every stay anyways. It made me question if they washed it at all.

The room did not look anything like the photos for the king size room. The layout was completely differently and entirely cramped. The bathroom is between the bedroom and living room so if one person is occuping the bathroom, then you cannot move between rooms. There is also not enough parking. We came back later in the evening after already being checked in and the parking lot was completely full. It doesn't make a lot of sense when you have guests who can't park at their hotel.

There was alot I did not get to try which may add to the experience like the restaurant and activities, but I feel like for $200 a night it was absolutely not worth it. Overall, it was a cute hotel with a nice atmosphere, but it was not organized well and did not live up to what most hotels/resorts can offer for...