Whale Cove Inn — Hotel in Newport

Please keep in mind that this hotel charges upwards of $500 per night and they have only 8 rooms.

Pros:

Absolutely stunning view and location. HUGE spacious rooms. Super clean rooms, common areas, and grounds. Very polite staff. Gorgeous shower. Actually saw a whale in the cove.

Cons:

Breakfast. The breakfast is stunningly mediocre. For $500 a night, you expect something a few points above a Holiday Inn Express. See picture. Only hot items are scrambled eggs and bacon which if you show up closer to 9 AM is empty and you have to wait 15-20 minutes for someone to fill back up. They had ONE guy cooking in the back AND cleaning up front of house. I had to ask for more eggs "Are you going to make more eggs?" him "if you want me to", uhhh, yes? I asked if they can do an omelette, "we're not allowed to". Ok, so don't want to make custom breakfast and you have to ASK to get food brought out. It was just insulting. Even a $150 a night Embassy Suites does an omelette station. So basically, the owners want to charge Ritz-Carlton prices but provide Motel 6 service.

Room furniture and amenities. I feel like the owners ran out of money after building this beautiful building. I was cold at night and felt that the comforter was lumpy, I looked at it in the morning and it seems like they went out and bought the cheapest comforters, all the stuffing had bunched up into individual pockets, see picture. The furniture in general looks like it was bought with longevity in mind and not comfort. The couch is hard as a rock. The furniture is run of the mill cheap stuff. Again, for $500 a night, you expect a very nicely appointed room, not so much the case here. Then, in the evening when you turn on the various lights and lamps, you will notice that the light bulbs are different. Some bulbs are a nice warm white like it should be in a luxury space, and some are harsh BRIGHT white like a flourescent light in the 3rd world. See attached image. So it seems like there's really not a lot of thought put into some of these environmentals, again $500 a night. The bathroom looks gorgeous but then, again, looks like the owners cheaped out at the last minute, beautiful counters but then no cabinets and exposed plumbing, see picture. Who does that?

There's a beautiful gas log fireplace outside on the grounds, asked when they turn it on "Oh we never turn that on". WHY? Why would you have this beautiful outdoor fireplace with a stunning view (see picture), and then never turn it on? $500 a night.

You should know that you can't actually see the sunset. You can see the cove, you're facing north not west. To the west, where the sun sets, you have a line of trees, so you don't see the setting sun, you just kind of get the glow. See picture.

Your private outdoor bathtub is not really private, you can be seen from the breakfast area balcony, QUITE clearly. Bring a bathing suit. This is a huge design flaw, they should have put the tubs on the other side of the balcony and that way the walls would have shielded the view.

Front desk is not staffed 24/7. Only 9 am to 7 pm or 7 am to 9 pm, I don't recall.

Finally, they have the audacity to place an envelope on your desk asking you to pay a gratuity to the cleaning staff. You NEVER do that, it's just tacky. If the owner's are so concerned about their cleaning staff, they should pay them a living wage. Secondly, for me to tip cleaning staff, they need to do something a little beyond just making the bed, dusting, vacuuming, the cleaning staff at Motel 6 do the same work and the hotel doesn't ask you to tip them. Now, if they do a spectacular job, a tip is of COURSE warranted. Not so much.

I really wanted this place to be nice. I really wanted the area to have a nice, luxury hotel, I really want to support local businesses, I really want to spend $500 a night for a weekend getaway and be pampered, but that is NOT what you will get. My biggest problem with this place is that you pay $500 a night and you get $150 a night service and amenities plus a...

We stayed at the Whale Cove Inn in mid-October 2021 and had an a wonderful time. This tops the list of hotels we have visited during this trip to Oregon.

The Pros: It is a very small hotel, with 3 floors, and 8 or 9 rooms. It was fully booked while we were here, and in the 4 days we have been here, I only saw or heard another guest one time... Earlier this evening when using their guest PC to print a label for some stuff I'm shipping home. It's very quiet here.

The view is PHENOMENAL. Like absolutely amazing. Landscaping is also great.

While probably not popular with some folks, for us, there is no bigger plus than this being a child-free hotel. We don't have kids for a reason, and really enjoyed not being subjected to other people's loud, untrained children while on vacation.

The rooms are spacious and the bathtub on the roof is wonderful. Room was immaculate.

Staff was pleasant and welcoming. We don't usually ask for much after check-in, but they did rush out from behind the desk earlier today when they saw our hands full and me struggling for my room key... That's a win in my book. They also loaned us packing tape for a box within seconds of my asking if they had any.

Free wifi throughout the hotel, in addition to a free PC (albeit an incredibly outdated and slow one), and free printer available to guests, located in common area on the 2nd floor. This came in handy for us when we needed to print a shipping label.

Located in a great area with lots of state parks, hiking trails, small towns, things to do, etc. Despite that, it feels quiet and secluded, and at night all you hear is the relaxing crash of the waves.

The Cons:

No room service... I think. (We didn't ask, but no menu or available hotel amenities sheet in the room leads to that conclusion).

Restaurant hours ambiguous, as the door says closed Tuesday, so we went elsewhere to eat and it seemed to be open when we returned. Not a huge deal, but something I'd address.

Their famous breakfast was unavailable, which is understandable due to Covid (and add another plus, as they're definitely covid-compliant, masked, etc.), but we had heard great things about their breakfast so were a bit let down that they didn't find a socially-distanced or in-room alternative.

If I'm being nitpicky, which I famously am, the rooms have kitchenettes, featuring 3 bottles of a la carte wine, a wine opener, glassware for red, white, and water, as well as, the basic coffee setup and mugs. However, despite having sinks and cabinets, they do not have any plates or silverware in the kitchenette. While probably easily remedied by a call down to the front desk, it would be nice to have this prepped in each room by default... Especially during covid when people may be eating take out more often, or if (like us), you don't like to bother the hotel staff much after checking in, especially if you just need a knife to slice an apple after the front desk has closed and you don't want to inconvenience someone by making them come up to you. Yes, it's their job, but I'm not a pain in the arse as a rule, so that's why I think basic plates and cutlery would be an improvement that I would suggest!

No other major cons. And despite the listed cons, they were really just small things for us. A regular hotel guest would probably just call down and get it, but that's not our style, so it wasn't really a huge deal for us! We really enjoyed our visit at the Whale Cove Inn, will recommend to our friends and family, and will definitely be back when we return to Oregon!

Thanks for...

This is a beautifully appointed inn, with a spectacular view of Whale Cove. The desk clerk, Cam, greeted us and took us to our room. We could not have been happier with the suite. It was nicely furnished, spotlessly clean and had a large tile deck with a two person spa. It was also quiet. No noise from the other 7 guest rooms. In the evening we went to dinner at the Restaurant Beck on the first floor of the Inn. Reading the menu we had our doubts about the "foraged" food with "foreign" names, but having committed to Whale Cove Inn for the night we decided to give it a try. We were asked if we had reservations (it was Saturday night). We did not, but the maitre de, a lovely man with a pony tail, informed us that he would have a window seat available soon if we cared to wait. The lobby is plush and comfortable with that incredible view of the cove, so we waited. Within 15 minutes we were seated at a perfect table for viewing the cove and the ocean beyond. Our server, a dark haired woman whose name I wish we had caught, was friendly and funny and very good. We ordered Manhattans and they came in a chilled crystal cocktail glass with a long stemmed, pitted Amarena cherry. For our main course we chose the American Wagyu Beef Bavette. The menu read that it would be served with roasted carrot cream, shaved carrot, micro mustard, local foraged mushroom, brown butter crumb, citrus fermented cream and roasted carrot. We requested to share one order since we are not big eaters. As you might imagine, our plates were not heaped, but each ingredient bloomed with surprise and was cooked with finesse. The beef simply superb, tender, medium rare. Restaurant Beck also includes a serving of warm, artisan bread while one awaits the main course, and it comes with a special butter. We couldn't have been happier. I mean, how often does one get to eat off white linen tablecloths and napkins with candlelight, overlooking a mesmerizing view? If you are interested in comfort food, as in large portions of well known dishes, Restaurant Beck is not for you. But if an occasional special experience with food interests you, by all means give this lovely, intimate restaurant a try. In the morning the Inn serves a continental breakfast from 8am to 9:30. The cook Sunday morning was Todd, and he had laid out a spread that included sausage and bacon, quiche, scrambled eggs, a fresh out of the oven frittata and every other possible choice...fruit, juices, cottage cheese, pastries, waffles, toast, etc., etc. Todd told us many stories about the cove and pointed out where one could see the small, white seals lounging on the rocks as well as where the whales could be seen...not in the cove. A lovely conversationalist! We hated to leave, but when we checked out at 11, Cam was there for us to say our goodbyes. This is not an ordinary hotel experience, but for at least a once-in-a-lifetime...