Historic Union Hotel and Apartments — Hotel in Union

DON’T STAY AT THIS HOTEL, especially women! Here’s why: ||||The first thing you’ll be greeted with is the smell of marijuana wafting from the basement apartments. The trash can on the front sidewalk is overflowing, and the flowers in the landscaping are choked with weeds. The lawn is always desperately in need of mowing and covered in dandelions. Once you enter the lobby, you’ll notice a musty, unpleasant smell emanating from the kitchen, which is piled high with dirty dishes that have been there for at least a year. Strange, because the dining room no longer serves food, and the bar is closed down. Neither is licensed, and therefore not inspected by the health department or the OLCC,  although sometimes the owner still serves guests anyhow.         ||||When Charlie, the owner, checks you in, he may be pleasant, or he may be aloof or possibly downright gruff, depending on his mood. He might even be intoxicated. Look out for mistakes when this happens, such as sending you to the wrong room. He will take your money and give you your keys. That’s it. No one in this boutique hotel will help you with your luggage, even if you are elderly or disabled, and all guest rooms but one are up a steep staircase on the second floor. There is no elevator. He’ll tell you where the TV room is, but the TV doesn’t work. The lobby is beautiful, but dirty. And despite these enticing words on the hotel’s website…  ||||“Feel free to rest in your peaceful guest room or join your party in the parlor for a game of chess or a nice book by the fireplace and a cup of tea.” ||||…you will not be allowed to enter the parlor. It’s off limits to guests. You can peek in, and you’ll see the owner has taken it over as his personal living room and office. Piles of papers, books, clothing, boxes and other personal belongings are everywhere. It’s a mess. And the big screen TV that runs 24/7 in the parlor is for the owner’s viewing pleasure, not yours. No tea by the fire, no games on the pool table, no sitting on the couch. This is not because of the pandemic. It’s a very spacious room. This is literally where Charlie sleeps at night.  ||||There are about 15 guest rooms, each with a theme, that were created and appointed by previous owners. They are clean, and the décor is fun and imaginative. Most rooms have claw foot tubs. The Northwest Room has a jacuzzi tub. However---the house rule is, no bathing after 9:30 p.m.. It irritates the owner. So, if you plan on enjoying the town of Union, and it is a wonderful small town, you need to hurry back to your room before the deadline passes if you wish to take a relaxing soak. ||||A sign on your room door will offer you meals during specific times. Forget about it. There is no food service, either in the dining hall or delivered to your room. Again, the dining room is as alluring as the parlor, but don’t count on hanging out in there. There is coffee in the morning, but no muffins or any type of fruit, juice or snacks to go with it. ||||If it’s warm weather and you’re in one of the apartments, prepare to roast. Each room has one small air conditioner, which is woefully inadequate for the suites. There are no window screens, so opening them at night will leave you with moths and bugs in your room. And if you’re in the Cottage Room, you won’t even have that option. The windows in that room do not open at all. If there is a fire, there are extinguishers in the hallways…but they’re expired. ||||Fire is definitely something to be concerned about, as the entire third floor of the hotel is in shambles. Long neglected, its rooms have not been attended to in years. Dust and lots of exposed wood make this floor a tinderbox. There is extensive mold from roof leaks, and in some places the ceiling is entirely gone. That would explain the dead pigeon and the live bat that were found on the second floor, in front of the guest rooms, during my stay. And you should be prepared for the massive number of flies---so many in my bathroom window that the dead ones kept piling up and needed constant removal. And then there were the hornets that kept getting into my room (windows were shut) from the trees outside.    ||||You will be paying $98 to $150 a night for this experience. You won’t get the amenities that are promised. What you just might get, like I did along with several other women who were staying there at the same time, is harassment and controlling, dominating, arrogant, and at times, simply bizarre behavior from the male owner. It’s hard to believe that a hotel such as this could be run by someone so unprofessional. It’s sad that this lovely historic building has been allowed to become so run down. I'm a travel writer, who booked an extended stay here to study the history of Union. I  visit historic hotels and B&B's all the time. I had dreamed of staying at The Historic Union Hotel for years, envisioning a warm, nostalgic retreat. Instead, that dream turned into a nightmare.||||If you love historic properties, I would recommend The Lodge At Hot Lake Springs, which was just renovated and recently reopened. It’s only a few miles up the road and promises to be an exciting (and much better run)...

This place is an overpriced, sketchy dump that is trying to be a historic landmark but the experience of staying here is like staying in a nightmare thrift store haunted by the ghost of that mean grandpa who ruins every Thanksgiving by yelling at the relative who got her nose pierced. The owner/front desk guy will be watching "Bonanza" in another room when you arrive and will make you wait for a commercial break before he checks you in. He will be rude, grumpy and angry that you have the audacity to show up and pull him from his picture shows. Don't try to check in before 4:00 or after 9:00pm.

There is a sketchy trailer park across the street but don't expect any modern safety conveniences like having someone at the front desk, much less cameras or keycard entry or a security guard. Anyone can wander in at any time and mosey through the musty hallways, and apparently they do. The Union Hotel is a hotspot for criminal cases in the county.

The rooms haven't been updated since sometime in the late 50s. The curtains are shredded and creepy, the ceiling fans don't work unless the lights are on, the barely-functioning sinks are in the bedroom, everything is dusty and old, and the window AC units don't cool the whole room. On the plus side, according to the website, Clark Gable is rumored to have gone fishing at Catherine Creek and very well may have stayed here.

Rosie, the dog, is pretty cool. She and a few other dogs hang out in the lobby and sometimes wander into your room. She is unleashed at all times and followed me to the city park when I went over there. Still gotta pay extra for those "pet rooms" though in case someone is allergic!

I grew up in this town. When I was a kid this place was closed down, and when they got it up and running again I was excited to stay here when I came back to visit. The aggressively uncaring, provincial attitude of the guy who runs it makes me realize it should be demolished.

I talked to several different groups who were at the same event and stayed at the hotel who had similar experiences. I would consider staying anywhere else in the Grande Ronde Valley other than the Union Hotel if you value your money, safety, and time. Apparently the city of Union maintains and operates some nice airbnbs built by the Forest Service if La Grande hotels are...

We like to stay at historic hotels especially small ones off the beaten path. The Union hotel has been on our list for a while. This place comes across to me as a once grand hotel that was renovated years ago and then allowed to decline. There appears to be another round of renovations going on now, but judging by the age of some of the debris piles around the property, it is going very slowly or possibly not progressing at all. Our room was renovated but the work was thoughtless and shoddy by my standards.

Anyone who has any stability issues walking or balancing should avoid this place. No elevators. Tripping hazards, walkways obstructed, poorly installed fixtures that would easily come loose if you grabbed one for balance, and much of the first floor, as far as I could see is a cluttered hoard of knick knacks. The beautiful game room touted on the website has been closed off as the owner 's personal living room and office with Fox news playing on a gigantic TV all day.

The parking in back is not really available to guests in favor of the owners cars and trailers plus most of it is used for an overgrown RV park and piles of junk and appliances from the hotel. So you'll need to park on the main road through town in front of the hotel. Which doesn't always feel safe due to rampant speeding and careless driving in town, but worked out ok for us.

On the upside, it's a very cool historic building, the owner is friendly and dogs are welcome.

Directly across the street is a Sinclair dino mart which is the hub of activity in town. The main entertainment seems to be for locals to burn rubber out of there in their huge trucks. If you want any sleep,...