Ugly Sister Hostel is located off the beaten path of many travelers as it's in a small city and it's managed by a women who are a bit offbeat, but it is completely worth the journey.
The Location
Location is easy and since most travelers to this hostel arrive by car, it's convenient that the management has provided enough parking. The hostel is located almost in the exact center of Oregon and surrounded by the Cascade Mountains. It is about two hours inland from the Oregon coast and Highway 101, which makes for a much better drive than taking Interstate 5. This part of Oregon is beautiful and the neighborhood is charming and seems relatively safe.
Rooms and Bathrooms
There are five rooms with two beds each, and one of the rooms isn't quite finished yet. Although they are "full bathrooms," only one of the bathrooms actually has a shower. The rest have beautiful claw-foot tubs which would have been perfect for soaking in, except most of the bathrooms have no locks on the doors and the bathroom we had was shared between two rooms, which meant as many as four people (we had one empty bed so it was just three).
The bedrooms do not have locks on the doors either, which wasn't too much of a worry to us since there were only two other guys staying the night we were staying and they seemed very safe. If there had been creepy people though, we would have been worried since there were no locks and no place to really lock up your stuff -- although beautiful wardrobes are provided in the bedrooms each outfitted with antique skeleton keys. The rooms are beautiful, antique, and charming -- ours had a pink painted hardwood floor and the beds have clean sheets and pillows. The management provides miscellaneous toiletries and soap in random boxes in cupboards throughout the house.
Common Spaces
This hostel has a large beautiful kitchen perfect for cooking with a deep sink and breakfast food is provided. The manager Adams encourages that hostelers partake in sleeping in and using the food provided to cook a big breakfast. There is a deck with seating and a "smoking shack" is under construction to keep smokers out of the Northwest rain while they smoke since she prefers that cigarette smoke is kept outside. There is a living room downstairs with couch, TV, and a table that can open up to accommodate many people.
Upstairs there is a common area by the stairs with a beautiful wooden bench and bookshelf for book exchange and she has also left a suitcase full of postcards there for travelers to rummage through and look at. The walls around the staircase are painted in vibrant hues and everywhere you look, there is something unusual or eccentric to look at although most everything is still under construction. There is also a game cupboard upstairs.
Summary
The atmosphere is quiet and calm and most hostelers keep to the Northwest custom of staying private, and keeping conversation at a low volume among members of there own party aside from polite social exchanges among other hostelers. The manager herself, Adams as she likes to be called, is an older women who is extremely eccentric and her enormous compassion makes up for her inexperience as a hostel manager. Adams encourages you to rummage around through her stuff and explore the hostel.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
September 2009
Location/Contact
2 Average from 1 Rating
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