The Society Hotel Hood River - Bingen

Clean, perfect, peaceful. The gentleman working there was super kind and approachable.

I stayed here last year and had a great time, but this second visit shows how it’s declining. First of all, I tried to call to see if there was any availability for the afternoon on a Saturday, and no one picked up. I got a voicemail saying to text the front desk. When I did, I got a text back saying it was open and available for visitors! Hooray! I drive the hour and a half from Portland. Upon arrival, the front desk lady, the SAME one who texted me, says they’re booked. I show her the text SHE sent, and she was confused but sent me to talk to the spa. The spa people said they were booked. I showed them the text, they blamed the front desk, and offered no alternative besides come back when there was an opening, and no apology for the fact that their wires got crossed and I drove 3 hours round trip for nothing. To be honest, though, the bath house was SO loud and full that it wouldn’t have been the relaxing experience I had last year anyway. They have enough business to not care about protecting tranquility or superior customer service. It’s a shame.

My husband and I came here for our 7th anniversary and it was a great experience. We got a cabin and made as many spa appointments as we could during our stay which was great because I was a limp noodle by the time we left. The atmosphere was definitely very zen and comforting and everyone was so nice and friendly. I would definitely come back for another special weekend with my husband.

I have been coming here since opening weekend. The spa is lovely, although you can’t use it as a paying hotel guest unless you sign up for a designated spot ahead of time, also, don’t miss your free appointment unless you want to be charged extra! As every other hotel nearby has a 3pm check in and a free early check in, don’t try to check in before 4pm here, because guess what….they apparently clean up until 3:59, unless you want to pay extra of course. Hungry? Go ahead and pay the $4 toll to drive back to hood river for food and drinks, as the over priced cafe does not have much to offer. We will now be taking our vacation trips across the river at Light Well in Hood River.

I’ve been to the Society Hotel and few times and will be back, but I can’t say I’m as excited as I used to be about it. The hotel, spa, and grounds are gorgeous. I love the common area and cafe. The spa is awesome, but it’s very kid friendly and loud sometimes. I love kids, but I didn’t use one of the pools entirely this past stay because there were 3-4 kids in it. It’s not really relaxing and kind of feels awkward. Response - Thank you for the response! Like most people, I work during the week. I’ve been during non-holiday weekends with the same problem at the hotel. Most “spas” I go to don’t allow children. Maybe considering limiting children hours. Just some feedback! Thanks.

Not impressed for the high cost. Me and a friend shared a cabin with two beds, which was $930 for 2 nights. Cabin room was very cute and cozy. Beds and linens were great. Location and the hotel grounds are beautiful. However upon check in, it went downhill. First person we encountered at the front desk was rude, showed zero interest in making us feel welcome or tell us about the hotel. While waiting for our 4pm check in time (you can check in early only for an addition fee $) we went to book our spa times. They do email you in advance to book your 1 hour spa slots, but we decided to wait until check in so we could be more flexible with our days. That was our mistake. Book your spa time ahead! They had no open slots for us and made us feel bad for not booking ahead and said “we can squeeze you in some slots” and gave us some limited options. I was assuming hotel guests would take precedence for spa time slots, but that’s not so. Outside guests can pay $35 for the same hour as us…despite the high nightly rate we paid. The spa itself is wonderful and never felt over crowded. There were small children present, but luckily their parents were not allowing them to jump in and splash around. On our second day, we received a text message at 5:00pm saying the hotel would be without power from 11pm-8:30am due to the power company performing maintenance, and we could request extra blankets if needed. No other accommodations were offered. No mention of a back up generator or what to do if you had a medical device that needed power (like a CPAP machine). They also stated if you have early morning spa slots, the sauna and hot tub would still be cold. We had 8am slots the next day, so obviously things would not be warm. Upon return to the hotel after our evening out/dinner, we inquired at the front desk what was going on and how disappointing it was. We asked if there was any way we could get hot coffee in the morning since we are both early risers. The front desk lady was clueless and just said she’d put our name “on the list” of people who had complaints. I then looked on the main power company’s website for the area and this planned power outage was posted on their main website and Facebook page 10 days prior. Shameful, the hotel knew in advance of this planned outage! The hotel should have gave us proper notice that they would have no power so we could decide if we wanted to keep our stay or not. We did email them after check out to escalate our complaints and got back excuses and a $30 gift card. Not even enough money for one of us to book an hour spa visit! I’d recommend skipping the overly priced hotel and just use the spa for $35. If you want to avoid kids, skip the weekends and book in the evening.