This weekend was my 10 year college reunion which of course was tied to the Homecoming football game. Linfield won 73-7, by the way. We opted to stay at a small establishment a few blocks from the school, in the heart of downtown McMinnville, OR.There are not a lot of lodging options in town. There are several small chain hotels (Best Western for example…ugh), a nice local chain (Hotel Oregon) and a decent number of bed and breakfasts.

McMinnville is on the heart of Oregon wine country, and my home town (sort of). We spent time in July in town for a wine festival and found what looked like a cool 4 room “hotel”, unfortunately during the wine festival, it was sold out. We didn’t want to stay in a soulless low end chain hotel during homecoming so we checked and were surprised that Third Street Flats had an available room.

I used hotel in quotes previously because I don’t really know how to describe this place. There are 4 rooms, we stayed in Room 3, which was a large studio apartment with a great kitchen and dining room and a very comfortable living/bedroom.

The room (and common areas) were decorated with pieces by local artists, all of which were for sale. The room was styled with items from Ikea and West Elm, but had a sophisticated (not college student/recent grad) feel. The king size bed was extremely comfortable, with lovely linens but like most hotel rooms had what seemed like thousands of decorative pillows. There were ample power outlets (God I hate staying in a place with one usable outlet no where near the bed).

The kitchen was fully stocked with every utensil you would need to cook your own meals while you travel, but why would you, considering all the great local restaurants within walking distance. The bathroom was adequate, with a pedestal sink and a small shower. The bathroom had not been updated in a while, and had green linoleum and a well weathered (although clean) shower. The water was hot anytime we needed it, but the super low flow shower head did get a bit annoying (Green is Good….and this is Oregon for God sake). The paint color in the unit was very bold, almost a little too bold, but it worked. I would not opt for that color in my home though. I mentioned earlier how I struggled with defining this place as a hotel, that is because there is no lobby, no on-site staff, no real amenities outside the room (other than the town itself).

Since we arrived in town around 22h30, the innkeepers left our key in a lockbox and emailed me the code. We were a little confused as there were 4 lockboxes. We assumed that since we were in Room 3 we would use Lockbox 3. We tried for about 10 minutes trying to get into the box, with no luck.  As I was getting ready to call the owner/manager, JDEC tried the big box and it worked. Not sure what the other boxes are for. Not a bad thing, just a little confusing for us.

When we reached our room we were welcomed with a bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir and two caramels covered in dark chocolate with a touch of sea salt on top. The chocolates were fantastic….so much so, we paid a little visit to the chocolatier our second day and stocked up for home.

Booking this hotel was easy and Erin (the only person I had contact with at Third Street), was so pleasant, even giving me restaurant recommendations.

So, would I stay at the Third Street Flats again? Absolutely, without hesitation.  The room was great, the price was right and the location (for my needs) was perfect.  If you need to be in McMinnville, why stay at the Best Western when you can stay in a charming local establishment in the heart of downtown.

Have you returned to your home town and found a great little inn and rediscovered your own community?  Have you ever thought the paint was so loud you might have trouble sleeping?  Have you ever been so taken by a piece of chocolate you couldn’t wait until the store opened so you could stock?