What to do with 24 Hours in Hood River, OR: October 11, 2020

I just wanted to write a quick article and explain as a somewhat 4 year local now, what I personally would do with 24 hours here in Hood River. Lets assume that you arrive at around 6pm on a Friday night. You have never been here before, and you want to get the most out of your 24 hour stay here, so I’ve put together a quick guide on what I personally would do given what I know…..and giving you, the reader, my local knowledge on what I would do in your shoes. Lets get started.

Hotel and Accomodations

Since your stay will be quick, I would make a reservation or check in person at one of two nationally known chains, either our local Best Western Hotel or the Holiday Inn Express here in Hood River. The reason I recommend these for a quick stay is that you know you’ll get a decent room for the rates they have, and most of the time you can just walk into these places, but if you are coming in summer be sure to make a reservation. There are lots of local options, but for this quick 24 hour period, I’m assuming you know nothing and want something quick that will do the job and decent quality for the price. So, lets check in first to some of these hotels and if I had to pick between the big three national hotels here locally I think I would go with the Best Western here in Hood River. They have lots of good things to make your stay comfortable, such as a in house restaurant, a walkway behind the hotel in case you want to take an after dinner stroll along the Columbia River, very scenic by the way.

The Hampton Inn and Suites in Hood River is another nice choice. This is within walking distance to town, coffee shops on the river as well as really nice places to eat. What I like about this is that you are pretty much within walking distance of most of what Hood River has to offer. Not that you are not within from the previous Best Wester, but the Hampton Inn and Suites is a great choice for the big reason of being within walking distance for both downtown Hood River as well as the river. Right next door to the Hampton Inn and Suites is the Kobe Sushi Restaurant of which I did a slight article a while back if you care to read about that.

Lastly, there is the Holiday Inn Express, which is a national chain so you know what you are getting into, but that is not really within walking distance of anything as you would have to drive into town practically unless you want about a mile and a half to two mile walk into town where there isn’t much scenic things to see with your walk. This may be a cheaper option, but this is not far from a great Mexican Restaurant in Town the Ixtapa Mexican Restaurant. I did a quick review of this one as well.

So, the three big restaurants in town, with some of the reasons why you may want to consider them. Overall, I think the most popular is the Best Western, and if I had 24 hours and knowing what I know, I think I’d go with the Best Western because of both price and the convenience of their location. There is a McDonalds and a Starbucks just outside plus they have their own bar and grill inside the hotel with great service and the view from their restaurant is just great!!

Here is my three picks in order:

1.) Best Western Hood River

2.) Hampton Inn and Suites

3.) Holiday Inn Express

Keep in mind this is if I knew I was going to be here for just a 24 hour period, this is what I would go with. I would add that if you want to walk a lot, the Hampton would be number one in my opinion….so keep that variable in mind for my choice for top three places to stay for a 24 hour period.

There are a lot of bed and breakfasts but I think I would keep that for an extended stay or after you visit and get an idea of what the town is like.

Evening Meal

This one is a bit tricky. It totally depends on what you like, but there are a few places which I feel you can’t go wrong while being able to experience a lot of great things Hood River has to offer.

If…..I were here for 24 hours or whenever I have a guest, one of my favorite places to go is Full Sail Brewery. Located next to the Hood River Cinemas, this brewery has a great view, and this is my pick for an evening meal after you have booked your room. So, this place does have kid meals, and also has a great view of the Columbia Gorge as well as a nice selection of beer brewed right in house. The food is absolutely amazing, with pretty much everything I have tried here being something to come back for. I haven’t had a bad experience yet in this restaurant and if you are here for 24 hours only I would check this one out as your evening meal, and this place is great with or without kids. So the versatility of this restaurant is amazing.

Other notable options are Solstice Pizza, not only kid friendly, but the do have some of the most amazing food in town as well. Plese note that Hood River has so many amazing places to eat and to choose from that it is hard and difficult to pick a place for a quick evening meal, but this is my opinion on this one.

Breakfast

For breakfast…….I have a few places in mind that serve amazing breakfasts. For starters the Best Western Hotel which I mentioned earlier has an amazing breakfast menu. I have eaten there on more than a few occasions and if you happen to be staying there do not hesitate to have their breakfast. Again, with an amazing morning view of the Columbia River Gorge you will not be disappointed.

Otherwise, lets say you want to go out in town for a nice breakfast, I would recommend the following places, and again this is just my opinion at this time of writing:

1.) Egg River Cafe — Everything here is amazing and they are specifically a breakfast place and I can vouche for the fact that everything on the menu is spectacular!

2.) Kickstand — Really great place for breakfast and the wide assortment of coffee and coffee drinks makes this part coffee shop and part really really great restaurant. If you are lucky enough to get into this place when they still have donuts, I do believe they are some of the best donuts I have ever had!

After Breakfast: Downtown Hood River

Downtown Hood River has really amazing places to see and shop. I do recommend heading after your morning breakfast at Egg River or Kickstand to downtown Hood River to do a bit of walking and check out some of the local shops. They have a lot of things from small bookstores, to clothing stores, to places to eat and drink. The walk should last a while to work up an appetite until lunch, but I do have some recommendations for that as well.

In downtown Hood River there are great places to get some lunch such as Bodas Kitchen or if you are vegetarian perhaps Basik Acai Cafe in downtown Hood River has something you would like?

After Lunch: Riverwalk on the Columbia Gorge

A nice after lunch walk may be needed, so why not hit the river for a little walk along the scenic Columbia River Gorge? If you are in downtown I suggest popping in a place like Stoked Coffee or Solstice Pizza into your GPS but technically the river is within walking distance from downtown so either way you will be there within minutes. Along the river, you will find such great places such as Stoked Coffee or Solstice, but since I will assume you already had lunch you should check out the river which is lined with a nice walking path built by the city to accommodate many walkers, and cyclists. The route along this walkway goes quite far as you can walk a few miles if you feel like it. The wind is always blowing so be sure to hang on to any hats or other things which may fly away. The walk also has a place for kids to play if they have a lot of energy to burn, this may be the perfect place to let them have their fun after your lunch.

Conclusion: 24 Hours can be packed with plenty to do in Hood River

I hope you have enjoyed this quick 24 hour “What do I do while in Hood River” and I hope that I have given you a great starting point for a few things to do within a 24 hour period while in Hood River. There are, of course, many many things to do here, but I tried to keep it simple and all within reason and hopefully low stress. I hope you find Hood River to be quite relaxing and enjoy many of the great restaurants and please email me if you have any suggestions at [email protected] for your suggestions or how I may improve this article.

Thanks for reading and enjoy Hood River!

Additional Links

See Also: https://www.discoverhoodriver.com/western-antique-aeroplane-and-automobile-museum-hood-river-waam-august-28-2020-part-1/

More things to do in Hood River: https://www.discoverhoodriver.com/things-to-do/

For more info on Hood River in General: https://visithoodriver.com/

For reference, the New York Times did one that is actually pretty good and wanted to show it for reference: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/06/travel/36-hours-in-hood-river-ore.html