Ashland Creek Inn

The Location

Graham, the owner of Ashland Creek Inn, has gone to great lengths to cultivate a guest-first experience. What we mean by that is, one moment, you’re minutes away from the buzzy restaurants and shops of historic downtown Ashland, and the next, you’re within the serenity of your hotel suite. Sitting on the patio, the sound of the stream below gives you the feeling that you’re worlds away.

Ashland, Oregon, is what you might call a big-small town. There’s just so much going on here. The nationally recognized Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which is a series of performances that take place from February to October, is Ashland’s most popular draw. A close second is those making their way up through Oregon wine country. You’ve also got the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument and the breathtaking Crater Lake.

The town is a foodie paradise. There are several artisanal coffee shops, the restaurants source meat and produce from local farms, and there are some great bars within walking distance from the hotel. Alchemy and Brickroom are two popular downtown Ashland restaurants/bars. 

The Ashland Creek Inn Restaurant 

Guests have exclusive use of the inn’s restaurant, Nouveau Northwestern Kitchen. And Gordon and his team go to great lengths to select in-season ingredients for the daily menu. Gourmet breakfasts are served al fresco style on your suite’s patio or in the community breakfast area, which is next to a koi pond. 

The in-house chef presents a multicourse experience, and needless to say, we were not disappointed. To start, we enjoyed a selection of fresh fruits, including strawberries, nectarines, and peaches. The main breakfast entree was a cheese soufflé with a perfectly browned top, buttered rye toast, and a citrus and berry fruit salad. Really top-quality food here.

We should also mention that we sat down to breakfast around 9 am, and by the time we returned, the room was already clean! 

The Accommodations 

We have a lot of great things about the accommodations at the Ashland Creek Inn, and one thing that we wish had gone a little differently. 

First, the things we enjoyed. The setting at the inn is hard to beat. We could hear the serene sounds of the stream below our deck just outside of our room. It was pretty zen-like.

Each suite at Ashland Creek is decorated with a nod to the town it was named for. The Copenhagen room, for example, has a modern Scandinavian feel with clean lines and minimalist furniture. The Devon exudes homey French country flair. And our room, the Sienna, had a lovely faux tapestry on the wall, antique-looking art prints, an elevated beam ceiling, and a huge jacuzzi tub. 

Now, here’s where things get a little muddled. We specifically booked the Sienna suite for its tub. 

The two-person jetted tub is even listed – twice – as a feature on the hotel website in the description of the Sienna. This tub is a real selling point, and why wouldn’t it be? How relaxing would it be to soak in there after a full day taking in the sights and sounds around Ashland?

But I digress. There were no bath salts or bubble bath provided. Trust us – we looked. We thought that was a little strange, given the prominence of the jetted tub in the room, but we gave up on the salts and thought we could still use this cool suite feature anyway.

So, we tried turning the tub on. Do you know what happened? No jets. We tried to turn the thing on for about 30 minutes, and the jets wouldn’t work. 

The next morning at breakfast, we let the owner know that there was something wrong with the jets in the tub. And he said, oh yeah, it’s been broken for a couple of weeks. 

We’ll just let that be the end of that, but it would have been nice to know because we booked that suite instead of the Morocco Suite specifically for the jetted soaking tub.

Communicating during check-in that the tub was not working would have saved us the headache of figuring the thing out for half an hour. The tub itself is pretty amazing, but it would be better if there were salts and the jets were functional.

Summing Things Up 

The Ashland Creek Inn is a great little bed and breakfast in downtown Ashland. The location is perfect for checking out the town, the food was wonderful, and the setting was superb. If you’re looking for a bed and breakfast in Southern Oregon, it’s worth checking out.