Lakecliff Inn

A 1908 Craftsman-style summer home on a bluff above the Columbia River in Hood River, Oregon, run as a four-room bed and breakfast. Original woodwork, a wraparound porch facing the river, and the kind of long-stay continuity that comes from a property that's been a B&B since the 1980s. The Lakecliff is what people mean when they reference Columbia Gorge B&B — the original.

Hood River's lodging market has a few hotels and a handful of inns; this is the small, view-first end of the inn category.

The setting

The inn sits on Westcliff Drive, just west of downtown Hood River, on a bluff that drops to the Columbia River — the working windsurf-and-kiteboard channel that put Hood River on the map. The view from the porch and most rooms is across the gorge to Washington's White Salmon side. Walking distance to downtown Hood River is doable but on a hill — most guests drive the five minutes.

The drive in from Portland is an hour east on I-84; from Mt. Hood, 45 minutes north.

The building

A Craftsman-style 1908 summer home — clapboard exterior, deep eaves, exposed rafters, river-rock fireplaces, and the dark-stained interior woodwork the Pacific Northwest Craftsman vocabulary still references. Materials are clapboard, fir, and stone. The wraparound porch is the property's most-used common space; the lobby/parlor has the original fireplace and bookcases.

Independently owned. The B&B has been running since the early 1980s.

The rooms

Four rooms across the main house — kings and queens with private bathrooms, fireplaces in some rooms, river views from most. From around $245. Bathrooms have been updated; furniture is period-appropriate. The river-view rooms are the ones to ask for; the back rooms face the garden.

Food & drink

A full breakfast is included — three courses, served in the dining room with river views. There's no on-site dinner. For meals out, downtown Hood River is five minutes east — Solstice Wood Fire (pizza), Celilo Restaurant, Riverside (the brewery district), Pfriem Family Brewers, and Double Mountain Brewery are all within 10 minutes. The Mt. Hood Railroad's lunch trains depart from downtown.

On the property

A small B&B amenity stack:

• Full breakfast included
• Wraparound porch with river views
• Garden
• River bluff with views to the Washington side
• Open seasonally — typically March through November

Who it's for

• Couples doing a Columbia Gorge weekend who'd rather have a 1908 porch than a hotel room
• Wind-and-kiteboard travelers who want a quiet base
• Architecture and Craftsman-period folks
• Repeat Hood River visitors who've outgrown the chain hotels

Who it's not for

• Travelers wanting a year-round operation — the inn closes for winter
• Anyone needing on-site dinner, spa, or pool
• Families with young kids — the inn is small and quiet

Nearby

Downtown Hood River — the brewery district (Pfriem, Double Mountain, Full Sail), the Hood River Hotel, the windsurf shops, the cherry orchards in season — is five minutes east. The Hood River Fruit Loop scenic drive (cherries, pears, hard cider) is a 35-mile loop south of town. Mt. Hood and Timberline Lodge are 45 minutes south. Multnomah Falls and the Columbia River Gorge waterfalls are 40 minutes west. The Bonneville Dam fish ladder is 30 minutes west. White Salmon, WA — and the Husum kayak put-in on the White Salmon River — is 15 minutes north across the bridge.