What price range and what style of lodging is your preference?

Was just going to ask the same Q as mms. So much depends on what you are looking for (amenities, etc) and probably most importantly - what you want to spend.

Today - just google and google away and you should find a number of options, as well as checking out VRBO.com, etc.

Hi again
we are looking for 100-200 night some ocean view but noy totally necessary cont breakfast would be nice as well.

For Newport, we like Elizabeth Street Inn. All rooms are ocean view and the room rate includes breakfast. I will say though, I much prefer breakfast at Cafe Stephanie which is nearby.

Our neighbors like the Best Western in Bandon.

For Portland, we really like the Monaco. Even though we live in the area, we stay overnight in downtown for special events and this is our favorite spot.

In Bend for something fun take a look at the Old St Francis School which is a McMenamin property. Great location too. Sunriver Resort is only about 15 minutes south of Bend and is a great place to stay. Lots of options for rooms there.

In Mac, there are some basic hotels, but quite a few b&b's. There is a McMenamins there though, the Hotel Oregon, which I like. It has a rooftop bar, which is lots of fun in the summer. If you are interested in b&b's, the more popular ones will run more than $200/night. Do you need to be in Mac or would you mind Dundee or Newberg?

We stayed at Hotel Modera in Portland last August and it was great. The rooms were clean with great amenities and the staff was super helpful with all of our questions. Location of the hotel was within walking distance to most things we wanted to see/do and also close to the free transportation the city has to offer.

http://hotelmodera.com/

We plan on going from Newport to Tillamook them on to McMinnville to take in the Evergreen Air Museum the following day and then on back to Portland to fly home the following day after that. So would McMinnville not be the better choice?

Also what are your thoughts on staying down in the crater lake area. Does not look like much to choose from. We thought about Prospect but not much there either

Appreciate all your comments folks. You are the best.
If we can be of any help to anyone in the Tampa Bay area, feel free to let us know

I would stay in a 2 man tent to look over the beauitful Crater Lake. When I am in a nature environment -spend very little time in the room.

The Prospect Hotel is a decent place to stay- 2 choices- you can stay in the main building which is more like an inn- antique furnishings etc- or in the rooms out back which is more like a motel and is clean but certainly not luxury.

They do have great food- huge breakfasts. I have stayed there several times without complaint.

With your itinerary, yes, Mac makes the most sense. It will be a full day, so staying right there will be easiest for you. There are a couple basic hotels right near the Evergreen Aviation Museum, a Comfort Inn and a Red Lion. Both would be fine, but the area is pretty generic, as they are near the hospital and the bypass. I would opt for the Hotel Oregon in downtown as there is much more character and of course restaurants, etc but it is still only about 5 minutes from the museum. Also, it is about two blocks from Wildwood Cafe which has amazing breakfasts!

For Crater Lake, the lodge will most likely be full. That said, there are cancellations all the time so I would call, daily if need be, and see if you can get in there.

In Bend I would stay at the Oxford. I wouldn't consider Sunriver for this kind of trip.
In Portland I also like the Modera.

You will love Oregon if you have never been! I am also in the Tampa Bay area and the scenery is so different there, I fell in love! I love it here, but very different there. Crater Lake to me was well worth the drive from Portland. If I ever go again, I probably would not do it, but you have to see it at least once. The Crater Lake Lodge does book up (approx. a year in advance from what I was told) it is VERY remote there. We ended up staying at a fishing lodge/on a lake called Diamond Lake, nice lake, rooms very, very basic, but clean. To me is was like a glorified fishing camp but you do not have any choices other than C.L. Lodge or this place, unless it has changed in the last 4 years. Food was good at this place. Portland we stayed at a Marriott, cannot remember the name but plenty to choose from in that city.We loved Newport but only spent the day, not sure where to stay there. Have a great time!

If you enjoy basic - but next to a lake - in addition to Diamond Lake (where I caught 4 big beautiful Rainbow trout - try the two cute lakes east of Sunriver - one of which is named Paulina and the other East Lake?. see: http://www.eastlakeresort.com/

I think we stayed at the Paulina Lodge - which was very cute, tres rustic and there were deer (with cute fawns) outside our cabin every morning. Priceless.

There are a coupe another options at Crater Lake. One is the Mazama Village Motor Inn, which is right there. The other is the Prospect Hotel, which is further out, but still very doable for visiting CL.

And here is the Paulina Lake Lodge page: http://www.paulinalakelodge.com/lodging.html

The Newberry crater is also very scenic - and there is a mountain of obsidian nearby - where the Native Americans used to gather their arrow-heads. Sharp as can be - that lava rock.

Prospect's a wide spot in the road.
You'd enjoy yourself a lot more in Ashland than Prospect. You can drive up the back way on Dead Indian and be
to Crater Lake in about 90 minutes.
Shakespeare and the dining and wine will be rocking.
A ton of B & B's or consider Ashland Creek Inn just for a suggestion.
http://www.ashlandchamber.com/SectionIndex.asp?SectionID=103

And bbqboy: One of my ole Klamath Falls classmates has owned restaurants in Ashland for some time and here is what he said about the "burger scene" in Ashland, in addition to Jasper's -which has multiple offerings. Do you agree?

Probably the best burger in Ashland is to be found at Loft Brasserie and Bar on the Ashland Creek side of the Plaza, that’s the locals’ take on it. The place has 4 1/2 stars on Trip Advisor and tied for the best dinner restaurant in Ashland with Amuse and Peerless. (Sneak Preview) We like the evening on the patio overlooking Ashland Creek. Any of the Class of 64 who come to town can drop me an e-mail and we’ll see if we can meet up. The mention of Morning Glory is right on; we eat there every Tuesday morning after going to the Tuesday Market at the Armory on East Main. Amuse is indeed very good; but personally, I think Loft has as good of fare at a lot less cost. We also eat at Lark’s on occasion, and it is good too, but we have had it be a bit inconsistent. You need a reservation at Loft on the weekend , starting Thursday night – if that tells you anything about them.

Well yeah, but Ashland isn't really a burger town. Smithfield's is very tasty. You're not talking about Beasy,are you?
Anyway,here's a few more links:
http://www.ashlandcreekinn.com/
http://www.abbnet.com/allabout.asp
And if you are interested in
running rivers you could do that too.

Don't know that much about the Burger places but Jasper's draws rave reviews for their different type of burgers, including wild game, etc. http://jasperscafe.com/

BTW - with a name like BBQboy - you don't know about Jasper's, even if it is in Medford?

And Smithfield's did receive some acclaim from my KU classmates who are living over the hill in the Rogue Valley.

http://smithfieldsashland.com/

And as for running rivers - the Rogue River is an incredible place to Kayak, etc. It's sometimes hard to get a Kayak permit though - isn't it, but one can go rafting, with such companies as this one, but there are others: http://wildrogue.com/

Tom,I love Jasper's but it is almost to
CP.If friends visiting are foodies, we hit a loop of Rogue Creamery, Lilliebelle Chocolates and Jasper's.
I was talking about guided rafting
of which there are several providers
in Ashland. They run the Klamath,Illinois,etc.in addition to the Rogue. They also do kayaks.
https://www.google.com/#hl=en&gs_nf=1&gs_mss=ashland%20raf&tok=GPmY65Fpl58H2AmWB7DEWA&cp=15&gs_id=1o&xhr=t&q=ashland+rafting&pf=p&safe=off&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&oq=ashland+rafting&aq=0&aqi=g1g-v3&aql=&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&fp=ecb6a798695883bc&biw=1007&bih=514

http://www.blackbeardiner.com/locations/oregon.aspx
I have eaten at 7 different Black Bear Diners in 3 states.
It is one of my favorites in Bend.Which direction are you coming from to get to Prospect?
If you can't get a reservation at Crater Lake Lodge there are other choices within 1.5 hours of the lake.

We appreciate all the advise to date. It looks like we need to stay in Ashland rather than Prospect. We will be coming down from Bend and would like to go to Crater Lake, of course.
What would be the best way to do this? Looks like to far from Bend to spend much time at CL the same day. Perhaps drive on to Ashland stay there the night and come back to CL the next AM. Any advise would be appreciated.

I had another thought on the Crater Lake visit. What about on to Central Point or Medord as it would be closer to the lake. We are heading down the coast to see the REDWOODS when we leave any of these towns, so any of them would be on our way going over to the coast and on south comments please!!

There are several cabins for rent in Union Creek not far from the intersection of Rt. 62 and 230.
You have to go to Grants Pass to get on Rt. 199 to go see the Coast Redwoods. You can go on Rt. 234 through Gold Hill to avoid the Medford area.

There is nothing wrong with staying at the Prospect Hotel- its a cute place, has great meals. There is nothing else to do in town for sure but if you have been out and about all day, you may not care.

Or- you could stay at the Steamboat Inn on the Umqua- its a beautiful place on the river with little cabins, and a restaurant. There are many nice waterfall hikes close by as well as a reasonable drive to Crater Lake. It is rather high end but a nice place

I have friends who have stayed at the Union Creek cabins- says they are not too bad - they stayed there just a couple of months ago

tomfuller, I wouldn't send a foodie to a Black Bear but I would sure go myself! Great place for down-home food.

I guess it's all what people are used to - but it's not that far from Bend to Crater Lake - max a couple of hours - and a it's a pretty, relaxing drive. http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Bend&1s=OR&2c=Crater%20Lake&2s=OR Hey - it's only about two and a half hours from Bend all the way down to my old hometown of Klamath Falls, even less when we wuz hot-footing it!!!!

And after spending a few hours at Crater Lake - you can be in cute Ashland in a couple hours or so - along a nice, rolling hills drive. http://www.distancebetweencities.net/crater-lake_or_and_ashland_or/route (Just zoom in and out of these maps and you will be able to see how to get around Southern Oregon - fairly easily.)

You drive down/along the Rogue River - through Eagle Point and head past Medford (where some of my Klamath Falls friends now live) and then to Ashland (where some more of my Klamath friends live)

From Ashland - you can then go on toward the Coast through Grants Pass (where a couple more of my Klamath friends live) and there are some big Coastal Redwoods somewhere along 199 - plus Cave Junction is interesting - and then I believe there also Coastal Redwood Parks not that far from where you get to Crescent City on the very north end of the California Coast. http://www.distancebetweencities.net/crater-lake_or_and_grants-pass_or/route

From one end of the Rogue Valley (populated areas) to the other - say Ashland to Grants Pass - without traffic concerns - is what - an hour or so?

From Crescent City, CA - you can head back up the Oregon Coast - maybe taking a Jet Boat ride up the Rogue at Gold river.

And Black Bear is a great neighborhood diner/hearty eating place - with good food, good prices and plenty of it.

And BBQboy: Good info - thanks.

Uno Mas: You could also go from Crater Lake to Grants Pass and be closer to the Coast/Coastal Redwoods the next day. There are some cute places in Grants Pass along the scenic Rogue River - a river that was made famous by the old Western Writer - Zane Gray. http://www.portlandmonthlymag.com/travel-and-outdoors/articles/zane-grey-0709/

And there are other places in Grants Pass on/along the fabled Rogue River - but Morrison's gets some good reviews. http://tinyurl.com/88ges8k

tomsd
i think we will go from bend as u say to CL then to Grants Pass since we will be heading on down to crescent city then back up the coast.