McMenamins Grand Lodge

Reviews 5

TO

Toys and Books And Books And Toys

The building and history are great. 5 stars for that. The food is ok. 3 stars for that. Oh. I like Ruby Spa. Everyone there has been nothing but kind and polite. That said, I live in FG and come here at least 12 times a year. 2-4 times a month in the summer. I know who the best servers are. They are kind and engaging and happy. There are 3 of them. Everyone else is an @$$hole and I dont use that term lightly. They are rude, arent friendly even if you try to be friendly, arent HELPFUL (sorry, all our mustard bottles are being used, sorry, we are all out of high chairs [even when we point out that there are several sitting at tables that were recently vacated all around us] sorry, if you want a milkshake you have to get it in the bar and leave your 1 and 3 year olds out here alone, "sorry/not sorry" that we seated you 45 minutes ago and havent been back to even offer a glass of water..." I am just over this place. I dont care how nice it is outside or how good the band is or how bad I want Cajun tots. I kept coming back thinking that maybe I just was running into employees who are having a bad day or are new on the job... But after spending 4 hours here today and getting service from the ironworks grill, rubys spa, doctors office, Bobs bar and the front desk and 80% of them are rude... And all my other experiences here the last year... I realize its the culture. They need a total overhaul staff and culture, and some training in customer service... Maybe some morale boosters. I would only recommend this place to 2 people: 1. Those who want to be treated with complete disdain and know what it feels like to really really annoy a total stranger. 2. Out-of-towners who want first-hand experience interacting with a real Portland Hipster in all their assholiness. If you really want to be treated like pond scum, ask around for stamps on your passport.

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FO

FoxLore Beryll

My partner and I stayed at the Grand Lodge while we were visiting from Dublin. Our stay was a complete disaster. We booked online about three months before our visit just in case, and it wasnt until I could no longer cancel our booking (three days before our arrival) did the hotel inform us that the Grand Lodge would be undergoing renovations. Which included, sawing and hammering right outside our window. The hotel waited until it would cost us to cancel our reservation to inform us of the renovations. When we arrived the staff was crass and even though we asked to be place away from the renovations, we were given a room right beside it. The crew kept hammering in the rooms across from ours and banging on our walls at 8am. The Grand Lodge is completely over priced in food and drink, and many of their prices for food are not listed correctly on their menus, including a pizza my partner and I ordered that was listed as 10.00 but turned out to be over 30.00, because of "extra costs." During our visit, two young men managed to get upstairs where the guests rooms were, and started trying to open unlocked doors and push their way into rooms. I can only guess they managed to slip upstairs because of the renovations which were completely unsupervised after about 6pm. When I brought it to the attention of the hotel, they sent someone up to check quickly upstairs but did not make any effort to make sure we and other guests felt safe, or ever confirm that the men were asked to leave. I will say that the atmosphere of the Grand Lodge is very unique and the spas around the lower levels looked nice, however, that is about the extend of my positive praise for the hotel. I am sad that this was our experience here, because this was the first time my partner was visiting America.

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JO

Joshua Agee

Disclaimer: I have never stayed as a guest at McMenamins Grand Lodge being that I live in Forest Grove. This review primarily reflects my experiences using the soaking pool, restaurants and bars on campus. McMenamins Grand Lodge is, like other locations, a beautifully restored older building. This particular location, evidently, served as the Oregon Freemason chapters Grand Lodge and actually resides directly next to the current Grand Lodge and a retirement community built by Masons. From the dim lighting, to the ghost stories involving apparitions of a woman wandering the halls, to the intricate plumbing hanging from the ceiling of the basement, this place has a striking and slightly creepy atmosphere. I usually begin my visit with a drink or two at one of the several bars on campus ($4 well drink happy hour, specialty cocktails are usually $7-10). The second drink I ask to be served in a plastic cup so that I can utilize the Japanese style soaking pool ($5 for the general public, free for hotel guests). Inlaid stone and native Japanese botanicals surround the soothingly warm and jetted water. The pool is 2-3 times the size of an average public pools hot tub. At times hotel guests children are playing in the water, so I actually prefer to visit during the cold and rainy weather not uncommon here in Forest Grove. The Iron Work Grill featues a short yet varied selection of well crafted comfort food including pizzas, burgers, and generally a few seasonal specials. Although Ive never stayed as a guest in the hotel given my other positive experiences visiting McMenamins Grand Lodge I can confidently rate it 5 stars. Live music events, soaking pool, in house movie theater, bars scattered across the property, good food, whats not to love? Its like a huge adult playground.

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A

A Private User

I didnt want to leave a review but this time it was just beyond horrible. In the past few years the service has gone from par to just straight up awful. We got there with the main restaurant hardly even full yet it took over 20 minutes just for our drinks to be served. After placing our food order roughly 50minutes a single basket of tots showed up, we ordered three and four burgers. The waiter informed us that someone else had "snatched" up the rest of the order and that the rest would be out in just a few minutes. Roughly 18 minutes later still nothing. Mind you the restaurant is barely even packed. Ive been here multiple times and seen it when its busy. Finally the waiter says the tots will be out in a few minutes. They do finally show up. Next was the burgers... They show up over 15 minutes later missing one of the burgers. 16 minutes after, the fourth burger finally shows up. The kicker to all this is getting the bill.. It took nearly 40 minutes after finishing our meal and trying to get another employee to get our bill before it was brought out. Best part was lame feather ear server who thought he was sly mocked us for the "junky" service thinking we couldnt hear him talking to another employee, yep we did. And the best part was how he bitched at us the customers about how hes reporting his own employer to the BBB because they dont give him breaks and rambled on with every excuse he could come up with as to why the service sucked.Get a new job feather ear.. Super lame and not how it use to be. Its been like this the last few times going there. Wouldnt recommend this place any more.

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MA

Mary Joseph

McMenamins is a wonderful atmosphere to enjoy any meal with friends. On Memorial day I was with friends at the Grand Lodge McMenamins and was apalled by what I witnessed. A highly decorated veteran with a service dog in a service dog vest came in to have lunch. What I saw next should never have happened, especially on memorial day. He and the person he was with were being seated, and another waitress cut them off and told them they could not bring the dog into the restaurant because of health issues. The veteran then said that he had papers and she told him it did not matter what papers he had, he could not be served with the dog with him. The person with him said, you are mistaken, this dog can go anywhere a human being can it is the law and the waitress continued to say no, take your dog out. We were about to get up and intervene, when this highly decorated and composed but angry veteran walked out. We will never go to McMenamins again. You need to change your training manual to include the laws about service dogs. Do you not allow blind people to eat at your restaurants? This was apalling! That you would allow someone in your restaurants to be that ignorant of the law, and allow the veteran to walk out with his dog, and not be served is completely unwise and has cost you at least 6 other customers who will tell everyone they know what happened. This was a HUGE mistake.

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