3 Best Hotels in Ashland, Southern Oregon

Hoteliers Doug and Becky Neuman (who also run the excellent Ashland Springs Hotel and Lithia Springs Resort) have transformed this '70s-era resort into a stylish yet affordable retro-cool compound, retaining the property's fabulous globe lights, soaring lobby windows, and beam ceilings while adding many period-style furnishings. Standard rooms and spacious suites are set in two separate buildings, and its 14 acres include two tennis courts, a pool, a hot tub, fitness rooms, and a restaurant, Luna Cafe, that turns out reasonably priced, farm-to-table pizzas, sandwiches, and other light fare (there's also a market selling gourmet picnic supplies and local beer and wine). In a part of Oregon abundant with cookie-cutter chain properties, this is a refreshingly distinct and fun alternative for value-seeking travelers.

Ashland's stately 1925 landmark hotel towers seven stories over the center of downtown, with 70 rooms done with a preponderance of gentle fall colors and unconventional decor—think French-inspired botanical-print quilts and lampshades with leaf designs. The hotel offers theater, sports, and romance packages; a full range of soothing treatments is available at the hotel's adjacent Waterstone Spa; and an on-site bar and restaurant serves some of the best food in town.

This cheerfully restored, eco-friendly, midcentury-modern complex has a hip, quirky vibe and offers the convenience of a downtown location with relatively moderate prices. Vaulted ceilings, glass showers, private porches, fireplaces, and breakfast nooks are among the features in the individually decorated cottages, some of which have two bedrooms, and the centrally landscaped pool with fire pit is a fun place to relax and mingle. The owners also run the funky and historic Columbia Hotel, a few blocks away.