Southern Oregon Scoop

Coming in from out of town to visit Southern Oregon this year? The Scoop has you covered. We've done our pillow research, chatted up some visitors and locals to put together our top hotels for your trip to Southern Oregon. This is round one (we cover top Medford Oregon hotels first) of what will likely be a few reviews on hotels best suited for your stay in Southern Oregon. If you disagree or have a different suggestion share it in the comments below!

1) TownPlace Suites Medford - Hotel star rating: 2.5 stars

Room Rates: Rooms are available under $100, we recommend using priceline's bid feature to snag an exceptional deal.


The Scoop's take: Newer, quiet, safe, clean and comfortable with a friendly staff. Tough to beat that as a weary traveler! TownPlace Suites is also nicely located near Stewart Meadows Golf Course, Quail Point Golf Course, and Bear Creek Golf Course as well. If you happen to be in town for a sports tournament, the hotel is also very close (3-5 minute drive) to the new state of the art U.S. Cellular Community Park as well as Fichtner Mainwaring. Whether you're in Medford (or Southern Oregon!) for business or pleasure, TownPlace Suites in Medford is likely to fit the bill.

Key Ameneties (Property):

• complimentary airport shuttle
• 24-hour front desk
• Air-conditioned public areas
• Airport transportation (complimentary)
• Barbecue grill(s)
• Business center
• Complimentary breakfast
• Coffee in lobby
• Complimentary newspapers in lobby
• Express check- in
• Dry cleaning/laundry service
• Elevator/lift
• Express check-out
• Fitness facilities
• Gift shops or newsstand
• Internet access in public areas - complimentary
• Internet access - wireless
• Laundry facilities
• Multilingual staff
• Number of rooms: 76
• Safe-deposit box - front desk
• Suitable for children
• Swimming pool - outdoor seasonal
• Television in lobby
• Use of nearby fitness center (discount)

Key Ameneties (Room)

2) Hampton Inn in Medford - Hotel Start Rating: 2.5 Starts

Room Rates: Around $100, again priceline's bidding feature is tough to top.

The Scoop's take: Clean and generally quiet, This Hampton Inn (like the TownPlace Suites) has a friendly staff and provides a comfortable place to stay. It's not as new and is a little rougher around the edges in some areas, but its proximity to the airport, the Rogue Valley Mall, I-5, and Highway 62 (aka Crater Lake Highway) offer a great starting point for families and visitors of all kinds to discover Southern Oregon attractions.


Amenities:


Key Amenities (Room):




3) SpringHill Suites in Medford - Star Rating: 3 stars

Room Rates: Around $140 - Snag something better at priceline.com
The Scoop's Take: As one of the few 3 star rated hotels in the area the SpringHill does bring a few extra goodies to the table for the tired traveler. It's also located near the U.S. Cellular Community Park, Fichtner Mainwaring Park and the golf courses listed above for the TownSuites. The staff wasn't quite as friendly as a couple of the higher hotels on this list. Combine that with some what higher prices and this hotel is good, but (obvisouly :) ) not necessarily one of our top choices.


Key Property Amenities:






4) Homewood Suites (Hilton) in Medford - Star Rating: 3 Stars

Room Rates: $120-140 range - you know where to go: priceline.com

The Scoop's Take: Aside from hearing from a few people about questionable beds, our overall take of this Hilton-owned Homewood Suites is positive. A nice location near (but not too near :) I-5, parks, golf courses, bike paths and local healthcare facilities give this hotel a boost as well. It works well for travelers looking to visit Ash land also, as it's near the South end of town.


Ameneties:

Room Rates: Around $150 - priceline.com will help you do better.


The Scoop's Take: New building in a nice safe location right near the airport. Best suited for business travelers, this Marriott Courtyard has the basics covered plus a nice touch or two, but it is more isolated from dining and some other downtown attractions. The cost also played a factor in our ranking as it topped the scales without really adding much. Generally we observed no complaints on the beds or other features, and the hotel is newer, so cleanliness and maintenance items are less of an issue. We did hear a complaint or two about some not getting a free breakfast which one would think you might get for this kind of money.


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Key Amenities (Room):

We all love to eat right? The Scoop certainly does and it's for that very reason that Southern Oregon grown foodie website - The Local Dish - is our first business review of the new year. Whether your a hardcore food fan or someone who simply enjoys the occasional binge eating, TLD has you covered.



The meat of the site prawns from the basics - (shameless I know). You can find tips for cooking (recipes, videos, how-to's,) tips for growing food (growing herbs and veggies, working on raised garden beds, etc.) as well as videos, restaurant reviews and a variety of other tasty informational morsels. Navigation is simple and easy, keeping with the basic tabs we have all grown accustom too.

Recently the site has been pushing its new blog. As The Local Dish works to make a national name, owner Barb Magee has brought in a variety of bloggers from popular food areas in the country (San Fran, Chicago, Portland...) that are sure to get you in the mood to try something new. There have been rumblings of even bigger changes in the future and we'll be watching to see what TLD cooks up as it works to bring local food communities to the national stage.

To all the faithful (no matter how few :) ) readers: The Scoop will be back after the winter hiatus in the near future. Thanks for taking a look and if you like what you see throw a link this way and tell your friends!

A few bucks admission gets you a snazzy commemorative tumbler (pictured) or wine glass (not pictured) and a drink, then you buy additional "tickets" for food.

The Pita Pit isn’t what you’d call adventurous eating, but it does make for a nice departure from weekday lunch-land’s fare of a dusty can of soup in your bottom desk drawer or a McBurger Bell combo meal. Locations in downtown Ashland and on Crater Lake Highway in Medford make it a convenient spot for takeout or eating in.

The ordering setup is reminiscent of Subway: pick a pita, then your bread and toppings. Options to customize your lunch are fresh and abundant (spinach, pineapple, sprouts and mushrooms are among the less-expected choices). Lots of sauces, from ketchup and mustard to ancho chipotle to tzatziki, are available too (though the Scoop wants to know who seriously puts ketchup on a pita…yuck).

At $6.75 for a pita (“sandwich” only – not a combo) in Medford, the price is a bit steep for a fast-food lunch. Two people could probably split a pita, though it would be a light lunch. Hummus and avocado are $.50 extra.

A note about the gyro (lamb and beef) pita: the appearance of the brown lump they throw on the grill decidedly fits into the category of “mystery meat,” but the presentation is misleading. That’s not to say it’s like lamb and beef carved from a spit by a street vendor in some Lebanese city, but it tastes a whole lot better than what your eyes would have you believe. It’s definitely recommended. Try it with the hummus and feta.

Because Pita Pits are franchised, there might be a little variation between the location in Medford and the location in Ashland.

It's no secret that the Scoop is enamored with Southern Oregon. Though there are many wonderful aspects to living here, natural beauty is high on the list. This 5.5-mile loop is a 20-minute (or so) drive from Ashland, and about 35 from Medford (from the south freeway entrance). Here are some good directions to the Grizzly Peak Hike.

The point is, what are you supposed to do with all that produce? There are plenty of people in Southern Oregon whose crops didn't pan out quite like they'd hoped (the Scoop being one of them. My heirloom tomato plant and I are not on speaking terms), and plenty more who didn't have crops to begin with. Connect your veggies with those folks. How?

-List your bounty in the "free" section on craigslist. Just leave them in a box on your porch (or wherever) and put up a listing. They'll be gone before you know it.

-Bring them to work, church, soccer practice...anywhere you see lots of people.

-Get in touch with an organization that will pick up your food. Try:

Neighborhood Harvest: http://harvest-nw.heroku.com/ Shockingly, the newspaper article mentioned on their site is worth reading.

The Southern Oregon Gleaning Network: http://gleaningnetwork.com/

ACCESS: take a look at the list of food banks

Just a heads-up...Octoberfest in Jacksonville is this weekend. It's 12p-10p Saturday in the historic Jacksonville School, and put on by Frau Kemmling Schoolhaus Brewhaus. Beer, pretzels and sausage are obviously the best way to welcome fall. Check out www.fraukemmling.com for more information.