Red Lion Hotel Kelso

We found several bugs on the pillow and sheets in the room our kids stayed. We took the pillow with bugs to the front desk. Manager took a look and suspected carpet beetle but wasn’t sure, she had house keeping change sheets. When I called back in two days, she told me exterminators confirmed they were carpet beetles. She said some people may find that shed hairs from the larvae cause irritated itchy welts that may be confused with bedbug bites! I asked for money back but she was adamant that $ 20 discount was maximum she could give.
Overall, the manager, Pam Ferris was not apologetic at all. She said «Carpet beetles are extremely common» as if she expect me to have them in my house. The hotel is outdated (80’s décor) and over priced. It was noisy due to fundraising party going on. There wasn’t any parking. We will never stay there again.

Just had an amazing experience with the staff, they gave me an amazing price and helped with anything I needed. Super nice and always will to help. I will definitely book again!

Everything was fine, Quiet. I thought a good bed… Till 5 am when I wanted a shower… NO hot water, the front dest said they would «flush the lines» what ever that means. waited 20 mins took a cool shower, Nice lady at the desk refunded 10.00 (O boy) said she gets that call early morning all the time. They must not have a recirculating pump system

We were passing through and this seemed the best choice on Christmas night. The clerk at the front desk was friendly and helpful. Our room was conveniently enough located. Our dog liked the grounds. The parking was easy on a night with few guests. We got a poolside room but there wasn’t much pool activity in December. We did not visit the restaurant. The television was good and the channel selection fine. The coffee maker was a nice amenity. There were a few issues. Coming down the hall there had been some kind of room service at a nearby room. The tray was gone but some croutons had been spilled on the floor. They should have been picked up but our dog took care of the problem. One of our bedside lamps was not working: some kind of switch problem. The heating/​cooling system was difficult to adjust for temperature: a wall unit that looked newer than original but still not new. There was a hair in the tub/​shower enclosure which is not a good sign about housekeeping. I didn’t see it as a one star but this is just «ok». Price was right.

I couldn’t be happier with this hotel. The rooms are huge and very very clean. They’re pet friendly and the staff is so friendly and accommodating. I will definitely be returning to this hotel it’s worth the 10 extra dollars that you’d save at the other hotels.

I don’t get all the complaints, I started freaking out on the way here after I decided to see where my husband was taking us, being a long drive, this was our 2^nd stop on our way to our new home up North… Anywho… I was worried, but exhausted and we already paid on Expedia, so there was no canceling…
So we are in the room now, watching tv on a good 41″ (guessing)… It’s comfy, the beds are clean and comfortable, my son took a bath in the newly remodeled bathtub, I showered and it’s nice here! I’m surprised it was a cheap as we paid!!! But we are used to expensive OC Ca!
All in all I hope my 5 star review relieves some other mom from worrying!!!

I’ve stayed here a few times hoping for an improved experience but there is no denying that this hotel is dirty, old, outdated and overpriced.
Never again…

It was a nice hotel for the price and I had no concerns until I checked out and they had charged me four times for two nights. I’ve called every day since and also have made calls to American Express and nothing has been done about this whatsoever. Don’t give these idiots your money on your vacation, you’ll spend the next week (or however long it’s going to take to get my money back!!!) wasting more time and money than the stay was worth, and more stress than was de-​stressed during your stay. Bare minimum customer service, folks. Bare minimum is acceptable. Charging double what was owed and not even beginning to try to rectify the situation? That’s a joke. Unacceptable.

so yucky. grouting in shower black, rugs stained and torn, beds so small for queen, I didn’t want to touch anything! Sorry but not at all good.

Did not live up to expectations or memory.
I remember going to a Red Lion when I was younger, back in the 80’s for Sunday Brunch, and it was a nice place to eat and stay. Unfortunately, this place looks like it hasn’t been renovated since the 80’s. There is no elevator in the entire place, yet our room is on the second floor. If we had known that, we would have booked a ground floor room, my husband is disabled and can barely get up and down stairs.
The place smells old and musty, the pool was drained and out of commission, (they said it was being repaired) even though it is the hottest weekend of the year, and there is a huge event going on, no-​one can use it. They have this huge coffee stand, but no barrista to run it.
On the flip side, the staff was extraordinarily helpful and friendly, the staff in the restaurant were amazing, even though they were slammed busy with only one waitress, and the food was good, which is why I am giving it 3 stars instead of 2. They went out of their way to accommodate everyone, and their were a lot of people making requests every time I walked by.
Basically, it is a dumpy hotel, for a dumpy town.

Well I’m another one of those people who was inspired to write their first review after having an uninspiring experience. Although nice enough, the staff seems to have no education or training in hospitality services. They were not very knowledgable and told us there was a breakfast buffet included when they actually charge 7.99. They basically not able to provide the services they are offering and charging for. I would compare it to going to Olive Garden but getting McDonald’s quality service and food yet still paying Olive Garden prices. I would say this place is worth no more than $ 60 per night based on other hotel prices and services.

The Red Lion is a ok place if you only have one night to stay. I had to stay 4… My door handle was broken, and had to lift up on it, slide the card in, and then it would open. The bathroom was good, but the rest of the room needed updated. The room had a thermostat, but never got below 75 even while turned down to 60. The restaurant feels like a old Denny’s with limited choices. The bar was ok, just the juke box is pricey at $ 1 per song. The stay was ok, just they need to fix things.

A very comfortable hotel that lives up to expectations.

reasonably priced, friendly staff, clean room, restaurant and bar. not a problem for me but there is no elevator for this two story building nor was there a microwave in the room.

Not really recommended, had booked through online (
) and was treated like second class customer. Staff said it was better to call them direct, in the past Red Lion had been the most expensive calling direct. Then when checking out the following morning I was told since I had booked online the breakfast was not included and they wanted another 8.95 per person, not a lot but I have never stayed at a supposed quality place and not received breakfast with the room, even a recent stay at a «cheaper» hotel, they at least included breakfast. Red Lion, needn’t worry about me booking with them online– not that they care but there’s to many other places to stay.

Longview /​Kelso is not a big tourist draw, so your hotel options are going to be somewhat limited. The Red Lion is probably the largest hotel and the best option overall and is located right off the 5 Freeway.
Not to say that the accommodation is all that great. If you book a double or king room, you will be put in the south wing. The south wing is old, it looks old, smells old, and the look overall is dated. The queen rooms are in the north wing, which was constructed more recently and are nicer rooms.
An issue we had is that we tried to book connected rooms. When we called and spoke with someone from Red Lion, (apparently not from this location specifically) they stated to put the request in when booking online, which was done. Upon check in, we were told that we had to book matching queen rooms to get a connected room and that they don’t even see the special requests. WTF? Why bother making a special request in the first place? Had we been told that we need to book matching rooms, then we would have done that. Needless to say we were asked out.
Other than that, there’s a breakfast room and a sports lounge. Both are nothing to write home about. The lounge could definitely use some work as it feels more of a dive bar.

We usually like to stay at Red Lions. This one is out dated. The queen beds were more like full size beds a bit hard too. The air conditioner did not really cool down the room at all. The shower was good when you had hot water. Yes I said «when you had hot water» we had one warm shower all weekend!!!
At a hotel that is on acceptable!!! We had others friends and family staying there also and nobody had hot water. The doors to the rooms slam shut when you go in and out. I hope no little kids get the hands slammed in the doors it would probably brake them! The TVs are the old tube TVs.
This hotel definitely needs ALOT of changes!!!

The Red Lion has been a standard in town for decades. It’s not a bad motel in the least. It’s clean, with a nice restaurant, adequate gym, and conference rooms. But it does need some major improvements/​make-​over to move into the present. I could not get the room cool enough for a decent night’s sleep. If you want breakfast, it’s a sit-​down and wait (I go to the McDonald’s next door). The beds are… beds; not all that comfortable. Showers are good; but shower curtains are again, old style (vinyl or whatever, with magnets in the ends). Sports bar is now closed during the week; so what’s the point of having one. Site is sliding downhill. They just dropped the frequent guest program and left those who were members hanging. But your options are limited in the area.

Our room was a King bed suite. The best thing about this hotel for us was the size of the room. The king suite is quite spacious. A full separate room with the king size bed. Then a living room area with a sofa and an arm chair. Plus a dining table (with dishes laid out) and a large granite topped desk.
the bathroom area was divided in two. The outer area had a sink and the coffee maker. Then the real bathroom also had a sink, toilet, shower, etc.
The dual sink areas was a nice feature.
Our room did include complementary breakfast, but I guess not all rooms do include that. The food was okay. Plentiful with a decent variety, but nothing all that tasty.
The real con to this place for me was how dated our room was. The two tvs in the room were OLD picture tube TVs, we never even bothered to turn them on. The living room furniture was so old that the couch still had a cigarette burn on it from back in the days when the hotel allowed smoking.
Our room didn’t face the freeway so we didn’t have any trouble with noise from that.

The Red Lion was a very nice two story inn located extremely near the freeway. The staff was friendly and prompt.
Our room was good sized, the bed very comfortable, everything very clean, etc. Our room included an empty mini-​fridge, coffee maker, small microwave. There was a large writing desk and included fast wi-​fi. The TV was a standard CRT, not flat-​screen, and included standard cable. We didn’t find any pay-​per-​view movies which seemed odd. The bathroom was nicely tiled and lighted, the water hot, although it was poorly ventilated with no fan to turn on, so bathroom visitors are recommended to maybe bring a can of air freshener!
The pool area included a standard swimming pool, a hot tub, and a separate children’s pool only 1.5 — 2 feet deep, which I’ve never seen before but was a nice inclusion. The pool area was a bit bare (perhaps imitating the landscape of Mt. St. Helens?) and could have used more greenery but overall was very good. It would have been nice if the inside facing rooms included patios for a bit easier pool area access.
The «fitness club» was lacking. It features only one treadmill and one elliptical, and for someone who loves weights this was a disappointment.
We did not eat here. No complimentary breakfast included; they provided a pay all-​you-​can-​eat breakfast buffet which looked very good at a reasonable price.
For a quick one or two night stay that meets the basics without breaking your budget the Red Lion Inn is recommended.