I’m not quite sure why it took us so long to discover Yachats, the “gem of the Oregon Coast,” but now that we have, we cannot stop visiting! There are so many amazing and unique places along the Oregon Coast—COUNTLESS—which is probably why we didn’t spend much time there before, but it has since become one of our favorite coastal destinations. Yachats is a small town on the central Oregon Coast, about three hours drive time from Portland. It sits between the lush forest and Pacific Ocean along the Yachats River—where we see seals EVERY time we stay there, and sometimes otters too! Oftentimes we see whales off the coast in this area near the mouth of the river. Instead of sandy beaches, the shoreline in Yachats is mostly rocky coast that sports some pretty awesome tide pools and rock hounding. This coastal gem also features many hiking trails, neat shops, galleries, restaurants and lodging. There are a million reasons to love Yachats, Oregon!
To read a detailed account about one of our trips to the central Oregon Coast, including our first Yachats experience, more funky lodging at a 1950s-style motel, the nearby Cape Perpetua Scenic Area, hiking to Heceta Head lighthouse, a creepy covered bridge adventure, and stops in Newport and Pacific City—two more of our favorite coast spots—check out our blog post on the Travel Deeper website.
The Drift Inn was the first hotel that caught our attention when searching for lodging in Yachats, mainly because of their funky and reasonably priced rooms. They have accommodations of all sizes with a variety of amenities, even full size apartments, some with balconies and river or ocean views. After searching the rooms available and checking out all the photos, we obviously decided to go with one named the “Mermaid Haven.” The master bedroom has a detailed ocean mural painted on the walls and ceiling, vicious shark included! There was another bed in the main sitting area, decorated with nautical vibes, as well as a table and totally rad jellyfish lamp. Hands down the coolest feature of this room is the tile work in the bathroom. It’s like no other, completely unique to every room; even the bathrooms in the restaurant feature this one-of-a-kind tile art. On their own website they describe their style as “eclectic.” We couldn’t agree more, and that’s why we’ve fallen in love with The Drift Inn; we appreciate anything that’s out of the ordinary and a little weird. Check out the video below to see a complete walk-through of the Mermaid Haven room.
Why We Love The Drift Inn
The more we explored The Drift Inn, the more we found to love about the place. It’s not just a hotel, but also a family-friendly restaurant that serves BOMB food, including wood-fired pizza, local seafood, and many vegetarian and gluten-free options. There’s live music in the restaurant on most nights of the week, and there’s even a cute little gift shop near the front door that you can browse while waiting for a seat. On this particular visit we sat at the bar, where we were served by a friendly bartender who also happened to be from Upstate New York like us! The staff at The Drift Inn have always been very welcoming and attentive. The restaurant and bar have a quirky feel, decorated with hand painted mermaids, artistic glass light fixtures and fancy Italian umbrellas hanging from the ceiling. There’s an adorable patio out back with additional seating where you can see the pizzas be wood-fired firsthand. Bonus, overnight guests have access to the patio too, even after the restaurant closes. What can I say, The Drift Inn has completely won us over with its eccentric decor, cheery vibes, delicious food and cozy accommodations. We 10/10 recommend for any central Oregon Coast visit.
In addition to the fun atmosphere and awesome service, the property is conveniently located in the heart of downtown Yachats with easy and walkable access to the coast, river and numerous shops and restaurants. There’s even a grocery store and coffee shop directly across the street. The Drift Inn has a bunch of kayaks that guests can borrow to take out on the river—definitely not the ocean though, that’s way too dangerous! Supposedly there’s a game room on the property too, but we haven’t found that yet. Should we discover it on our next trip to The Drift Inn we’ll be sure to update this post. Since this first stay in the hotel we’ve returned a few more times, always choosing a different hotel room—our goal to stay is them all eventually. We’ll share photos of the Yachatian Safari and Raindrop rooms in future posts.
Have you ever stayed at The Drift Inn in Yachats, Oregon? If so, tell us about your experience in the comments below, we’d love to hear about it!
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