Columbia Gorge Hotel & Spa Reviews

My husband and I got married in October 2025 and we had a wonderful experience working with the Columbia Gorge Hotel!!! Cheyanna was amazing to work with from day 1 and throughout the wedding planning process. Their wedding packages are comprehensive and help limit the stress related to smaller, but important planning details. Cheyanna was incredibly responsive when random questions arose, and you could tell she was knowledgeable about coordinating weddings/events. She worked alongside us from touring the venue, to coordinating food and cake tastings, to helping us clean up the morning after. And the venue itself is stunning, with amazing views great for a range of photo ops. So thankful to have worked with the Columbia Gorge Hotel, it made for a truly memorable day!!

This venue was absolutely perfect for our wedding! The spot is gorgeous and made such a beautiful backdrop for the night. The food was amazing (our guests are still talking about it), and the staff was so kind and helpful every step of the way. The décor looked incredible and really tied everything together. It all came together to make our night so special, and we honestly couldn’t have asked for a better place to celebrate.

My wedding at the Columbia Gorge Hotel on April 12, 2025, was an absolute dream. We hosted our rehearsal dinner, reception, and farewell brunch at the hotel, and every moment was flawless. Cheyanna, our primary contact, was incredibly responsive and ensured every thing went smoothly. We also adored Alp, the hotel’s general manager, whose humor and kindness added to the experience.

Most of our guests traveled from out of town, and nearby hotels like Columbia Cliff Villas and Westcliff lodge offered budget-friendly options that were within walking distance of the CGH. I stayed in the Penthouse Riverfront Suite at Columbia Cliff Villas the night before, getting ready there on the wedding day. The breathtaking view overlooking the ceremony site was unforgettable. The Honeymoon Suite at CGH, where we stayed the night of the wedding, was the epitome of vintage elegance—perfectly matching our vision.

The CGH staff handled everything with grace. A few guests were cut off from drinking, which was likely for the best. I was initially concerned about post-reception cleanup, but the staff neatly organized my decor for easy pickup the next morning—a huge relief given how much I brought!

The food was exceptional, the staff attentive, and the scenic beauty of the gorge was unparalleled. We’re already excited to return and relive our perfect day. Highly recommend the Columbia Gorge Hotel for a seamless, unforgettable wedding experience.

Our wedding at CGH was amazing. Marrisa is the coordinator at the venue and was exceptional to work with. She is super responsive and patient. On the day of our wedding, she made sure my groom and I ate appetizers, got drinks during cocktail hour, and got dinner. She worked flawlessly with our photographer and DJ to make sure we had a completely stress-free night. Part of my vision included paper lanterns, but due to the wind a number of them came down during the event. Marrisa was kind and respectful despite our accidental snafu. Needless to say, we had the flexibility to add our own decor to personalize our day. This wedding was worth every penny and Marrisa played an invaluable role to make our day amazing.

It's a beautiful location. Everyone is very professional and experienced and helped make our wedding such an amazing day.

Many, many thanks to Alyssa for putting together a wonderful reception. Thanks, too, to Don, Great and Allie for the personal service throughout. The venue was beautiful, the food was exceptionally good, and this venue was a terrific value.

After the coronavirus dismantled our original wedding I was ready to just go to the court house and get it over with. One day while searching quant wedding options I found the Columbia gorge hotel had the perfect package for 25 of our closest friends and family. It offered ceremony and reception including drinks appetizers and cake and of course Elisa the wedding planner. Elisa is the most detail oriented person I have ever met. I really appreciated her vision of day that I lacked. She was patient and flexible. They accommodated adding a wonderful dinner to our package. The team that served our food and drinks were so pleasant and attentive. The grounds are perfectly manicured and beautiful views of the river and waterfall. I am so happy I found this option.

We worked with the wedding coordinator, Elisa, at the Columbia Gorge Hotel. We had an excellent experience, and would recommend her and the hotel to anyone! It is a beautiful location that ourselves and our guests won't ever forget!

Everything was perfect. All my needs were met and the wedding planner was very accommodating and made me feel very comfortable and the service was impeccable. The ceremony took place near the romantic waterfall that tumbled into the river. After the ceremony my guests were served complimentary hor d'oeurves and champagne that they enjoyed while looking out at the stunning view of the gorge. The dinner was delicious and the cake was beautifully decorated with sea shells to go along with the "Aloha" themed wedding. The highlight was the garden that surrounded the vintage style hotel. I was able to get the perfect photos with an enchanting backdrop of roses and exotic flowers among bridges, swinging chairs and statues. Little squirrels and ducks also found their way into my pictures. The hotel tower also gives an impressive view of the gorge for amazing pictures. Five stars for food, service and atmosphere. We are still savoring the experience. Thank you from the Cole family!

Our original wedding was scheduled on a different date, at a different venue, in a different state had to be postponed out a year due to Covid-19. We were disheartened. We still wanted to get married, even if we had to have a VERY modified wedding. We reached out to The Columbia Gorge Hotel and were put in touch with
Elisa their wedding coordinator. She was absolutely wonderful! She made our now small-scale, 1 month planned, somewhat impromptu wedding feel just as important and special as any other “normal” wedding at the hotel. Elisa’s attention to detail, organization, attentiveness, compassion, and kindness, helped salvage and elevate our day. She was so easy to work with, she accommodated our every need/want, and made the entire planing process flawlessly easy and fun. We are so thankful to have had her with us during this process and know that our special day would not have been as spectacular nor would it have gone off SOO smoothly without her. Beautiful grounds, great staff, astounding coordinator. We highly recommend!

Our wedding day was absolute perfection at the Columbia Gorge Hotel. Alp (the GM), Elisa (event coordinator) and their staff took care of e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g the day of. We purchased one of their packages, so not only was wedding planning a breeze, but Elisa was available by email and cell leading up to the wedding. As expected, there were a few hiccups the day of, but they were handled so smoothly that we didn't even know about them until afterwards. Honestly, our day wouldn't have been the same without Elisa and the staff at CGH. Highly, highly recommend this venue and a huge thank you to Alp and Elisa!

Alp and Elisa were absolutely wonderful to work with! They took over after the previous wedding planner left. They were very communicative and accomodating since we were planning from afar. We were able to enjoy a chef's dinner prior to our wedding to select our appetizers for the cocktail party and main entrees for the reception dinner. The food was great! The venue is gorgeous and is a photographer's dream. Both Alp and Elisa made our special day stress free and amazingly everything went without a hitch. The value of CGH is very competitive compared to other venues and we are so glad we shared our special day here. Highly recommend!!

We changed our date and planned a wedding in leas than 4 months. Teresa was amazing and super helpful with everything. We thought our dream wedding was unobtainable, but she made it all work within our budget. She is amazing, the place was absolutely beautiful, and my guest gave us so many compliments.

Teresa was a dream to work with and the venue was absolutely stunning; our guests could not stop complimenting the natural beauty of the gorge and the waterfall while appreciating the meticulously maintained landscape around the hotel. It was a dream day and we could not have asked for a better wedding planner, more accommodating hotel staff, unforgettable venue beauty, and the overall comfortable yet beautifully vintage, sophisticated design of the hotel! Every detail, and I mean EVERY detail from adding rose petals in the creek to attract the ducks during your ceremony to keeping the event on track, is considered by Teresa, the chefs, the hotel staff which ultimately makes the day seamless for the bride and groom! We can’t wait to have our anniversary here and recommend this venue to anyone who is looking in Hood River for their special day!

My husband and I had a great wedding here. We had a little over fifty quests and the Teresa made sure everything was perfect for us. There is a bridal suite onsite that is complimentary in the booking fee, and their are multiple locations to have your ceremony, inside and outside. The food was also wonderful.

Teresa and the staff were amazing! They exceeded are very high expectations. It was a perfect wedding day, thank you Teresa and Columbia Gorge Hotel staff!!

Teresa and the staff were absolutely amazing!!! Everything was perfect! I told Teresa my vision and she helped bring it to life!

Working with Teresa & the Columbia Gorge Hotel team was so wonderful! On top of having a gorgeous venue, they truly put so much thought, care and effort into making every event beautiful and seamless. As part of a vendor team myself, I am so thankful to have their expertise, professionalism and friendliness come day of.

Great venue, Teresa is the best! Food was outstanding, great value. Couldn't have asked for a better wedding.

You cannot do better for the price. That's not a real thing.

We chose this space because it was beautiful, came with a wedding planner and could house the majority of our guests. But we were BLOWN AWAY by the service. Teresa, our wedding coordinator, throws one hell of a wedding. Champagne waiting for us after the ceremony, dessert waiting for us in the honeymoon suite and everything in between. Our friends and family are calling our wedding the "best they've been to," a compliment that I must attribute in large part to Teresa and the Columbia Gorge Hotel staff.

The setting was magical. The entire staff was attentive and responsive to any need. Theresa coordinated perfectly and was there for any questions we had. She made sure the event went smoothly. Nothing but compliments from our guests. Thanks so much.

Sarah’s and Stephen’s wedding at the Columbia Gorge Hotel was absolute spectacular. Gorgeous setting, flawless execution. Very, very memorable event. Glad we chose the Columbia Gorge Hotel over the wine country.

My daughter had her dream wedding at the Columbia Gorge Hotel with the help of Theresa the wedding planner. Not one glitch or awkward moment. Every detail went as planned. Could not be happier with our choices, including the photographer Yasmin or the dj Mr. Elive. Food was top notch.

This was always my dream venue and my wedding day was nothing short of it! BEAUTIFUL venue, with superb staff, and the most incredible wedding planner/coordinator Teresa. She worked with our budget, did everything she possibly could to make it the best day, and did just that! Not to mention she is so SWEET! This venue is way worth every penny!!

Remember to take a moment and soak it all in! It goes by so fast :)

The venue is gorgeous!! My husband and I live in Arizona but the planing of our wedding was very easy. Teresa was very professional, puntual and flexible!! I had my fairy tail wedding at the Columbia Gorge and I would highly recommend this venue.
The istaff was very friendly! Rick was awesome! He gave our guests a little bit of the hotel history. He was wonderful to my 88 year old mother (helping her in the elevator and talking to her. Sarita our bartender was great!

Teresa made our wedding as stress free as possible. Without her we wouldn't have known what we were doing! It was a fairy tale wedding that I am incredibly grateful for. Thank you Columbia Gorge Hotel!

The entire experience was wonderful! Teresa and her staff went above and beyond to make my daughter and my now son in law's wedding amazing! We did not know the first thing about planning a wedding and she made the entire process easy and was there for us every step of the way! Venue was breathtaking, and all the staff at the Hotel were friendly and helpful. A truly wonderful experience for all!

During the whole planning process, Teresa was so helpful and helped make my wedding go smoothly.

Our wedding at CGH was the perfect fairytale wedding I'd dreamed of. You cannot beat the beautiful location. From the petfect view of the gorge (complete with a gorgeous waterfall), to the gardens and stonework on the grounds, to the hotel itself, both inside and out. It's just all so unbelievably gorgeous, you'll never run out of places for pictures, and you'll leave your guests speechless. Our wedding wouldn't have been nearly as perfect if it weren't for our coordinator, Teresa. She handled my thousands of questions, was always highly responsive and such a pleasure to work with. She handled EVERYTHING and I don't think we could have done it without her. The rest of the staff was fantastic as well. Everyone was highly accommodating and so nice, even those that weren't working our wedding. The one and only slightly negative aspect was the catering and beverage cost. While the food was delicious, a venue like this does have the opportunity to charge a little more (in comparison to other venues I had visited) for the same food and drinks. Expect to spend a little extra in that area than you would elsewhere, but know that the service and beauty definitely makes up for it. Our, wedding here was everything I'd imagined, and more. I couldn't have picked a more prefect venue.

Best place to get married in Oregon hands down!!! First off you can't top the location. You are on the water in the beautiful Columbia Gorge, the grounds are gorgeous, the waterfall is amazing and the hotel has so much history and character. My guests couldn't stop raving about this being the most beautiful wedding they've ever been to. This coincides with everything that Teresa and her team did for our wedding. I couldn't have been more at ease and we were so impressed with every little thing they did for us! They went out of their way multiple times to make sure our day was perfect, and it was! From our first contact with Teresa to the day after the wedding we were so pleased. We loved working with her. She was so knowledgeable and with her years of expertise knows how to help even before you know you need it. They have so much to offer at the Columbia Gorge Hotel to make your wedding beautiful that you can also easily do this on more of a budget than we did if you chose. Pretty much everything was perfection, the venue, food, staff, location, etc.!!! We highly, highly recommend the Columbia Gorge Hotel for your wedding!!!

Teresa was great!! She took care of everything , last minute ideas, she was orgonized, and made was very helpful to make decisions.
Guests loved the venue and food.

If you are looking for the perfect place to get married in and around Hood River, OR, the Columbia Gorge Hotel is the one. We had ours this past summer outdoor and the grounds were immaculate. The path used for the wedding party walks alongside a beautiful stream with exquisite vegetation and flowers. Approaching the main “aisle” you are greeted with a spectacular view of the Columbia Gorge and if you happen to have a summer wedding you may also be treated to wind & kite surfers in the background. The ceremony would then flow across the stream via a bridge for the cocktail hour with a breath taking view of the Gorge and a 200 ft waterfall. Our wedding had two events at the CGH with a rehearsal dinner the first night on the front lawn and then the wedding reception the next night on the side lawn post ceremony. Both locations were awesome and felt like two completely separate venues even though they are on the same property. The real star of the show was Teresa Ellifritz and her staff! They were meticulously detailed, super easy to work with and went above and beyond to make sure our every need was taken care of. Planning a wedding is a daunting task but having Teresa on your side makes it easy. Our guests gave us numerous compliments about the venue, staff and food at the Columbia Gorge Hotel. We looked at so many other venues in and around the area and the first time we visited it was love at first sight! One other thing to note is we were from Texas and this was a destination for us and a majority of our guests who came from all over the US including Guam & Japan. Everyone absolutely loved Oregon especially our wedding venue, they claimed it was one of the most beautiful ones they ever attended. Do yourself a favor and visit Teresa at the CGH! :)

The CGH is absolutely the Most Spectacular Fun and Relaxing Venue to have a wedding in Oregon! Guests from out of town are awestruck with the short scenic drive, topped off by the most beautiful/elegant Property/Hotel in Oregon. Teresa the Wedding Manager makes having a wedding seem as seamless and easy as making a room reservation(she also safeguarded our gift table, and made/refrigerated a to go dinner, noticing we opted not to to eat and instead engage with guests). Rick the charming Bellman/Historian captures and creates the essence of this Hotel. My hat is off to both of you,
Sincerely,
Bernard &Elena

I have never felt so welcomed, taken care of, appreciated, helped and honestly adored by anyone like I did when worked with Theresa wat the Columbia George Hotel. I remember a year ago when I called to see if they had an op

We had a fabulous experience. It was a perfect day in every way. Having done other weddings this was the most seamless experience. Teresa the wedding coordinator was excellent and the staff at the Columbia Gorge was very good.

The Columbia Gorge Hotel in Hood River Oregon is a stunning venue. Their on site wedding planner, Teresa Ellifritz, is an absolute delight to work with. She made the planning of the event an easy and fun experience. Every detail was taken into account to make sure that the wedding day was perfect. The staff and service at the hotel is second to none. It was a spectacular wedding. I highly recommend this location and their wonderful staff!

We did not experience any issue at all. Overall service and all staff whom so ever we came in contact with was very nice, professional, happy, smiling and accommodating.

Teresa Ellifritz, our wedding Planner was absolutely the best! It was such a great pleasure to work with her. She absolutely made our event a beautiful, memorable and a life time experience to remember. We express our deep gratitude for that. Thank you Teresa!

We had an incredible experience working with Teresa & Jasmine at the Columbia Gorge Hotel. The view from the hotel is amazing and all of my guests were awed by the scenery and atmosphere over the weekend. Working with Teresa was really easy. She was always super quick to respond to my emails and had everything organized for us to pull off an awesome wedding weekend. Teresa was also really flexible when we needed to make some changes on Saturday night; a real pleasure to work with!

I would recommend this venue for any couple that loves the outdoors and also wants a cool place for all of your guests to stay throughout the wedding weekend. It was a great home base and let our guests explore Hood River with hiking, going to wineries/breweries or water sports nearby. The backdrop for your wedding will be incredible and make pictures to last a lifetime!

We can't wait to go back for our anniversary!

Amazing staff and venue for any size wedding.

This venue offers, without a doubt, the most breathtaking views in all of Oregon. Teresa Ellifritz is a gracious and accommodating event planner whose years of experience working and living in Hood River make her an invaluable resource to couples marrying here. So glad this venue is back!!!

We had our dream wedding at the Columbia Gorge Hotel this past June! My husband and I are from Chicago and started looking for venues one year ago after our engagement. We knew we wanted to get married in Oregon as we love hiking and the scenery. After looking at many wedding venues we fell in love with the Columbia Gorge Hotel. Our wedding guests were given such a unique experience. Our wedding ceremony was outside overlooking the Columbia River Gorge. Our cocktail hour was by the STUNNING hotel waterfall with the incredible view of the gorge and we hosted our reception inside the beautiful and intimate Benson Ballroom. Our wedding guests LOVED it. It's been a month and everyone continues to talk about the memorable experience. Everything from the service to the food was fantastic.

A big thank you to Trina in the wedding/sales department at the Columbia Gorge Hotel. She worked with us from day 1 and gave us the first tour when we were looking at places one year ago and was on site the day of the wedding and was even with me before I walked down the aisle. She truly went above and beyond on every aspect and was such a joy to work with. I had ten thousand questions from our budget, vendors, food and beverage, table setting, room reservations, etc and she answered them all and guided me throughout the journey. The entire wedding and all the details she thought of were beautiful. Thank you again for giving us our dream wedding. It was more than we ever expected! We plan to come back for our one year anniversary!

CGH stepped in to save my wedding from The View Point Inn fire with only 5 days to plan and execute a ceremony and reception. They did fabulous and handled this frazzled bride with grace.

We had a fall harvest outdoor theme envisioned for our son's rehearsal party and immediately Teresa was able to see what we saw and went to work to make it all come together. We relied on her to help us through everything because we were planning this from Michigan and not able to be there until 2 days before the party. It seemed that Teresa herself got caught up in making it as special as we hoped that it would be. An out door event needs extra planning because of weather. In October you never know what you will get. She thought we may need outdoor heaters and we did. The lighting was perfect. The food was fantastic. The decor took our guests breath away....so fresh and colorful...just as we had imagined. Teresa added a couple of extra touches just because she thought it would make things more festive. Thanks for everything!

Cheyanna was so amazing to work with, she made the whole process feel stress free from start to end. We were a little unconventional with our order of events and it was welcomed. The chef made a brunch buffet that guests are still complimenting on! Everyone had a great time and Cheyanna was awesome helping us get guests from one place to another throughout. 10/10 recommend getting married here and 11/10 recommend brunch for the meal!!!

We were married in October at CGHS. The venue is amazing this time of year and we had a bluebird day. The planning was well coordinated by the events staff and their recommended vendors for flowers and cakes were amazing. The food selection offers variety and is very well done. We chose plated service and it turned out incredibly!

We got married in September and had an amazing wedding at the Columbia Gorge Hotel! The venue and location is stunning and it blew our guests away. Cheyanna, the in-house coordinator, was FANTASTIC. She was so attentive during the planning process and did a great job of executing our day with a large guest count (175). She also was very flexible which is hard to find in the wedding industry. She really went above and beyond in many ways. The food was absolutely delicious (guests will not stop talking about the shrimp cocktail shooters during cocktail hour) and the service was amazing. The bartenders were lovely and the drinks were delicious. We also were able to book the whole hotel with our guests which was so special and really extended the celebration. The only downside is the front desk staff can be very disorganized which lead to some issues on our day (they misplaced a very important item on our wedding day and were generally confused with making guest reservations under our hotel block name). Recommend running everything through Cheyanna and the wedding staff rather than relying on the front desk staff for any information. Overall though would highly recommend the Columbia Gorge Hotel as a venue!! It was the most amazing day!!!

We celebrated our wedding at the Columbia Gorge Hotel and found the experience to be exceptional! Initially, we had concerns due to a coordinator change after reserving the venue, which resulted in some communication gaps during the transition. However, Cheyanna ensured that all elements proceeded smoothly and accommodated our specific requests whenever possible.
We reserved the entire hotel which allowed us to host the after party in the ballroom. With weddings passing quickly, the extra two hours for dancing after the 10pm noise ordinance was a major benefit! Having everything – getting ready, photos, ceremony, reception, and after party – in one location made things easy and relaxed. The whole weekend felt like one giant sleepover with friends and family, plus great food and an incredible setting.
We had a wonderful experience with the venue and would rate it highly overall. However, future couples should be aware of a few important considerations:
• Features such as an outdoor rain plan, level outdoor surfaces, and protective covers for live bands are not included in the standard offering
• The wedding package covers dinner service only. Alcohol service from approximately 8/8:30 – 10pm is not included and will incur an additional cost
• A 22% fee is applied to all charges, not just catering but the venue rental itself
These were things we didn’t really think about when booking the venue and ended up costing more than anticipated in the end. Despite some of these limitations, we still found CGH to be a great venue due to its other amenities and beautiful setting!

This was my dream venue with the dream experience. I couldn't suggest a better place to get married. Everyone was so kind and thoughtful. The views are incredible, and so is the quality of care put into every decision. I would definitely rate this 10/10!

We had our wedding here on 8/24 and it was the best night ever! We had a blast and all of our guests were raving about how beautiful the grounds were. My, now husband, and I toured the venue after a handful of other tours. We knew this was the spot the second we saw it. Our guests rented out the whole hotel too so it felt like we had a private hotel the whole weekend. Our venue coordinator changed mid-summer so we were a little nervous at first but Elisa was amazing! She did a great job catching up on everything from the previous coordinator and we were very lucky to have her.

Great experience! We loved our wedding.

The Columbia Gorge Hotel was such a great wedding venue! Our wedding was absolutely amazing, the venue was beautiful, the guests loved the waterfall on site and spent so much time admiring the sights of the gorge. Teresa the coordinator helped so much throughout the entire year of planning and on the day of. She was very responsive throughout the planning process and was able to accommodate so many of our requests to make the day absolutely what we wanted. The food was delicious and the staff were excellent and preparing our event. Our only complaints were that we wish there were a groom room in addition to the bridal getting ready room and that it was easier to get up to the terrace at the top of the hotel when during the key sunset hours for the beautiful sunset views.

We searched from Lincoln City to Steilacoom. This is the best wedding venue available under $10,000 in the PNW. No doubt about it.

Such a gorgeous location!!! Trina helped get everything together. Wonderful cheesecake for our wedding cake and food was amazing!!! There was a couple little problems with the rooms being booked, but ended up getting fixed up:) everyone absolutely loved it there!!! I couldn't have been happier!

We had a fabulous experience working with Kim Bosch and the Columbia Gorge Hotel for our August 2010 wedding.

The hotel and grounds are amazingly beautiful. You couldn't ask for a better backdrop for your ceremony and reception. Those of you unfamiliar with Hood River and the Gorge will be blown away! We had our ceremony outside and reception inside in the ballroom.

In terms of planning, we had nothing buy positive experiences working with Kim, their onsite point person. She really helped steer the direction in terms of menu planning and timing of events. She even ran our rehearsal as our officiant was unable to attend. She went above and beyond and we really appreciated it.

In terms of food, it was amazing! Having the tasting beforehand and being able to meet the chef was really helpful. There was flexibility with the menu and appetizers which we appreciated. Everyone raved about how great everything tasted. In terms of wine and beer service, they kept on 'running out' of different things. Our signature cocktails we designed for the event started out great, but eventually became vodka and whatever mixer was on hand. We would've liked to see a little more organization behind the bar, but to be honest no one was really lacking in terms of alcohol!

Overall, we had an amazing wedding and would highly recommend the Columbia Gorge Hotel as a venue for your ceremony and reception.

Teresa played a big part in making my daughter's wedding a special day and terrific event. She had suggestions and ideas that made our planning easier. We could not have done it without her. On the day of the wedding, she was always around to help with anything. This helped so much in avoiding stress on our part!
The hotel lounge was comfortable and inviting for our families and friends and everyone thought the grounds were beautiful. The wedding and cocktail hour were outside with the reception in the ballroom and everything was set up perfectly.

We had a wonderful time at the Columbia Gorge Hotel. I was impressed with the value, food, and overall service. I would highly recommend using this venue!

We had our rehearsal dinner, wedding ceremony, and reception at Columbia Gorge Hotel & Spa and boy did it live up to all of our wedding dreams!! The weekend went flawlessly! It was beautiful and our guests did not stop raving about the incredible views. The venue provided all of our food and drink for the weekend. There were many meal options, drink options, and the staff was consistently helpful while also unobtrusive. The grounds were expertly maintained and perfect for all of our photos. Elisa took over our event coordination and was a pleasure to work with. She knows how to run a venue, coordinate with the couple, handle minor issues that inevitably develop, and keep the day running smoothly. She was great and we really appreciated her! What a great place to have a wedding, we couldn't have been happier!

This couldn't have been an easier and more care free venue. The best part for us was that it has everything all in one place, so no need to hunt around for other vendors for the cake, the catering, the reception, ceremony, bar, no rentals required. Stunning views and the whole site is setup for the most incredible wedding you could imagine.

The weather was perfect, the staff superb, food was excellent, a magical day!

I think my wife left a review as well, but I should add my input since Teresa & her team found the perfect combination of taking the lead when needed, but allowing us to provide direction & input every step of the way. Teresa went above & beyond in so many ways. The event staff is well trained. They went "unnoticed" by the guests - which is about the best compliment I can give. Zero complaints. Lots of compliments. Our guests were always attended to, made to feel welcome, and even a bit pampered.

Stress? None. Nada. Zip. Zilch. We knew in advance of any changes and how they would be handled. Weather? Not a problem. There was a plan. Problem with the flowers? Teresa compensated for it and offered great input. (It turned out better than if the florist had done it.) Setup & prep? I had plenty of thoughts... the layout of the tables... Table spacing... Changes to the centerpieces... Where the bar was being setup... Sure I was a pest, but Teresa & the staff didn't just accommodate my wife & me. They offered their own ideas for improvements. (CGH should have photos. They were proud of how it looked, and rightfully so!)

Special drinks at the bar with special meaning for the bride & groom? Done. An idea for the place cards that fit our theme & colors? Brilliant! A bit windy during setup? On top of it! And then the guests starting arriving. From arrival until the very end, the entire evening flowed, and someone from CGH was always close at hand with whatever was needed. The entire evening could not have turned out better.

The most important thing though is that the bride & groom were blown away as how well it came off. They said that when they got to the hotel and saw the setup, they thought, "That must be for someone else." Their families & the bridal party all agreed that the view, the setup, and the service was world-class. Well done, CGH management & staff!

The Gouge hotel was the perfect place for our wedding. Teresa was a pleasure to work with. Every things was exceptional . Only one thing got forgot considering how many things could go wrong. The food was great and all of our guest said we had one of the best weddings they have been you.

This location is one of the most beautiful places you could ever think to get married. We went through planning for almost a year and the only hiccup we had was that we ended up working with another event coordinator halfway through because our original person had been promoted. Although we worked with two different people, we were able to get the most beautiful wedding we could have dreamed about.

We got married at the columbia gorge hotel this year and the wedding was truly amazing. This venue is beautiful and means so much to my husband and I. The hotel staff, the catering staff, and the event staff were all very helpful and friendly. The food was wonderful and the wait staff was so so patient and friendly to myself and guests. They helped set up and take down everything. We had a few different people who really helped before and the day of the wedding. Kim was there to help coordinate things before the wedding. She was so wonderful and a delight to be aroundd. The day of the wedding we had Trina helping us coordinate and she was wonderful. Very friendly and professional. This is an incredible place to be married. They truly went out of their way to help make it perfect for us.

TERESA (wedding planner) is reason enough to decide to get married here. The CGH is THE MOST beautiful location and they can accommodate (almost) anything that you want. Teresa is a godsend. She is incredibly passionate about her work, knows all of the tricks of the trade, and has close relationships with EVERY wedding vendor you could possibly need (photography, flowers, hair and makeup, band/DJ, renting equipment, party favors, etc.....). She is also extremely enthusiastic, shares all information fully, and will literally pick up the phone to respond to a question or issue at any time of the day or night. She is organized, professional, and fun !! Having a wedding planner was the best decision we made, especially since we live in DC and were getting married across the country in Oregon. If you do anything, HIRE TERESA!!!

Not to mention- the hotel is spectacularly beautiful inside and out. There are multiple outdoor areas to have your wedding ceremony, cocktail hour, reception, etc. We moved around and used them ALL. It is also great for photographs since everything is so lush and maintained to perfection. If you have any doubts about CGH, then FORGET THEM and do it, it will be worth the money and Teresa will make sure that NOTHING goes wrong!! She fixes absolutely everything with a smile and you hardly noticed it was an issue.

WISH we could do it all over again.

Only complaint: front desk staff are not organized (although they are extremely friendly!) and the chef did not want to accommodate any of our individual requests. We ended up getting what we wanted bc of Teresa, but it was a little bit of a struggle at times.

Ok now go book this amazing wedding location!!

Amazing location for our wedding and the staff were wonderful!

We used the venue at The Columbia Gorge Hotel for our daughter's wedding, and it is incredible. Many of our guests said it was the one of best weddings they have attended. Teresa, our planner, did a great job handling details and making the day special. The outdoor space for the ceremony and cocktail hour was absolutely beautiful and a highlight of the event. The venue lends itself to terrific photos - out of a magazine! Teresa has good insight on vendor selection, many of them local. The hotel food and waitstaff did a nice job of working with us and incorporating our feedback. Overall we were very impressed with the wedding venue and Teresa's capabilities as our wedding planner. She works hard to make it a terrific day!

I loved holding my wedding at the Columbia Gorge Hotel. It was the perfect location. Sometimes it was a little hard to get responses from the staff while we were planning but we were allowed to do whatever we wanted for the wedding (we didn’t have any extraordinary request though.) We booked the all inclusive package which we were very happy with. There is a good vendor selection all whom we liked working with. I was a little nervous about the cake because there weren’t very many good photos of their pastries chefs work but it turned out lovely and it tasted great! My only word of warning is if it’s a hot day the ballrooms AC doesn’t keep up with the number of people and the kitchen being right next door, so it was hot.

It was a beautiful wedding! Teresa was amazing the rehearsal night and the wedding day. She was professional, organized, sweet, helpful and calm! I recommend her for anybody’s wedding coordinator.


My only issues are:

1. I originally had Jasmine as my coordinator. Then she left in the middle of the year! Which really disappointed me. I booked the venue in May last year 2017.

2. Jasmine promised cherry blossoms on my wedding day that it “blossoms in May” and it didn’t. It already blossomed a week before my wedding. Major reason why we chose May and the site.

2. I wanted Friday and Saturday night blocked for guests. But Jasmine booked the Friday before for a wedding. I wanted to block the whole hotel for guests but my guests did not want to move from another hotel to the Columbia gorge for both 1 night stays. I wish she would have told me there was a wedding before. It was very stressful moving from one room to a honey moon suite on the wedding day. I wish we had one room for both nights.

But overall, thank you Teresa for picking up the slack and making my wedding day great!

Nadia (Kluesner) Augustin and Tim Augustin

The day before and day of there event were spectacular. There were some last minute issues that Teresa dealt with immediately. Overall we were thrilled with our big day!

Getting to this day was a little more difficult. The price sheets we reviewed were not clear. Had we known some of the items on the price sheet were rentals that the hotel had to procure we would have taken it upon ourselves to make these reservations. This should be clear or the prices that are listed should be recognized. They way the price sheet reads it appears as if we are renting hotel property.

Our biggest issue was with the hotel itself. We had multiple guests turned away as soon as our invitations went out. They were told the hotel was booked after giving our names and at the time the hotel was nearly empty.

Three weeks before the event more guests were turned away because the hotel was booked, when again it was not. My mother and my aunt both had extra rooms booked under their names. Another guest of ours called a week before to check on her reservation because of the other issues we had and was told she did not have a reservation. Upon hearing this she made a second reservation only to find out later her first reservation was made but a spelling error resulted in it not appearing.


We were threatened with having to pay for rooms that were not booked. We strong armed family and friends into booking with you for us to help fill the space. The hotel would have been full had your staff not turned people away when they initially tried to make reservations. This put us in a very uncomfortable position.

In the end I believe two rooms were left vacant and we were not charged for them, which we appreciate, but this entire fiasco (and undue stress the week before our wedding) could have been avoided if the front of desk staff were clear about the reservation's status. We had more than enough people who tried to book but were unable too.

Beautiful venue, our pictures had amazing backdrops and all of our guests were impressed. The hotel is a great place for an intimate-feeling wedding, especially if you have a lot of family from out of town and everyone stays there. It is nice to have a wedding planner on site, she had a lot of great ideas and was very enthusiastic to put together a memorable day.

Wedding at CGH - Teresa Ellifritz is truly magical. She can somehow be three places at once, and still telepathically knows when to send champagne to the bridal party to avert a meltdown. She really listened to us, understood exactly what we envisioned for our wedding, and she made it all come together smoothly and joyfully. Our guests said it was the most magical wedding they’d ever been to. We are so blessed to have found CGH, and Teresa!! I also have to hand it to the chef, bartenders & kitchen staff for creating a meal that was totally delicious, start to finish, for a huge crowd of discerning palates. The bellmen clearly loved their jobs and became part of the joy of the event (special shout-out to Rick). The hotel is a masterpiece of early 1900’s architecture, on a dramatic gorge-side location that is unmatched along the Columbia, with sweeping views and many inviting garden areas. The one drawback of the venue was the very poorly managed reservation process. There is a big problem here. I lost count of how many times our wedding guests were told it was sold out and had to book at other hotels, when we still had many rooms available. Another booking error nearly caused us to stay at another hotel away from all our guests the first night. My mother was mistakenly let into our room the morning after the wedding – can you imagine that scene?? Brides should be prepared to call the front desk every day to correct problems, and don't expect professionalism. We called many, many times over the months to fix the endless errors, and thanks to Teresa’s tireless efforts she was able to solve some of the issues. This was a major source of stress for us throughout the planning and the event. But, it was the only drawback to an otherwise fairytale wedding. So aside from the front desk drama, I give the rest of this venue, the chef & servers, and especially Teresa, the highest recommendation possible, for making our special day truly magical. Totally worth it!!!

We fell in love with how beautiful this place is and luckly we were able to get the date that we wanted. Trina was very helpful with everything. The food was wonderful. Our complain was that the AC in our room did not work very well and on our day it so happen to be a very hot and humid day. We also didn't realize the wedding reception had an end time of 1100pm, guess we should have read the contract better.

The Benson Ballroom was a lovely venue for the reception.

This scenery at this venue is spectacular! The grounds are so beautiful and the food is very tasty. However, hotel management has some very strict rules about what you can and cannot do. For instance, if you buy your wedding cake from them, you cannot do a cake tasting even if you offer to pay for it. If you go too early to do your food tasting, you can't taste the actual food on the menu for your wedding night, you can just try other things the kitchen cooks to give you and idea of their quality level. There are some hidden costs as well that aren't explained clearly so be very clear with them when discussing the total cost of your event (ours ended up being $2000 more than we were originally told). The service on the day of the wedding was flawless though which made up for a lot of the shortcomings earlier on in the process.

We booked our wedding out of state online. We didn't get to see the venue until the day before the wedding. We were very happy with the gorgeous views of the river and the grounds. The ballroom for the reception was very pretty. We got amazing photos from the day. Our guest all loved the rooms and ground also. Everyone seemed happy with the hotel. There was some problems with the Salon charging me for services without asking on the day of my wedding and the front desk was very busy and usually understaffed.

I have always wanted to have my wedding at the Columbia Gorge Hotel. I was so excited to start planning and working with the hotel. Unfortunately, 1 month before our wedding our wedding coordinator was let go by the new GM so we were given a new coordinator. She changed many things we had been promised for the last year and she definitely wouldn't work with us on things, especially knowing the situation. It was very unfortunate how things turned out and how she handled some things on the day of the wedding. If I could go back I would hire my own wedding planner because she didn't do what we needed and didn't pay attention to detail. The venue was gorgeous, but they definitely need to figure out the issues with the staff.

We chose this beautiful hotel for its charm and history. Unfortunately the charm did not extend to the front desk. The desk clerks working the day shift and night shift were unhelpful and rude. Many of our guests commented on it and took some of the shine off of an otherwise perfect wedding

I'll start with the good--this venue is completely gorgeous. My guests were blown away with the views, the greenery, and historical hotel decor. It's conveniently right off the highway, close to downtown Hood River, and there are additional lodging options on either side. They can do pretty much all aspects of the wedding in-house: furniture, accessories, food, drinks, etc. and we liked that. My wedding day itself was great (despite a few errors), but planning was an absolute nightmare.

Communication was really spotty and confusing, we would be told one thing from one employee, and the opposite from another. Simple requests were met with exasperation--(ie. having my 3 bridesmaids rooms next to each other, when we had booked out the entire hotel). We were promised a tasting for our food, and when we drove all the way from Portland for it, we were met with confusion and eventually told "we don't do wedding tastings." I later met a couple who had been married there a few months prior who DID get a tasting. (I assume they had forgotten about us and didn't want to admit it?) We were told we needed to rent long head tables only to show up day of to see head tables set up. Much of the decor we had purchased and been promised would be set out was not set out. My microphone stopped working at the beginning of my vows. The day-of coordinator (provided by the hotel) was essentially MIA and my photographer had to take over coordinating my timeline. I could go on and on, but there was certainly a lack of listening and/or attention to detail.

Basically, if you want a beautiful wedding at a pretty reasonable price without having to hassle for outside vendors, and don't need perfection, this is the place for you. The staff is not very nice (especially the manager, who yelled at my family and friends multiple times) but it's really nice, good food, good location, and if I did it all again, I'd probably still book this spot.

Beautiful venue, and friendly kitchen and service staff. Strengths include excellent responsiveness to questions during the planning process. However, you need to stay on top of your calendar, as the venue does not email you reminders about deadlines after you put down your deposit - e.g., deadline by which to book rooms at group block rates, deadlines to select food options, etc. Remember to bring plenty of your own signage, as most guests entered a different way than the venue expected - meaning that most guests did not pick up our wedding programs and related materials (this was an outdoor ceremony on the east deck). Be firm when communicating with the venue, as some of our questions were dismissed offhand even though they were real concerns, such as the concern about signage, which ended up biting us when guests did not know the best way to enter the ceremony (we had intended to bring more of our own arrow signs, but the venue instructed us not to, because the venue "would be handling it"). Make sure to communicate firmly on how long you need tables set up, because when our guests went outside to get some air or enjoy their view during the reception, they came back and their tables were being cleaned off and rolled away - we guess because it was a buffet reception, it's economical for the venue to try to seize an opportunity to wrap up earlier. We also lost a lot of our party favors because of this (they got cleaned up with the tables and we guess thrown in the trash - and most guests never found them). Make sure to inform your guests if you're doing an open bar, because the venue did not inform our guests, and many of our guests were unaware that the bar was open and hosted even though we had prepaid for this as part of a package price. Overall professional and finely appointed venue in a beautiful Columbia Gorge setting. On the expensive side. Very efficient overall organization, and delicious food. Friendly and professionally managed wait staff.

Sorry, this is going to be long, but if you want an honest review of the venue then I would continue reading.
The reviews were mostly good for the Columbia Gorge Hotel, but I was highly disappointed by many things that day of our wedding.
First, one of the reasons why we picked the venue was because it comes with a wedding planner. My mom, being the florist, was excited because that meant she had to do less working setting up. WRONG. She did most of the set up the day of the wedding. The things that the venue set up were done incorrectly. They put the polaroid guestbook and memorial table together, which should have been two separate things. There should have been enough tables for this. Many guests missed taking a picture because it was not set up out front with our gift/guestbook table. If my mom hadn’t taken care of the set up, then I don’t think any of it would have been done correctly and in a timely manner.
During the ceremony, nobody could hear a thing. I don’t know if they didn’t turn the mic on or if the sound system wasn’t working, but most people didn’t hear our ceremony. This was one of the biggest complaints we received from our guests. Also, they forgot to put a lighter on the table for the unity candle. We scrambled to get one while we were standing up there.
Next, when I went to get food I noticed that our order was completely wrong. We did not have most of the items we ordered. All we had was pasta. We were supposed to have fish, beef, vegetables, and potatoes. This was important to me because two of my sisters have celiac disease, so their choices were limited. Teresa did get salmon made for them, but I still have no idea where the menu even came from. I looked back on my emails and saw where I specifically laid it all out and even put the page number of the menu I created ours from. Teresa sent us an email a couple of days before the wedding with the menu attached. However, I didn’t see the attachment and never confirmed the menu that was served at our wedding.
We had a cake that was only supposed to be for the bridal party. Somehow, they ended up cutting all our cake and giving it away to tables that were not family or the bridal party. Therefore, I had no leftover cake from my wedding.
They also continued to take drinks away the entire night. I could never find any water. Not sure why they kept removing drinks. Then we had to do our fake send off before the photographers left. As we were going upstairs, I told two of the waiters to not remove our alcoholic drinks because we were coming back downstairs to dance for another hour. They both said okay and understood what I said. When we got back downstairs, all the drinks were gone. Nothing was left on the tables. They picked up hundreds of dollars in alcohol when I specifically told them not to. This really made me mad.
Finally, the next morning they tried to charge us $600 for the two rooms we didn’t book. Originally, we had all of the rooms booked, but some people canceled at the last minute. We ended up going past 10pm because we thought all the rooms were booked (we were never told otherwise) and apparently because we went past 10pm and all the rooms were not booked we needed to pay for the extra rooms. However, they were still open to the public, so I don’t know why that fell on us. It never said anything about this in our contract.
Overall, the venue was beautiful, and we had a great time (our DJ, Bust A Move, saved the wedding). Teresa did try her best to compensate us for some of the things that went wrong (hotel room payments and alcohol). She also kept us on schedule. However, I was very disappointed with the staff and all the mishaps. People kept telling me that things go wrong on your wedding day, but I did not think that many things could go wrong. If you book this venue, make sure you really confirm how you want everything done before it’s too late.

We fell in love with this venue as soon as we saw it. There’s 3 options for the reception space which was awesome in case something happened. Unfortunately when we initially signed everything the girl working there was not very communicative, gave us weird answers for basic questions and lied about things. Mid way through our planning process she left and was replaced. The new lady was nice but there was shotty communication and no one could get ahold of anyone. They don’t really have a brochure with things included, food options, beer/wine options, linens, adds or anything that might help eleviate some of the questions we needed to have answered. It kinda felt like our wedding was not a priority to our venue and it made me incredibly sad and like we made the wrong choice. On the day of everything was ok, we had a weather issue and had to move inside and people were helpful in that time. There was a server that was making rude remarks to my guests and they started to feel uncomfortable. All in all the day was beautiful but I do wish we would have picked somewhere a little more professional.

Pros: The hotel and surround landscaping are stunning. Perched along the gorge, there are many superb on-site locations for photo opportunities. Food is delicious (kudos to Chef Mike). Front desk staff and restaurant staff are courteous and helpful.
Cons: The Event Coordinator (Elisa) and GM (Alp) are difficult to work, even for our simple event that included only 13 guests. The team was slow to respond, flaky, unorganized, and inexperienced. For example, we were unable to get a finalized event order until the day before the wedding, despite reaching out to Elisa multiple times. Responses from the management were often full of excuses, unprofessional, and misleading. I strongly advise couples to get all services promised in writing, and perhaps consider hiring a professional event planner to interface with the hotel.

I made the mistake of using the wedding planner from this hotel to help plan for a different venue. I heard wonderful things about the planning at hotel events, but was really disappointed with the service I got for the money. The main planner sent her assistance who really didn't listen to my plans and didn't do what I asked her to. She bothered my husband with trivial questions right before the wedding. Luckily I had a cousin who went up to make sure that things went well (and they did). I should have paid her the money instead. We also had a lot of family stay in the hotel and it was a lot of money for a hotel that was only OK.

I was recently married at Columbia River Gorge, and despite having the best day of my life, this vendor had multiple aspects about the way they take care of Brides and Grooms that I would have like to know prior to one of the most important days of my life. I hope this review is helpful, and that you consider a different venue when choosing your special day.

1. Horrible Event Manager. Columbia River Gorge Hotel (CRGH) has been ranked in one of the top 10 places to get married in the world by some. With its breath taking views, blush landscapes, and unbeatable location, this venue has the potential to be just that. However, I would say that Trina, their event manager, is holding the venue's potential at bay. Not only was Trina unprofessional with her delayed email correspondence, she lacks knowledge about her staff, the venue's amenities/resources and your personal contract. Multiple times during our wedding planning experience, Trina did not know basic questions about the hotel, such as the number of wine glasses she had available, number of chairs, or the size of the hotel's dance floor. In addition, Trina neglected to look at our contract multiple times and charged us for "upgrades" that were never communicated until a few days prior to our bid day. CRGH even went as far as asking me for final payment 1 hour before I was about to walk down the aisle. Imagine, I was in my wedding gown! Surrounded by friends and family, and they demanded payment before "we could proceed." As a side note, we were on time and very respectful about payment, we did not miss a beat in the payment process. In addition, we had to pay the alcohol bill to pay at the end, and we thought we would pay any additional charges after (like most venues do) at the end of our event so that we could enjoy our day prior to such a joyful moment. Believe me, as a bride, you want to feel safe with your venue. They do not create or foster this for you. Trina was by far, my biggest complaint of CRGH.