Get thee to the Allison; at least for a few things

We visited the coveted new Allison Hotel in Newberg last night at their "soft" opening for community members, all those who heard about it throught the willamette valley grape vines so to speak, and employees of A-Dec.

My take: go to the spa it is devine, go for breakfast or lunch, sit in the living room with a drink after work.

You'll pay a premium, and I mean PREMIUM for everything there which makes me think...hmmm if I were to go somewhere and spend $10 on a Manhattan I would go downtown where I could find a myriad of other things to do after consuming said beverage.

Rooms start at $295 and go up from there. They are nice, well equipped as any high end room should be and all have either a "garden" view or a "vineyard" view neither of which are very lovely at the moment so you have to close your eyes and imagine what fertile soil and lots of care taking will do in a couple of years. All have balconies, Bose stereo systems, large flat screen tvs; and gas fireplaces.

Enough about the rooms, go for the spa. It is large has lots of service options, a lovely women's lounge and quiet at all times co-ed lounge and outdoor seating options. And we heard use of the spa gives you use of the facility for the day which includes the pool, hot tub, and work out room.

Go for breakfast, or lunch at the Jory Restaurant. The chef actually has his own two acre garden where the produce for the dining room comes from...talk about farm to fork! Dinners are quite pricey so to start I'd go for a less pricey breakfast or lunch option while they are working out all the "kinks." They have something called a "lunch tasting" for $23 which includes three courses followed by dessert; a nice prix fixe menu. When you're ready to dive into dinner there is a special "chef's table" that would be great with a few other couples. You get to sit in the kitchen at a nice dining table, where you have a front row seat to all the goings on of the professionals preparing their masterpieces.

The living room is a great room off the bar where you can sip a drink, visit with friends, and warm up by the fire. You can also order from the dinner menu and have it delivered in the living room. Wine is of course the main draw on the drink menu and is quite expensive to boot. There are tastings, 3 oz. glasses, and 5oz. glasses. I ordered the LEAST expensive Pinot Noir at $11 for a 5oz. glass, so, again, be prepared to drink the cost of what normally is a bottle in our house in a 5oz. glass. OUCH!

Overall, a nice place don't get me wrong. Architecturally, the building is sited nicely, not obtrusive to the landscape and fairly easy to navigate through. They have used quite a few sustainible ideas in their design such as green roofs, recycled water etc. and are going for (at least I heard) a LEED Gold Certification. The interiors seem a bit stuffy, MAC Clubish , and I get the impression I'm walking into a Conference Center instead of a luxury hotel. The spa is the exeption where a bit of modern classicism is thrown in the mix. All of the artwork is from local artists and even some of the spa products are purchased from local vendors.

It's worth a peek. The Jory Restaurant is open now every day from 10 - 7pm and the Hotel isn't set to open for another few weeks.

All in all, it's great if you want to experience the country and hang out in the hotel or go wine tasting for the duration of your vacation. If that's not your thing; which, personally, If I were to spend $300/night on lodging and $11 + for every glass of wine, I'd expect a bit more and certainly wouldn't choose Newberg as my vacation destination.