Unbeknownst to Florence’s Hoagland Properties’, its two local inns, the Old Town Inn and the River House Inn, were measured and ranked by Oregon Business magazine.
The magazine surveyed the top online consumer review sites to discover their “100 Best Fan Favorite Destinations in Oregon.”
Out of more than 9,000 travel destinations in Oregon, the two Florence properties made the top 100.
A quick survey of the list shows that The River House Inn is number one, and The Old Town Inn is number two in Florence. The inns rank number four and five in Lane County, behind the Cascades Raptor Center, and Eugene’s Inn at the 5th and Saturday Market. The inns placed at 51st and 73rd respectively in the top 100.
“That’s some pretty prestigious company,” said Craig Sanders, president of Hoagland Properties.
“The quality and quantity of our reviews demonstrates the commitment of our staff and management to offer a sparkling clean, exquisitely maintained property with a friendly and helpful staff who are knowledgeable about all the fun things to do in and around Florence,” added Sanders. “Attention to detail, and the dedicated work of an enthusiastic housekeeping staff, are what make the difference.”
“This is a rare and unique achievement,” said Craig Peebles of Oregon Business in a communique to the inns. “Of roughly 9,000 tourism destinations in Oregon we analyzed, we crunched scores from 22,000 online reviews combined from TripAdvisor, Yelp, and Google. Then we ranked the results.”
“This is a total validation of what we do every day, a testament to our corporate values, and the evidence of the hard work of our management and staff,” said Sanders. “But what makes this especially rewarding is that the scores were determined by consumers, people who actually experienced some of those 9,000 destinations.”
The survey was conducted from February 15 through September 15, 2016. To qualify for consideration, destinations had to have at least 50 reviews combined from the three online review sites. Destinations were ranked based on a ratio of their four and five-star reviews. As of September 20, the River House Inn had just over 1000 reviews and the Old Town Inn had just over 1800 on TripAdvisor alone. The full list is available at www.oregonbusiness.com/100best/destinations.
“Our philosophy is all customer oriented. In fact, our mission statement for our properties states ‘To exceed customer expectations with spotless, reasonably-priced, well-appointed rooms and exceptional customer service,’” explained Gary Hoagland, the company’s co-owner and board chair. “This prestigious designation is validation of everything we’ve done over the last 25 years.”
The quality and quantity of our online reviews demonstrates the commitment of our staff and management to offer a sparkling clean, exquisitely maintained property with a friendly and helpful staff who are knowledgeable about all the fun things to do in and around Florence,” added Sanders. “We couldn’t be more proud of Ashley Young and Cord Kravitz who manage the River House Inn, and Kelsi Snook and Aaron Stone who manage Old Town Inn.”
“It also shows what hospitality really is,” adds co-owner Loretta Hoagland. “We’ve taken two well-located older properties without a lot of amenities and created an award-winning experience for our guests.”
In 2013, the Hoaglands invested nearly $750,000 in makeovers for the two properties.
The award comes with statewide media exposure in 2017 including coverage in Oregon Business magazine, Oregon Home magazine, the Discover Portland Hotel Book, and the “100 Best Map” distributed through visitor information locations around the state. In January, MEDIAmerica—a company that publishes travel guides for Travel Lane County, Travel Oregon, and the Oregon Coast Visitors’ Association—will publish and distribute throughout Oregon 75,000 copies of a map of the 100 Best “Fan-Favorite” Destinations in Oregon at points-of-entry and visitor/information centers.
The Old Town Inn was ranked number 11 in the country in TripAdvisor’s 2015 Travelers’ Choice Survey for the “Best Bargain Hotels in the United States,” and is a five-time Certificate of Excellence winner. The River House Inn has achieved TripAdvisor’s prestigious Certificate of Excellence “Hall of Fame” by earning a Certificate of Excellence for six consecutive years. Only nine percent of accommodations nationwide have qualified for the Hall of Fame.