The Dundee Opens

New hotel creates more boutique lodging

A new 22-room boutique hotel recently opened along one of Willamette Valley wine country’s main thoroughfares. For many, it’s a new name in a familiar location.

The Dundee is located on Highway 99W in the city of Dundee at the southern junction of the Newberg-Dundee Bypass. It occupies a two-building complex that also features five tasting rooms and a restaurant.

The new management company, Portland-based Embarcadero Hospitality Group, is part of the ownership group with Tokola Properties that purchased The Inn at Red Hills a year ago and, after extensive renovation, launched The Dundee, a Trace Hotel in early March.

All rooms were overhauled, walls were moved and new furnishings were added throughout. Two more rooms were created during renovation.

“We saw a huge opportunity with all the growth and activity taking place in the Willamette Valley,” said Sondra Storm, Embarcadero’s chief executive officer. “And, of course, [the city of] Dundee has this incredible reputation and name in terms of wine.”

The new hotel is intended to satisfy a lodging price point in Yamhill County.

“In Dundee, there’s an increasing draw to the wine,” she said. “There are options for people to come and stay, and enjoy the wine but there’s a big gap between (higher-priced) The Allison [Inn & Spa in Newberg] and the rest of the lodging that’s in the area. We want to fill that gap. We’re a different product, a different experience. Not everyone wants to stay in a luxury resort. We can offer something special and fitting to what people’s needs are.”

Inside the hotel, each room takes on a one-of-a-kind feel with décor and furnishings created by local craftspeople. An executive suite, complete with a kitchenette and full-size refrigerator, is available. “It’s designed so people could stay overnight or be very comfortable for an extended stay,” Storm said.

Add a new meeting room for corporate-style gatherings and a six-person “squad room,” and The Dundee is equipped to support small business meetings, retreats and family getaways.

“The squad room is really a fun room,” Storm said of the larger space with two bathrooms and a cushy couch facing a big-screen TV. Bunk beds with built-in staircases stack against one wall. “We have six bunk beds, and it’s designed to be really comfortable and flexible for groups. These are twin-size beds with quality mattresses.”

When not relaxing in their rooms, guests can choose from five tasting rooms on the same property. The presence of these wineries — Evening Land, Angela Estate, Le Cadeau Vineyard, Cougar Crest and Tertulia Cellars — were “one of the reasons we were drawn to this acquisition,” Storm said. “We can help give people experiences that they come here to find.”

Babica Hen Cafe, an independently owned farm-to-table restaurant, serves breakfast and lunch seven days a week in space adjacent to the hotel lobby. The restaurant was operating in the same location before the change in hotel ownership.

The Dundee is this ownership group’s second new Willamette Valley hotel. The group also opened The Independence, a 75-room hotel in the Polk County riverfront town of Independence in September 2019.

“Both properties are in the collection that we started called Trace Hotels,” Storm explained. “The concept behind Trace is to find those gems in rural Oregon that are really special, really unique. We are creating projects that have an activating component that will draw people to explore and have cool experiences. The properties are different; the communities are different.

“There is something that’s really special about each location, and here it’s the wine,” she said. “It’s the heart of the Willamette Valley. We think that’s an incredible opportunity.”