Bunk+Brew Historic Lucas House - Bend, Oregon

Colton C.

The culture here is great. Friendly staff and guests during my stay. My favorite of US hostels so far. Their backyard food truck garden is awesome on its own (recommend the pizza), but pairing it with the hostel makes it convenient and fun.

This is a social hostel in an old house; you will hear noise and activity. There are events and people stay up late. Quiet hours are enforced about as well as visiting hours in a maternity ward (I.e. they are not). If that doesn’t appeal to you, stay in one of the many other motels or hotels in Bend. This is a good hostel.

Some notes: there is only one bathroom on the second floor and a lot of rooms. However, there is a bathroom downstairs and an outbuilding with a bathroom and showers. Room was clean and as advertised. Good location, nice neighborhood.

Braxton N.

Ain't what it used to be. Saturday off season- $140 for a tiny poorly decorated, shabby private room...with no bathroom & or television. Overall grungy bed buggy vibe.
Sketchy parking situation. This place used to be kind of happening...has a cluttered boarding house vibe these days. Checkin was long and painful. We actually ended up canceling and going to another place after seeing the room.

Daniel B. (.

My time at Bunk & Brew was a touching & unexpected respite; I arrived intending to spend one night but ended up spending four. What I found at Bunk a Brew were new experiences reflecting the likes of which I thought could only be found in traveling abroad, having traveled extensively in South America experiencing extraordinary experiences the whole way with people everywhere I stayed at hostels I genuinely didn't believe such culture existed anywhere in the US but I was wrong.
The food trucks and beer on tap located outside were of a high quality & a good low price.
All the staff & local friends were kind, helpful & interested in long in depth conversations about everything under the sun.
A great cultural meeting place for sure with wonderful shared spaces each one unique from the others all with a genuine feel of being at home.
I met & spoke with many people staying/working from a lot of places around the US and from some places around the globe!!
I Had a great stay & will definitely return! Thanks ya'll.

Taylor W.

The good:
-Location is amazing - great spot in Bend. We were in town visiting for the weekend to ski and it was easy to park, get in and out of town.
- The sauna is awesome. Fire pits outside and food trucks. Hot, strong showers and unlimited towels.
- Common room with TV and games. We were here for thanksgiving and enjoyed hanging out and doing the event with others at the hostel.

The eh:
- Our room was more basic than advertised. We had a private room (#7), there was no night stand or mirror in the room. It felt a bit grimey. It is clean overall, but has a bit of frat house vibes too.
- Quiet hours are not enforced and people were super loud well past midnight multiple nights in a row. It’s an old house (which is cool!) but because of that you’ll hear everything. If you’re a light sleeper just beware of that.
- No one greeted us. The people working seem nice enough, but not welcoming - which leads to the next point.
- It did not feel like staying in a standard hostel. We were the only people we met that were there for the weekend - everyone else was a volunteer there or staying there for the entire winter to work at the ski resort. But I’d say most people were working/volunteer there. Because of this, it felt like we were almost intruding in a shared house of people who all live and work together and use the hostel as their personal free housing. The events, while welcome to guests and sometimes the public, definitely felt like private events or parties. Just a bit strange of a vibe IMO! We are in our late 20s btw.

But overall still a positive experience and thanksgiving was really fun. I think they could do better at merging the experience for guests passing through and more permanent residents.

Max P.

Literally amazing. The regulars are kind, the amenities are cozy. The staff are stellar.

This is the kind of place that people don't realize how important it is to the heart and culture of an area until it's gone. The people staying here are artists and friends and people that are actively doing the work of community building, and bunk and brew is a home for all of that.

Beautiful B.

My friends and I stayed here last minute before an early morning hike up S Sister. The vibe was respectful. The lady who checked us in was friendly and relaxed-really enjoyed talking with her! I bunked with three other women who were friendly and considerate. There was loud music until 10 or 11pm and then everything quieted down. It was a different experience than I was used to but I felt safe and would stop by again!

baluku

I’ve stayed in hostels in Thailand, Taiwan, Italy, Israel, and various other countries. Here in the U.S., I’ve stayed in hostels in Portland, New York, and elsewhere. The hostels I’ve stayed in have been varied: multi-generational hostels, “party” hostels, hostels associated with religious orders, HI hostels. Hostels are social places. I know that and have enjoyed that aspect of hostels in the past. For comparison, I’ve stayed at the Hawthorne Hostel in PDX several times. I’ve found it social AND well-run, maintaining standards of cleanliness and respect for other guests in terms of noise at night and picking up after oneself.

This place is a party hostel. It's noisy late at night, cluttered, not particularly clean nor well-kept, and chaotic. It felt more like a college dormitory or flophouse than a hostel.

-The hostel has live music and events. That’s fine and I expected that. However, several nights, there were people downstairs, yelling and partying well into the early morning, 3 or 4 a.m. and the common areas were a mess as a result.

-A colleague of mine who was in a private room was disturbed by someone drunk knocking on her door and calling someone’s name repeatedly around 4 a.m. in the morning.

-In most hostels where I’ve stayed, guests are considerate of common spaces such as the kitchen. Not here.

The kitchen here is small. The available refrigerators are too small for the number of guests and aren’t kept very clean.

Several mornings, there was food left out and scattered on the counter, including a pyrex dish of rendered chicken with greasy pieces scattered on the counter around it, dirty dishes filling the sink. Often, the stove was spattered with grease after someone had used it but failed to clean up after themselves. I got tired of cleaning up after people when I wanted to prepare food. It was pretty gross: undoubtedly, there’s a lot of drunk food prep late at night.

-The common areas often had people’s stuff such as clothes scattered about on chairs, tables, etc. which added to the feeling of it being cluttered, chaotic, and messy. Again, most hostels I’ve stayed at expected guests to pick up after themselves out of respect for other guests.

-I will note that I saw at least one staff member who was diligent about cleaning up common areas. She was busy early in the morning one day, cleaning the kitchen and starting laundry, wiping down counters that had been left messy the previous night. Also, the bathrooms were generally clean.

-Finally, great location for walking to downtown and elsewhere.

Trevor W.

This place is AWESOME! was just passing through staying for a single night but met some wonderful people. The staff is friendly, the rooms are clean, the pizza onsite is bomb (they have Mexican as well but didn't try it), the beer is spectacular. This is located downtown everywhere is walking distance. If you are looking to explore more you will need a car or make friends with someone who has one. I'm a bit older (35) then most who stay here but everyone was still friendly. I'll probably be back in the near future