Can we talk about all the windows at Headlands Coastal Lodge and Spa in Pacific City Oregon?

A few weeks ago, my family had an incredible opportunity to stay at the Headlands Coastal Lodge and Spa in Pacific City Oregon.  I have to admit when I first read about the hotel, I thought it was in Cannon Beach, another city we love to visit with our kids on the Oregon Coast, because of the giant haystack rock near the hotel.  But Pacific City Oregon has its own haystack rock too.  Pacific City is actually about an hour and a half south of Cannon Beach and about thirty minutes west of the Tillamook Cheese Factory and when you leave on a busy Friday night from Seattle, it might even take you about 6 hours to get all the way there.  Even still, I would revisit in a heartbeat.  The Headlands Lodge is a perfect beach getaway for families on the Oregon Coast and I have about a million reasons why.

The windows, all the windows, so many gorgeous windows at the Headlands Coastal Lodge!!!

Now aren’t there are about a million windows facing the oceanfront in this lodge? The Headlands Coastal Lodge and Spa has perfectly utilized its view.  We stayed in a two bedroom cottage room in this new Oregon Coast resort and it was one of the most comfortable and scenic rooms I’ve ever stayed in.  We almost didn’t need to leave the room to get outside because we could read in the master bedroom by the window looking out at the water and it almost felt like being on the beach. We really enjoyed hanging out in the sunlit-kitchen by the windows too.

It didn’t even mater that the weather became a little stormy during our visit.  We thoroughly enjoyed the spacious cottage and it felt like nature was all around us even though we were cozy and warm inside.  Some rooms are dog-friendly so if you have a four-legged family member they are warmly welcomed.  The kids also felt totally thrilled because there was an XBox and board games in their room (even though they didn’t even use them) and later they were happy to learn that there were bikes they could rent and sand toys for the beach as well.

And the Cape Kiwanda sand dune right nearby the Headlands Coastal Lodge is totally cool!

If your family is anything like mine you might be intrigued by the fact that the Headlands Lodge is not only a comfortable and beautiful place to stay, but it is steps away from a giant sand dune that you can climb and play on all day.  The Cape Kiwanda Sand Dune is a bit of an intense climb and the dune is a little steep in places, but if nature brings the sun and you bring snacks and drinks and sleds, you can fill a whole day frolicking and playing on one of the biggest sand castles you’ll ever see.  I really wanted to go sand boarding on the Cape Kiwanda Sand Dune-I saw this in Australia and I heard you could book a sandboard here on the dunes too at the Adventure Center, but the weather was not great on the weekend we visited for planning something like this.

We only had plastic bags to slide on, but they still could slide and the kids found that the one from Target worked the best. I have some of our highlights on my Instagram IGTV  if you want to check it out.  We also tried to book a fire through the Adventure Center that sounded pretty awesome (and a little spendy.  It was around $150 but included a Pendleton throw so seemed a little worth it) but we cancelled last minute because of the rain and I’m glad we did because we watched an incredible storm.  But even storm watching felt luxurious from our room and it gave us an excuse to buy snacks from one of the pantries that are located on every floor.  (We bought Tillamook ice cream and some local chocolates.  I was surprised that the prices were reasonable and the snacks were locally made.)

It’s a food-lover’s paradise at the Headlands Coastal Lodge

I saw a few pictures of the amazing food at the hotel’s restaurant “Meridian” on Instagram before we went and we were hoping to eat there too, but we were super comfortable in our room and did not want to get cleaned up or think about readying the kids to go to an actual ‘dinner’ and because we had a gorgeous kitchen I had packed some simple meal ingredients to make just in case.  Does this happen when you’re on trips with your kids?  Instead we had a lunch out at the nearby Pelican Brewing Company where we had some of the most delicious pub food I’ve ever had.  It was a vegetarian quinoa dish and the roast veggies were exquisite.  This was one meal that our whole family thoroughly enjoyed and when we passed through Cannon Beach on the way home we were very tempted to eat at that Pelican Brewing location too after learning that the Pacific Beach location was the original brewery created in 1996.  We also stopped at the Tillamook Factory on our drive home and we just missed the opening of the new Creamery and this is a fabulous excuse to revisit again soon.

Getting there?

It was a little unclear if the Headlands Lodge actually had an electric charger so we didn’t bring our Tesla, however, we saw they had two electric charging stations when we got there so now we know for next time.  We were very fortunate that Toyota loaned us a great family car for our drive-we had a Toyota Highlander and this is such a fabulous vehicle for bringing a bunch of gear and kids for an outdoor adventure and it even has a third row of seats.  We watched from our room window as people drove out onto the beach and we saw a few people get stuck because they did not follow the signs.  We knew that if you drove on the hard packed sand our Toyota Highlander could handle it and it was fun to get a picture of our sweet ride in front of the Pacific City Haystack Rock which is actually taller than the one in Cannon Beach and there is no way you could ever get this kind of picture or drive your car on the beach there.

Memories for a Lifetime

When you book trips, they are often just for a getaway or for an experience or for relaxation.  There was a moment when we were sitting on the top of the dune overlooking the ocean and my husband looked at me and said “these are the days you hold dear when you’re at the end of your life and they flash by as perfect days.  This is a perfect day.”  And I am so thankful that we had a chance to visit the Headlands Lodge and I know we will remember this weekend forever.

Have you ever visited a place and known you will cherish it for a long time?  Have you been to Pacific Beach Oregon?

(As stated above, we were guests of the Headlands Lodge and Spa and we had a vehicle loan from Toyota for the purpose of this review and as always the writing and viewpoints in this blog are mine.)

Terumi

Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys.  She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live.  She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)