A 1936 Catholic schoolhouse converted into a sixty-room downtown Bend hotel by the McMenamin brothers, with a brewery, a movie theatre, a tile-lined soaking pool, and the city's most-loved drinking room.
"Old St. Francis is the only hotel in downtown Bend that is a destination in its own right. The brewery is the city's best beer room, the mosaic soaking pool stays open until midnight, and the schoolhouse rooms have more character per square foot than any boutique build in Oregon."
Old St. Francis sits on a single block in downtown Bend, two streets back from Drake Park and the Deschutes River and one block from the city's main restaurant strip on Bond Street. The hotel occupies the original 1936 Catholic schoolhouse, a two-storey brick-and-sandstone building with arched windows and a small bell tower, plus two purpose-built additions, the Art House and the Education House, completed in the late 2000s. The McMenamin brothers, an Oregon brewery and hospitality family with roughly fifty properties across the Pacific Northwest, took possession of the property in 2003 and ran a four-year conversion that preserved the schoolhouse's original blackboards, terrazzo floors, and arched ceilings while building out the brewery, the movie theatre, and the soaking pool around them.
The sixty rooms split across three buildings. The nineteen original schoolhouse rooms are the property's signature product, former classrooms with original blackboards used as headboards, transom windows, restored hardwood floors, and the irregular footprints that come with a 1930s conversion. The Art House and Education House add forty-one rooms in a more conventional contemporary footprint, with the same Pacific Northwest craftsman vocabulary and en-suite bathrooms with walk-in showers. The Parish House at the south end of the property is a five-bedroom standalone that books as a single key for groups up to ten. All rooms include free WiFi, flat-screen televisions, and the McMenamins-signature original art by Oregon artists on every wall.
The drinking and dining offer is the operational heart of the property and the reason for most of the bookings. The on-site brewery produces six year-round beers and a rotating series of one-offs; the Brothers Bar in the former gymnasium is the main drinking room with full-service food until late; St. Francis Pub in the original Catholic schoolhouse hallway runs an all-day menu of woodfired pizza, burgers, and a McMenamins signature Cajun tots dish. The Father Luke's Room is a small whiskey bar tucked into the original priest's quarters with a thirty-bottle list. Breakfast runs daily in the Brothers Bar with a strong all-day brunch menu.
The Turkish-style soaking pool is the hotel's quiet operational anchor. The mosaic-tiled pool occupies a glass-roofed atrium between the schoolhouse and the Art House; it runs from morning until midnight, is included for overnight guests, and is consistently the most-cited reason for a return booking. The on-site movie theatre runs a daily schedule of recent and classic films with free admission for guests. The location, two blocks from the river, three blocks from Drake Park, and at the south end of Bend's restaurant district, is the best downtown address in the city. Service is informal and friendly rather than polished, the property is unusually consistent year over year, and the McMenamins brand's quiet cult following means weekends book three to four weeks ahead in summer.
For a solo trip to Bend organised around the river, the brewery scene, and downtown's restaurant program, Old St. Francis is the canonical address. The schoolhouse room product gives a sense of place that a boutique cannot manufacture; the on-site brewery and the late-running soaking pool mean the evenings program is essentially indoors and on-property; and the location two blocks from the Deschutes and three blocks from Drake Park means morning runs, fly-fishing pickups, and Old Mill rides leave from the door. A four-night solo week here is a complete trip without the rental car being involved much.
For a family booking in downtown Bend with kids of any age, Old St. Francis is the most useful in-city choice. The Parish House (five bedrooms, sleeps ten) works for two families travelling together; the Education House works for a family of four with a king and a sleeper sofa; and the on-property movie theatre, the soaking pool, the pizza pub, and the proximity to Drake Park keep the unstructured afternoons sorted. The walking radius covers most of Bend's downtown restaurants, ice cream shops, and the river trail, which means the trip works without a car for the city portion.
700 NW Bond Street
Bend, OR 97701
United States
Two blocks from Drake Park and the Deschutes River; one block from Bond Street restaurants; thirty minutes to Mount Bachelor ski resort
60 rooms across the historic schoolhouse and two annexes
Schoolhouse king and queen rooms from $175/night
Art House and Education House king from $230/night
Parish House suite to $400/night (sleeps 10)
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 11:00 AM
Schoolhouse built 1936; converted by McMenamins 2003 to 2007
On-site brewery and three drinking rooms
Mosaic-tiled Turkish soaking pool (open until midnight)
On-site movie theatre with free guest admission
Three on-site restaurants (Brothers Bar, St. Francis Pub, Fireside Bar)
Whiskey bar in the original priest's quarters
Two blocks from Drake Park and the Deschutes River
Complimentary WiFi throughout
From $175/night. Suites and high-season weekends in Bend book three to four months ahead; weekday and shoulder-season rates are the value pick.
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Off peak pricing, suite upgrades, and subscriber only offers, flagged only when the value is real.