Delicious food and worth the wait. Best dinner in Ilwaco. Staff were very friendly. It's a small place but very comfortable. read more

At The Helm Hotel & Pub - Hotels Near Me - Ilwaco, Washington

Eclectic establishment that is an amazing location in an unexpected spot! If you find yourself in the area visiting Cape Disappointment, stop here! You will not be disappointed. read more

We stayed at the hotel that is attached to this little restaurant. The service was exceptional, very friendly gal who went the extra mile. Crab salad was spot on, fresh tastes and crisp veggies. Ribeye was cooked to perfection. They changed up the menu for our diet restrictions. The outdoor seating looking over the harbor was beautiful. They have a fire pit to enjoy your favorite glass of wine or microbrew. Will definitely be back read more

See all

We are here back in March and though not impressed with the food, we liked the owner and the atmosphere enough to return. This time we waited at a table for 20 minutes and watched several others seated after us get greeted, brought water, and have their orders taken. When we finally stopped the waitress and asked for water, it never came. We decided to leave but on the way out let the owner know we had returned but were leaving because we hadn't been helped. He got very defensive and angry. read more

My sister and I decided to stay at the Helm during a trip to Oregon Coast because of its proximity to Astoria. The check in process was easy and quick. Our room was beyond comfortable and had several nice amenities--Nespresso machine, water urn, Nest bath products, etc....The beds were extremely comfortable and the linens and bathrobes super cozy. We loved everything about our room. After we checked in, we had a late lunch at the Waterline. Delicious. I got the tuna Reuben and she got fish and chips and we were both very satisfied with the quality of both the food and the service given by Alicia and another young lady whose name I unfortunately did not get. A delicious breakfast of blueberry pancakes, bacon, and fresh fruit was delivered to our room the next morning and we enjoyed all of it. I would highly recommend staying here. If you can't stay the night, stop by and enjoy the pub. You won't regret it. read more

My partner and I stayed here for our four year anniversary and had an excellent stay! We loved the room (the Tradition has a great view), the staff was friendly, and the food at the pub is amazing. I highly recommend staying here. read more

At The Helm Hotel & Pub - View from the Tradition. - Hotels Near Me - Ilwaco, Washington

See all

"Steer clear " I'm just kidding this place is cool, I just really wanted to write this pun. read more

Disclaimer: This review is for the pub only. We did NOT stay at the hotel. Honestly, this review should probably be a 2.5 star review. But until Yelp changes that, I'm going to err on the side of caution - 2 stars, since we were more disappointed than excited. I'll start with this - the best item we had was the Garden Salad. Fresh, tasty. But it was still a garden salad. Good thing they didn't mess that up. My wife had the Pork Verde Stew, which had good flavor, but there was too much fatty pork present. I ordered the Chicken Waffle sliders. The description on the menu is accurate, but this item should probably be renamed - Chicken Biscuit Sliders. The slider buns are just biscuits made in a waffle iron, to look like waffles. The spicy maple aioli was almost non-existent. In fact, that seemed to be a theme - items served that day in July were too dry; too little sauce. The beer selection was limited, as was the wine selection. And the wine pours are really light, very short of six ounces; probably closer to four. Service was slow, especially for such a small venue. And for some reason, we ordered dessert. Bourbon Apple Crumble Bread Pudding. $8. This is the description on the menu: "Tender Washington apples in creamy custard and croissant bread pudding, topped with cinnamon crumble and bourbon caramel sauce." Take a look at the picture I submitted of our dessert. You'll notice there isn't any bourbon caramel sauce - or sauce of any kind - in that picture. Not on the pudding, not over the whipped cream, and certainly not drizzled anywhere on the plate. The pudding itself was warm on the outside but cold on the inside, as if it were microwaved. It was just bad. Maybe they're still working out the kinks. We were there in early July of 2019. Maybe the service and food quality will improve over time. read more

See all

This was our 2nd time in Ilwaco and it was a no brainer to revisit At The Helm Pub. Alisha was running the inside and outdoor seating and she was incredible! Wow! Talk about energy! Loved her spirit! Service was fantastic as well as our food! Kudos to the cook too! We will be back! read more

Spent an hour driving around Long Beach looking for a place to eat. Being in this area, we wanted seafood. Ended up at the Waterline Pub at the Helm Hotel. I cannot say enough about the food. It was fresh and fantastic. Clam steamers... forget about it! Dungeness crab bisque? Good lord almighty! Everything was soooo good! Service was excellent and its a crime that this place wasn't as packed as the others. Want amazing food? Come here. Forget the other places. Waterline is where it is at! Cheers! read more

At The Helm Hotel & Pub - Hotels Near Me - Ilwaco, Washington

See all

Irene, who no longer works At the Helm, made the place fun! The food was good (they do have wonderful calamari) but we drove the distance mostly because of the great service we received from her. She always went the extra mile and made you feel welcome and special. I can't say the same for the owner or other waitresses there. We tolerated them. One complaint we've had is they never answer the phone and they don't return messages. We try calling before we go because the drive is long and one time we got there and they told us to come back in two hours. We were hungry but walked around and waited. When we got back at 4 as instructed they said they were closing because the chef called in sick. We understand things happen but it was annoying. But the worst experience we had was last week when we took our family who was visiting from California. We were so excited and once we got there, we learned Irene no longer worked there. It went downhill from there. The two waitresses (Brittany and Alecia) and the owner (Marcene) were very rude to me and to my kids. We came in with a party of 6 and a baby. When I asked about seating they directed me to move chairs instead of offering to do it for us. Once a couple of us sat down my grandbaby, who has car sickness, threw up. My son took him outside immediately and instead of cleaning and sanitizing the area, the owner threw two towels at me and said, "You can clean it up. I don't do vomit." I did clean it up, getting down on my hands and knees, which was uncalled for. I run a daycare and if the children vomit I don't call their parents to come clean it up. The waitresses continued being rude to my kids and we left. I will never go back - unless there's new management, new wait staff and Irene is back. read more

The server was very friendly and the prosecco was tasty. I loved the pickled salmon appetizer that brought back fond memories of my childhood, but the mac and cheese sauce was broken leaving a greasy pool on the bottom of the plate. The chef should know that once the cream has reduced to the proper consistency, you add the pasta to heat through then add the cheese. Turn off the heat to ensure the sauce doesn't break. And the cheese should not be parm. It was more of an Alfredo. Broken. Maybe the oyster shooters can be quite a bit smaller. I had one of 5. All in all, the ambiance was lovely. Wished the Chef matched. read more

My husband and I came to the Helm for a weekend getaway. The location is adorable- right on the harbor, overlooking fishing boats. Walking around as the sun set was idyllic. The room was clean, large, and comfortable. The hotel experience was incredible. We also loved our time at the restaurant, at which we had dinner both evenings. The menu is diverse with lots of delicious choices. The bruschetta especially was amazing. Thanks to Lao in the kitchen! Our server, Alecia, was kind and generous in every way. She went above and beyond- out of her way to make sure every need was taken care of. She knew what we needed before we did. We had a lovely night by the outside fire drinking wine. Very much recommend this beautiful little seaside escape. read more

Wonderful staffs and great food. Nice atmosphere! Definitely delicious Lemon Drop on this beautiful sunny day!!

If you are concerned about Covid 19/Delta safety protocols, don't stay at this hotel. The manager (owner?) did not wear a mask when she delivered my breakfast (I was wearing one). When I asked her why she wasn't observing the mask mandate she said that she requires her employees to wear masks but that she just can't breathe in them and so doesn't wear them. I didn't get the sense that she has a medical exemption to wearing a mask - I got the sense she just didn't want to. It was disturbing and disappointing. read more

14 of us converged on the Waterline Pub at the Helm on a Saturday afternoon. Sam (our waiter extraordinaire), kept things moving in a forward direction for us and showed over and over that he was attentive and we mattered. Amazing young man. The food was amazing. Everyone was happy with their meals and they were filling. Most of us had to get to go boxes because we could not finish. At first glance, the menu seems a little on the pricy side but given the dishes we were served, I would say it is reasonably priced. They even make their own potato chips. Great food, wonderful staff, beautiful view. We will be back. read more

Brunch was delicious! Washington beers available on tap, and in a couple size variations. Husband had chicken waffle sliders with tots, I had crab quiche with a microgreen salad. Both were presented well and tasted great. Would recommend to both locals and tourists alike, as an adult oriented dining experience. read more

See all

Probably the worst dining experience I've ever had. We came in to get a bite to eat and the customer service was down right awful. Both of the women working were extremely rude and seemed like they didn't even want to be there. Any question I asked was met with an eye roll and a short, passive aggressive response. I'm actually shocked that the staff would be so unprofessional to paying customers. read more

What an amazing little spot! Such a cute Boutique hotel in Ilwaco. Great service with little extra special treatment like complimentary beer or wine when you check in. Choice of complimentary breakfast items delivered to your room when you wake also. We sat outside by the gas fire pit in the evening and morning. The Pub has fantastic food also! read more

At The Helm Hotel & Pub - Hotels Near Me - Ilwaco, Washington

See all

We have enjoyed our meals very much over the years but the last two visits were disasters. We waited nearly an hour for the food (there were only a couple other diners) and it was almost inedible. Most recently, the server (who was very nice) and the chef were arguing and there seemed to be serious problems in the kitchen--this left us concerned about food safety etc. The incident was ugly and it happened in front of other patrons. Not sure what's going but we'll never return. We understand the challenges in running a restaurant these days, especially in a very small town. However, this was totally unacceptable. read more

We stayed for the first time last week and really enjoyed our time there. Our room was beautiful, the bed was So comfy, loved the shower, loved the hot breakfast delivered promptly at 8:30am both mornings...just a lovely room. My con list is brief: no place to hang towels in the bathroom, but that just means new ones! And our first nights dining experience was quite lackluster, and that was a bummer. But the efforts of the staff to be accommodating was always above and beyond! read more

This is a nice hotel with large rooms and great shower and included a free breakfast which was a bagel and fresh fruit. I thought it was a daily breakfast but after I turned in order we did not receive any breakfast on following morning so ate in town. The pub downstairs has a good restaurant for dinner or lunch. Soft robes to wear so don't bother packing one. Mostly quiet but bathroom doors do squeak! We very much enjoyed staying here! Soft comfortable bed and up to date amenities. read more

I'll start with the our dining experience. Dinner in the pub was very disappointing. Once we got sat down, we were completely ignored. The ciders that were ordered smelled like sewage, the crab cocktail still had frozen crab in it. The servers did not even try and take our dinner order, and it took 20 minutes to finally get the check, after having to ask for it. There are only 6 tables and seating for 6 up at the bar, so I'm not really sure why the service was so slow. In fact, while we were waiting for our order, there were two different couples who sat down at the bar, but were ignored long enough to get up and walk away. As far as the hotel side its decent. There is nobody onsite after about 8:30 PM, and if you don't remember to either take a picture of the front door code or memorize it, you will get locked out of the hotel. The room security is non existent, the door locks are just regular front door locks, so if you don't remember to lock the door behind you, anyone can get in. There are no phones in the rooms, however they do have an Alexa dot, but every 20 minutes, it would say "This Alexa is not connected to a network." So i unplugged it. I did speak with the manager upon checkout regarding my experience, and all I was told is that the staff recently went through a turnover, are in training, and the night before they were the busiest they had ever been. No apologies, no offer to make anything right, just excuses. The hotel is out of the way, and there is nothing to do in the town. The hotel advertises a 5 star experience, but the only 5 star experience was the price. $40.00 for 2 cans of bad cider, a frozen crab cocktail, and an order of calamari that went straight from the freezer to the deep fryer, with a side of tartar sauce that came from a bottle. $235 for a double queen room with no view of the port, just a garage next door, No phone in the room, just a non working Alexa. There wasn't even a small notepad or a pen in the room. read more

We enjoyed a weekend lunch at the Waterline pub. Excellent food and great selection of local beers, ciders and wine. Service from staff was attentive and helpful. While there's no kids menu, the sandwiches were excellent and all three of my kids love them! My prawn and bay shrimp Caesar salad was so tasty and the presentation was spot on. We started with a cup of the crab bisque and devoured it. We can't wait to return during our next trip to Long Beach. read more

At The Helm Hotel & Pub - Hotels Near Me - Ilwaco, Washington

Really great! My hubby and I snuck away for a date night and were so pleased. Alfred was a new waiter, and did his absolute best to please us. Lao, the cook was phenomenal. The shrimp appetizer was spicy and delicious!! We will be back for sure! read more

We love coming here. Irene is so great!! I love coming here because she is amazing!! The food is amazing!! She makes us feel like family!!! read more

Had the king salmon special and it was amazing. My wife had the Cobb salad with the king salmon and she was in heaven. Our waitress Irene was amazing. read more

At The Helm Hotel & Pub - Salad with King Salmon - Hotels Near Me - Ilwaco, Washington

We were so happy with our meal here! I grew up in Long Beach and stopped in the newly opened space on my last trip home to visit family. The food was excellent, the service great, and the ambiance was perfect: great decor, local and historic theme, and the best view of the port. I had the burger with tots, but I really missed out on the homemade potato chips. I'm not usually a chip fan, which is why I went for the tots, but I ended up eating all of my brothers delicious slightly vinegary and soft potato chips. Yum! read more

Went to the restaurant for lunch today. It was amazing! Sat outside with our dogs, Ate some awesome grub, Wife had a couple brews and it was great! I literally don't know what could have been done better. Service 10/10, Food 10/10, atmosphere 10/10. read more

I really want to love this place more! The location is lovely, and the beds are really comfy. They just really need to dial in some things to make it feel like it's $250/night truly well spent. I spent two weekends here this past summer and had the same problems both times: 1. Owner does not wear a mask in her own hotel (!!), even though all the guests and other employees were being diligent about masks. 2. Wifi was terrible/nonexistent in our room and on the patio; when I brought it up the owner just dismissed it as a "kink to work out." 3. Deadbolt didn't work in my room; again the owner dismissed my worry re: security by saying "it's a small town." 4. Doors in room (to bathroom and from there to toilet room) are barn-door type and thus noisy, such that they wake up the other person if there's two of you, even though the rooms are plenty big for normal doors. 5. Food served at restaurant was not hot all the way through (noticed this in some other reviews). read more

Owners are long-time locals. They have done a wonderful job of making this awesome building into an upscale hotel. Great views, great food, and great drinks! Maybe not the best hotel for kids, so come here with your sweetie! read more

We were very happy with our entire experience. We tried the calamari, the totchos (tater nachos), and the steamer clams; all were very delicious. Small selection of draft beers - maybe 5, 3 different wines, no sodas, but lemonade and root beer for nonalcoholic drinks. The server was very friendly and offered great suggestions. The pub has only a small selection of seating. It is a bit of a wait for food and drinks due to minimum staging but be patient, it was worth it! read more

I was organizing a fishing trip with customers and waited too long to book my hotel. Normally I wouldn't book something this expensive but I had no choice. The owner was super nice and they let me put my lunch for the following days fishing trip in their frig. Carol and Cheryl were amazingly sweet and helpful. read more

See all

Cute pub, but clearly not yet finished as far as decorating goes. Walls empty and asks for some art or something. We were given a tour of the hotel rooms ... really awesome! The pub...? The pub's been open for at least a month or more? Not sure. The server was very friendly, but didn't really seem confident. We ordered the Chardonnay (bottle), and out came another white, the only white available other than the $80 bottle. It was OK, but not a wine I would've chosen had i the opportunity to taste first. We ordered the burgers. I thought I was getting tossed salad with it, but it was tots (tater tots). Hubby ordered fries, also got tots, pointed it out and she came back minutes later with homemade chips ... under cooked. I had no bun (as per my order)and his bun was frozen on inside and toasted on outside. $72 later, will we be back?? I think not! The menu is small and limited, and I have no problem with that, except the fact there's none of the local seafood on the menu. Definitely room for improvement on menu, also on wine list. Pity. Lovely setting, right on the Ilwaco promenade. Hopefully things will improve. read more

Walk through the property today and it is beautiful. Lots of nice amenities! Look forward to staying there sometime

The Totchos are so good. The rest of the menu is fantastic. The staff is awesome. This place rocks.

It's quiet little place on the Marina has great food and great service. Highly recommended. Good food and good people.

Waterline Pub is a hidden gem. Burger was awesome. Chicken waffles didn't disappoint either. Nice waterfront view with a great patio for relaxing. read more

We had the most delicious meal here. The Mac n cheese is incredibly cheesy and flavorful. The crab bisque was exquisite, and the Caesar salad and seafood platter was incredible. Best place in Ilwaco/Longbeach/Seaview to eat, by far. read more

Where to begin. We used booking.com to reserve two nights in their King Suite. When we arrived we found out that the room we reserved was double booked and we had been downgraded to the King Deluxe. When my wife attempted to address this with the hotel staff they explained that this was protocol and happens often because of errors made by booking.com. We asked how we were going to be compensated because of the cost difference and the hotel staff said they would figure it out and get back to us. This never happened. While checking out I asked again if they were going to adjust the charge. No one seemed to know what they were doing and I was told I would hear from the owner. This never happened. In the end booking.com refunded me $120 on their own behalf because the information provided by ATH was incorrect and they felt that it was on them for not getting accurate information from ATH. ATH blamed everything on booking.com and after talking with a rep from booking.com it was evident that ATH was being dishonest. It appears they double booked the room and the other party was a family of 5 so as a result we were given the smaller room. This would have been fine had they communicated this to us before we drove three hours to the coast! As for the Stay: They put us in a room(Triumph) right next to the lobby and pub as well as the outdoor lounge area. It frankly sucked. We went to bed late and woke up early(not our choice). The food was okay, a bit overpriced, but not bad for that side of the bridge. I don't recommend coming here. I would instead go to the Adrift, Commodore, or the Shelbourne. The price is a bit cheaper at those places while offering better customer service. Also the view at ATH is pretty blah. read more