Make This “Star Trek” Motel Part of a Geek Getaway to the Oregon Coast – This is Oregon

Itty Bitty Inn Jeff and Jennifer Hunger, visiting from the Chicaco area, dressed appropriately for their stay in the Star Trek Room at the Itty Bitty Inn in North Bend. (Samantha Swindler/Samantha Swindler/The Oregonian)

Are you looking to boldly go where…frankly, many men have already gone? Book a night in the popular Star Trek Room at the Itty Bitty Inn in North Bend on the southern Oregon coast.

The Star Trek-themed motel room places guests on the deck of the original Starship Enterprise, complete with precise on-screen controls and wall-mounted communicators. The hostel’s owner, Rik Villarreal, an electrician by trade, installed buttons and switches throughout the room that activate various sound and light effects.

There’s a three-dimensional chessboard, paper masks of your favorite Starfleet characters, a few tribbles hidden here and there, copies of the original films to watch around the room, viewing logs of all the original episodes, a user manual for the Bird-of-Prey warship (written in Klingon)…and it only gets geekier from there.

Ensign Rizzo – notable as the rare “Red Shirt” to survive an attack while on an away mission – carries a towel rack. The bathroom features a 1930s style in homage to the time travel episode “The City on the Edge of Forever.” Two framed newspapers in the toilet depict two realities: one where social worker Edith Keeler is killed, the other where she meets with the president about his peace initiative. (Fans will get the reference.)

“In the captain’s diary you will find the signatures of people who worked on ‘DS9,’ on ‘Voyager,’ on ‘TNG,'” Villarreal said. Marina Sirtis, who played Councilwoman Deanna Troi, spent the night there.

Many guests come dressed in their own cosplay, including Jeff and Jennifer Hunger, recent visitors from Chicago who reserved the room a year in advance.

“We’re big Star Trek fans,” Jeff said, posing with a tribble and sharing a Vulcan wave.

You can’t miss the Itty Bitty Inn while driving along US Hwy 101 in North Bend. The motel is covered in murals of Star Trek and Star Wars characters, and an illuminated sign promises “themed rooms.”

Itty Bitty Inn was the original name of the small five-room motel when it opened in 1950. Villarreal said he was not looking to become an innkeeper, but the previous owners, who were friends, approached him about purchasing the motel to 2014.

Villarreal – who had no hospitality experience but was returning to his hometown of North Bend – wondered why not? He could run the motel and live there.

“It was a clean, humble vibe, just an old-school motor inn,” he said. “Their mission was to provide a clean, quality service, without necessarily putting a lot of kitsch nonsense into it. »

But Villarreal envisioned a geeky, retro oasis on the Oregon Coast. He redesigned the motel rooms around what he loved: namely Star Trek, tiki lounges and the 1970s.

“By nature, I can be a little dramatic, even flamboyant,” Villarreal said. “I wanted to exercise a certain creative freedom that my work didn’t allow me.”

This other job? Providing energy management for business and the defense sector with his company, EdComm – something which, as he says, doesn’t always allow for “dramatic creativity” to flourish.

He put a lot of drama into the Itty Bitty Inn.

In addition to the Star Trek Room, the motel has two tiki-themed rooms: the Tiki Cha Cha Room, named after a KBOO radio show (whose founder lives in North Bend) with a ceiling painted like a grass hut, and the Tiki Lounge. room, with a more chic atmosphere. Each room is furnished with mid-century decor and comes with a supply of “emergency necklaces.” The Tiki Lounge has a record player loaded with Martin Denny records.

The Oregon Trail Room features posters of old westerns and a large mural of the Three Sisters Mountains. It’s certainly the least wild piece, even if Villarreal plans to make it the forest moon of Endor for Star Wars fans.

The Disco Room is equipped with a switch that activates a disco ball that spins and plays the Bee Gee hit “Staying Alive”.

“What ’70s room would be complete without a vintage Atari 2600 rebuilt circa 1979,” Villarreal said as he opened the top dresser drawer to reveal a stash of game cartridges. “I know Atari Millipede, Space Invaders and Donkey Kong go remarkably well with an IPA or locally brewed cranberry cider.”

Patrons who aren’t in the disco room but want to play retro games can rent a vintage Atari, an assortment of game cartridges and an old-fashioned CRT TV for $15.

“I think the amount of people (the motel) attracts is really something special,” said Vera Martinez, Villarreal’s daughter and co-manager of the hotel. “We see horizons from all over the world. We will have people coming from Europe, Asia, South Africa. We like to think of this as a second home for them.

Each modest room comes with a tiled shower and toilet and a small breakfast nook with a mini-fridge and microwave. Guests are offered free freshly brewed coffee from Bridge View Coffee Roasters and local IPAs or cranberry cider (Coos County is the cranberry capital of Oregon, after all). Villarreal will shuttle to and from the small North Bend airport and offer bike trails and kayak rides. Customers can also check out bikes for getting around town (as well as helmets and safety vests.)

Villarreal installed two 60-amp car chargers in the parking lot, with instructions written in English, Klingon and Aurebesh (for Star Wars fans).

“We’re all-inclusive here,” he said.

With rates ranging from $89 to $128, the Itty Bitty Inn was named the #1 budget hotel by Yelp in the United States in 2019. To book a room at the Itty Bitty Inn, 1504 Sherman Ave. in North Bend, visit ittybittyinn.com or call 541-756-6398.

Villarreal grew up in North Bend, which he described as “the nerdy little secret of the Oregon Coast.”

“The geek culture here has always been big, ever since I was little,” he said. “Dungeons and Dragons, science fiction. We were cosplaying before anyone called it cosplay.

If you’re planning a geek getaway to North Bend, here are a few other stops to add to your trip:

Recycle video games, 1942 Sherman Ave. : This retailer specializing in rare retro video games and gaming systems has four locations on the Oregon Coast, but is headquartered in North Bend. Owner Annie Jackson repairs, cleans and buys used games and equipment and has an impressive collection on display, including a Commodore 64 and an Atari video computer system in their original boxes. (Stay tuned: She plans to create a video game museum.)

Yoda’s cabin, 775 N. Front St.: Technically, this Star Wars-themed food cart is in nearby Coos Bay, but it’s within walking or biking distance of North Bend. Named the best food truck of 2023 at the Toast of the South Coast awards, chef Ron Phillips said he earned the nickname Yoda for his talent behind the grill. Yoda’s Hut serves all-day breakfast (try the Leia, a burrito with caramelized onions, mushrooms, peppers, eggs, potatoes and cheese) and sandwiches (the Yoda is a faux pasta sandwich). -smoked filet with roasted garlic aioli.) Find it at Street Food Trucks’ new Front Pod.

Liberty Pub, 2047 Sherman Ave. : At first glance, Liberty Pub looks like a standard small-town bar. Then you notice the Dungeons & Dragons game table in the back and the paintings on the walls of the Borg Queen, a Sleestak, and Jar Jar Binks. It’s the perfect place to stop for a pizza and embark on an adventure.

Players’ canteen, 761 Virginia Ave. : Every Friday night, you can find people throwing Magic cards at this hobby store, which sells supplies and miniatures for Magic the Gathering, Pokémon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Dungeons & Dragons and other games. role on the table. Thursdays are “D&D with Darrel.” Check out the store’s Facebook page for more upcoming tournaments.

–Samantha Swindler covers features for The Oregonian/OregonLive and This is Oregon. Contact her at [email protected].

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