Atticus Hotel

Story submitted by Citizens Bank

A Dream Rooted in the Community

Partners Erin Stephenson and Brian Shea launched their boutique lodging company in 2010 with the 3rd Street Flats, a fusion lodging concept blending the best aspects of hotels, B&Bs, and vacation rentals in McMinnville. They wanted to give travelers the opportunity to settle in and feel like they are living as a local when they visited the community.
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With the success of 3rd Street Flats, Erin and Brian started focusing on their dream of creating a small, independently owned and operated luxury hotel that was underpinned with the heart and the soul of the community. “So often hotels become an island of the other,” says Erin. “We wanted to give our guests a sense of who we are and give them the chance to connect with what makes McMinnville such a great community.”
The Atticus Hotel, located in the heart of Historic Downtown McMinnville, opened in 2018 and has grown to become a gem of the Willamette Valley’s expanding tourism industry.

Relationship Built on Trust

Erin and Brian credit their partnership with a community bank like Citizens Bank and their relationship with their banker, Teresa Smith, as playing a vital role in bringing their dream to fruition.

“When you have a project of this scope, you spend so much time with your banker,” explains Erin. “You must develop a deep sense of trust and a strong relationship because this is the person that's going to lead you through the process. They're going to problem solve with you and help you come up with creative solutions along the way.”

“When we met with Teresa, she told us that she really believed in our business,” remembers Stephensen. “She liked what we were doing and was going to believe in us when we’re small because she believed someday, we were going to be big.”

Local, Local, and Local.

The Atticus boasts 36 original rooms and because of their relationship with Citizens Bank, Erin and Brian were able to be creative and add some out-of-the-box elements. Each room in the hotel is different, from the upholstery on the custom-made couches to the hand-painted wallpaper. No detail is overlooked, and every guest gets a truly unique experience.

They made a concentrated effort to source locally. Erin estimates that roughly 85% of everything inside the hotel is from Oregon. The majority of their light fixtures were made in Portland, mattresses were manufactured in Newberg, all their couches and chairs were manufactured in Tigard, and all their wine and nuts come from farms in the Willamette Valley. The artwork throughout the hotel also comes from local artists.

The Guests Notice

There were times when Erin and Brian wondered if every little detail would even be noticed. Would guests care that each room had a different knocker, or that there are live plants in each room?

It turns out that people did care. In 2023, the Atticus was named the number six hotel in America by the TripAdvisor’s Travelers' Choice Best of the Best Awards and earlier this year they were one of only four hotels in Oregon to be awarded a Michelin Key.

“It's incredible the number of reviews and guest surveys we get back from people who travel for a living or have traveled all over the world, and they’ve stayed in so many luxury hotels and they can't quite put their finger on it, but there's something that's just really different here,” says Erin.

Teamwork Leads to Success

The Atticus Hotel project, from beginning to end, was a cohesive team with one goal. Erin credits their relationship with Teresa and Citizens Bank for helping guide the project to fruition. “Every time there was a roadblock, we would sit down with Teresa and figure out a solution to make it work... and it’s still working today.”