Our Uber dropped us off right in front of our hotel in Portland, the Portland Marriott City Center. Because it was already around 11:30pm, the door to the hotel was secured. It took us a little while to figure out that there was a doorbell, and once we rang it, a member of the staff rushed out to welcome us in.
The small front desk is to the right of the lobby area. The associate that invited us in lead us to the front desk and checked us in. We were checked-in pretty quickly and were assigned a room on the 17th floor. I was actually proactively upgraded prior to check-in to a Skyline View room. Once the check-in process was completed, we were directed to the elevator bank, which is located to the left of the entrance along with a small lounging area.
Embarrassingly I didn’t realize the room number was written on the back of the card holder and went back to the front desk to ask. The associate was really patient with me, and always with a genuine smile, directed me to the room number on the back of the card holder. With that figured out, we headed up to our room. It’s worth noting that one of the three elevators does take a little finagling to get the card reader (contactless) to read the card and allow you up.
The rooms in the Portland Marriott City Center are admittedly a little small. When you enter the room, you’ll find the closet to the left.
The closet is a little small, but good enough for our needs. It also contained an iron and ironing board. Across from the closet was the tiny bathroom.
Like our room at the Waikiki Park Hotel, the bathroom was small enough that you couldn’t get into the shower/tub with the door open.
Despite the size, the bathroom was relatively well appointed. The granite vanity was stocked with many, fluffy towels of various sizes and the standard Marriott Thann products.
Despite the minuscule size of the bathroom and the closet, the rest of the room was thankfully a decent size.
Our room had a king bed, a sitting chair, a desk with work chair, and a cabinet with the TV on top.
Surrounding the bed were two nightstands, which also served as two mini dressers. Both had a lamp, while one had an iHome radio alarm clock, and the other the phone.
The work desk was very generously sized and the chair fairly comfortable.
The cabinet below the TV contained a mini fridge, the coffee maker + supplies, and two drawers, one of which contained the safe.
Since it was around midnight by the time we settled into our room, there wasn’t much to see outside… but in the morning, we were treated with the typical Portland fog.
On another day, when we were in our room during daylight hours, we discovered that our room actually had view of the Big Pink (U.S. Banc Corp. Tower) and Mt. St. Helen’s all the way off in the distance.
Being a Platinum Elite at the time of this stay, we had access to the property’s Concierge Lounge. Unfortunately we ended up visiting the lounge only once, as it had unusual hours and we were out most of the time anyway. The lounge was actually nicely stocked for a US lounge, with snacks in the evening, and full-sized bottles of water. The very friendly attendant talked story with us a little while, explained the hours, and stocked us up with water.
The property does also have a small fitness center.
It was nicely kept, with no smell at all, and despite its diminutive size, had a good variety of machines.
One of the biggest complaints I heard/read about this property, despite the great service, is the valet only parking. The parking is pretty expensive and requires calling down at least 15-20 minutes before your car is needed.
Admittedly that can be kind of inconvenient, but I always planned accordingly and called down 20 minutes prior to our desired departure time. While there was a time or two we ended up having to wait a few minutes, the car was generally there when we got downstairs. I had no issue with this service at all really, and for the most part, the valets were cheerful and very helpful. Some were more enthusiastic than others, and proactively offered area tips and info, but even the ones that weren’t so great weren’t rude or grouchy. But if you plan on staying within the downtown Portland area, maybe consider not getting a car at all? There are TriMet stations very near the Portland Marriott City Center, and the hotel itself is smack dab in the city center as the name suggests. Pioneer Place, The Pearl, Voodoo Donut, Blue Star Donut, The Big Pink, etc. are all in VERY easy walking distance.
With such a convenient location, it’s easy to see why this property is popular, and a bit pricey. For our stay, I redeemed points, and with a category level of 8, this wasn’t a cheap redemption. 5 nights at the Portland Marriott City Center will set you back 160,000 points, which is a lot of points for a property like this. But despite the tiny rooms and questionable award value, it’s a property I’d return to in the future. The service and convenient location won me over, and even if the rooms are small, they’re still comfortable. Definitely recommend. Just be aware of the property’s quirks and plan accordingly
- Flight Review: Hawaiian Airlines HNL-PDX
- Hotel Review: Portland Marriott City Center