Portland, Oregon: Review of the Westin Portland

After over a year of weekly travel to Portland, I’ve had a good share of staying in hotels night after night. It’s definitely a nice perk to business travel when you overlook the long hours of work. That being said, it’s about time for a review of one hotel on my favorites list in Portland. The Westin!

Location:

The Westin Portland is centrally located in downtown Portland, near the pearl district. There are a number of eateries and shopping close by as it is downtown. The hotel is a short walk over to the Pearl District, a great area full of fancy restaurants and bars galore for a night out on the town.

Eats:

There is a restaurant in the hotel called The Daily Grill with pretty decent food. However if visiting Portland, I highly recommend ditching the sitting and dining experience for something a little more home to Portland- the food carts! There is a whole 2 blocks of food carts right across from this hotel. Each food cart opens at varies times and days so make sure to double check on their hours if there is a specific food cart you’ve been wanting to try. My favorites have been Nong’s Khao Man Gai (Thai), Chez Dodo (Mauritian), and Kingsland Kitchen (English/Irish?). Whether you are gluten free, vegan, vegetarian, or something else special, there will be a food cart fit for you.

Bar view of the Daily Grill

Rooms:

Each room has huge windows and faces at least one side of the hotel. If you get a corner room, there will be windows on two full walls, giving visitors a nice view of the city during day and night.

I’ve had the penthouse floor room several times and depending on which room you get, the walls can be higher. Each room has the hotel standard bed, desk, tv, fridge, and bathroom with shower and bathtub (corner rooms will lack a bathtub in place of a much bigger shower).

I’ve also had the one bedroom suite before and it is essentially a bigger room with a living room attached to the bedroom. Great for hosting small parties!

Hotel Atmosphere:

From the street, there is an opening to the hotel with a black arch and a valet cart right next to the door. The lobby is quite small but there are chairs to rest in the lounge area in the restaurant. The décor of the hotel is relatively traditional, often relying on neutral colors. There won’t be anything too crazy or bold here.

Service:

Service is pretty good. The valet staff is very friendly and will often greet you when walking past the doors. Reception can be more transactional, especially if they are trying to get a line of people checked in during their busy times (aka when every consultant is trying to check in). Overall they get the job done and get guests into their rooms.

Additional Perks:

There is usually a cute welcome gift consisting of sparkling water and a bag of flavored popcorn when I enter my room.

Unfortunately there is no lounge for platinum SPG members here. The only perk would be breakfast if opting for breakfast as the welcome amenity. This gives you and one guest up to $14.75 each to purchase breakfast at their restaurant. Definitely worth it if staying multiple days than 500 starpoints.