Where to stay in Portland Oregon

niehlin2

Level 2 Member
My husband and I are planning to stay few days in Portland, Oregon next month. Our main focus will be to visit many beautiful places such as the Columbia River Gorge, Washington Park, Forest Park, and Oneonta Gorge etc. Is there an area that is conveniently accesible to these places and offer good food? We would also like to visit the downtown area. Are there any places that are must to visit? Your suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
 

smittytabb

Moderator
Staff member
My husband and I are planning to stay few days in Portland, Oregon next month. Our main focus will be to visit many beautiful places such as the Columbia River Gorge, Washington Park, Forest Park, and Oneonta Gorge etc. Is there an area that is conveniently accesible to these places and offer good food? We would also like to visit the downtown area. Are there any places that are must to visit? Your suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
There are a lot of great brew pubs and microbreweries in Portland. I have been to Deschutes, but there are many more. Portland also has a huge food truck culture. I mean major. I actually took a food truck tour when I was there and it was great and helped me to find some I might not have tried. Got to go to Voodoo Donuts for novelty's sake. And I would not skip the famous Powell's Books. I stayed downtown at Marriott City Center. I can give you the tourist's perspective, but get a local like @ElainePDX to give you the insider knowledge. I did a walking tour with portlandwalkingtours(dot)com and it was a lot of fun. I also used my Barclay Arrival to pay and it counted as travel. Not sure if it will in the future or not.
 

ElainePDX

Level 2 Member
Thanks @smittytabb for tagging me. I'd have noticed the thread eventually but the tag got me here quicker. And you gave great advice.

@niehlin2 - Will you have a car? You won't need one if you want to stay within the central city, but for the parks and the gorge you certainly will.

As for food, the food trucks are indeed incredible and everywhere, and some of the best food in town can be found there. What happens for the best of them is they move from selling at a local farmer's market - the Saturday one at PSU was voted 2nd best in the nation recently! - to a food cart, to a full fledged restaurant. We have become quite a foodie town and I am sure you can get recs from many sources once you are here, for the cuisines you appreciate. Lots of NW/locavore places to choose from as well as ethnic food, especially all varieties of Asian.

Not sure if you'll be staying on points but if you have Kimpton points, the Kimpton on the Waterfront is lovely. The Three Degrees Restaurant there is fabulous in terms of food and view. And they treat Inner Circles beautifully. I've never seen any rooms but we get treated quite well whenever we go lunch or dinner.

I wouldn't waste time on the VooDoo donuts line - stop by and stay if it is short; otherwise just tell the folks in line you aren't buying and want to peek at the donuts. They are nothing special; it's the odd combos they come up with and mix of flavors that have made the store's reputation. Also the Asian food outside of Chinatown is far superior to the older places there.

It is was me, I'd stay downtown in SW Portland. One idea is to take the light rail from the airport for very cheap and rent a car in town to cover the days you will be exploring out of town or going to in town parks where a car is easier than using TRIMET (local transit). Then return the car, hop the light rail, and head back to the airport. It will save on parking fees and perhaps the rental as well.

I don't know of another location outside the city that would offer good food; not to say there aren't any, I just don't know. And most of the areas - Columbia River Gorge, Washington Park, Forest Park - you mentioned are all either in the city or within a close drive. Tourists visit them (as well as Mt Hood - there's a scenic gorge/Hood drive you can do) as a day trip from Portland all the time.

Hope that helps!
 

ElainePDX

Level 2 Member
Oh, and if you are into wine or wine tasting, you might consider a day trip to the Willamette Valley. You can drive yourself or pick up a Groupon/LivingSocial for a chauffeured visit to a few wineries. There are also things like this, which came in today's email:
http://www.pdx50.com/deal/3662
 
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niehlin2

Level 2 Member
Thanks @smittytabb and @ElainePDX. You both always offer great advices and mentorship that I have high respect. I will go through your notes and study.

I would love to have a wine tasting if I am not so severely allergic to alcohol.
 

m124

Level 2 Member
My go to hotel in Portland is Hyatt Place Portland Airport. 8,000 points/night and close to light rail. Traffic in Portland is horrible for a city of its size, IMHO.
 

mbo_nc

Level 2 Member
As others have mentioned, there is a ton of good food in Portland. The food carts are awesome (tons of great choices), and they are everywhere:
http://www.travelportland.com/article/food-cart-pods/

As far as hotels go, when I went, I stayed at the Inn at Northrup Station (http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g52024-d240603-Reviews-Inn_at_Northrup_Station-Portland_Oregon.html). It was really cool and in a great location (right off of the streetcar and a ton of restaurants around), but you can't book it with points :(
 

anon314

New Member
My go to hotel in Portland is Hyatt Place Portland Airport. 8,000 points/night and close to light rail. Traffic in Portland is horrible for a city of its size, IMHO.
This is pretty late for the thread, but the Hyatt Place by the airport is also my go to hotel if I am on a flight day. Portland is a place you need to either spend points or an educated Priceline search. The actual prices of hotels is very high.
 

m124

Level 2 Member
This is pretty late for the thread, but the Hyatt Place by the airport is also my go to hotel if I am on a flight day. Portland is a place you need to either spend points or an educated Priceline search. The actual prices of hotels is very high.
I was just there again (on points, of course) and the hotel has been recently renovated.

A Hyatt House will soon open downtown, but it will be 12,000 points/night, as opposed to 8,000 at Hyatt Place Airport.
 
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