My brother and I thought it would be fun to visit Oregon for the first time and see what the great city of Portland has to offer. I did a lot of research on reasonably priced accommodations that would be close to the city, but not in the dense traffic of downtown. This hotel was recommended by Expedia (which I used to book the entire flight/hotel/car through) and after reading how "close" it was to downtown and what beautiful views of Mt. Hood there were, I decided this would be the best place.

Being new to the city (and the state) we left the airport and headed down the freeway until Exit 13 and proceeded to head up the correct street. After some driving, my brother pointed to a horrible, run-down looking building and said "I think this is it" and in all honesty my response was "no...that can't be it...the pictures look completely different" (we had print-outs) but sure enough, there was the Francis Xavier's restaurant next to it...so that had to be it. I was immediately taken aback, seeing that the hotel was located across the street from a storage facility, other desolate buildings, next to a railroad track, and next to that...what seemed like a distribution center or power station for the electric company...it was rather large and fenced all around with "HIGH VOLTAGE" everywhere. I mention this because it will become relevant in a minute.

The parking lot had ample space (though this was after Christmas and in their off-season) and it was a very short walk to the actual hotel. The automatic sliding door had issues at the time and would constantly open and close, even if you were not standing near it. The girl at the front said was broken and was going to be fixed. We checked in Monday afternoon and planned to stay until Friday, however we ended up checking out Wednesday morning. I will list the Pros and Cons:

Pros - Reasonable price, though it was the off-season. Friendly staff, free and ample parking, clean rooms and comfortable beds. The unit was a decent size and the wake-up call service was accurate. The internet connection in each room is a plus, though be prepared to give a $5 deposit (returned to you when you check out) if you need a cable to connect to their high-speed. The complimentary paper is nice, as is the Francis Xavier's restaurant located next door. The food there is quite delicious and the service is decent. The prices are reasonable and there is a fair amount of variety on the menu. The one feature I did like about this hotel was that you could walk down to the lobby, head out the side hallway and walk down a connecting corridor straight to the restaurant...without ever actually going outside. This was great because Oregon in December is quite cold! The business center is quite small, consisting of one computer and printer, however it gets the job done if needed. My bro brought is laptop but we ended up needing their printer...so it was useful.

Cons - There are several cons here that convinced me to never stay at this hotel again, let alone another Starwood hotel. There are no stairs from the lobby, however you can take a side door into a stairwell that will take you to your floor...while it became tiresome (we were on the 3rd floor...even so the hotel was probably 25% full) I chose the stairs EACH and EVERY time because the elevator was just plain awful! We took it once, of course, when we got there...not knowing what it was like. Aside from the disturbing sounds it made (I feel it needs major renovation) the carpet inside the elevator was very stained and it smelled awful. Stepping into it made me feel ill. Upon arriving at our floor, the smell in the hallway was not much better. In fact, it got progressively worse as the day went on and even worse the next day. I will spare readers the details of just exactly how bad the smell was...but take my word for it, it was REALLY gross. Our first room was clean and after coming from a smelly hallway, I thought it would be great to get some fresh air via the window. I drew open the curtains and to my shock, realized our view was of the electrical distribution center, the train track, and a disgusting, un-emptied dumpster. A flock of seagulls were having a field day. I was upset because I had read a description of the hotel claiming the views were wonderful...one of the reasons I chose this place. I went down to the front desk and asked that the room be changed....and it was. The girl gave me some options (since they were not full) and I decided to stick with the 3rd floor because the views would most likely be better. I asked that we be put on the other side of the hotel, the side that is facing the street and presumably, Mt. Hood and the Columbia River. It was raining but she said that when it clears up, the mountain and river are visible. While it did stay cloudy for most of the time, it did eventually clear up for an afternoon. I did not see the mountain from our room...or the river. I have included some pictures with this review to show readers what our view was....and this was the better side of the hotel.

Aside from this disappointment, the bathroom amenities were very mediocre. One tiny bottle of shampoo, one bottle of lotion, 2 teeny bars of soap...and that’s it. The shower curtain did not seal in the shower all the way, so I had to mop up the floor after each shower. No matter how you orient the shower head or pull the curtain, water still manages to spill out either the front or back of the shower....its your choice. The microwave and fridge were okay, but don't expect to fit a lot in there. The room had a wall heater...with "individual climate controls" that consisted of an on/off dial, a high/low air blowing dial...and a hot or cold air dial. It is much like the climate controls in your car. To me, this wall heater was useless because you only really felt warm if you were standing next to it. The room did not heat up, even so I ran it the whole night (its noisy too) and after the first night I requested more blankets from the front desk. Even so they were only at 25% occupancy, she said they only give out 1 additional blanket per guest. I ended up putting that extra blanket plus jackets on my bed to keep warm. The street noise is also quite loud and since it is a main street, there is a constant barrage of trucks, ambulances, police, etc. There is an Albertsons distribution center within walking distance and trucks are coming in and out of there at all hours of the day/night. We never did hear the train pass by, but we were not there long enough. We did hear the loud buzzing of the electrical distribution station when we took an evening walk, however. The complimentary breakfast consisted of a basket of muffins, some beverages, and other seemingly store-bought items. We hurried down early at the suggestion of the front desk clerk to beat the "mad rush" for the free breakfast, however most of it was still there, and we opted to go to Francis Xavier’s instead. We explored the hotel one of the days and discovered that the only source of heating in the hallways are more wall heaters...at the end of each hallway. Each floor also had its own, unique smell. Do not let the pictures of the gym and pool area fool you. On the hotel's website, the gym looks quite large...it is an illusion because one of the walls in the gymnasium is in fact a mirrored wall...making it look much larger. The truth is that it is very cramped with lots of equipment and little room to move around...and another awful gym/sweat smell. The indoor pool appeared to be a nice feature, and I suppose it might have been on other days, but when we were there, the chlorine vapors are so intense that I couldn't stay but a few minutes in the room. I brought my suit to take a swim, but decided not to. The pool did not appear to be its cleanest and I was worried about the immense chlorine factor...it actually irritated my eyes just to stand over the pool.

We ended up checking out early because the entire trip was not what we expected, and the hotel just made it worse. It really is not in the best part of town and is not THAT close to the city, as some descriptions may suggest. My brother recalled staying at Days Inn that was far superior to this. I think if we would have stayed somewhere else that was more appealing and had higher standards, we probably would have just enjoyed the hotel and the amenities for the rest of the stay and checked out on schedule. I tried to get a refund for the days not used, but front desk said it was Expedia's problem...Expedia said it was up to the hotel...and everyone pointed the finger at each other. Needless to say, I will never use Expedia or this hotel again. It is a shame because the staff was friendly and seemed willing to help, but there are some things even the staff can't fix.