Bitter front desk staff. They never look up to see who is in the lobby. Sales staff was put out when I asked about information on potential event in the future. They were quick to tell me they were "very busy with another in house group".They didn't know I was thinking about having a three day conference.nor ask. On a bright note the bar staff was really friendly and was quick to give me directions and make me fell welcome.

I've stayed here 4 or 5 times over about 10 years. Used to love it - basic, inexpensive, good location, pool which my kids loved. But it has just gone down hill too much. I didn't mind all the construction in front - that is the City not the hotel. But the rooms which are quiet in the back are DARK - one small window that opens onto the outside corrider. There were not enought lights in the room to do much of anything. We were there in August but it felt like December in our room, even with the curtain over the window open.

The lobby offers no relief - also just too basic and tired. It isn't even that good a deal anymore. Next time I'm paying more and staying elsewhere. Until this hotel is completely remodeled, I cannot recommend it. You can probably pay less at the Days Inn or whatever else is in the immediate area and it won't be any worse.

We ended up at this hotel when we arrived in Portland and found that our condo had been double booked. The hotel lobby is nice and the desk clerks were very helpful. The rooms were clean (we had 2 rooms for 7 days) but pretty basic. Our rooms overlooked the pool which could be very noisy since the windows did not seal very well when shut. There was no way you could take a nap in the afternoon or go to sleep early because of the pool noise. Also, at the time of our visit there was a major construction project going on in front of the hotel which began early in the morning and continued on into the early evening hours. They are reconstructing a road or running the public transportation line through there so it doesn't appear that it will be done any time soon. The hallways to the rooms was very smelly - I almost turned around and went back to the desk to check out but once in the room I did not notice any smell. Also, be aware that this is called the "University Place" for a reason. A lot of student athletes, etc., stay at this hotel when they are traveling to Portland State University for meets and games, etc.

That being said, the location of the hotel was great. We were able to walk into town with no problem. The area felt safe (once you crossed the construction zone) and there were some small parks nearby to sit and read. The river was just a couple of blocks away - easy to walk to. The best part for us was that it was available when our other accommodations fell through.

The free breakfast was very good - hot food every morning (eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes) as well as pastries, coffee, bagels, toast, cereal, etc. Plenty of room to sit down and enjoy a meal.

Spent the night here on Monday September 10, 2012. The hotel was recommended to me by Portland State University, as my son was having an Orientation the next day. The hotel offered a cheaper price for parents of PSU students which was $119.00/night plus an overnight parking fee- $12.00 (ouch!), local taxes etc, grand total $145.88. Pretty steep for such a basic hotel. The nicest feature of the hotel were the warm chocolate chip cookies upon arrival and the morning breakfast. The rest of the hotel was just "okay". It looked like one of the hotels that had seen better days. The road leading to the hotel was bumpy and being completely torn up. The hallways were dingy and dark - a little scary. The outside appeared old, lightbulbs were missing on walkways etc. One nice thing, my bathroom didn't have a working lightbulb, I called the front desk and the service department arrived promptly and replaced the bulb. The front desk was friendly. Worse feature? Our room was overlooking the highway and the noise level was terrible. We heard the traffic all night. Would I recommend this place? Probably. But if it wasn't for the discounted price, I would have stayed somewhere else cleaner and nicer overall.,,