Residence Inn by Marriott Portland Downtown/Pearl District — Hotel in Portland

This property met or exceeded Very High expectations from a long term Elite guest. ||1. The desk communicated very well before my arrival. My PDX flight arrives about 0900 and I usually hang out in the Airport Lounge to work. While not expected, I was wonderfully surprised to get a text my Room was ready about 1000. A quick trip on the MAX with a connection to the B Loop streetcar, it was a 2 minute 1 block walk to the hotel. I subsequently used the NS Streetcar daily to get around the Pearl district and Legacy Good Samaritan where I was working. |2 Greeted with a smile by the front desk, and after knowing me, I was address by name in the future. |3. After a secure key elevator ride to the 6th floor, I found a very contemporarily appointed room that was immaculately clean. I actually book RI so I can eat healthy. Keenly important to me is a well stocked kitchen, which this absolutely was. Even with a clean kitchen, I always wash my own dishes, and I had ample liquid soap and a Scrubber to get my personal supply of clean dishes ready. |4. The bed was…well let’s be honest, a typical Marriott bed. |5. Bathroom again immaculate with walk in shower and an excellent shower head with multiple settings and great pressure and water control. Daily housekeeping!|6. Breakfast was again what I used to expect after 35 years of Residence Inn, but rarely see. If special PNW note was both a coffee stand, and an Iced Coffee station set up at the bar, complete with Ice, Cups, a variety of syrups and sauces (including Sugar Free). The buffet was busy, but always stocked and plentiful. Again, a PNW thing, but food intolerances recognition were front and center with a Gluten Free dedicated Waffle Maker and better. General Carb station with things that looked yummy but make my heart cranky. Cold bar with Hard Boiled eggs, yogurt, apples oranges and bananas. Hot bar rotated daily. When I found only cheese omelets one morning, staff offered to scramble some eggs secondary to my lactose issues. I declined for the hard boiled ones, but did notice there were signs offering help with dietary restrictions. I did get a drink at the bar one night. They do allow you to drink a $17 glass of wine in a wine glass, rather than a plastic cup, which has been an unwelcome trend recently in many hotels.||Uncharacteristically for me, I have no change feedback. My 0430 departure was friendly and expedient. ||I look forward to my next Portland adventure, and this goes right to the top of my pick list, especially when on the Pearl side...

I am a loyal Elite Bonvoy member and have stayed at and recommended this location in the past. This location has lost my trust forever by being dishonest and dismissive. I made a mistake and placed my reservation for a day earlier than needed. I did not know until they told me at check in for the needed day unfortunately. They had rooms available and I asked for the total charge before swiping my card and was told $157 but it was actually $192 and I may have opted to stay elsewhere had I been told the correct charge. I called customer service to see if there was anything I could do for the bill for the night before (for which I had a refundable rate until the night before check in) as the assistant manager at check in told me they couldn’t do anything there as it was billed automatically on no show. They suggested I talk with the hotel again first as any placed tickets would be forwarded to the hotel so I did and they said they couldn’t do anything there but they recommend I open a ticket with customer service so I did. Customer service let me know that ticket would be forwarded to hotel management at that location and I would hear back in 3-5 business days. I didn’t hear anything back so I called the Bonvoy service line and spoke with a supervisor who reopened my ticket as it had been closed without a response and added the information about me being lied to about what they were charging my card for the night I stayed there. I quickly got a response back from front desk essentially stating that like they told me on site I would not be refunded. Except that isn’t what I was told- I was told that there was nothing they could do that day and that they recommended placing the ticket with customer service. I have stayed at this location in the past and liked and recommended it to multiple people. The assistant manager here was dishonest and rude over what was very obviously a mistake, one which I have never made before with dozens of stays with Marriott properties around the world and I have never had such a poor experience with check in...

Maybe we got lucky. This was a last minute reservation due to our flexible travel plan. From reading some negative reviews on trip advisor, I was hesitant to choose this place even though it was for 1 night only. Once we stepped inside the lobby, I was puzzled by some of the very negative comments about the place being worn and not well kept. This residence inn is not that new ( may be 8 years old ) but it is still very nice with some of its well designed features and use of contemporary materials. It is also clean and Covid compliant. Maybe it is Covid times or that it was Sunday/ Monday, the entire area felt quiet but not unsafe. Off site parking is $23. On the way to the hotel’s parking, we noticed the $12 garage ( $5 for weekends) across the street that other reviewers had mentioned, however, we chose to stick with the hotel parking as the hotel’s parking was gated. While the gated system seemed a bit hokey, I figured it probably still added as an additional deterrent when compared to the garage that was not manned 24 hours. When my husband and I travel, we normally don’t like picking a hotel with a kitchen because we are concerned with residual food smell left by others cooking in the unit plus we prefer not to look at unsightly appliances and cupboards. In this instance, the kitchen was set on the side, added spaciousness to the room without any of its negatives. Kudos to the housekeeping team for making our room seemed spotless. Bed and pillows are very comfortable. Our HVAC in the room is fairly quiet, 8 to 9 out of 10. I probably wouldn’t have taken the time to write this review had I not want to give a special “ Thank You” to Alena in the front who check us is. She showed outstanding customer service and professionalism in her interaction with us. Because of that, I figured I might as well review our experience of the place as a whole as I thought some of the negatives written about the place seemed unfair and...