Residence Inn by Marriott Portland Downtown/Waterfront — Hotel in Portland

Visited the Sun -Thurs before LDW (we weren't trying to deal with LDW crowds, especially not during Covid). Here are some pros and cons:

Pros: Located right in the Downtown area. There are a few popular restaurants about a 5 minute walk away but if you walk an extra 5 minutes, there are even more restaurants There is a kitchen. This is the main reason why we picked this place. In case dining out (which was our first time dining out since Covid hit) didn't work out, we would still have the option to cook if we wanted to. We didn't though. We did reheat some french fries, and use the plates for some takeout, so the dishwasher and full-sized fridge was very nice. They have pots/pans/utensils/cups/dishwashing detergent, etc. The hair dryer is super powerful. I have long, thick hair and it was already almost completely dried after 5 minutes with this thing That three-sided alarm clock. I had no idea this even existed. You know you're 30+ when you get excited for an alarm clock There is a pool but it could use some updates. You just need to sign up for a time slot because of Covid (as with the fitness center). At least we got the entire pool to ourselves on a Tuesday at 7 PM. The hot tub is closed because the roof above it was leaking/had a gaping hole in it They let us check in early at around 2 pm. We had requested an early check in with a higher floor but they said we could only have one or the other because of their current availability. We ended up on the 3rd floor, which was fine because it's not like there's much of a view from the hotel room anyway Free breakfast but it was lackluster. This was one of the places where they used to have a free hot breakfast buffet but again, because of Covid, everything has changed. Now, it's just chewy bagels, bad muffins, cereal, fruit, coffee/tea. They have a display of all the items and once you tell them what you want, they go to the back and get it for you. It's better than nothing but I do wish that maybe they could prepare the hot food in the back and apply the same concept Cottonelle toilet paper! Really appreciated this during during Covid times

Cons: Rooms are outdated Couch could use an upgrade. It was sunken in the middle and just looked dirty. I'm just glad I brought a sheet to throw over it There's no daily housekeeping right now, which is understandable. But if you want to get your room cleaned, you have to schedule it the day before. It's probably better if you don't though, because we ran into a cleaning person as we were putting our trash in the hall, and she was wearing her mask as a chin guard The staircase leading up to our room (which we took often because if we took the elevator, we would have to go all the way around) smelled like MAJOR BO

Tip - valet parking (with in and out privileges) is $24 a day but if you walk a block, there's a public lot (across from the AC Hotel) that also has in and out privileges for $15 a day. Alternatively, you can park on the street for $1.75 an hour (which was not hard to find) but it's a max of 2 hours for parking. However, if you're planning on using the car the next day, you can time it since parking is free from 6 pm until 9 am.

Overall, it was a good stay for what it was, but I don't know if I would stay here again the next time I'm in Portland. It's really because of the old rooms. If they update it, I would be happy...

This was the 3rd or 4th time I have stayed at this property and unfortunately it has been the most disappointing stay so far.

First, there was no mention or offer of an upgrade at check-in despite me being a gold status member, so this was disappointing. The front desk staff wanted to change the room to a lower floor when they found out I had a service animal, however I prefer a higher floor (quiet, better view). They were unable to figure out how to change it in the system anyway.

Location - Portland is booming! The hotel is still conveniently located a short walk away from shops, restaurants, Portland sites and the waterfront. However, there is construction happening on 2/4 sides of the hotel. Obviously this is out of the control of the property, but with 4 floors of hotel rooms I'm wondering why I had a room that looked (#427) DIRECTLY into a giant muddy construction pit? I am thankful, at least, that our stay was Friday-Sunday, so at least there was no 7am wake-up call from the construction noise -- just an unpleasant view.

Room - Aside from the view, our room was fine overall. I think the bathrooms are due for a renovation soon, some discoloration in the grout and caulking around the tub and tiles. Shower curtain was not completely clean. Other than that the room was fine - lots of space, quiet, lots of towels, comfortable bed, large smart TV, and love having a full kitchen when traveling with a four legged friend.

Atmosphere - there were a couple parties/get togethers going on during the weekend in the lounge/bar area and the folks there were clearly intoxicated and a bit rowdy. Not really an issue, as our floor was quiet and our room was not near the elevator, but at 11:30pm they were slightly obnoxious in the lobby area as I was taking my dog out for a bathroom break.

Breakfast - Good, not great. Convenient to have complimentary breakfast but I feel like the overall quality (especially fruit options and sausage) is below what it was at Residence Inns a few years ago.

Staff - Definitely the best part of our stay. The housekeeping staff were sweet and kind. One of the front desk staff - I think her name was Amanda - ran over to the garage with a new card when I couldn'tout because my swipe card stopped working and I couldn't leave the garage. She was a rockstar!

I do still love the dog-friendliness of the hotel. Definitely the biggest plus of...

Chose this hotel for having a kitchen and the free breakfast didn't hurt but since I'm not a breakfast eater but my traveling companions are. They can eat first thing while I wait for lunch lol. Otherwise I might take a pass.

The front desk isn't the most friendly of the hotels I've been to. There's was never a hello or good morning even when addressed to them, just a curt How can I help. Even when there is 2 people behind the desk, one could be helping a guest but the other won't acknowledge you but rather observe the other guest interaction with the coworker. This happened numerous times throughout my stay. The room (facing a multi-story parking garage) was sufficient but a far cry from my favorite one in PA where everything (room, service, etc) was wonderful. Requested a room away from the elevator and got a room right outside the elevator so my request was ignore. The room needs an update. They look very dated, the thermostat didn't work properly when we wanted to stop the AC from being on all the time by increase the temp, it still would push out cold air. We just turned it off and open the window and shut it at night. One of the lights on the headboard was flickering acting like a disco lamp. No I didn't bother to tell the front since the time i went to there was no one at the front on our way out. Also, we didn't want to wait in the room for maintenance to come. (Told them upon checking out). So we decided to have lunch on the 2nd floor outdoor space. While walking by the maids to the courtyard, I'd smiled at them but only to turn away from us. I found that rude since after eating lunch, we bumped into them again and it was the same reaction. As for the breakfast, it looked sufficient with hot scrambled eggs and 2 types of sausages, there were also assorted bread for toasting, make your own waffles, oatmeal with toppings, yogurt and cold hard boiled eggs. (no pics because they were so many people I didn't want to intrude on their privacy). The breakfast crew was helpful but not friendly. Never replied to your Hello or Good morning. Final note: the rugs in the rooms need to be shampoo since just walking around in our socks for a few hours resulted really dirty bottoms on our white socks. Thank goodness I never ever walk barefoot in hotels . Hotel was conveniently located near Commercial St and definitely don't miss the Shipyard Brewery...