The Hoxton, Portland — Hotel in Portland

For the price I paid and the clout this hotel group seemed to hold, I had high hopes for my stay. The beds were marvelously comfortable, and the wall decor both in the rooms and in the building at large immediately caught my eye for its charm and uniqueness! That’s about the extent of what I enjoyed during my stay at a so-called “4-star hotel,” leaving me absolutely baffled about the origin of those four stars. The curtains were hung below the top of the room’s windows, meaning the morning sun shone was unavoidable and the curtains ultimately ineffective as more than mere “dimmers.” The light fixtures in the room had bulbs so aggressively bright—and not warm yellow light, good ol’ cool LED—that we opted to leave the TV turned on as backlight for the evening while we sat, for even if distracting at least it wasn’t hurting our eyes with an unfathomable number of lumens after 10pm. The spacing of the beds relative to both walls and other furniture was imbalanced so one bed was loads more accessible than its counterpart, and the narrowness of the walkways didn’t leave enough space to flip open a TSA-standard carry-on bag with a usable walkway remaining. The bathroom was perhaps the most startling part of the room—absolutely no counter space around the sink leaving the back of the toilet as the only usable flat surface; no towel bars, only single-prong hooks, which not only lacked heft to hold clothing and a towel but were placed a bit haphazardly on the wall out of the shower’s reach; a glass wall on the outside edge of the shower that was so short the usual “splatter” you’d see on the floor with this increasingly popular shower layout was inevitably a gargantuan puddle that fully saturated the bath mat; a hand towel fixture directly above the toilet paper roll so you were touching both when you went for either; and a corner of the room left completely empty where a suitcase rack, an end table, some small shelving unit, or anything other utilitarian piece of furniture might have made the space more usable for washing up and getting ready. I was hopeful at least that despite the oddities and inconveniences of the layout and furnishings, the classically reliable elements of a great hotel room would hold true, but I came up short looking for a pen and notepad too. Was that an essential? No. Does it usually show at least a little bit of thought about and investment in making your stay at a hotel delightfully convenient? I think so, and sadly I didn’t see that investment anywhere else in the space either. The wifi connection, at least, was strong and reliable—though that’s arguably a core necessity at any hotel these days, so I’m not inclined to boost my rating just because the internet connectivity performed well.

Atop the room’s shortcomings, the people of this Hoxton were disappointing too. I’d say the first adjective that came to mind in all interactions was oblivious? Security staff were leaning against the main door talking and apparently unaware that they were blocking entry, bartenders were on their phones and completely negligent on tabs to the point we had to recount our full drink order when we went to close the tab so they could build it from scratch in that moment, the front desk staff was unfamiliar with the array of goods/snacks/drinks for sale and pulled the wrong items when we asked for specific goods by name, and the valet went so far as to criticize three consecutive departing guests for submitting their valet requests the wrong way (with no indication that she’d told her managers that the process was clearly not user-friendly in hopes of improving it rather than watching guests face confusion, offering no active guidance, and then complaining to their faces after seeing them do it “incorrectly”).

This location and the cost to stay there will ultimately only serve you well, I believe, if you intend to be and stay in the very heart of the...

I think that The Hoxton brand and positioning is great. The hotels have modern styling, are in an up-and-coming part of town, and are a destination for hotel guests and city residents alike. It was with this understanding that I booked The Hoxton in Portland.||||Unfortunately the reality of my stay was far from this. I found out after arriving that Chinatown, where the hotel is located, has become a no-go area of town. Family members, cab drivers and folks I met during my stay in Portland all said that their one piece of advice to visitors is to steer clear of Chinatown. And I can understand why. Arriving at the hotel after a long flight from Ireland, I had to step over a drug-addicted homeless person just to enter the hotel. And it didn't get much better from there on. We like to explore a new city on foot, but even for two pretty burly and strong men, it was a shocking and quite intimidating experience walking around Chinatown. The area has become a center for homelessness and drugs, with open and visible dealing and consumption of Class A drugs.||||This has affected the hotel:||- The restaurant and bar area downstairs are effectively closed for business during the day as city residents avoid the area, so guests need to go elsewhere for breakfast or lunch offerings. Ordinarily I would have tried the rooftop restaurant for drinks or dinner, but by the time evening came I just wanted to get out of the Chinatown district. ||- The check-in process was pretty cold and impersonal, given I had just arrived after a long flight. After sharing my room key and directing me to the elevators, I had to prompt the receptionist to give me information about the hotel and my stay - literally ask him "is there anything else you need to tell me or should let me know". ||- I had actually booked directly with the hotel which included a daily treat from a local ice-cream parlor, but he failed to let me know about this, and I had to ask the day receptionist about it the following morning, at which point she referenced that she had specifically asked the other staff to ensure they covered this information as part of the check-in process. This clearly wasn't happening.||- To be honest, I feel like the lack of energy and enthusiasm from the staff is a knock-on effect of the poor location, and the frankly unsafe environment that had meant the Hoxton is not a destination hotel in Portland, as it is in other cities. It felt like this had a negative effect on staff engagement, as trying to create an enjoyable guest experience would be so seriously hampered by the hotel's location in such a run-down and "no-go" area of town. ||||I was excited to book The Hoxton as my Portland base at both the start and end of my Oregon road trip, with five nights booked in total. My experience was so poor that I had to cancel my second booking and switch to a hotel in Downtown, which was only 15 minutes walk away, but a world apart from The Hoxton (on a positive note, as I had booked directly with the hotel, this was easy to do, which I appreciated).||||I'm aware that the Chinatown district really declined during the Covid epidemic, so perhaps some day it will improve, and I'm sorry to share this feedback. But right now, I could never consider or recommend the hotel to friends or family. And certainly not for solo, female or...

The hotel itself was great, but make sure you understand the situation in the area around it, and are ok with it, or you might really want another location.

Inside the hotel - friendly, nice and clean, totally normal for what you pay for. It was odd to find a box with leftover cake in the cloths cabinet, but willing to overlook that. The restaurants were great when open, but have very limited hours/days - so check ahead.

Now to the neighborhood. To me, the issue is not the homeless people around. That can be intimidating, and for some, might even be unwilling to walk out except to quickly get into an uber away from ther. We did not go out at night, and I would not feel safe doing so in that sketchy area.

To me the biggest issue was that the whole area is decemated since the riots. Most businesses are gone, or boarded up and closed - either completely, or for non-weekend. And then the ones that are still open, might be so far off what you might expect from reviews. We went into a famous breakfast spot, to discover they had nothing but coffee, since they don't get enough customers to justify stocking up on food. At another great restaurant, many things were unavailable, and what we did get, was clearly reheated from a fridge instead of cooked for the order. Eventually I realized that we should really just avoide any of the restaurants and cafes in that area. But then what is the point of staying there?

Now the homeless situation is also different than what I was expecting based on other places. It is not that there are tents on the sides of the roads, like in some other places. No, they are right on the sidewalks. Many sections you can't walk without passing right by tent entrances. Not possible to keep your distance in many cases. Weirdly, seems the police there has given up on even trying to deal with it, and everything is fair game.

The hotel seems to be in the epicenter of the worst hit area. Once you walk 5-10 blocks in any direction, things start getting better.

We have walked past a drug deal happening within 20' of the hotel entrance. Just so you know what to expect.

We have read the reviews, and got from it that the area has lots of homeless. By then I was willing to take the risk. But honestly what I found was a surprise that I did not understand at all.

I hope the situation there gets better, but honestly it would take some major interventions that seems nobody is interested in...