The Ritz-Carlton, Portland — Hotel in Portland

If you are looking for a luxurious stay with top notch service, look somewhere else. We booked a club access room at $1k for one night as a late Valentine’s Day celebration. We live in Portland, just a few blocks away. We arrived at 3:40, having called earlier to see if an early check in was possible and were told “guaranteed check in is at 4pm.” We have Ambassador status 2 years running and have been upgraded to an Executive club room, but ok we are 20 min early so that’s fine. They tell us it will be a few more minutes and give us access to the Club so we can wait in style. So far so good. We go up and the club is nice, but has airport club vibes - it doesn’t feel lux or special but the staff here were very nice and got us comfy and settled for our…short…wait.

Fast forward to 4:50 pm. ONE HOUR AND TEN MINUTES LATER, and FIFTY MINUTES AFTER “GUARANTEED” CHECK IN. No one has contacted us, no one has told us what’s going on - we were clearly forgotten. My husband talks to the Club staff and they call down, saying someone will be right up with our keys. 10 minutes later, NOTHING. We decide this is totally ridiculous and decide to leave and go back home. We stop by the front desk to tell them we are leaving and are told it will just be a few minutes due to some cleaning staff issues. (We find out later that actually, our room had been GIVEN AWAY TO SOMEONE ELSE, and no one bothered to reach out to us.) The front of house manager insists the room will be ready soon; we ask can you just give us any clean room because we have dinner reservations in less than an hour at this point and we wanted to shower and change first. We’re told no - they have NO CLEAN ROOMS available for us. After more discussion, she disappears for a few minutes and then tells us it’ll just be five minutes more. We reluctantly decide to stay, after she tells us they’ll comp the room for the inconvenience. Now I know what you’re thinking “you’re complaining when they give you a room for free? At the RITZ?” And you’re missing the point.

The point isn’t the money that was or wasn’t spent. We were happy to spend $1k for one night because we expected a luxurious night with top quality service. Instead, we were ignored, forgotten about, our room given away and us not being notified about what was going on- they literally just forgot about us for over an hour after “guaranteed check in” time at 4pm. If we hadn’t called or come down, how long would they have left us waiting?? We’ve stayed at Marriotts all over the world (hello, Ambassador status) and this was one of the worst service experiences we ever had.

Once we got into the room, it was very underwhelming for a Ritz. The view was great, but the fixtures and details were boring. The cabinets were low quality. The shower was mediocre, and they gave us a floor towel that had a giant yellow stain on it. Great hotel rooms are all about the details - the quality of the fixtures, the shower, having enough towel racks, a place to put your coat, easy access to outlets, etc. - that’s what makes a luxurious experience - clear evidence that the room has been carefully planned and thought placed into every detail. Here - everything is plain, boring, and mediocre.

We will not be staying at this Ritz again, and seriously doubt we will stay at another Ritz. The JW brand has always provided us top level service around the world - we’ll probably stick with that or the...

The Ritz-Carlton name doesn’t mean much in Portland, apparently.

We booked a premium suite at the Ritz-Carlton Portland expecting an easy, luxury experience. What we got was one issue after another — delays, bad communication, and the kind of service you’d expect at a crowded airport, not a high-end hotel.

We showed up around 2 PM and asked about early check-in. They said they’d call us when our room was ready. So we left — carrying all our luggage around downtown Portland for hours. No call ever came. By 6 PM, we finally called them, came back, and were told they couldn’t find our reservation. We didn’t get into our suite until after 8 PM. At that point we were tired, uncomfortable, and honestly confused by how disorganized it all felt.

The Club Lounge was one of the main reasons we booked the suite. But because of all the delays, we barely got to use it. When we brought it up, they offered us a dining credit — which was nice… until we tried to use it.

We had dinner that night, and when it came time to pay, they told us the credit couldn’t be applied because there was no card on file for incidentals. That would’ve been fine if anyone had actually asked us for one at check-in — they didn’t. So we left the restaurant and had to go back down to the front desk and spend another 45 minutes getting it figured out.

The next day was just more of the same. We asked about extending our stay and were told our suite had already been assigned to someone else. So we made a new reservation online and went back down to switch it over — and once again, no one seemed to know what was going on.

A staff member named J told us we could hang out in the spa while they figured it out and said the day passes would be comped. So we went up there… and were told by spa staff they didn’t know anything about it. We were sent right back down. At this point, it honestly felt like we were on a loop.

We talked to the manager, Benjamin. While we were speaking, I told him I needed a second to grab my partner because I didn’t have my hearing aids in. He looked at me and said, “Oh… sorry to hear that,” like it was a joke. Maybe it was, but in the moment it just felt rude. We weren’t looking for a punchline — we were trying to make sense of the stay we were still stuck in.

He said he’d check on the spa passes. We waited in the lobby until 4 PM. Still nothing. So we called the spa ourselves — only to find out they closed at 5. So again, even if they had followed through, it would’ve been a waste.

They ended up putting us back in the same suite — but this time, without concierge access, even though that was part of our original booking. We didn’t even bother saying anything at that point. We were just over it.

The whole trip felt like a loop of miscommunication, delays, and “we’ll follow up” — with no follow-through. Not once did it feel like anyone really had it under control. We were just bounced between departments, waiting on things that didn’t happen.

I’ve stayed in cheaper places with better service and clearer communication. It’s disappointing, because we chose the Ritz-Carlton for a reason — and they just didn’t...

We booked a premium suite at the Ritz-Carlton Portland expecting an easy, luxury experience. What we got was one issue after another — delays, bad communication, and the kind of service you’d expect at a crowded airport, not a high-end hotel.||We showed up around 2 PM and asked about early check-in. They said they’d call us when our room was ready. So we left — carrying all our luggage around downtown Portland for hours. No call ever came. By 6 PM, we finally called them, came back, and were told they couldn’t find our reservation. We didn’t get into our suite until after 8 PM. At that point we were tired, uncomfortable, and honestly confused by how disorganized it all felt.||The Club Lounge was one of the main reasons we booked the suite. But because of all the delays, we barely got to use it. When we brought it up, they offered us a $150 dining credit — which was nice… until we tried to use it.||We had dinner that night, and when it came time to pay, they told us the credit couldn’t be applied because there was no card on file for incidentals. That would’ve been fine if anyone had actually asked us for one at check-in — they didn’t. So we left the restaurant and had to go back down to the front desk and spend another 45 minutes getting it figured out.||The next day was just more of the same. We asked about extending our stay and were told our suite had already been assigned to someone else. So we made a new reservation online and went back down to switch it over — and once again, no one seemed to know what was going on.||A staff member named J told us we could hang out in the spa while they figured it out and said the day passes would be comped. So we went up there… and were told by spa staff they didn’t know anything about it. We were sent right back down. At this point, it honestly felt like we were on a loop.||We talked to the manager, Benjamin. While we were speaking, I told him I needed a second to grab my partner because I didn’t have my hearing aids in. He looked at me and said, “Oh… sorry to hear that,” like it was a joke. Maybe it was, but in the moment it just felt rude. We weren’t looking for a punchline — we were trying to make sense of the stay we were still stuck in.||He said he’d check on the spa passes. We waited in the lobby until 4 PM. Still nothing. So we called the spa ourselves — only to find out they closed at 5. So again, even if they had followed through, it would’ve been a waste.||They ended up putting us back in the same suite — but this time, without concierge access, even though that was part of our original booking. We didn’t even bother saying anything at that point. We were just over it.||The whole trip felt like a loop of miscommunication, delays, and “we’ll follow up” — with no follow-through. Not once did it feel like anyone really had it under control. We were just bounced between departments, waiting on things that didn’t happen.||I’ve stayed in cheaper places with better service and clearer communication. It’s disappointing, because we chose the Ritz-Carlton for a reason — and they just didn’t...