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Cubicle Dreamin': All I Want on Vacation is Books

Where: 1001 S.W. Broadway [map], Portland, OR, United States, 97205

Cubicle Dreamin' is a feature in which we ask the hotel mavens to take some time out of their busy work day, surf the Internet, and tell us what hotel they wish they could beam themselves to right that very second--all on the slave driving companies dime, of course. Oh, like these people aren't surfing aimlessly anyway--at least now their purposeless clicking will be cobbled together into useful hotel stories--we hope. Have a destination hotel you are just dying to leave your cube for? Send the story our way.

In this episode, Contributing Editor AmandaK has a bookworm getaway. Enjoy.

There's a really, really good reason that I want to stay at the Heathman Hotel in Portland, Oregon, and it's definitely not because I want to check out the alleged ghost activity. No, this time it's all about the books.

The Heathman Hotel is famous for its 4000-book library, just unveiled to the public and ready for my voracious reading eyes. To celebrate this opening they're offering a package called "Books By Your Bedside" which sounds like the ideal hotel deal for me. For $229 a night you get a tour of the library, your very own travel reading light, a few books from the local bookstore and a hardcover copy of a book written by one of the authors who has stayed overnight at the Heathman--possibilities include Tom Wolfe, Alice Walker and John Updike.

Free books? This is my dream hotel. Now all they need to add is a few dream cocktails (also free, please) and an extremely comfortable chair, and I'll be reading my heart out for my entire stay. I have a feeling I wouldn't have a chance to check out Portland, but I'd sure as heck be getting my brain stimulated. By chance, the Heathman Hotel also looks like a pretty funky hotel, so if my eyes stray from the page I'll still be happy.

[Photo: cynsmith61]

Tags: Portland Hotel Reviews / Destination Hotels / → All Tags

Hotel deLuxe: Instant Classic, Just Add Guests!

Downtown Portland's Hotel deLuxe (formerly the Mallory) opened last year and has quickly established itself as the Portland downtown hotel for business travelers, well-to-do parents visiting their kids in Portland, folks who want to stay downtown, and even locals.

The hotel was completely renovated into an up-to-date, yet old Hollywood style, hotel. What does that mean? The mood, the lighting, and the bar and restaurant all feel as exclusive as we imagine 1940's Hollywood felt, while the hotel itself accommodates the demanding guest of 2007 with iHome for iPods, flat screen HD televisions, super attentive service, and by welcoming pets. So you get to bring your dog, watch Sportscenter or CNN in HD, and walk around feeling like Jimmy Cagney.

The rooms are not huge by any stretch, nor are the public spaces, but this hotel isn't about size it is about an old Hollywood experience--thus the 400+ classic film photos on property. Plus, they have a blog written by staffers.

Who Should Stay Here: Classic film buffs, business luxury lovers, guests who like the mix of old and new, your parents.

Who Should Avoid This Hotel: Folks who expect an Embassy Suites sized standard room, guests who crave large lobbies and boatloads of on-site amenities, and people who dislike staying downtown.

Bottom Line: Hotel deLuxe is smoothed out on the glamour film tip with a pop feel, appeal, to it.

Related Stories:
· Portland Hotel Reviews [HotelChatter]
· Portland Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Portland Hotel Reviews / HotelChatter Reviews / → All Tags

Someone Else Stayed at the Ace Hotel in Portland, Did You?

Where: 1022 SW Stark Street [map], Portland, OR, United States, 97205

The other day HotelChatter's Markj spent a night at the Ace Hotel in Portland aka "The Drugstore Cowboy Hotel." And today Amy over at NewYorkology sent in her pics from stay inside a room at the Ace which had a giant dripping cat stenciled on the wall.

She paid about $200 for this room which was called a Superior Deluxe Back--back meaning "back of the hotel" which is quieter. Her only gripes were that you had to walk downstairs for coffee in the AM and that the $20 parking was in a lot far away and the attendant didn't tell her how much it cost.

Meanwhile, we wanna know if you have stayed somewhere HotelChatter has stayed lately. Send us your reviews, pictures, room rates and good/bad experiences. If you don't know where to start, we have a few hotels that we wanna hear more about. You can comment directly on these hotel pages to share your experience.

· 60 Thompson: We last stayed here in 2003. What's changed?
· Gramercy Park Hotel: Did you sleep with the lights on like we did?
· The Orchard Garden Hotel: Was your inner Greenie fulfilled?
· Yotel Gatwick: Did the porn-star lighting bother you?
· Mandarin Oriental Miami: Did you experience that stellar Mandarin Oriental service?

Related Stories:
· Ace Hotel Portland: Drugstore Cowboy Hotel Video [HotelChatter]

Tags: Hotel Video Tours / HotelChatter Reviews / Portland Hotel Reviews / → All Tags

Portland Avalon Hotel and Spa: Don't Call The Town Car A Drunk Bus

Where: 455 SW Hamilton Ct [map], Portland, OR, United States, 97239

We spent a couple nights at the Avalon Hotel and Spa this past weekend. Of course we filmed it and dissected our experience to feed your voracious appetite for hotel voyeurism.

Full Portland Avalon Hotel & Spa review this way.

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Tags: Hotel Video Tours / Portland Hotel Reviews / Movie Set Hotels / HotelChatter Reviews / → All Tags

Ace Hotel Portland: 'Drugstore Cowboy' Hotel Video

Where: 1022 SW Stark Street [map], Portland, OR, United States, 97205

Downtown Portland's old Hotel Clyde recently became Ace Hotel Portland, and the renovated Clyde boasts murals in every one of the 79 rooms, a popular cafeteria style restaurant in the lobby, its own coffee shop, free WiFi, free common computers, and rooms for under $100--warning--those rooms don't come with private bathrooms, you will have to pay more for the claw foot bathtub rooms.

Who Should Stay Here: Suicide girls, hipster film buffs, folks who like a scene hotel and people looking for a cool downtown Portland hotel for under $100--make sure you don't mind common bathrooms

Who Should Avoid This Hotel: Guests who crave constant service, light sleepers (the hotel is located in the center of Portland gay nightlife on Stark) people who don't want to plan in advance--this place is constantly sold out.

Bottom Line: Ace Hotel Portland is basically a boutique hostel, in the spirit of New York's Hotel QT, but with a bit more history, after all, Drugstore Cowboy was filmed here.

MORE + ACE HOTEL PORTLAND PHOTOS

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