Hotel4Real!

Located in Portland’s core downtown area, the Bidwell Marriott Portland first opened its door in 1999 as the Portland Marriott City Center and has most recently been renovated in 2020. It featured Marriott’s newest club lounge concept, multiple restaurants and a nice view of the city as well as the nearby Mt. Hood.

Well, if I tell you I selected this hotel based on these facts above, I’d only be partly telling the truth. In fact, a very big reason why I ended up staying here was because – shamelessly – I was able to stay for a very low rate thanks to Marriott’s Best Rate Guarantee program, which matches Marriott’s best available rates online to any lower rates found with any third party, and provides an additional discount of 20-25% depending on the brand. As a result, I was able to score my two-night stay for just under USD150. For downtown Portland in summer, I see that as a huge win, and I’m very happy to report that my experience was in no way discounted at all.

The hotel was very reachable via private and public transit, located just a couple blocks away from Portland’s MAX LRT system. The hotel exterior looked great, albeit quite unassuming, and so was the newly renovated but relatively small lobby. I arrived fairly late into the evening but check-in was smooth and efficient. I was upgraded into a club king room on the top floor, and was quickly on my way.

The newly renovated room was great, with sleek and modern design touches, ample lighting, and almost no sign of its old self from the 20th century. It wasn’t necessarily roomy by North American standards, but it was well laid out and tastefully decorated. I especially enjoyed the colour coordination and the contrast between the premium- and natural-looking brown, modern and stylish dark blue, as well as the bright colours in and surrounding the centre stage that was the bed itself. It was probably one of the better looking Marriott rooms I’ve seen in North America, especially among the cookie-cutter direction new Marriotts seem to have been heading in. Weirdly but also understandably, the look and feel of this room reminded me of Portland as a city, which is in my opinion an organic mix of urban scape, natural goodness, and easygoing people.

The only place in my room that was slightly underwhelming was the bathroom, which was also newly redone, but the original tub-shower combination was maintained, and so was the general layout. It was definitely functional, but didn’t feel as refreshed as the rest of the room. Interestingly though, someone made the decision to use the same wood flooring tiles in the bathroom. Even though they were in pristine condition, I’d be very intrigued to see about their longevity long-term with frequent exposures to humidity and temperature changes.

The hotel featured an M Club, Marriott’s new club lounge product. It was not massive, but I found the space as – if not more – visually appealing than the guest rooms. That aside, though, I do have a fight to pick with the lounge, mainly the service here. It seemed like the lounge shared the same service staff with the attached restaurant, and because paying customers took priority, guests in the lounge didn’t really get much attention. As a result, I found the service lacking and even more importantly, sanitation standard suffered – garbage was overflowing and attracting fruit flies, and I was at one point not able to find an empty table that was not cluttered or sticky. I brought this to the front desk’s attention, and thankfully I did see improvements the next day. Food and beverage wise, the offering was quite meh, and I couldn’t seem to find any diet drink options here during my entire stay. Breakfast was better to an extent, quality was good enough, although the buffet was quite small.

In conclusion, even considering the slightly disappointing lounge experience, I did very much enjoy my stay here. The staff here from check-in to check-out was professional and personable, and I loved the post-renovation hard product. Portland is a gem of a city in my opinion, and I will absolutely consider the Bidwell Marriott again for my eventual next visit, even if that means I’ll need to pay full price… 😉

(Unlike similar programs from certain other chains that shall remain unnamed (…cough cough Hilton), Marriott seemed to be fairly candid when it came to approving rate match claims. For full details on Marriott’s Best Rate Guarantee program, click here. If you need help with navigating the program, feel free to contact me)

RealScore

Service: 8.0

Design and Room Size: 8.5

In-room Amenities: 7

Bathroom Size and Layout: 7

View from (my) Room: 8

Hotel Location: 9

Available Guest Facilities: 7

Food Quality: 6

Food and Beverage Service: 6

Executive Lounge Quality: N/A

Final RealScore: 7.84

Final RealRating: A

Hotel is built/opened: 1999

Total number of rooms: 258

Length of stay: 2 nights

Membership level at check-in: Titanium

Room type experienced: Executive Room