OR Portland Red Lion Convention Center Downtown

[manwell]

nice hotel softly showing it's age. as per my request (from this board?) asked for a west facing view room up high, no problem requesting two queens. nice view 5th floor looking out towards downtown over the river but was a former smoking room. wife particular. moved us to bigger 3rd floor end of hall room with view of dennys parking lot. parking worth the $10 night, restaurant good for the one breakfast we had there. close to convention center, lloyd center and max line. while in the lobby (on their internet computers) they were checking in/out rooms at $89 and $109. great deal at $40. :)

[Colfax]

I stayed one night on Priceline in room 332, with two queen beds. Room faced east with views of all the LLoyd Center office towers and the Doubletree hotel. Room overlooked busy MLK Ave but traffic noise wasn't a major problem. A west facing view is preferred.

Hotel is across the street from Portland Convention Center and the MAX lightrail stop, where you can catch a train to Downtown for free. Free highspeed internet didn't work for me and I had to switch to dialup. (Local calls free.) Overnight parking is $10 but free until 10pm. You can get around the fee if you move your car from the lot to a meter at 10pm, then back into the lot before 8am, when the meters start to charge.

This is probably a 1960's building and some of the mechanicals are showing age. They've got an old two pipe heat/AC system, which means the hotel can only run heat or AC, one at a time. When outdoor temp is less than 55 they switch to heat. When it's over 70 they switch to AC. My room came with a portable oscillating fan and a portable space heater, in case I needed the utility that wasn't turned on. That said, I never needed air or heat. All the windows in my room were fused shut, which I don't like. No fresh air.

Elevators are slow, hallways kind of musty. Room furnishings were mostly up to date. Bathroom small but no problem. Restaurant on premises and Denny's across the street.

If you stay here definitely go up to the 6th floor where the Windows bar is. Panormamic views of Portland in all four directions. You don't need to order a drink to take a look. This bar used to be a hotspot for Portland nightlife I'm told. Way past it's prime now with just a few customers drinking and barren furnishings. Still worth it for the views and the 1960's/70's era the place evokes.

For a long stay I'd probably prefer a more updated place like a Courtyard. For a night or two this place is fine though. Convenient location and friendly staff.

[The_Real_Jake]

Stayed at the Red Lion Portland Convention Center in October, 2010.

Pros:

Parking relatively cheap at $12

Free wireless Internet in rooms

MAX light rail station right across the street (and in the "free zone")

Mini fridge in the room (haha, I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel for some pro's)

Cons:

Aging, to put it nicely. Not inviting.

A little too far to walk to places. Yes, there is a Denny's, but c'mon.

Bathroom wasn't that nice.

HVAC is a two-pipe system, meaning they only run "AC" OR "heat." They turn the heat on when the outside temp goes below 55 degrees. It was on the cusp but not quite 55, so the rooms were freezing. The little space heater you can request doesn't heat up an entire room.

Major building construction going on outside my window. They started before 7am and it was loud.

I was not impressed with the Red Lion. It was old, falling apart, and I never felt at home. I've stayed at the Doubletree before--I would dish out extra money to stay there again.

***as i was writing this my Internet and television cut out...