The Royal Sonesta Portland Downtown in Portland, OR

This hotel is such a strange establishment. I booked my room on priceline as part of an express deal, 4.5 star hotel in downtown Portland “mystery” so to speak. This is the hotel I was given and I wasn’t concerned at all since I’ve stayed at this chain in the past, but dear god is the Portland downtown location terrible. I’m not even sure where to begin - the beds are stiff and uncomfortable, they do not offer daily housekeeping and when I called up for housekeeping (as instructed by front desk staff) I was simply given new sheets to make my own bed and no cleaning was done whatsoever, the front desk and one particular member of the valet staff was rude, they do not have an in-house restaurant or bar although they sort of make it seem like they do, and finally, they do not offer fridges microwaves or coffee makers in rooms - you have to call down for them. I have never been happier to check into a Hilton after my stay, the easily accessible amenities and comfortable beds are an absolute necessity. I will never be staying at the Royal Sonesta Downtown Portland again.

Don't get me wrong, the hotel is on the nicer side and the staff and service was excellent, but to be advertised on Google as 4 star and 4.5 star on Expedia, didn't seem accurate. As previous reviews have stated, the decor of the hotel is very eclectic. The entry into the hotel had the classic grandiose feel to it. We were probably there during slow season (right after the New year) but the place felt completely empty and dead. We rarely saw any guests during the entire stay, and a total of about 4 staff members, and this includes the valet parking attendant. We were on the 3rd floor and the whole place had a "The Shining" vibes to it. I wonder if we were the only guests on the entire 3rd floor. The rooms had very tall ceilings and very roomy but seemingly cluttered with unique furniture pieces that made each room somewhat unique. Again, the decor was eclectic but almost to an extreme, where it felt uneasy and busy, and a bit stressful (design/decor is very subjective). The beds though were wonderful. Watch out for the showers - the water is either hot or scalding hot. As mentioned, no fridge or coffe maker in rooms but apparently is available upon request. Lastly, they didn't provide any slippers which seems like a standard for 4+ star hotels, tho they have robes in the rooms. As mentioned, the service was wonderful. The few folks that we saw and interacted with were all very friendly and helpful. The parking as previously mentioned is on par with parking with other hotels downtown. The $15 per room credit towards their "marketplace" seems a bit strange, like a weird effort to justify the "$30 resort fee" they charge. The gym was tucked in this windowless room on the 9th Floor but didn't bother me so much as it was amply equipped, strangely with lots of cable machines, along with some cardio machines and a dumbbell set from 5-40 lbs. Location of the hotel is so convenient and while Portland downtown still has some work to do, it has come a long ways in terms of the homeless on every corner that we saw couple years back.

I would suggest avoiding this hotel at all cost. The location of the hotel is in a part of town that should make any out of towner feel uncomfortable. The hotel, while decorated in a fun unique way is dated: you have to request a refrigerator, the bathrobes have tears and holes in them, the heat in the room didn’t with the first half of the stay, and the room phone didn’t work the entirety of my stay. I mentioned all of these to the front desk multiple times with no solution offered. The worst part is they don’t care about keeping you out in the cold. I had an issue with my apartment and needed to find a place to stay. I had a card on file and would check in nightly to re register my room key and (so I thought) settle the balance. 4 days into my stay i was told I would have to settle my balance in order to extend my reservation. I was confused but was also told my card had been charged 100 only one night so I thought it was in regards to that. I passed by the front desk multiple times a day and not ONCE was I stopped and informed of a major balance owed. No email. No contact. Only after checking in was I told I owed in excess of 600$!! Shocked but still wanting to stay there I had a family member help and they were sent a credit card authorization form. I called the front desk and told them I’d like to pay in full for the night while we were settling the debt. They agreed and mentioned making sure the incidental charge was covered, which it was. Only after booking through a 3rd party site, paying in full, and arriving at site was I informed I would not be granted a key. I was livid as I was told it would not be a problem. They wouldn’t budge. I had spent the only money I had to pay for the room in full and was told I was basically on my own. The crazy part is - when I called the first night I asked the guy at the front desk if they price match as I know hotels prefer you book via them and not third party. He told me I should absolutely book directly with them - so imagine my surprise when I discover that by booking through a 3rd party website (in addition to paying their asinine 30 a night fee) my balance owed would be less than what I owed ! Even with a few nights of payment clearing the total amount I owed was almost double what I would have paid for the entire stay on a 3rd party. They should have no issue believing the front desk guy told me as such because when I checked in he never once gave me any information, didn’t check my id, told me about any fees or amenities, and straight up mislead me so I’d book through them and owe at an almost 200% markup. TLDR: issues I bought up were ignored. I was mislead about booking direct. I wasn’t informed of an outstanding balance until it had racked an exuberant amount. I was told I could make a separate reservation. Paid for said reservation only to be left out in the literal cold. This place doesn’t care about their guest at all. They only care about milking you. Avoid at all cost.

This is a great hotel. The room is very spacious and very well appointed and decorated. The bathroom is also good with everything needed. The location is quite convenient downtown near restaurants. We would most certainly stay here again when in the area.

I stayed here for 2 nights this week on my first visit to Portland. The location is excellent. Very handy for all the downtown attractions, bars and with great public transport links. I read some reviews raising concerns about safety, but I felt perfectly safe on the street outside the hotel. The staff were all fantastic. Everyone I met was extremely friendly and chatty. The decor is amazing. If you want modern and bright it won't be for you, but I loved the dark tones and classic designs. My 9th floor suite was clean and spacious, though more a large room than a true suite. It was spotlessly clean and the bed and seating areas were comfortable. However, there were a number of negatives too. The en suite, whilst well designed, had seen better days. The shower pressure wasn't great and the temperature fluctuated. Also, the cold tap at the sink often chucked out hot water. There was no daily housekeeping service provided which when you're paying full-service hotel prices is just cheap and frankly unreasonable. There's no real facilities other than a fitness centre (which was well equipped) and a restaurant which is, more often than not, only open for breakfast. It does open for dinner and a bar service 3 days a week but not on the days I was there. I know there are lots of places to go out nearby, but I can't be the only person who likes to catch up on emails over a beer in the hotel bar, surely? Also, I had breakfast one morning and the service was lacklustre and the food tasted OK but it was as if someone had emptied a whole salt cellar on top of it. There's also a hefty "destination fee" of $35 per day from which the only obvious benefit is a daily $15 room credit on top of things like free WiFi which should already be included in the room rate. I'd be far more inclined to spend more in the hotel if I didn't feel I was being ripped off already, so I'll never understand these resort/destination fees. I know they're becoming more commonplace in the U.S. but why not just whack the room rate up to cover it? That way no one will be annoyed at the extra charge which doesn't really give you anything extra. Anyway, all in all, it's a very nice hotel which needs to work on what they offer guests.