wkwb42a

We have 8 nights in Sept. in the Portland area. We would like to spend 3 nights in Portland, and divide the other 5 nights among the Columbia River gorge, the wine country, and the Coast. We would appreciate advice as to the most efficient way to plan this trip, and your favorite places to stay and eat along the way. Thanks for your help.

We are flying into the Portland airport. We thought about renting a car and going immediately to the Columbia River gorge area and staying 1 night. Then heading over to the wine country for 2 nights. Then to the Coast for 2 nights, and ending up in Portland for the last 3 nights. Any help is appreciated!

gardendiva

That sounds like a good plan as you do not need a car in Portland.

Fodorite018

5alive

You have a great itinerary so far.

One thought is to think about which days are over the weekend. If the wineries are on the weekend, it is a pro/con. There will be more tastings but more traffic. Especially if Labor Day. The weekend at the beach, you will want to get your reservations relatively soon.

Also happy to answer questions.

sunbum1944

Travel Portland is a good planning resource

https://www.travelportland.com

wkwb42a

Thank you all very much!

girlonthego

I think your plan is excellent!
We stayed at this really nice spa/inn in the wine country. https://www.theallison.com/

floridapugmom

gardendiva

We enjoyed the Embassy Suites Hotel at 3rd & Pine. It is close to public transportation and within walking distance of many restaurants and parks.

tomfuller

Depending on the time of day you land at PDX, see Multnomah Falls on the way to your lodging in Hood River. Leaving Hood River in the morning, go south on Rt. 35 up to Government Camp US 26. Also in the wine country you might want to visit the Evergreen Aviation and Space museum near Mc Minnville.
Get your reservations for the place you want to stay on the coast ASAP.
The TriMet red line (light rail) is good to go from PDX into downtown Portland. The end of the red line is right outside baggage claim.

wkwb42a

Thank you for your prompt and helpful reply!

Fodorite018

I like the Monaco, which is a Kimpton property. Whenever we stayed overnight in downtown, this was our go to place. The location is ideal and the hotel/staff was excellent. There are loads of good hotels in downtown, and then in the NW area the Inn at Northrup Station gets good word of mouth.

sunbum1944

I like the Marriott Waterfront Hotel. Walking distance to waterfront area and downtown. There are several off site parking places nearby which are cheaper than the hotel.

Check website Travel Portland for hotels, attractions and events

5alive

So our downtown is on the west side of the river. Also on the west side is the Pearl District and what we generally call Northwest. This may be confusing because the inner East Side is where our convention center is. Convention Center area is not a bad area to stay (and also has a lot of hotels), but it's not as nice as downtown or the Pearl. (You might get a good deal there if there isn't a convention at the time of your stay.) Northwest is super nice also but it's more houses converted into trendy businesses and great restaurants. There are just two hotels in Northwest.

A few thoughts about specific properties:
My own favorite would be the Inn at Northrup Station purely on location. I don't stay in Portland hotels. It's right on the quiet streetcar line, which whisks you to downtown in minutes. But you are by excellent restaurants and small shops, and free parking for that rental car.

Downtown
The Monaco is an excellent location. Right near Pioneer Square.

Also great location are the Kimpton's Hotel DeLuxe and the nextdoor Hotel Lucia. I have been to receptions at the Lucia; the bride rented a room for babysitting during the reception. I thought the room was very nice. These are both a few blocks closer to the Pearl.

A lot of new hotels have opened or renovated in downtown and the Pearl lately. Of the ones in this link, the Dossier, the Hampton Inn both look really good. Here's a link to several. Avoid the Hoxton due to the area it's in. Sorry but no.

https://www.pdxmonthly.com/slideshow...and-and-beyond

Marriott Waterfront Hotel is now called the AC Hotel by Marriott Portland. I am pretty sure they had a giant renovation. There's been a lot of that in downtown Portland. f you want to run/walk along Tom McCall Waterfront Park, it is a particularly good spot.

Less convenient is the Silver Cloud Inn in Northwest. This is near a small group of great local businesses out on Vaughan and Thurman. You aren't right on a streetcar line to go downtown. There are ways, play with Google Maps. But for price it may be worth it?

Embassy Suites I am less keen on. This has come up on other recs on this board and I've been hesitant to speak up. I hate to speak badly of a really nice hotel, and it IS a beautiful property inside. But the location on Fourth that close to Burnside is developing more of an outside camping population. That is more of a problem everywhere in Portland, but it's not equal everywhere. Fourth that close to Burnside is problematic at night. Non-issue during the day, or if you are driving into valet parking at night. Again, love public spaces of this hotel.

Fodorite018

5alive--My husband had to stay at the Silver Cloud once during a snowstorm and he couldn't make it home, and that was close to his office. It was nice, but like you say the location isn't ideal but does work. I am with you on the Embassy Suites. I do not like the location at all for the reasons you mention.

floridapugmom

Thanks 5alive and everyone else for all your great suggestions and help. We have decided on the Silver Cloud Hotel in the NW area.
We are going to do a lot of day trips from Portland so a downtown location wasn't as important. We will be visiting the Japanese
Garden and Pottock Manson for sure. Really appreciate all the hotel help.

If you have suggestions on sites to see that would be a "day trip:" I would appreciate suggestions. Our son lives In Vancover Wash.
and has told us a few things we should see.
Again THANKS everyone!

Fodorite018

Since you are already planning on doing the gorge and coast, here are some suggestions for day trips.

Mt St Helens is an excellent trip. From Portland you go north on I-5 for an hour until exit #49 in Castle Rock. There, you get onto 504 for 50 miles up to Johnston Ridge Observatory. There are several areas you can stop along the way, but at JRO there is a short film that is a must see. If the weather is rainy, do this another day as you won't see anything, but it is very interesting!

Willamette Valley for wineries and the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum. The area from Newberg to McMinnville is where the bulk of the wineries are. If this interests you and you want suggestions, just ask. Downtown McMinnville is fun as it is chuck full of unique shops/restaurants/tasting rooms. Very walkable.

Silver Falls State Park is just east if Salem and is wonderful. The South Falls area is huge and you can walk underneath the falls. The trail of 10 falls is only 7 miles, so if you like to hike this is a really nice trail.

gardendiva

In defense of my recommendation of the Embassy Suites, it has been 2 years since we have been there. However, a friend stayed there a few months ago and did not feel unsafe. The Salvation Army shelter is closer to Burnside which I found out later in our stay. Personally, I did not feel unsafe in that area of the hotel even at night. No more so than I did in the parks that were filled with the homeless all day long.

5alive

Gardendiva, no need to feel defensive. We are all just giving our personal experiences and yours were positive. Those who join a forum realize that.

The Portland homeless situation is changing. Portland seems unable to contain it. Besides Salvation Army, there are two other rescue missions in Chinatown. We donate to one of them regularly. Everyone deserves to eat and a safe place to sleep. Sometimes they are able to change lives and get some of them into recovery.

I did have a specific situation though to mention.
​​​​​I went to an evening meeting late this fall at the Embassy Suites. It started at 7 pm and we parked a few blocks south, rather than paying for parking in their lot. The block or two before the hotel, homeless people were sitting both by the buildings and by the parked vehicles. To walk down the sidewalk, you had to run the gauntlet between them. As it was dark, we didn't see that until we were in it. When we didn't make eye contact or answer their pleas for money, they began insulting me. My husband is a big guy and very strong, but still I was concerned if one of them had a knife, we could be in trouble.

Again, this is my personal experience. I do think the hotel is beautiful and using valet parking would resolve any safety problem.

wkwb42a

Hi All,
Now we are thinking about driving along the Columbia River gorge US30? for a while to see the sights after leaving PDX, and then driving to Timberline lodge to spend the night. The lodge looks like a neat place to stay 1 night. Then we would head to the wine country. How does this sound?