An excellent option in Portland, OR that combines affordable rates with a quality hard product. The hotel seems to be fairly popular in the city, drawing decent crowds.

This stay occurred in July 2023.

Booking

I ended up finding myself in Portland and decided to treat myself to a one night stay just to get a different experience from my time at the Hilton Downtown Portland. I had an expiring 50k free night certificate with Marriott, so it was an excellent opportunity to try out the hotel. In truth, I had wanted to come here for years as it always seemed to be one of the better options in the city.

Thankfully the night I chose didn’t require any extra points beyond using my 50k certificate. Room rates here aren’t too bad compared to other major cities and tend to hover in the $300 range here over weekends. Expect points prices to generally range between 40,000 and 60,000 Marriott points per night.

On top of the free night certificate, I used up one of my spare Suite Night Awards (earned from hitting 50 elite nights with Marriott the prior year) and, five nights prior to the stay, the hotel accepted the award. Rather than the base room I had booked, I was instead moving up to a studio suite. I have to admit I’m glad when upgrades clear using these awards because I find that more often than not they don’t.

Note this hotel does have a $30 nightly resort fee. The fee does provide for a $30 on-property dining credit (can be used at the minibar in your room) once per stay, so staying here for only one night like I did means I benefitted more than the average guest. But in general I do dislike having to pay for a credit that I then get back. It’s clearly an attempt at breakage if you don’t use it all or a play for extra revenue if you spend more than the credit. And it’s worse that the credit here is only offered per stay but you pay the same resort fee per night. Ultimately it’s a complaint worthy for another day.

Earning Marriott Points

If you’re looking to earn Marriott points quickly, you could look into picking up a Marriott credit card. Both Chase and American Express offer Marriott credit cards, but currently only Chase has an offer worth considering.

Full disclosure: the links below are standard refer-a-friend links where I may earn some Marriott for referring. There is no requirement to use the below referral links to apply but note your offer may differ when going directly to the card issuer.

One of the best offers right now is for Chase small business credit cards, giving a sign up bonus of 90k-100k Chase Ultimate Rewards points depending on the card chosen. I wouldn’t normally use this as a method to stay at Marriott hotels but I appreciate the flexibility in case I do need it.

Chase also offers a personal Marriott credit card that gives a sign up bonus of three 50k certificates on the Boundless card and 85,000 Marriott points on the Bountiful card. It’s not the best offer on the card, so it could be best to wait for a better offer unless you have an immediate need for the nights.

Arrival and First Impressions

I arrived at the hotel to find a nice waiting area for guests. The front desk is located on the eighth floor and so it’s a simple elevator ride up. Staff here on the ground floor can help you catch a ride or store your luggage, though given how busy staff was down here, it was a bit difficult to flag someone down for assistance.

Making my way up to the eighth floor, I quickly found the front desk around the corner and was promptly assisted. The agent mentioned key benefits of the hotel and also asked if I would be interested in either 1,000 Marriott points or a $40 credit at breakfast since I have at least Platinum status with Marriott. The breakfast credit could be used either at their restaurant Urban Farmer or via room service.

Note I was not proactively offered late check out. I also didn’t request it since I didn’t need it with an early flight the next morning to come home.

The lobby here is a bit artistic, with plenty of bright colors, artwork, and sculptures. They have plenty of seating, though sadly none of the seating has a view of anything other than the indoor atrium.

I mentioned the daily resort fee above, but the card pictured below explains more detail of what’s included. Aside from the $30 food and beverage credit (which I did use on the minibar), I didn’t take advantage of anything else.

The Room

My room ended up also being on the eighth floor (room 822), and so I didn’t need to take a further elevator ride up to my room. While it would have been nice to get a better view in a higher floor, it wasn’t too bad being on the same floor as the lobby in this hotel. My room was in the corner, requiring a decent walk away from the front desk, but I did get to see how nicely decorated the hotel was as a result.

Inside the studio suite was a small entry room housing the minibar, which had a decent number of selections but of course it was still overpriced. It’s better to classify this suite as more of a single room junior suite, but there was more than enough space here for my needs and I would have been perfectly comfortable to bring the whole family.

Stepping into the bedroom, it was easier to see the large king bed awaiting me. The color pattern here is a bit more subdued than the lobby design, which is good because I would have felt overstimulated if the same colors were used throughout the hotel. The bed itself was very comfortable, with thick bedding providing plenty of warmth at night.

Next to the bed was a couch with chaise. This was a sleeper sofa, adding extra space if you need another bed. I can’t comment on the quality of the sofa bed, but it didn’t appear heavily used.

Around the room were a couple of decorative chairs, a TV and desk, and a mini fridge. I am glad the room has an empty fridge in addition to the minibar. I can’t tell you how many times I went to the room expecting a fridge only to find it full of drinks with pressure sensitive indicators, making it impossible to use. It might sound like a dumb complaint, but if you have a young infant requiring breast milk, having an empty fridge is a must.

In terms of the desk, I have to say that it’s not positioned well if you want to work and then also glance over at the TV. Maybe that’s better for productivity but I think of it more as a missed opportunity.

Right next to the bedroom is a beautiful, spacious bathroom. What actually stood out the most to me here was the water pressure, which is quite strong (in a good way). Of course, that assumes you’re able to turn on the water in the first place. I’ll admit it was a little hard to turn the dial at first.

Toiletries here are a combination of Bee Kind and Byredo.

The view from the room was mostly of a concrete jungle. Again, it would have been nice to be above the other buildings as I know there are nice views possible in the city. But there’s not much to complain about here (and also not much credit to give at the same time).

Breakfast at Urban Farmer

Rather than use my $40 breakfast credit on room service, I opted to dine at Urban Farmer. There wasn’t any line when I showed up around 7:15am and was promptly seated.

After I ordered, I noticed a couple seated at the table next to mine who asked if they could speed up the making of their food because they had booked a tour leaving soon. To their surprise, the waiter turned down the request, saying the food will come out when it comes out. It seemed he made no effort to accommodate the guests and didn’t relay the information back to the kitchen. Based on that interaction, it seems like you shouldn’t come eat here if you are in a rush. That being said, I didn’t experience any significant slowness in the service.

For breakfast, I ordered the brioche french toast, which was filling. It had a very slight crispness to it, adding some depth to the dish. It comes with syrup on the side but it is plenty sweet without it. I would consider getting it again.

Note that the $40 dining credit did completely cover my meal, including the 3% surcharge and tip. I certainly could have pushed the limit more if I wanted to order more food, but with a flight to catch, I wasn’t interested in packing on extra pounds.

Recommendation: Yes

The hotel is nice, plain and simple. It has character without feeling outdated. It’s also an affordable hotel, costing less than I otherwise would have expected. Perhaps that’s a reflection of the current state of Portland (the city doesn’t seem to have recovered economically after the pandemic), but the hotel is a good quality. It’s an excellent use of a 50k free night certificate if you have one. I’d love to take the family here the next time we are in town.

Have you been to The Nines? What are your thoughts of the hotel?