12 Incredibly Cool Hotels in Portland to Book Now
Portland is one of the coolest cities in the country, we think, with a criminally underrated (though quickly moving into “rated” territory) food and drink scene, an incredible array of parks and green spaces within the city limits, and a thriving arts and culture scene for its size. But of course we think that – we built an entire website dedicated to Portland and the rest of Oregon.
If you’re planning a trip to Portland and looking for the coolest hotels in the city, we’ve got you covered. We have personally stayed at a couple of the places on this list, on one of our many visits before moving here, and have a couple of other hotels that are on our list for a staycation at some point in the future.
In this guide, we’re going to run through 12 cool hotels in Portland, Oregon to book for your next trip if you’re looking for a stay to complement your trip to the unique city that is Portland. On our list, you’ll find everything from hotel/hostel hybrids with affordable prices and social aspects, to luxurious stays perfect for a special occasion.
Sound good to you? Let’s get into it.
P.S. If you’re looking for a deeper dive into what part of the city you should stay in, check out our extremely detailed guide to where to stay in Portland, which has a deep dive on our favorite areas and hotels in each.
Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post, like hotel and vacation rental links, are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you we make a little bit of money if you click through and book. That being said, we would absolutely never recommend something to you that we don’t stand behind 100%.
12 Cool Hotels in Portland, Oregon to Book For Your Trip
In general, Portland is not an expensive city when you compare it to other major cities on the west coast like Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. However, it’s also not the cheapest city in the country, and there are a few luxury hotels that can get up to $300 a night or more.
On this list, we’re going to give you a mix of more affordable options, specifically the places we think punch above their weight, some mid-range hotels that offer a good value, and a couple of boutique hotels that skew more luxurious, which are perfect for a special occasion.
One thing you should know before we jump in – we’re biased. We’re much more inclined to pay for a modern, comfortable room, even if it’s not the biggest.
After all, we tend to spend most of our time in a new city outside the room, and really just need a clean, comfortable, central place to return to for a good night’s sleep.
There are an endless number of hotels in Portland, and this is just a selection of the ones that we think have a little something extra than your usual hotel offering.
The Jupiter NEXT (Where We Stayed)
Note: If you prefer peace and quiet, this is NOT the place for you. The bar is serving drinks until 2:00 am. If you’re into that, stay here. If not, definitely don’t.
On our latest trip to Portland before moving here, we decided to stay in a hotel on the Central Eastside because it was a short trip, and we were looking for something close to downtown (for Powell’s City of Books, mostly), but also close to our favorite places to eat and drink on the east side of the river.
There are a few options in the area, and we chose the Jupiter NEXT Hotel because it’s super stylish, gets fantastic reviews, and is in a great location with a private, covered parking garage. Since we had a car as Portland was our starting point for an Oregon Coast road trip, that was important to us.
The hotel itself is modern, having been built relatively recently, and is in a fantastic location on Burnside Street. You’ll be able to walk downtown (we did), and the industrial area of the Central Eastside where you’ll find amazing bars, restaurants, and breweries, among other things (we also did this).
The rooms are surprisingly large, and are decorated in a simple but stylish way, like the cool piece of art hanging over the bed that shows the different elements of the city, boasting stunning views of the Portland skyline.
Over the course of the weekend, the staff stood out as particularly friendly, greeting us every time we walked through the doors and chatting with us about everything from the weather to breweries in Portland.
We’d recommend staying here, though you should know that it’s definitely not the cheapest option in Portland. If you’re looking for a more affordable stay, check out the Kex and Lolo Pass (both are below), which are in a similar area, but are a little more affordable.
The feather in its cap, however, is the onsite bar and restaurant Hey Love, which is open for all meals and stays open until 2:00 am to serve cocktails. While there are plenty of options on the menu for all meals of the day, brunch is a must do!
The Kex
When people ask us where they should stay in Portland (assuming they’re not staying with us), the Kex Hotel is at the top of our list. The Kex is an Icelandic hotel chain that has exactly one other outpost around the world in Reykjavík, Iceland.
Why are we in love with this particular hotel? Mostly because they’ve brought together a bunch of our favorite parts about staying in hotels while we’re traveling. They’ve built a design-focused space, which we definitely appreciate, but the more important parts (at least to us) are the social aspect and the neighborhood.
This hotel is part hotel, part hostel, which means you have a range of room options depending on your budget from private hotel-style rooms, to hostel-style bunk rooms that are perfect for families and groups of up to 16 people (but mostly 4-6 beds per room). They also have private rooms with shared bathrooms that will shave a few dollars off per night if you’re on a tight budget.
Beautiful common spaces, including the restaurant on the main floor and their library, annex, and secret courtyard, are a great spot to meet new friends, or make connections with the people you’re traveling with. There’s also a rooftop bar where you can enjoy a cocktail on a beautiful summer day in Portland.
Last, but certainly not least, is the neighborhood.
Kex is on the Central Eastside, which is one of our favorite parts of the city. Across the river, you’ve got downtown Portland, which you’ll cross the Burnside Bridge with the famous White Stag sign to get to. Just south of the hotel is the heart of the Central Eastside, where you’ll find some of the best bars, restaurants, and breweries in Portland.
Whatever you’re planning on doing while you’re in town, the Kex Hotel would be an amazing home base for exploring the city.
Lolo Pass
Lolo Pass is another relatively new place in Portland that blends the social aspect of hostels with the style and comfort of boutique hotels, which is a theme we’re seeing pop up more and more often both in Portland and beyond.
They have a mix of dorm rooms – choose between four and eight beds – and private hotel-style rooms. They have a shared bathroom with single-occupancy lockable toilets and showers, and you’ll get a private locker for your stuff.
Private rooms come outfitted with either a queen bed or two twins. All of their private rooms have private bathrooms.
They have hostel-esque amenities onsite, like a shared kitchen, a laundry room, and a plethora of events that will help you connect with other travelers and explore Portland together. Like rooftop movie nights.
The location, which puts you on the east side of the river, is great. It’s close to a few of our favorite stretches in the entire city in terms of food and drinks – NE 28th Ave and Belmont are walkable – and it’s in a much quieter, more residential part of town.
However, it’s not particularly convenient for exploring downtown and Washington Park, so keep in mind that you’ll be spending a little more time getting to places on the western side of the city if you do stay here.
If you’re looking for a budget-friendly option in Portland, this is a good place to start.
The Hoxton
There are two things you need to know about the Hoxton Hotel in Portland.
First of all, it’s one of the most stylish hotels in the city, which is true of basically any Hoxton location around the world. They’re a growing chain with a presence in some of the world’s biggest tourist destinations, and they’re always warm, inviting spaces with friendly staff, great onsite bars and restaurants, and stylish (though compact) rooms.
The Hoxton location in Portland is no different.
The second thing you need to know is that this particular location is on the northern edge of downtown, on the border of Chinatown and Old Town, which is not the greatest location.
Despite the fact that it’s in the middle of all the action between downtown Portland and the Pearl District, we say this because the unhoused population in Portland, which you are likely to encounter all over downtown, is particularly visible here in Old Town.
If seeing the effects of the converging housing and mental health crises makes you uncomfortable, we wouldn’t recommend staying here. Also, if you’re a solo traveler, we might also reconsider.
Rooms here, like at many modern hotels, are going to be smaller and more unique than rooms at your run-of-the-mill hotel chain. They feature big windows, dark wood tones, and walls adorned by local art.
Rooms come in a variety of sizes and layouts, depending on what you’re looking for. If you’re good with a bed and a bathroom and not much else, the “Snug” will be perfect for you. If you want a little more space to spread out, then move up to the “Roomy,” which has more space, a seating area, and a desk.
They also have a couple of good onsite bars, including a basement speakeasy and a rooftop bar that features a great list of tequila and mezcal.
The Hoxton is pet-friendly, and they do have onsite valet parking (though it’s pricey at $52 for 24 hours).
We probably wouldn’t stay here if you’re bringing a car. However, there’s a MAX stop (that’s Portland’s version of an above-ground subway) a couple of blocks away, which will take you to the airport or other spots in Portland, like Washington Park.
The Society Hotel (Where We Stayed)
The Society Hotel reminds us of the boutique hostels that we ended up falling in love with over the course of our trip to Colombia. It has all the style and swagger of a boutique hotel, but offers a great value to visitors, who can choose from rooms ranging from dorm to suite, with options for all budgets in between.
We stayed here on our first ever trip to Portland together (what was that, a decade ago? Man, we’re getting old) in one of the rooms that shares a bathroom because we wanted to save a few dollars.
And, having stayed in hostels before, we were pleasantly surprised that the bathrooms are single-occupancy, which means no sharing stalls or showers with someone else. They also have rooms with private bathrooms, if that sounds more like your style.
More recently, they’ve added bunk rooms, which are a great value if you’re up for staying in the same room as others.
Rooms are basic and “minimalist” but the price is worth it. This is simultaneously one of Portland’s most unique hotels, AND the best value hotels in Portland, which is a combination you don’t necessarily see every day.
Similar to the Hoxton above, the only downside here is that the neighborhood. And there are two things to know here. One, it is full of nightlife and gets a bit loud at night. Bring earplugs if that’s going to bother you.
It’s also worth noting that the location here in Chinatown is the part of Portland where the city’s unhoused population is most visible. While you are likely going to see signs of the crisis elsewhere in Portland, it’s most intense in this area. If that bothers you, we’d stay elsewhere.
There is exactly one pet-friendly room at the Society Hotel – their dog-friendly King Suite – but it’s an extra $50 a night (capped at $150 per stay), which is exorbitant in our opinion, and dogs must be under 50 pounds. As dog owners, we’d either leave the dog at home, or stay elsewhere.
The Ace Hotel Portland
Just one block from Powell’s City of Books, the Ace Hotel is perfect for the bibliophile and one of the most highly-rated spots in Portland, Oregon.
Fashionable but still relatively affordable, the hotel retains echoes of the original Clyde Hotel that opened here in 1912: brick exterior, small elevator, and, unfortunately, the lack of private bathrooms in a few of the rooms labeled “basic”. Don’t worry – there’s a nice single-occupancy shared bathroom just down the hall.
We have stayed at the Ace Hotel a few times in other cities around the country, and wholeheartedly recommend it. It is one of our favorite places to stay in NYC, and the Seattle location (the Ace’s first outpost) is right in the middle of Belltown.
The dark-paneled lobby and sharing tables in the restaurant give it a real community feeling, and the bedrooms are light and distinctive.
You also have the now world-famous Stumptown Coffee in the lobby, so you don’t even need to leave the hotel to get some of the best coffee in Portland (though we’d recommend venturing out to some of the best coffee shops in Portland that are nearby, like Never Coffee and Courier Coffee).
Staying here puts you right in the heart of all the action, with downtown and the hip Pearl District just outside the front door of the hotel.
In this part of Portland, you can enjoy art galleries, restaurants, bars and breweries. And if you want to shop, you will have plenty of choices.
Hyatt Centric Portland
Hyatt Centric is a sub brand of Hyatt, one of the best known hotel brands in the world, and they represent Hyatt’s attempt to get on the radar of younger travelers in an urban setting. That means two things that are worth expanding on here: central location, and more compact rooms.
One of the notable things about Hyatt Centric hotels is that they’re in the middle of all the action – in this case, it’s in downtown Portland a few blocks from Powell’s and Pioneer Courthouse Square – so you’re within walking distance of the best offerings of the city.
The other thing to know here is that, similar to other modern hotel chains like Moxy and CitizenM, one of the core insights behind modern hotels is that the younger crowd (like us, do we still get to be “younger?!”) doesn’t need a huge hotel room with lounge space and a huge TV. They’ll be spending most of their time outside the room exploring the city, so the room really just needs to serve as a comfortable place to sleep.
So if you’re looking for a huge room, this ain’t it. However, if you’re looking for a sleek, modern, well-thought-out room, then they have you covered.
They have two types of rooms – rooms and suites. The difference being that the latter has more space and a separate seating area. All rooms and suites have the touches you’d expect from a modern hotel serving younger travelers – USB ports for charging, blackout curtains, climate control, a mini fridge, a speaker with USB inputs (no ipod docks here!), modern bathrooms, etc etc.
It is worth noting that even their smallest rooms come in at more than 250 square feet (we consider normal to be right around 180 – 200). So the rooms aren’t small compared to your run-of-the-mill hotel room.
They’re dog-friendly, with a limit of two dogs and up to 75 pounds combined. There’s a one time $100 fee per stay for your furry friend.
Parking is also available, though it’ll cost you $47 per 24 hour period. There’s also a nice onsite fitness center.
Hotel Grand Stark
Another newcomer to the Portland hotel scene (they opened in early 2021), the Hotel Grand Stark is the Palisociety’s second hotel in the Pacific Northwest (the other one being in Seattle).
They’re a L.A.-based chain and they build consistent design-forward hotels with touches of luxury that make for a comfortable place to use as a home base for exploring. They took a historic building on the Central Eastside and remodeled it, creating an aesthetic full of light-colored wood paneling and bold patterns of greens and blues.
The location couldn’t be better, perched in the Central Eastside just north of the Goat Blocks (home to Schilling Cider, one of our favorite spots in Portland) and a plethora of breweries, restaurants, and more.
It’s also roughly equidistant to downtown Portland and Hawthorne and Division Streets, which makes the location perfect for spending a day exploring each of those two areas, which we’d highly recommend.
However, there is one thing you should know about the location here – it’s at the intersection of Grand and Stark, hence the name, and Grand is a main thoroughfare through the city. We pass the hotel often, and I have to imagine it can be pretty loud if you’re in one of the rooms on that side of the hotel.
Plus, it’s an old building, so the windows aren’t exactly brand new (we can sympathize – our windows are from the early 20th Century, and it’s hard to tell at times whether they’re open or closed). They do, however, provide ear plugs.
Choose between a variety of different Queen and King rooms – the latter are more spacious, but the queen rooms have plenty of space to spread out. All rooms come with mini-fridges and Nespresso machines, which is a nice, practical touch.
Pets are welcome, but there is a pet fee that is an extra cost. Valet parking is available for $40 a day.
The Woodlark
The Woodlark is a luxury hotel in an excellent central downtown location, right between SW Washington and SW Alder, two blocks from Pioneer Courthouse Square. It’s housed in a pair of buildings from the 1900’s, though you’d never know it based on the modern interior that has been completely redone.
They break their rooms into several categories: standard guestrooms, premium guestrooms, and premium suites.
The guestrooms (both standard and premium) are spacious and sleek, with options for one King bed or two doubles, and a variety of layouts including corner rooms with a view and accessible rooms. They’re all relatively spacious – the smallest is 230 square feet – and come with luxurious touches like slippers and robes, walk-in showers, USB charging ports, and bluetooth speakers.
The premium suites, which are a little more expensive, have everything that the guestrooms have with a little extra space spread out over two floors, with a spiral staircase connecting the bedroom upstairs to the seating area downstairs.
The hotel is pet-friendly, and there’s no extra pet fee, which makes this an excellent place to stay if you’ll have a dog in tow. Parking is available, but it’s valet only and is an extra $50 a day.
Hotel Zags
By just about any definition, Hotel Zags is one of the coolest boutique hotels in Portland. From the courtyard restaurant, perfect for an alfresco meal on a warm summer evening, to the Gear Shed where you can rent bikes to explore the city, every element of the hotel is designed to help you make the most of your trip to Portland.
The location is great. It’s on the southern end of downtown Portland, which means that you’re a few blocks away from the PSU Farmers Market, a must-do for foodies in Portland (it’s on Saturday mornings) and walkable to downtown and the Pearl District. Plus, you’re right on a Portland Streetcar line and close to the MAX, so you can easily get around the city.
Rooms are split into two categories: suites and hotel rooms. Suites are basically a one bedroom apartment (though, notably, there is no kitchen), with a seating area including a couch and a desk and separate bedroom. Hotel rooms are, well, exactly what you’d expect based on the name. There’s a bed, a bathroom, and some sort of small seating area, but not much else.
Which is fine, since you’ll be out and about exploring anyway.
One of the highlights here, we think, is the incredible outdoor space. From cocktails to beer and wine, this would be an excellent place to grab a pre-dinner drink before walking over to one of the restaurants in downtown Portland or the Northwest District. Of course, it’s really at its best during the warm summer months, when it’s dry and the days are long.
The hotel is pet-friendly (dogs up to 80 pounds), and there’s a $75 fee per stay. They also have self-parking for $28 a day, which is a steal compared to some of the other hotels in downtown Portland.
Unfortunately, like many hotels these days, they charge a $25 a day “amenity fee” that covers the gym, bottled water (gross) and coffee and tea, and everything else that falls under amenities. No, you can’t opt out. This should just be included in the price!
Hotel Vance
Hotel Vance is one of the best boutique hotels in Portland, located on the southern end of downtown near Portland State University (and the PSU Farmers Market, which is on Saturday mornings and is one of our favorite things to do in Portland). Finished in 2018, it’s a relatively new entry into the city’s hotel scene and skews more modern than historic with its architecture and decor.
It’s a seven minute walk to the MAX station, which will take you either to the airport, or to places like Washington Park, where you’ll find the International Rose Test Garden. The Portland Streetcar also runs right in front of the hotel, which is yet another way to get around Portland.
Rooms are sleek and comfortable, with options for one king or two queens, and a variety of layouts with some options more spacious than others. All rooms have a desk, a mini fridge, and an industrial-chic aesthetic with pops of bright colors (like the yellow chairs and red art on the walls).
Amenities here include a nice fitness center and self-parking is available at $35 a day (unlimited in and out privileges). The hotel is also pet-friendly, with a limit of two pets per room and no additional pet fee (!!).
