17 July 2022
Blog by: Maelynn Le
All photos were taken by Maelynn Le unless noted!
Photo by: Travel Portland
Ahhhh Portland, OR, where everything is weird. No, I’m not talking about Portland, ME sadly but the one in Oregon. Portland is home to the Trail Blaizer's St. John’s Bridge, the Portland Timbers, and many more sports teams and attractions. When I was a teen, I always told my parents “I want to visit Portland one day!” Here I am 5 years later finally getting a chance to visit Portland and it has been the most beautiful, nature-oriented state I have ever visited. I visited Portland from July 14th-July 19th and it has been truly a great stay in Portland. Portland is an urban/suburban city and is the largest city in Oregon. You are just at the border of Washington (about a 15 min drive) and about an hour away from the capital, Salam, and about 2 hours away from Eugene. If you are ever in Portland, OR and you would love to stay at a modern, contemporary hotel, then the Bidwell Hotel is the hotel for you whether it’s a business trip, family, vacation, etc.
Photo: View of Downtown and the Mountains of Portland.
The Bidwell Hotel is located at Downtown on Broadway Street. I took the LightRail from the PDX airport and it was about a 45 min ride and cost $2.50 for a one-way trip (make sure you get off at Pioneer Square North and it’s a 5 min walk from there). If you drive, it will be about a 20 min drive from the airport and if you uber it would be about a 20 min drive and will cost you about $20. From the Bidwell Hotel, it is a perfect 5-7 min walk to Pioneer Place (mall) and Pioneer Courthouse Square where you can find some food trucks, malls, food, shopping, or a place to hangout and relax. There are also many shops and restaurants near by the hotel as well within walking distance. You can also relax by the Williamette River which is a 15 min walk from the hotel and see a gorgeous view of the river. There are also many bridges all around Portland and all of them nearby are about a 15 min walk from the hotel. Unfortunately, St. John’s bridge will take you nearly 3 hours to walk, so it’s best to either drive or bike there. There are also many hiking trails you will see on the way too so make sure you check them out! I loved walking at Washington Park and the Marquand Trailhead, which both of them are very close by! If you get lost or need a good reference on where the hotel is, if you see Pioneer Square, you are getting super close and then you would just turn on Broadway. There is a nice large sign on the front and side so you CAN’T miss it!
Now for the hotel! The Bidwell hotel is a very spacious, inviting, warm, modern, and contemporary hotel. According to the hotel the design “celebrates the Pacific Northwest with natural tones, textures, and materials inspired by the forest that surrounds (Bidwell Marriott website).” The property has 20 floors with 258 rooms and 5 meeting rooms (one of the rooms can be joined together with another room). The amenities of the hotel are free coffee and tea in the room, a 24-hour fitness center, bicycle rentals, room service, laundry service, valet parking ($50 daily), meeting and event spaces, pet-friendly, and a gift shop. The one thing about the hotel is there is no complimentary Wi-Fi. If you want to use the internet, it will be USD 4.95 per day or it’s free for Marriott Bonvoy members. This option is best for email, texting, use of social media, and web browsing. If you want enhanced internet, it’s USD 9.95 per day or free for gold and higher elite members. It’s best for streaming, video chat, plus the other access I mentioned. The hotel has a designated restaurant called High Horse which is open from 4–10 PM on the weekends and 7 AM–2 PM, 4–10 PM on the weekdays. The Bidwell hotel was built in 1999 and was recently renovated in 2020. The interior of the lobby had those modern Pacific Northwest vibes and I loved that theme which carried throughout the entire hotel. On the right was the gift shop where you can buy souvenirs and rent bikes as well. Everything about the lobby and amenities are great but unfortunately, this hotel does not have a pool nor a nearby pool. I loved how high the ceiling was too because it made the lobby feel bigger. I don’t know much about the Bidwell Hotel’s history but I‘m sure it has great history if you ask.
Photo: Concierge lounge access, Guest room, 1 King, Sofa bed, City view, Corner room
I got the absolute pleasure of staying at the Bidwell Hotel. I stayed in the BEST corner guest room with a beautiful city view which was on the 19th floor. When I first walked in, I didn’t realize how huge the corner room was. That Pacific Northwest modern contemporary theme kept going through the guest room as well. I loved some of the art pieces that were in my room as well. For example, there was a bear that was made out of cars painting on top of my bed. I thought it was cute and colorful because, for me, it just appealed to my eyes. There was also an abstract blue painting on the wall which was beautiful. It looked very unique and I loved how abstract it was. The bathroom was beautiful as well and I loved the stand-in shower, The tile work was beautiful, the countertops were great and the floating cabinets had great color. My favorite part of my room was my view! It was probably one of the best views I ever had. It was not only overlooking Downtown Portland but also were many trees and mountains that were attractive to look at! I have to say, it was the most STUNNING view I ever had! There were times that it got a bit noisy, especially in the evening since you are downtown but overall was pretty quiet. Overall, everything in my room was very clean and everything was working in perfect condition. There is also a safe in the room for you to put anything in there you don’t want stolen. In addition in the bathroom, there was a hair dryer, conditioner, shampoo, and shower gel for guests to use. Yes, there is a refrigerator, but there is no microwave. If you do need a microwave, you can call the lobby and request to bring one up for you (the cleaners will take the microwave back the next day). If you are staying at the Bidwell hotel, just be aware of your surroundings at all times as there tends to be sketchy/homeless people around the hotel but they don’t get too close. Personally, I did feel safe at the Bidwell hotel as I was aware of my surroundings but make sure you come at daylight versus at night.
Photo: The bear that is made out of cars painting
Overall. this is a beautiful hotel with exceptional service! Whenever you are in Portland, you gotta make your stay at the Bidwell hotel! Very clean hotel that is no doubt a great hotel! Huge shout out to Tyler for getting me settled and checking me in! I appreciate everyone at the Bidwell hotel for the great stay as overall, I had a great time staying at the Bidwell hotel!
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