The Benson, a Coast Hotel

Great location. Beautiful room. Beautiful hotel. First stay there, won’t be staying anywhere else now that I found this gem.

I was on day 5 of a 3 city trip when I arrived in Portland. One of those weeks where I had a combination of conferences, client meetings and team events. By the time I got to Portland I was pretty tired. My first night I was going to order room service but decided to go to the hotel restaurant. I’m glad I did. I had the good fortune to meet John - a waiter that has been serving people there since 1979. He was so personable and energetic- and made time to have personal conversations with everyone he served. He told me about all of the US Presidents he’s served at the Benson - dating back to Ronald Regan. He told me facts about the Hotel and it’s construction and rich history. You would have thought he owned the hotel because he has so much pride in the place. It was a reminder to me that no matter what job you do in life, you can make someone’s day by just being enthusiastic about what you do. I found the rest of the staff to be equally friendly and the room was very comfortable. I’ll stay there again next time I’m in Portland.

Tacky $30 per night resort fee. I'm fine if they just charged me $30 more per night when I booked, but sneaking another $30 in the small print is just cheap. And 'all the other hotels in the area are being cheap too' isn't a good excuse.

Greatt cool old Hotel. Will stay again next time I'm in Portland