Rose City Weekend at The Deluxe Hotel Portland

Hello again It's Tim & April, This week we're taking a short trip to one of our favorite towns, Portland Oregon "The Rose City”, this is one of our favorite things to do just get out for a 3 day weekend NOT on a holiday weekend, go to a hotel we haven't been to before and just explore the city, take walks find those hole in the wall places we love. This weekend finds us at the Hotel Deluxe a sister Hotel of Hotel Lucia Also in Portland
( A Must Stay) we have had our eyes on this one for quite some time.

The Hotel Deluxe was created as a tribute to the Hollywood era of glamour and romance, All the design and detailing is based on the architectural and decorative arts of the 1920’s through the 1940's as well as glamour of old Hollywood of the 1940's and 1950's. The Hotel Deluxe is rated #1 by reviewers on Trip Advisor, #1 of 133 hotels in the Portland Area.

April & I will be taking you along on our tour of Portland and the places we explore this weekend, this will be a recurring theme for Portland there are so many places each trip finds new and wonderful places.
Our first stop is actually in Beaverton at Sandoval's Mexican Restaurant The food was good but most noteworthy was the back room where the owner has a nice little collection of memorabilia from the music industry, all autographed including a gold record from Carlos Santa and Pictures and posters all signed from the likes of BB King and Sammy Hagar, defiantly worth a peek.

Our next stop is just the run of the mill movie going experience at Pioneer Place There is a great view of the sky as you take a bunch of escalators to the top to see you move, which is a bit more expensive than our home town theater but way nicer seats.

After the movie we check into our super cute room with a comfy bed! The size of the room is a bit small like most boutique hotels but the amenity's totally make the room, of course you have upgrade options like the "Marlene Dietrich Suite" , the bathroom is a nice large size and a great throwback to another era, the building is an old one with great movie photos lining the hallways (click the pictures for more pics) Check out the speacials we got the "Staycation" free parking and $40 for dinner coupled with a discounted rate , another plus besides the friendly staff (Like Jessie who always took time to chat see how we were doing and see if there was anything he could do even when someone else was helping us) is your one block from the Max which runs right past the hotel and connects with the Portland Street Car, Tri Met has a huge free ride zone to get you around town it's toally worth a ticket to ride the street car the full route get off on 23rd st or or ride it down to the water front trail, heck just people watch. For less than $5 a day you can ride anything in Portland all day long, , next were off to the Driftwood Lounge a small wood tone bar in the hotel with a nice bar menu and happy hour, the bartender plays with drinks making his own concoctions at home, try the "green dragon" (soon to be on the menu and our waiter at Gracie's told us about) made with Agaves, which comes from south America but is illegal to process so it is sent to Amsterdam to be processed before its sent to America, then it is topped with champagne and absinthe which is newly legal in this country as well, it does a cool bubbling float in the middle of the glass if you like black lickerish you'll love it! The booths are comfortable, dark & romantic for some close conversation.
Next we went to dinner at Gracie's also in the hotel a wonderful small restaurant with curved booth seats and marble tables in movie style from the golden years they are very romantic, the New York steak is to die for and Ravioli is pretty good to, the details in the molding are worth checking out they line the lobby as well so much detail.
Take a minute and introduce yourself to your waiter if your not in the mood to be alone with just your loved one that is, you’ll find your waiter more at ease and lets them know its OK to talk to you you'll find some local incite, some history of the buildings and more, it can make for a much more pleasurable dinner experience.

Day two finds us with a full gym, as an alternative we found our own more enjoyable workout, the deluxe has a 9 floor staircase & each floor has great Hollywood photos, the staircase reminded us of our elementary schools. As an alternate to the gym try going down to the basement and jogging to floor 8 check out the pictures then back to the basement and back up to 7 by floor one you will have had a great workout and seen some awesome Hollywood history in photo.

After a great nights sleep we hoped on the Max again and headed down to the Pearl District ending up at the Pearl Bakery on NW 9th , We had some great coffee, the pearl bakery smells so good! You can view the bread making area and get some great bread. Two doors down is Fuller's Coffee Shop an old fashion Breakfast coffee shop complete with the formica bar counter , Fullers was rated as one of the best places for Breakfast by the Portland Monthy , Pioneer Sq is always a great starting point. Check out the New courthouse and the new broadcast studio built right into the square. We ended our evening at Melting Pot a fondue restaurant and a TIP make a reservation way in advance this place is popular we used Open Table to make reservations , it is an easy way to make and track your reservation. This place was great the cheese portion of the meal was cheeselisious we could have just had that and desert and been Happy , if you have never been before get ready for some instruction from your waiter , Ours was Lamont who happened to be from Dundee down our way , they bring you all sorts of breads and a pot of cheese right on your table you dip and eat, they next bring you a plate will every type of meat you can think of you stick it and cook it yourself right at your table,the sauces are amazing , but the best part is the desert! oh my gosh! a plate with cheesecake, cake , brownie, banana and more you dip in warm chocolate man! So this is the end of this weeks adventure Id recommend the Deluxe both the hotel and staff live up to their reputation and if you catch the right weekend you can even screen a movie in the screening room or be apart of the murder mystery dinners held at the hotel some weekends , were back home and getting ready to wrap up the day and head to our own bed , for more tips and places to stay check out the Portland Monthly or go the Hotel Deluxe Blog.
Happy travels well be talking soon
April & Tim