The Classiest Way to Stay in Portland

The Rose City is an increasingly popular tourist destination. There are a lot of reasons to come to the weirdest city in America. Although many popular vacation cities are well liked for a specific reason, Portland is popular precisely because it can't be nailed down as one "type" of city. Portland has every kind of attraction imaginable, and the only caveat is that these attractions are sometimes going to have a strange twist. But! Before you can go and enjoy all the cool weirdness that the Rose City offers to visitors, you have to decide on a place to stay. That's where this article comes in handy: we'll help you find the classiest way to stay in Portland. There's a nearly infinite number of ways to stay in the Rose City, but to keep things simple, let's take a look at two of the most popular methods and figure out which one is right for you and yours. Just below this sentence is a paragraph break, and just after that break are the pros and cons of hotels and travel apartments. Let's take a look at both, shall we?


Hotels are buildings where you can pay to rent a room for a certain amount of time. See, the way it works is that... just kidding! I know you know what a hotel is. What we're really here to discuss are the benefits and disadvantages of hotel life. Because, realistically, the vast majority of hotels are going to have some similarities: you'll have neighbors, you'll have a continental breakfast, and you'll get a set of key cards. Keeping that in mind, let's examine the pros and cons of staying in a hotel during your time in the Rose City.

Pros

Citywide access. Hotels are everywhere, and that can be very convenient. If you're in Portland exclusively to visit family on the fringes of the city, you'll still be able to find a nearby hotel. No matter where you want to be in Portland, you'll have access to a hotel. Budget variance. Hotels vary by price in pretty large margins. No matter what you can afford, you'll probably be able to find a hotel that works with your budget. Extra service people. Hotels typically have people to help with your laundry, people to bring you room service orders, and a concierge available for general requests. You can't order a sandwich to be delivered straight to your bedroom anywhere but a hotel.

Cons

Unreliable advertising. Every hotel, it seems, is eager to advertise their "tranquil oasis" of a pool area. It can be hard to know which pools will actually be excellent and which ones will singe your hair off from over-chlorination. Lack of privacy. Hotels don't offer up the solitude that many people want on vacation. Even fancier hotels will still leave you with people above, below, and on either side of you, leaving you hoping that their kids will stop crying soon. Noise levels. Even if you luck out and there aren't kids running around like crazy, your hotel will still be bustling almost every hour of the night and day. This isn't anyone's fault in particular; it's just what happens when you put a lot of people in one building.

Travel apartments are certainly less well known than hotels. Travel apartments give people the opportunity to have their own private residence while on vacation. In Portland, there are several upscale travel apartments scattered around the city's more popular neighborhoods such as Downtown and the Pearl District. Let's take a look at the pros and cons of travel apartment living.

Pros
Total privacy. Staying in this type of Portland rental lets you live alone. With a travel apartment, you get to act just like you would at home. Plus, you're in Portland, so it's not as if anyone would judge you for weird behaviors even if they did happen to see you through your giant apartment windows.

Amenities and more amenities. The classy travel apartments we just linked to above include a private washer and dryer, a full kitchen, and more little amenities than we can count. That's in addition to a large, naturally lit space for your crew to hang out in.

Prime locations. Whereas hotels try to be everywhere, travel apartments seek to be the best places. Each one of these travel apartments is within walking distance of one or more of Portland's hottest attractions.

Cons

Book in advance. If you're planning on going to Portland tomorrow, there's no guarantee that a travel apartment will be available. Make sure to plan your stay ahead of time. Less exposure to native Portlandians. With privacy comes the downside of not being able to bump into Portland natives and get their wisdom on what you should check out while in the Rose City. Be sure to hit a bar or something similar to make up for this. Specified leave date. You can't stay in a travel apartment indefinitely, no matter how much you don't want to leave once your time's up. Book yourself a long enough stay to satisfy!

There you have it, folks: two of the most popular ways to stay in Portland. Travel apartments are likely to be the classier of the two, but as you can see, there are positives and negatives to both sides of things. Take your time deciding what's right for you; then have fun on your Portland adventure!