My, you’re coming a long way! We totally appreciate that. To help you out, we’ve got a handful of hotel recommendations, and a list of awesome stuff to do/eat/see.
THIS IS PORTLAND!
HOTELS:
Category One: Downtown Luxury
- Hotel Deluxe : super beautiful art deco hotel that makes you feel like you’re in old Hollywood. Great bar, and the upper floors have a fantastic view of the city. Downtown. 729 SW 15th Avenue | Portland, Oregon 97205. 866.986.8085.
- The Nines: another great retro styled hotel with an excellent bar. This one’s in the old Meier & Frank building just off Pioneer Courthouse Square. Downtown. 525 SW Morrison · Portland, Oregon 97204. 1-800-325-3589.
Category Two: Quirky and Cool
- The Jupiter Hotel: young, hip and modern. Converted from an old motel. The fabulous Doug Fir Lounge is on site and has great brekkies and late night snacks. Close in East Side. 800 E Burnside Portland, Oregon 97214. 877.800.0004
- Kennedy School: great art and vibe. A McMenamins Hotel. They’ve converted an old elementary school that houses inn-style (read: shared bathrooms) accommodations, a handful of bars and a huge dining hall. Alberta Arts District. 5736 N.E. 33rd Ave. Portland, OR 97211. (888) 249-3983
- The Crystal Hotel: Another McMenamins Hotel with the same style of accommodations – though this one has king rooms with private baths. This is the newest in their empire. We’ll be staying there ourselves on the 5th – maybe we can meet for brekkies? Downtown. 303 S.W. 12th Ave. Portland, OR 97205. (855) 205-3930
Category 3: No frills and super close!
- Portland Hostel. The hostel is across the street from our house and about 6 blocks from the venue. $55 gets you a private, double occupancy room or $27 gets you a dorm bed. Only two private rooms, so I’d book now!
TRANSPORTATION:
Car rentals:
- Enterprise, Dollar, Avis, Hertz, Budget, and Thrifty all have lots at Portland International Airport.
Public Transportation:
- First – public transportation is super easy to use in Portland! I recommend going this route as A) it’s super easy (did I say that?) and B) parking at the wedding venue is going to be unpleasant.
- Tri-Met runs the buses, MAX light rail and Streetcar. Most lines run every 15 minutes during peak hours and have service until midnight or later.
- The MAX Red Line runs straight from the Airport to Downtown.
- The #14 Bus runs from Downtown to Hawthorne. If you’re coming on the bus to the wedding (please do!), you can get off the bus at 37th and Hawthorne. The venue is the first house on the left on 37th, heading north from Hawthorne.
- Taxis: Radio Cab Portland (503.227.1212) and Broadway Cab (503.227.1234) have the two largest fleets in the city. A cab would be a great way to get to and from the wedding!
FOODS:
Grilled Cheese Grill: the yummz bus
- First a note: this is not a definitive “best of” - just a list of a few places we like.
- Food carts: There are pods – groups of carts – all over downtown and close-in East Side. Eat at any of them; we’ve yet to have a bad cart experience. Most have covered seating areas. Favorites: Cartopia at SE 12th (Poutine at Potato Champion and a Whiffie Pie are a great late night snack) and Hawthorne and Good Food Here (Eurotrash makes the best eggs and Creme de la Creme has Escargot – and the Greek place is excellent and cheap). Grilled Cheese Grill – 7th and Alberta – the Grilled Cheesus, OMG!
- Brasserie Montmartre. Great French food – hello Duck Fat Frites! Downtown. Good Happy Hour deals.
- Gold Dust Meridian. Excellent drinks and tastly bar food. Full menu late night. Hawthorne District.
- Hoda’s Middle Eastern Cuisine. On NE Fremont and SE Belmont. Preston’s newest favorite restaurant, and Tarehna’s favorite hummus.
- Detour Cafe. on SE Division. Massive frittatas. A truly delicious breakfast in the land of delicious breakfasts.
- Voodoo Doughnuts. You need one. Downtown and SE Davis and Sandy.
STUFF TO DO AND SEE
- Portland Farmer’s Market. Downtown in the South Park Blocks. The market will be in full swing Saturday morning. You can grab breakfast or something yummy for the potluck.
- Portland Saturday Market. Arts. Crafts. Elephant ears. Downtown under the Burnside Bridge.
- Columbia River Gorge. Weather permitting, and if you have a car at your disposal, it’s worth it to drive down I84 East and see the waterfalls. If hiking’s your thing, there are trails of many lengths and difficulty levels along the way.
- Shopping. If shopping – window or otherwise – is more your speed, there are a couple of great parts of town for this, too. Hawthorne has import shops, boutiques, shoes, and some great vintage places for furniture and clothes. Pioneer Place downtown is a decent mall, and Alberta Street has funky shops and galleries.
