Wanderlust: Portland's Hip Hotels

I'm sort of obsessed with Portland, Oregon. (Well, as obsessed as one can be with a place that one has never actually set foot in -- which, in my case, is fairly obsessed.)

In fact, I'm so fixated on Portland that I threatened to move the whole family there, sight unseen, a couple of years ago. Saner heads (that would be the kids') ultimately prevailed, but I'm still holding out the option.

I don't know what it is about the place, but -- at least from afar -- it seems to possess some sort of magical combo of big-city sophistication, small-town homeyness, great food, natural beauty, arty funk, homegrown music, old-time charm, and affordable (at least by Bay Area standards) housing. On the more sweltering days here in the balmy East Bay, even Portland's purportedly endless drizzle seems romantic. And it doesn't hurt that a recent article about the city was entitled "Weird, and Proud of It." That's my kind of town.

Though we're not packing up the U-Haul just yet, I'm absolutely dying to check out Portland in person. It's definitely the locale of our next big family vacation -- most likely over the Thanksgiving or winter break. I have a file folder growing ever-thicker with articles about the rejuvenated industrial Pearl District, Hawthorne, and other cozy-yet-cosmopolitan neighborhoods to explore; tearsheets with ads for all the great stores I want to hit; and reviews of Portland's foodie favorites and increasingly hip hotel choices (like the white-hot Ace, above).

When we travel, we usually sublet somebody's apartment for a week or so (though I'm keen to try house-swapping, too) rather than stay in hotels. Not only is it cheaper, but we get a lot more space, have the option of eating in rather than springing for restaurant meals three times a day, and can pretend that we're locals while we're in town. But these digs look so tempting that we may just suck it up and book a room.

Here's a peek at my shortlist of Portland lodgings:

The Ace Hotel
Housed in a 1912 building near the Pearl (and a block from Portland's legendary Powells Books), the Ace features funky vintage furnishings and Army surplus-chic decor, art-centric spaces (each room has an original mural), a fleet of rental bikes, record players in some rooms, a photo booth in the lobby, and an on-site coffeehouse. It's the sort of place where you might find a dot-com millionaire, a starving art student, or a touring band bunking for the night. Rates range from $95 to $250. Check out the Ace Hotel here.

Hotel deLuxe
Though it doesn't exactly jibe with Portland's damp-and-funky aesthetic, this lavish downtown Deco gem channels an old Hollywood glamour that's hard to resist. Rooms come with iPod docks, flatscreen TVs, and a "pillow menu." There's also room service and daycare for your dog, a swanky screening room that unspools classic films and new releases, a Noirish cocktail lounge, and an elegant eatery. Sounds de-Lovely. Rates range from $159 to $329. Check out the Hotel deLuxe here.

Hotel Lucia
Understated luxury and hushed tranquility ooze from this art- and photography-themed downtown hotel, which features the work of Pulitzer Prize winner (and PDX native) David Hume Kennerly. Part modern art gallery and part upscale hideaway, the Lucia boasts stellar service (press the "get it now" button in your guest room and a staff member will materialize almost instantly to grant your wish) and a contemporary Asian-fusion vibe. Rates range from $149 to $259. Check out Hotel Lucia here.

Hotel Monaco
Decorated in high Anglo-Chinois style by Cheryl Rowley, this glammed-up Pioneer Square dowager boasts an enviable private art collection to complement the dramatic decor. There's a "curator on call" to squire guests to the Portland Art Museum and local galleries. Pets are welcome, too -- and the hotel's canine "pet concierge," Art, can even arrange (presumably with a little help from his human handlers) visits from a pet masseur or pet psychic. Rates range from $160 to $245. Check out the Hotel Monaco here.

Jupiter Hotel
A hipster's haven with a techno beat, this mod motel is located in Portland's uber-trendy "LoBu" neighborhood. Highlights include chalkboard doors, retro-modern furnishings, an adjoining club called Doug Fir, and a rave-party vibe that keeps pumpin' until 4 a.m. When supermodels, European club kids, and rock stars have stopovers in Portland, I suspect that this is where you'll find them. Rates range from $99 to $119. Check out the Jupiter Hotel here.

McMenamins Kennedy School
A converted 1915 schoolhouse in Northeast Portland, the Kennedy puts up guests in classrooms complete with original chalkboards, feeds them in the wood-paneled cafeteria, and lubricates them in the Honors Bar, Detention Bar, or two other watering holes. An attached brewery, a soaking pool on the site of the former teachers' lounge, and a pizza parlour-cum-movie theater in the school's auditorium make this a fun and laid-back choice. In fact, I think it's my favorite of the bunch, since it most closely captures the friendly, funky, down-to-earth Portland I have in my mind's eye. Rates range from $99 to $125. Check out McMenamins Kennedy School here.

I can practically smell the rain and the microbrew now ...

(Any Portlanders out there with other tips for lodging -- or suggestions for shopping, eating, seeing? If so, please share 'em!)

P.S. I finally went! Click here, here, and here for more info on Portland lodging and shopping.

Wanderlust: Portland Bound (Again!)

Photo by bornsleepy

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know how much I love Portland, Oregon. Now I'm making good on my promise to drag the rest of the family up there for a look-see.

Later this month, we'll be spending a week in my beloved PDX. We're doing a house-swap with a lovely family, who'll be camping out at our Bay Area casa while we stay in their beautiful home in Portland's Laurelhurst area. (That's it, below -- score! And they have a corgi of their own, so I think the swap was truly meant to be. Gotta love craigslist.)

That means the lodgings are taken care of, and I think I have the Stumptown shopping and art scenes pretty well scoped out. But if there are any Portlanders (or Portland lovers) reading, I need your advice on a few other things:

* We'll be driving up, and splitting the journey into two legs. Any recommendations for a good place to stay for the night in southern Oregon -- or any other quick pit-stops between the Bay Area and Portland that we should plan for the trip? (I've heard that Corvallis is a great little town, for instance. Worth a visit? And should we plan any time in Eugene or Salem?)

* My agenda is basically: Shop, eat, art galleries, repeat. But I have a feeling the kids may want to do some things they consider fun -- which, believe it or not, doesn't necessarily involve being dragged to every thrift shop and art opening in town. Any ideas for things to do or places to go in Portland that will meet the approval of a 13-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl? (E.g., Swimming, fairs and festivals, skate parks, waterslides, and so on.)

* We're bringing our dog. Are there off-leash dog parks in Portland proper, or other good places for long walks?

* Which restaurants (and pubs, if kids are allowed on the premises) should we not miss?

* Other things worth a visit: Flea markets, museums, performing arts centers, events (we'll be there from June 17th to the 25th), etc.?

* Any good daytrips around Portland that you'd recommend? We're not a particularly outdoorsy kind of family (we prefer what we call "urban hiking"), but a day at the beach or a nearby lake would be fun. And I love to explore small towns with good antiquing ...

Thanks in advance for any tips you can share!

Wanderlust: Arty Portland

I think there must be something in Portland's water. What other explanation could there possibly be for the fact that so many artists whose work I really like happen to live there? Just off the top of my head, there's Amy Ruppel, Jill Bliss, Evan Harris, Hadley Hutton, Trish Grantham, Heather Amuny-Dey, Joe Futschik ...

Needless to say, experiencing a bit of Portland's hopping homegrown art scene was high on my agenda during my most recent visit. But -- aaack! -- there was so much to see, and relatively little free time in which to do it. Still, in addition to checking out some of the amazing murals at the Ace Hotel (blogged here), I did manage to swing by a few art spaces during my whirlwind jaunt through the city.

I arrived in town just in time for the Pearl District's monthly First Thursday Gallery Walk. Much of the art showing in the galleries I hit that evening wasn't exactly to my taste -- it was pretty polished and very high-end, with a few pieces costing more than the down payment for our house. But I was intrigued by some of the work from artists such as Susan Seubert and Mia Nolting, up through the end of March at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, above.

Over on edgier East Burnside a couple of days later, I popped in to Grass Hut to check out the Balls Out! show. The exhibit features contributions by more than 50 artists (many of them local), and I was blown away by the awesomeness on display. Some of the work is reasonably affordable, too, starting at $80 (though a few pieces are priced at more than $1,000).

Pieces by Dave the Chimp, Apak, Jill Bliss, Oliver Hibert, and Jeff Soto, among others.

Paintings and collage by Chris Ryniak, Lisa DeJohn, Colin Johnson, and others.

Tough Case #4, by Meredith Hamm.

Work by Arbito, Maija Fiebig, Bwana Spoons, Cupco, Kristin Cammermeyer, and others.

Balls Out! will be up in the Grass Hut Gallery through March 31. Available work from the show can be purchased here.

Two doors down from Grass Hut is Redux, a little shop where Portland native (and San Francisco transplant) Lisa Congdon was showing a collection of collage work called Little Souvenirs. (By pure chance, I actually saw Ms. Congdon at the Portland airport the afternoon I flew in, and went over to say hello. I'm pretty sure she thought I was a stalker. Anyway -- Lisa, fabulous as you are, I promise I don't like you in that way.)

Little Souvenirs will be up at Redux through the end of March.

This painting by Rachel Ann Austin (whose work I also saw at Portland's Crafty Wonderland) was on display at Flutter, in North Portland's charming Mississippi area.

A large fiber collage made from recycled sweaters by Portland's Woolie Originals (aka Jenna Robertson), at downtown's Flora boutique.

And -- arrrgh!!! -- here are three shows I wish I'd known about while I was still in town: Locks of Lore, a collaboration between artists Evan B. Harris (who I am stalking) and his girlfriend Sarah Jane, at the Grassy Knoll Gallery in Old Town Portland. It'll be up through May, and works from the show are available for purchase in the Grassy Knoll online shop. Prices start at $195.

At the Together Gallery, in the upstart Alberta Arts District, Ryan Jacob Smith and Mark Warren Jacques' Influence of Matter will be open through the end of March. Check it out here. Prices for original works start at just $50.

And at Compound Gallery in northwest Portland, Alice: Art from the Rabbit Hole features Alice in Wonderland-inspired work by more than three dozen cutting-edge artists, including Ina Takayuki, below left, and Yagi Tomoko, below right. The show will be up through March 30, and prices start at $30.

On the art agenda for my next visit to PDX: First Friday in the hipster/industrial LoBu neighborhood just across the Willamette from downtown, and Last Thursday in Alberta Arts. I hear that -- unlike the established (and often super-pricey) galleries in the Pearl -- these are the places to catch one of Portland's many rising art stars.