With my BFF in town, I wanted to book a fun hotel downtown where we could stay close to everything and have some nice perks. I have stayed at the Hilton Downtown Portland before and had been amazingly surprised at the service that we received. It was clean, remodeled, and is also a big conference center. When I searched the hotel for rooms it offered me a special to stay at the Duniway, across the street from the Hilton. It is a boutique hotel with a rooftop patio (called Abigail’s Hideaway) on the eleventh floor with a small gym and indoor pool. When I looked at the photos of the luxe beds and swanky bar, I jumped on it.
We checked into the hotel and were put into a room on the 19th floor with a peek-a-boo view of Willamette River and Pioneer Square. The rooms are very modern and comfortable. The bathroom mirror is beautiful and lit well for make-up application, it had a single sink and no drawyers, but it did have a small shelf. The shower and bathroom were small but adequate. The bath towels and robes are wonderful! They could do more to think of women staying at the hotel. For it being named after an Oregon trailblazer, Abigail Duniway, the should have more mirrors and storage. Besides that, I loved this hotel!
I was so happy with the Nespresso-type coffee maker and mini fridge. If you are a Hilton Honors member (free to join) you get the first free bottle of water and wifi. I went up to the 11th floor where the mini-gym is and refilled my water with their filtered water at the gym. Pro tip: The hotel gyms typically have free filtered water for gym users, if you are in a city with poor water quality, use that for your water!
The restaurant, Jack Rabbit, is definitely high-end, we didn’t eat dinner there but did enjoy the breakfast! The valet, concierge and lobby staff are super friendly and accommodating.
We ended up Lyfting to NW 23rd to shop at Sloan, Francesca’s, Keihls and Halo Shoes and walked down to Piazza Italia for dinner. After standing in line for ice cream at Salt & Straw we hit the easy button and grabbed a Lyft again back to the Duniway where our bathrobes and rooftop heaters were waiting for us. We enjoyed the sunset reflecting off of the building as we drank wine and watched people play corn hole.
I loved this hotel and look forward to another fun weekend here! If you can afford a nicer price tag, the Riverplace Hotel is where it’s at for river views, amenities and service. The Duniway is a nice option for you otherwise. I’m hoping someday in the near future I can write about my adventures at Riverplace! For now, I just stop by and sip wine with good friends like I did while Shannon was here and rocked in the river view rocking chairs.
