The Benson Hotel

I was very pleased with their friendly and accommodating service. I love the classy vintage atmosphere.

This place oozes history so you will feel like you have gone back in time as one of the elite society members who could afford to eat here.
We sampled most of the breakfast menu and loved the food — especially the bacon and syrup.
Sadly the coffee tastes like it was formally paint brush cleaning water.
Not cheap but worth the experience at breakfast when it’s most affordable

this hotel is not what it used to be. the main entrance to the hotel still looks grand. but after that it’s all downhill.
the rooms are so outdated and pathetic. especially when you’re paying premium prices.
this place needs to be closed down and have a complete revamp done inside out. service here is really poor. it’s unfortunate that you have to say these things but its the truth.
there are many other hotels within the same strip area right off of stark and Broadway. that do excellent jobs. ie. the hotel Lucia, the nines, and the Heathman hotel.
it’s a shame that this hotel has gone to complete ruin and should be put up for sale to someone who can take care of the major problems in this establishment.
I hope the day comes this happens but until then stay away from this place.
on the whole Portland has some of the nicest hotels around and they are at a reasonable cost.

The benson is a nice hotel when you walk in, but the furniture is a bit dated. Hotel staff was very nice upon check in and throughout our stay. We stayed in a standard room with a queen size bed. I must say, the bed in our particular room was solid. There was no give, so if you enjoy a firm mattress this is straight up your alley, if not you may want to look elsewhere. The shower had low water pressure and room service simply came in made the bed and exchanged towels. They did not clean our shower and maybe they wiped down the sink. Our room was never cleaned up so any cups or napkins we forgot to put into the garbage was there when we returned. I know this is huge for some people and not for others. I’m use to a full cleaning.
The hotel is in walking distance to just about any place and if you don’t want to walk the commuter rail is very close by. It saved us money on renting a car as parking is $ 30 a day where they have to literally run to get your car from a near by parking garage.
The hotel bar staff was very friendly and was able to make food recommendations.

I found a new favorite hotel in Portland. Nicely located and clean. Beds are comfortable and the bar is busy.

I have stayed in several Coast properties, mostly in Canada. I have stayed at the Benson Hotel prior to it being a Coast Property, so I decided to stay at the Benson on 9÷30÷14 while on a Pacific Northwest road trip. I found several problems that diminished my enjoyment of this stay at the Benson. As you know the Benson is a very pretty property and you pay a pretty penny to stay there. In fact it is the most expensive hotel I will stay in during my 2 week vacation.
It all started with the check-​in. The receptionist told me the rate for the night and it seemed higher than I had recalled so I said I would sign-​in and then check my records which I had left in the car. I said that if I found a discrepancy I would let them know and we could adjust things later. This seemed to offend her and she had a disapproving attitude from then on. I don’t why she seemed to take it personally but my approach seemed prudent and reasonable so I just tried to steer clear of her after that point, but why make it uncomfortable for your patrons?
Later I asked the concierge for advice about restaurants and he generously suggested 4 for me to choose from. I picked one and he gave me walking directions. Unfortunately the directions were slightly off and I got lost. He assured me that the restaurant was 4 blocks down, right on the corner, but the entrance was actually around the corner and in the middle of the block. Sometimes small differences like this don’t matter to a local but they do to a tourist who is unfamiliar with the area, and I am a female senior citizen who was on my own and a small difference like this made a big difference to me.
The next morning I had purchased the pre-​paid breakfast. I told the server that I liked the eggs and sausage cooked through (i.e. scrambled dry and well-​done). The only thing that came well-​done was the toast! The sausage was barely cooked and the eggs were runny. Unfortunately the waitress never came back to check on me and I sat there at least 45 minutes. I ate the eggs and toast but never touched the sausage. I would have swapped it for bacon, but never had the chance. So I thought I’d have her pack it up and I’d give it to a homeless person, but she never even came back for me to be able to tell her that. It was terrible service. I watched her during my breakfast (at 9AM) setting up for the lunch service, but she could have easily also attended to her tables, there were only 3 tables at that time. There was even another table that finally had to go and get her to get their check, it was ridiculous.
And on a side note. While I sat there, another waiter, a middle-​aged Chinese man regaled a table of 4 white older adults with racist Chinese jokes. And although the jokes were about him and his family, he was standing in a small dining room and saying them in a loud voice so you couldn’t avoid hearing them, it was very uncomfortable.

We stayed two nights at the benson hotel while we were in Portland. The hotel was clean and had classy look to it. Staffs were friendly. We liked oir stay at this hotel since it was in the middle of downtown and convenient for us to walk almost everywhere or take public transportation.

The Benson is a classic hotel; built in 1913 it has the kind of style that you don’t see in buildings anymore. The staff was excellent all the way through, starting with the valet. Registration was quick and easy. Each staff member I encountered (there were two between registration and my room) asked if they could be of service and inquired if I needed to know anything about Portland or where to grab a bite. I like that kind of service, and if I didn’t already have my evening planned out I would have taken them up on their offer. The room was smaller than your average hotel room today, but that didn’t bother me a bit. The Benson still does things that have gone by the wayside in most hotels, like offering turndown service (complete with mints on the pillows) and uniformed bellhops and concierge staff. The Benson is in a great location in downtown Portland and is within easy walking distance of most of the downtown attractions and great restaurants. All in all the Benson is a great place to stay.

This is fairly swanky hotel in downtown Portland. It’s in a central location that puts its’ guests within walking distance of both the Pioneer and Pear districts. We wouldn’t have been able to afford such a place normally, but Priceline totally hooked us up.
So, I’m sure you’re asking yourself if it’s such a great hotel, why only 3 stars? Three reasons:
1. While there is no smoking in the building and employees are required to smoke in an alley well away from guests, the smoking area for guests is right out front. I was unaware that so many smokers were still around, but they are– right in front of the Benson. Forcing everyone to muscle through their cancer cloud (including my 16 month old) just to get indoors. Moreover, when anyone uses the regular door (as opposed to the revolving one) all that cigarette smoke is sucked right into the lobby. It’s gross, and if you want to consider yourself a destination hotel for Portland this has got to change.
2. One afternoon just before returning to the hotel we had stopped for lunch and I still had my «to-​go» soda cup with me. It was running low, and I was still thirsty so I stopped by the bar on my way back to the room. I asked to bartender if he could help me out with a refill. I was hoping for some sort of deal, but was fully prepared to whatever the normal price was. To begin with the bar was empty, yet the bartender took his sweet time before even acknowledging my existence. Then when I presented my request his reaction was akin to someone requesting he spit in their face. Then he charged me $ 3. All he had to do was point the soda gun in my cup and he charged me $ 3. But I paid him without argument, I figured maybe he had a strict boss and after all this is how bars in hotels turn a profit. So I was fine paying the $ 3 dollars. What I wasn’t fine with was when I saw him put the $ 3 in his pocket instead of in the cash register.
3. While the hotel boasts «free wi-​fi» in this case you get what you pay for. The thick walls blocked my 3G signal and the wi-​fi was so slow it was quicker for me to walk outside.
So the hotel itself is pretty good if you can get a deal from an online travel site, but the bar employs jerks and thieves.