Benson Hotel

Beautiful Place but Poorly Run

The last time we were in Portland, we stayed several nights here at the Benson, one of Portland's most famous old hotels. However, our stay was quite mixed.

On the plus side, it is a beautiful, historic old building. It has a beautiful, grand lobby and general ambience, beautiful staircase, mezzanine, etc., it has nicely made doors with the logo inlaid in wood, generally very nicely made rooms, etc. It also has some nice views and it's a perfect location for exploring downtown, old town, Pearl district, being right in the heart, between Pioneer Courthouse Sq and the Pearl and near Old Town and Skidmore. There is a parking garage across the street as well.

However, the place is not well-run at all. Aside from the doormen, who seem quite helpful, the service is spotty and inefficient, the maid/room cleaning is very, very bad with poor attention to ensuring the linens, towels, floor, and room in general were cleaned. The maid service in particular seems truly abysmal, just about the worst I have ever experienced and I shall not go into details. The hallways are full of huge boxes of pillows, etc., making the place look like a warehouse. This gives a very negative feeling. They give the impression of either not knowing at all how to run a hotel, or simply not caring and there is an vague air of neglect about the place once you go above the lobby/mezzanine area. The worst thing, though is the horrid room-keeping/maid service.

Thankfully, and an important plus side, is that we did not pay very much for the place, I think due to the timing of our stay. The rate was actually quite low. We ha a 4-person room for just over $100.

Ultimately, I am on the cusp here. For how well run and cleaned the place was, I would give 1 star, but its beauty and location, etc., should be worthy of 4 stars at least. I am giving it 2, but it is closer to 2.5. I just can't say that I was truly satisfied and I was certainly "somewhat" dissatisfied, but its good qualities are very fundamental and the building is in decent shape. It's not run-down in the sense of peeling paint or anything, and it had good beds, etc. It is simply that the maid/cleaning/general management needs to change and make sure everything is run professionally and smoothly and in a way that gives the impression that they care about having you there.

It occurs to me now that I should have taken a picture of the hallways full of boxes but at the time I didn't think of it and I took a picture of the one stretch of empty, box-free hallway that I saw, so I could have a good picture of the hall. Just be aware that this is not an accurate representation of what the halls actually look like when full of boxes. I have, since returning home, read that other people had the same problem with the boxes.

Unique Quality: Great, unique qualities are that it is a beautiful, historic place in a great location. Those are the only things that save it.

• Opinion of Price: less expensive than average
• Written October 24, 2010

Benson Hotel

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