Residence Inn Portland Airport at Cascade Station

One of Several Hotels near Portland Airport

I have not stayed at this hotel. In fact, I have not stayed at any of the hotels by the Portland airport.

Here is the problem: While this and all the other hotels at the Portland airport are convenient to the airport, they are not that convenient to get to for much else. While the Cascade Station area has been built up as a shopping area in recent years, including an Ikea, a Best Buy, and a few other national chain stores, if you are coming to Portland as a tourist this probably isn't what you came here to see.

There is a rail transit line that connects this area with downtown Portland, and the trains run reasonably frequently. This is the airport MAX line. The station is located somewhat south of the hotel and reasonably close, so if you want access to the MAX rail transit lines this is a better hotel than many of the other ones that are located at the Portland airport - some of which are very far from any sort of public transit line. Indeed, the photograph you see here was taken from one of the MAX trains while it was stopped at the station.

The fare to get to downtown Portland from here is $2.30 (and increasing a little bit in a few months time), the full three-zone fare, and takes about 1/2 an hour.

However, if you want to be convenient to all the tourist activities, I highly suggest looking at one of the hotels closer to downtown. The hotels near the Lloyd Center and the Oregon Convention Center (and there are quite a number of them, all along Multnomah Blvd. - check Google Maps which shows hotels when zoomed in to that part of town) are closer to downtown, take only 10-15 minutes to get to the core of downtown, and are served by multiple rail transit routes operating connecting the hotels to a far larger area with only a single seat ride. The MAX line along Multnomah Blvd in that area is free of charge to use to get to downtown Portland under the current scheme.

One of those rail transit lines that goes right by those hotels by the Lloyd Center is the Red Line to the airport, so that if you do want a convenient connection to come and go from the city, it is right there.

An added bonus: the rail transit routes from the Lloyd Center west into downtown are free of charge, so you don't have to worry if you need to go back to your hotel room for something, or otherwise need to make frequent return visits to your hotel: you don't have to pay to travel there.

Any of the hotels at the airport are quite close to Interstate 205, and from there Interstate 84 going east, or other destinations. If you need a quick stay near the airport overnight before getting your rental car and hitting the road, thus avoiding one day of rental car charges, I can understand wanting to stay close to the airport, such as in a hotel like this. However, for long term stays and hitting tourist attractions in the Portland area, I really think the average visitor will be better off closer to downtown Portland.

However, the relative convenience of the rail transit route to downtown from this hotel does give it a slight edge over the several other hotels near the airport.

Unique Quality: Close to the airport and airport MAX line, but not very convenient to downtown Portland.

• Opinion of Price: N/A
• Related to: Business Travel

Residence Inn Portland Airport at Cascade Station Photo: Marriott at the Airport and its MAX train station

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