Portland: The Ace Hotel

The major reason we went to Portland was because of the TV show Portlandia. A few friends had moved there and everyone kept talking about how great Portland was and the show really made the city look great so we went and whenever anyone asked why we were visiting Portland it was "because we've never been" and not "because we saw Portlandia." 

First things first was where we stayed which was the most recommended hotel and one that the show Portlandia had actually kinda referenced. The Ace Hotel. This post will be long because the hotel was a kinda three in one, you'll see.

I have now become a yuppie traveler in that I don't care if I'm spending dough on my hotel especially if I'm not gonna be in the town for too long and if it's centrally located which the Ace Hotel was. I mean, I knew Powell's Books was close by but I had no idea I'd be able to see its entrance from our room. 

Like I'd posted earlier upon check-in we were upgraded to a superior deluxe front which was 500 square feet and beautiful. 

Record players in every room.

Closet #1 of 2 complete with bathrobes. 

Sectional seating area with wood coffee table and succulent friend.

Closet #2 with temperature controlled wine fridge.

The bathroom was pretty ridiculous and I took advantage of that claw foot tub every night.

We did learn however that claw foot tubs, while very beautiful, super impractical. Who cares though right?

Our room had full sized MALIN+GOETZ bath products which I luckily knew before hand so I didn't bother packing shampoo, conditioner, or body wash. 

The bed was the coziest hotel bed I'd ever slept on. The mattress was super firm and the bedding was soft and comfy and king sized. Unfortunately while all of this sounded super fantastic for sleeping, the room had two windows and one of them was only a roller shade so around 5am when the sun would rise, so would I. 

I'd try to get back to sleep and sleep a few more hours but inevitably I would wake up, slap on my bright pants and Apple hoodie and walk downstairs to Stumptown Coffee, which was IN THE LOBBY OF THE HOTEL. How can I explain the wonder of walking downstairs to not only the greatest smelling and tasting coffee but also the fact that the store is IN THE LOBBY OF THE HOTEL?! 

So check that off the list, I had a Stumptown latte every morning, seated by the window by myself, reading Sunset magazine off my iPad watching hippies and hipsters walk by.

I already wrote about Junior's cocktails but what do you know, Clyde Common also served food. Expensive food. It was pretty good but not worth the price of admission.

My first Junior cocktail, the Strega Sour. Holy crap.

Truffle popcorn. My side had grana cheese on it which helped with the overload of salt. Since being home I've made popcorn with truffle oil and mine was better. 

Matt could only have veggies off the menu, I thought vegans were welcome in Portland?

My ravioli was pretty good and the broth was just right.

The cool thing about Clyde Common was that it's the house room service so I had a cocktail sent up one lazy night while Matt and I watched what else but Portlandia on the iPad (my boss loaned it to us and it was so helpful, I'd only use it in our hotel room but it made for easier email reading and the hotel had free wifi which was a major plus for the Ace, I think secretly Matt's sold on the iPad but still acts like it's a big waste of money).

On the other side of the Ace was a well known deli but I never tried it since we were running late our last day there and didn't have time for breakfast. Ah well, next time. 

If I ever find myself in the magical land of Portland again, I would for sure stay at the Ace 'cause it was baller big time and the location cannot be beat. Just bring a thick eye mask.