Has anyone stayed at the Riverplace Hotel? It looks great and has good reviews. How is the area at night? is it near shopping/restaurants?

I think you will be pleased with 5th Avenue. It just has a nice calming atmosphere to it.

BTW, Riverplace accepts pets as well, just in case anyone is interested.

Hi Selket:

Riverplace is at the far southern end of downtown - it is the only downtown hotel directly adjacent to the Willamette River. Therefore the rooms that face the river have a nice view towards the river and Hawthorne Bridge. I have NOT stayed there before (syrahgirl, I knew you had so thanks for the review...), but have been in the area many times. Occasionally concerts or festivals are held on the sloping lawn near Riverplace; this weekend will be the "Blues for Katrina" concert - when I attend, I'll scope out Riverplace a little closer.

Riverplace's location makes it kinda remote from most of the "core of downtown". The shopping and restaurants found in the Pearl District and around SW Broadway/Pioneer Square area are 10 or more blocks away. The restaurant, Three Degrees, seems nice but has gotten mixed reviews online and in the paper (you can read some at Portland Citysearch). As syrahgirl mentioned, near Riverplace are a few small boutiques, coffee & sandwich shops, and another restaurant Harborside, which is part of the McCormick & Schmick's chain. At the adjacent marina, you can rent a kayak to go out on the river if you want or you can rent a bike to cycle along the waterfront. It's a pleasant little area but not one I consider to be a shopping or dining "destination". It does seem safe and well lit at night though it's not in a heavily trafficked pedestrian area.

If you stay there, you may want to hire a cab or drive a rental car to get around; of course, the waterfront is a nice place to walk, jog, bike, etc. so you can do that too. Or another option is to ride the Streetcar, which stops at Riverplace and will take you (for free) along SW 10th/11th Aves. to and from the Pearl District and further on (for a small fare) to NW 21st/23rd Streets, where many more shops & restaurants can be found.

Write back if you'd like more info...

Have a great trip!

Brian

The Riverplace Hotel is now a Larkspur property. We stayed there for two nights in March. Booked under the POVA websitefor $169/night which included breakfast at Three Degrees and valet parking. We enjoyed our stay and had previously stayed here before they were a Larkspur.



It is located right on the riverfront. We enjoyed our river view room. The Harborside and Newport Bay restaurants are walking distance from the hotel. Very friendly staff, enjoyed the private spa room with jacuzzi and steam room and you also get access to the athletic club about a block away which is wonderful for swimming and weight training.



Others will say it is not in a good location, but really enjoy being down by the water. There are few shops along the riverfront. One year we rode our bikes to the Saturday Market which was really fun.



There is also turndown service and robes. Only minor complaint is that it is more business traveler oriented now that Larkspur has taken over but still very nice. Enjoy Portland!

Of the downtown hotels,we have toured Heathman, Benson,,5th Ave. Suites and Paramount. I really loved the Heathman for it's historic elegance and very nice restaurant there. It's gorgeous inside and the staff was very friendly. This would be my first choice for a downtown hotel.



We also liked the Inn @ Northrup Station, it is located in the Nob Hill(23rd street area) and is close to many cool shops and two of my favorite restaurants, Paley's Place and Wildwood. You can get a room here for about$109/night. (Haven't stayed here but would like to sometime.) :)

From 1510 sw harbor way to 1615 sw 5th is exactly 10 minutes by foot. At least, according to trimet dot org it's ten minutes.

Brian or anyone,



In December we will be visiting St. Mary's Academy 1615 SW 5th Ave,97201

I noticed that the Riverplace Hotel is nearby. Are there any other hotels near the Academy that you would recommend?

we have an appointment one morning at the school and want to be close enough so we wont miss the meeting. We will rent a car, but are there places to park near the school address or would we be better off taking public transportation? help!

what do you recommend going to above address at 9am on a friday?



thanks,

elle

You mean poor reviews of Riverplace?



elle, Obviously, you have read all the good reviews of 5th Ave Suites, so you have an idea of how nice it will be.



We were just there today, took a walk to the Pioneer Place mall, a couple of blocks from the hotel..we walked around Wms Sonoma and had tea at the Red Star, the restaurant downstairs in the hotel.watched a tv commercial being filmed lol...I am sure you will enjoy your stay :)

elle:

Besides Riverplace, the Portland Marriott (1401 SW Naito Pkwy) is in that south downtown area. It seems to get mixed reviews though, so I wouldn't stay there simply because it's near SMA. Other hotels within 5 blocks of SMA are the Paramount Hotel (808 SW Taylor) and Portland Hilton (921 SW 6th).

Frankly, you could stay at ANY downtown hotel and be less than a 5 minute drive to SMA. You'll be surprised at how compact Portland's downtown is & also surprised at how relatively light the traffic will be at 9am any weekday. I think your best bet is to bid for a hotel on Priceline or seek out a good deal at pova.com (the Portland Oregon Visitor's Assoc. website - they run hotel specials during the winter "off-season" months).

As for parking, there is ample metered street parking in the area for $1.25/hr or there is hourly or all-day surface parking on an adjacent block. In any case, you should have no trouble finding a place for your car...

If you really REALLY want to take public transit, 5th Ave. is the southbound avenue of the transit mall. If you stayed at a hotel near 5th (5th Avenue Suites, for instance...) you could hop a bus and practically be dropped at the SMA front door in 5 minutes.

Hope that helps,

Brian

Even if the Riverplace Hotel were not so far from everything, requiring a cab ride back at night (homeless etc make walking there from downtown a possibly uncomfortable experience) ..there are 3 high rise buildings being built, very close. Very noisy and a bit of an unattractive view. We looked it over not long ago and it just looks like a nice hotel.

It is also near one of the worst McCormick and Schmicks we have ever been too lol..



We always stay at the 5th Avenue Suites, get a beautiful suite for the price of a room elsewhere and you are right downtown, walking/streetcar ride from everything.



I really don't like the location of the Benson but the Heathman is also nice, and right in the middle of downtown, shopping and museums, and concert halls and movies..as is the 5th Ave Suites.



the sister hotel of the 5th Ave Suites ( a Kimpton hotel) is the Hotel Vintage..with a good restaurant called Pazzo. Next door to the Hotel Lucia and downstairs is the Thai restaurant Typhoon.



Lots of good places to choose from, I would never stay down on the river when I want to be in town all day anyway-but that might just be me :)