Two Rip City Hotels

We took a trip to Oregon this weekend to take in some basketball: Portland Trail Blazers v Brooklyn Nets and the US Women’s team v the University of Oregon Ducks in Eugene. The trip involved a stay at two different hotels in downtown Portland: The Hoxton and Woodlark.

The thing is, we would have spent two nights at the Woodlark. We had initially only planned to see the US Women’s game on Saturday night, but then tacked on another night in Oregon when we learned the Blazers were playing at home that Friday night. But when we called the Woodlark to add on Friday night, the rate they gave us for Friday night was 50 percent higher, so we went shopping for something better.

Like the Blazers and the US Women, it was their loss.

How did the two hotels compare? Both are worth checking out, but both have their user design flaws.

The Hoxton and Woodlark had similar rates (well, at least for the nights we booked), both had super friendly staff, and they both have comfortable lobby spaces for hanging out/working that have good coffee counters. The lobby bar at the Hoxton (Lovely Rita) is more welcoming (including our VERY charming server) than the bar at the Woodlark (Abigail Hall). The hotels are relatively close to each other, although the Woodlark feels more like it’s in the middle of things.

It’s good that both have good coffee counters downstairs, because the Woodlark doesn’t have coffee in the room and the Hoxton skimps by providing a coffee bag that just doesn’t make a proper cup of joe. The hotel provides a kettle in the room — which is excellent — so I wish they’d take the plunge (pun intended) and supply a small bag of grounds and a French press.

Both hotels have free and easy to access wi-fi and super (seriously) comfortable beds (although I think the Hoxton could cut back on the number of throw pillows on theirs). The Woodlark has robes (broadcloth, not terry) and the Hoxton does not, which seems chintzy, along with the lack of lotion in the room. (The Hampton Inn provides lotion. Your standard should not be lower than the Hampton Inn.)

The Hoxton has a pay in advance policy, which seems to be consistent across their properties. They upgraded my room at check-in because I had requested a quiet room and they room they gave me was close to the roof bar (thump, thump goes the bass), but I thought it was lame that they charged me for the upgrade (twenty bucks) when they had failed to get me a room that aligned with my request. (A happy customer is worth more than twenty dollars.) This, of course, was not as lame as the Woodlark failing to get me to book that second night by giving me a better rate, but they likely thought they had me because I was already booked for one night. (Nope.)

The Woodlark has a pretty standard mini-bar and, from what I have heard, a good restaurant (we didn’t try it). The Hoxton does not have a mini-bar, but does stock your fridge with real milk for your coffee/tea and a couple of cartons of water. They also have a shop at the front desk that sells beer for “grocery store prices.” AND, they make a super big deal about delivering you a free breakfast in a bag that inevitably ends in disappointment when you receive an orange juice, granola bar and apple. Cut back on the front desk spiel and just put those things in the room.

Walking into my room at the Woodlark offered more of a “wow” than the Hoxton. And don’t pay for a room with a view at the latter unless you’re a big fan of gas stations, rooftop heating vents, and parking garages. The Woodlark rooms (I stayed in a Vaulted King) are gorgeous, but the bag of ear plugs make it clear that they aren’t going to be quiet — and they are not. The room doors are heavy and SLAM. When the folks in the room next door come home at 3 am, you hear it.

We had a couple of good breakfasts — at Fuller’s Coffee Shop and Hunnymilk — and we picked up some good Oregon wine at World Foods while waiting for seats at Fuller’s counter top. The former is a five minute walk from the Hoxton and the latter is a 15 minute walk from Woodlark.

My Stay: November 8, 2019 (The Hoxton); November 9, 2019 (Woodlark)