Sunday, April 1, 2012

Springhill Suites by Marriott at Portland Airport

Exterior
 
 
Location: 7/10
 
The hotel is located approximately a mile from the Portland Airport and is a straight shot right down Airport Blvd. if your driving fast you are going to miss it, so keep your eyes open!! There are multiple areas to eat in the immediate area, however if you prefer more the chain style restaurants there is an area towards the airport called Cascade Station. This is where I ate most of the time, it is relatively new shopping area that is very clean and easy to access. There are many places to eat such as Panda Express, Buffalo Wild Wings, Famous Dave's (awesome BBQ!!!) and many others. 
 
Service: 8/10
The service at this hotel was fine and I had zero issues. The room was always cleaned well and breakfast in the morning was always ready. Speaking of the breakfast, the hotel provides a nice selection of breakfast items, from cereals, coffees, juices, fresh waffles, etc. All of the Fairfield/Springhill hotels that I have been at have done a great job with providing a good breakfast for the price you pay.
 
Facilities: 7/10
 
The facilities onsite are very clean, organized and seem well maintained. The swimming pool and hot tub area are very nice and were always working. The gym is nice, although small, was always clean and smelled fresh and well taken care of. The negative was an extremely SLOW elevator. There is only a single elevator in the hotel that services five floors. The designers/builder should have places two elevators at this property if they planned to use slow units. The steps, which I use frequently, are inaccessible from the first floor lobby area. I don't know if this is a Oregon fire standard or what, but the stairs lead straight from the above floors to the outside, so you cant take the stairs up to your room, very odd!!!
 
Final Words: 6/10

The hotel wireless Internet is brutally slow and for a business traveler it was unacceptable. Thankfully I travel with a hotspot that I used instead, if you don't have one, prepare for slow internet access. Secondly, the noise from the airport is rough too. Granted, any of the hotels in the area (surround by Hilton, Holiday Inn, Fairfield Inn, Courtyard) are going to suffer the same fate. The jets literally fly directly over the path of the hotels at a few thousand or less feet. All hotels have windows and the noise penetrates right through, not much you can do in these circumstances. From the time of 5:00AM until 10:00PM you will be on an aircraft carrier. If this bothers you I strongly recommend staying out of the airport area and more near the city, but if you want a short commute to and from the airport than this is the place to stay ( or other hotels in the area). Not a bad place, will probably stay at the Courtyard next time, hoping for better Internet access and maybe some better sound proofing from the airport noises!!