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Journeys
Glimpse inside Portland's grand hotels; Portland: Land of plenty Old buildings define the city's character Ron Cowan, Statesman Journal PORTLAND -- Crystal chandeliers, polished teak and walnut paneling, rich marble floors and ornate coffered ceilings set off by extravagant flower arrangements -- a world where Portland's vibrancy and wealth come to life, a crossroads of art, culture, history and commerce.
Lobbies of Portland's grand old hotels are not just entrances to a night's lodging for a privileged few. These are spaces that define a city's character, enhance its tourism and celebrate its riches. These are spaces that afford the rest of us a glimpse into the best of Portland.
Here you may rub shoulders with celebrities, authors, musicians, politicians, actors and business leaders who pass through the city, or at least feel the echoes of their presence. Drink, eat or people watch and let the new and old Portland seep in.
There are newer, larger hotels, such as the Marriott and the Hilton. But they can't rival Portland's grand dames, venerable but refurbished landmarks. Benson, Vintage Plaza, Governor and Heathman hotels -- all extensively rebuilt, refurbished or remodeled in recent years -- offer a glimpse into the cosmopolitan elegance of old hotels with a modern flair.
The Benson
Perhaps the grandest hotel is the 1912 Benson, its lobby gleaming with Circassian walnut paneling from the forests of Siberia, its coffered ceiling illuminated by five Austrian crystal chandeliers -- the largest with 10,000 faceted crystals.
There are pastel-toned Italian marble floors and intricate oriental carpets underfoot. A towering floral centerpiece, changed twice weekly, sits on a lobby table.
Robert Parsons, hotel managing director, remembers his first visit to this Portland landmark as a child visiting the city from Canby.
"I was 7 years old, sliding down the grand staircase," he recalled with a smile. "It was the first time my mother yelled at me in public."
The staircase, a curving concoction of wrought iron and polished walnut, glides elegantly from the mezzanine level down to the lobby, overlooked by a tall, gilt-trimmed mirror. Next to the landing, a marble fireplace glows with flames in the winter months.
Designed by A.E. Doyle in the spirit of the nation's golden age of excess, the Benson has a style all its own.
"Some people refer to it as a Baroque style," Parsons said. "Some people refer to it as a French style. We refer to it as timeless."
The elegant, seasoned opulence of the lobby has attracted weddings, receptions, a masquerade ball and other events, but it's also a major tourist stop for Portland visitors.
One recent day, a group of music students from Wyoming showed up to soak in the feel of a lobby that recalls the interior elegance of the Titanic, a ship launched the same year the Benson opened.
"We just want to look at it," said Jonathan Faubion, a student at Powell High School in Powell, Wyo.
The Benson, which carefully avoided altering the classic lobby during the renovations of two years ago, welcomes tourists and gawkers along with guests, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
People meet other people here, conduct business, interview prospective employees and just schmooze. Food and beverage service is available throughout the lobby, even at those comfortable but regal chairs near the fireplace." I feel like I'm in heaven," said Sarah Patton, visiting from Dallas, Texas.
The Benson has drawn celebrities and luminaries, including every U.S. president since Dwight D. Eisenhower and the likes of Jack Nicholson, Anthony Hopkins and even the Rolling Stones, who rented an entire floor.
The Governor
The Governor Hotel, originally built in 1909 as the Seward and extensively renovated and expanded in the late 1980s, has been the site of three movies.
The adjacent West Wing, the 1923 Princeton Building, was built in the cool, classical style of the Italian Renaissance and modeled on the Farnese Palace in Rome. Now incorporated in the Governor, it masqueraded as the corporate offices of a cookie firm in the film "The Temp," starring Timothy Hutton and Faye Dunaway.
Madonna, while filming the steamy and much-maligned legal/sexual thriller "Body of Evidence," did several scenes in the Governor. Portland director Gus Van Sant staged a sequence featuring transients around a bonfire for "My Own Private Idaho" in what is now the lobby, before the last renovation.
Although the Seward was designed by architect William C. Knighton, the look of the modern Governor, with its atmospheric arts and crafts/Northwest look, owes a lot to the design team of Stasny Architects and Candra Scott & Associates.
The actual historic lobby is not the current lobby: The old lobby is now Jake's Grill on the building's corner, a room distinguished by a large, curved bar, overlooked by stuffed animal trophies, and a high ceiling with columns and dark wood paneling.
The new lobby -- the room where Van Sant's fire scene was filmed -- is authentic to Knighton's style, with many embellishments that have a distinctive Oregon panache.
The Heathman
Similar magic was worked on the Heathman Hotel, which shares a block with the historic Schnitzer Concert Hall, part of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts.
Built as the New Heathman Hotel and opened in 1927, the Italian Renaissance-style building was designed by the Portland architectural firm of DeYoung and Roald. But the hotel, along with many downtown landmarks, fell on hard times in the 1950s.
With the emergence of the new performing arts complex, developers spent $16 million and two years of work to restore the elegance for a 1984 reopening. Portland architect Carter Case and interior designer Andrew Delfino utilized natural materials, including marble, granite and teak, to restore the classic feel.
The dark, luxurious Tea Court, paneled in eucalyptus, is the centerpiece of the hotel lobby, overlooked by the mezzanine with its library bar -- both illuminated by the glow of skylights.
One of the hotel's "secrets" is a private entrance from the library into the Schnitzer, making it a favorite hotel for Oregon Symphony soloists and other celebrities performing next door. The entrance actually was created as a convenience for the architects, who also oversaw the Schnitzer's construction. Today, concertgoers can also use the passage to access the Heathman bar during performance breaks.
The Hotel Vintage Plaza
The Hotel Vintage Plaza, built in 1894, also wears a vintage face. But the refurbishing that took place in 1991 created an interior that combines modern, intimate elegance with a bow toward Oregon's burgeoning wine industry.
The winery theme is celebrated throughout, from guest rooms dedicated to Oregon wineries and vineyards to the wine cellar in the lobby, with an extensive vintage collection and wine tasting area. Wine tastings are held each afternoon from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
The adjacent Pazzo Ristorante features a brick-lined Wine Cellar Room, visible through lobby windows, with the air of an intimate Italian bistro.
A vineyard fresco decorates the lobby's piano room, which has rich tones of hunter green, deep plum, cerise taupe and gold. Plush chairs surround the marble-faced fireplace with its sculpted frieze. Bookcases brimming with reading material border the fireplace.
The lobby of this European-style hotel may be the smallest and most modern of Portland's grand dames, but it nonetheless has a soaring spirit.
The atrium overhead rises 10 stories to a skylight, with plant-lined balconies overlooking a lobby that reaches for the sky.
Clockwise from left, Portland at night as seen from across the Willamette River; Pioneer Courthouse Square, which stands at the site of a defunct parking lot, is now the city's open-air living room with a fountain, coffeehouse, weather machine and a stage for concerts; in addition to works of art on display at the Portland Art Museum and other Portland galleries, artist colonies thrive throughout the state. The Olympian Copyright 1999
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