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The Houston Dynamo have travelled to the Pacific Northwest to play the Portland Timbers which means you have followed them. Portland seems to lack the nasty bug infested places that exist in New York and Washington D.C. but that doesn't mean they are without some funk. While most travel articles will tell you the best places to go in a city that's not what this one is about. This is about the places you want to avoid.
Restaurants
If you are in Portland for the game there is a pretty big chance you caught a flight to Oregon. With two and a half stars on Yelp! chances are you want to take a pass on this airport cuisine, but if you are looking for a drink you might want to grab a seat.
"By far the worst airport restaurant I've stopped by. Stopped by here to get a breakfast bagel before my PDX to SFO flight and waited about 30 minutes for a bagel. When I went to the counter to ask about my bagel, the woman behind the counter said "it needs to be cooked." Really? Of course it needs to be cooked! Regarding the bagel itself, it was not toasted and was not cut in half, which I'm pretty sure is standard everywhere. For $9, I would expect a lot more. I'd recommend going to Starbucks instead."-Austin W.
I check out TripAdvisor for this place where it has three and a half stars. If you have four hours to kill while wait for some sub par seafood this is the place for you.
"Dingy, dark and sleazy is the best way to describe Dan and Louis Oyster Bar. Broiled scallops were rubbery at best (should I mention a half order is six (6!) scallops?) and far too peppered - maybe that was to hide the overcooking. The waiter was uncertain and clumsy, spilling half my order from my plate as he set it down. Gimmicky place strategically located to lure in tourists. Bypass it in favour of one of the amazing restaurants in the area."-mgcCalgary
When it comes to sushi it can be a hit or a very big miss. The reviews on this place give it an overall rating of two and a half stars. It's conveyor belt sushi so take that as you will and I'll spare you from the food posioning warning reviews.
"I eat a lot of sushi.... This was the WORST sushi I have ever had. If I could give this place a zero believe me I would. I ordered Hamachi (yellowtail)- when I received the order it was not the right color fish should be, it smelt very old and I am certain it was taken off the conveyor belt where it had been rotating for hours. The fish smelled so foul that I gave it back to the guy working behind the belt who rolled his eyes at me.
When I tried taking a roll from the belt it had clearly been on the belt even longer- the rice had an old texture to it and was a little crunchy... rice should not feel like that. We left after giving two plates a try- SO BAD!!!!!
Do NOT get food here. It is not fresh and no one is monitoring how long a plate is rotating in the resturant."-CammyBaby
Lodging
To start off this place has two stars so you know the reviews can only go downhill from there. Almost every review mentions feeling unsafe while at this hotel and a number of the negative reviews were people who checked-in and then right back out.
"A dive by any other name still stinks like an uncleaned ashtray"
I was in need a place to stay while they tented the condo complex where I was renting. The place is huge and fumigating would take two weeks. I looked for a hotel/motel with weekly rates and decided against comfort inn and the like as the rates were high and I was on a budget assigned by the condo board for relocation during the tenting. Well, long story short, I found this place. As of 08/08, the rates where $51 a night or $230.00 per 5 day 'week' including tax.
At $230, I feel they were overcharging by $229.98 a week. I'd give two cents for the rooms. They had taken a reservation from me for a ground floor non-smoking room. They did not honor the reservations and I found while I was there that they took but completely ignored reservations.
Old mismatched furniture, carpets with dirt permanently ground in. The stench of cigarette smoke was overwhelming. Roaches. The stove (units include a kitchenette) was something that looked like it had been salvage from a junk yard after 2-3 years of being exposed to the elements. Several wall outlets didn't work. All the light bulbs where very dim compact florescent bulbs of the lowest wattage and gave the room the appearance of a cave. The dim lighting was perhaps a good thing, considering how nasty the place was. Complaining about the non-working items in the room, or quality of the room got nothing but nastiness from the staff. Talking to the owner in San Francisco got even ruder treatment.
The place does feature an ice machine that actually works and a pool. A Chinese restaurant/bar was next door with food till 2am and a $5 lunch combo that was great. While they did have working high speed Wifi internet (WEP encrypted) and cable, the cable included no pay channels, not even the mainstay of most motels of HBO. The wireless suffered from a lack of sufficient repeaters, so the signal would frequently fade. They staff suggested using my laptop 'outside' of my room. Squatting on the sidewalk, I presume.
Give it a pass unless you have no choice.
Liked — Checking out
Disliked — Checking in
-aalper
Three stars for this place with a mix of reviews from people crashing there. It's next to the airport which is nice, but so is a broken A.C. unit.
"My first complaint is there was no air - we walked into a hot stuffy room - we reported it and were told that all the rooms are set at the same temp and the only recommendation is for them to bring a fan and when they did it was not even a clean fan
there was no fan in the bathroom so the ceiling was peeling and there was mold in the corners of the shower
the pillows were lumpy
The front desk staffed were rude possibly because they had heard the complaints for some time
according to one of the employees here these problems gad been going on for some time"-tamarl260