Ace Hotel Portland

"Hipster Parents Heaven"

Okay, let me preface this by saying The Ace isn't for all families, but it was certainly for us. If you value style and location (and affordability) over some of the more child-friendly comforts some hotels might offer (pool, a certain level of quiet, etc), you might want to keep searching. But if you're looking for urban-cool, trendy, easy transport accessibility, and fantastic coffee - look no further!

Pros:
- Huge, huge suite. Large, open air corner loft, tons of light, cool industrial furnishings, and a turn-table for some tunes. We had no problem parking the stroller loaded down with tons of stuff.
- Large hinged LCD tv and desk
- Style galore - the fixtures and attention to details are pretty cool.
- Sectional couch that turns into two twin beds, king bed for us.
- Large tub for bath-time.
- Green hotel.
- Downstairs photo booth for some fun photo ops, and a common area for lounging.
- Free bike rentals.
- Stumptown Coffee Roasters in house, as well as a highly rated restaurant.
- Awesome staff, welcoming, nice to the kids, happy to bring up fresh linens for the beds, and took pity on a stressed out mom by bestowing free coffee ;0)
- Great price for the size and location.
- Walking distance to The Pearl, boutiques, specialty stores, and design

Cons:
- Limited storage - one small closet, and a larger walk-in around the corner.
- No valet.
- Thin walls, and the "good times" our neighbor down below was having at 1am, and again at 8am was a little awkward.
- I'll admit the small potted cactus was pretty cool looking, but all 3 of my boys (husband included) managed to prick themselves. This was mostly due to my own negligence of not putting it up when we first walked in, though.
- It's definitely a scenster area, so be break out your Decemberists t-shirt, and prep your kid to say "right on" at least once for good measure ;0)