Portland 5 Star Hotel Review: The Nines vs. Sentinel
Last month I stayed at two Five Star Hotels in Portland, The Nines and Sentinel Hotel, both in downtown Portland. I’ve chosen to outline both hotels and finally choose a clear winner out of this epic battle.
The Nines:
Description: The Nines opened their doors in 2008, and has 331 rooms and 13 suites making it one of Portland’s largest hotels. It’s restaurant, Urban Farmer, is located on the 8th floor while it’s chic rooftop bar and Lounge, Departure, is on the top floor.
Location: The Nines is located in the heart of downtown Portland, walking distance to a variety of great bars and restaurants.
Room quality: There are a range of rooms at The Nines, but the best rooms are corner rooms that have a large living space and expansive bathrooms. Modern and chic, these are some of the best looking rooms you will find in the Pacific Northwest, with on par design with The Four Seasons and The Thompson in Seattle. The hip, light blue theme really works across the lobby and guest rooms, with glitzy chandeliers that make you feel like you’re staying at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
Beds are ridiculously comfy and large. I preferred the bed size and quality at The Nines to the Sentinel. I particularly enjoyed the bed quality and silky soft sheets that make you sink in and forget about the world.
The rooms at The Nines are also significantly quieter than at The Sentinel. If you can select a corner room, I have found them to be quieter than those in the middle of hallways at this hotel.
The room we had was very clean and had comfortable and good looking seating throughout. We spent several hours relaxing on the sofa reading.
The higher floors have terrific views of the surrounding area. Our room had a view of the mountains and a tiny view of the river.
Price: Obviously there is a large range depending on season and availability. My room including tax was $220.00 but I’ve found pricing at The Nines to be considerably more in summer months when more tourists are in town. If you stay during the winter you will get considerably better value for your dollar.
Amenities: The lobby area is open and expansive. Check in is on the 8th floor and their restaurant, Urban Farmer, is also located right near the lobby.
The gym is located on the 7th floor and is expansive and modern with plenty of equipment for your every workout need. The space is modern and able to accommodate considerably more people than the gym at The Sentinel.
Urban Farmer is a top-notch hotel restaurant at The Nines.
Restaurant/bar quality: Urban Farmer is a fantastic spot with reasonable prices as I have enjoyed dining at this restaurant since The Nines opened their door. Their crab omelette is truly sensational for breakfast and they also make an excellent burger. Wine prices are relatively high but they have a good range of wines from the Pacific Northwest.
Service: Service was precise and attentive. We asked for an extra razor which was quickly and politely delivered to us.
Extras: Short term parking under 90 minutes is very expensive at $19.00, as is their ridiculously high, New York style overnight parking fee of $49.00, and $54.00 for ‘oversized vehicles.’
That said, there are some area parking garages that are much cheaper. We paid $30.00 at an area garage but I have paid as little as $16.00 for overnight parking at neighboring garages.
The Nines has a 12th floor Club Room for their Marriott Rewards members. I paid an extra fee to use this room and I was very impressed by the food quality as well as the drinks available and service in the Club Room. While they don’t have expensive wines, the wine quality is more than palatable and it is free. The coffee and espresso machine was also high quality. This is the second time I’ve used this expansive room and it won’t be the last time.
Now to the really fun part. The rooftop at The Nines is spectacular, truly one of the great rooftop settings not only in Portland but the entire Pacific Northwest. While the drink quality and drink pricing isn’t particularly good, you are paying for the real estate here.
We also used the nearby ice machine right outside our room to chill out wine.
Sentinel Hotel:
Description: The Sentinel Hotel is crafted out of two historic buildings. It’s east building was erected in 1909 and was a former hotel while the west building was completed in 1923 as a former Elks Temple. The two buildings were joined in 1992, and together they became an expanded Governor Hotel. Their hotel restaurant, Jake’s Grill, was opened in 1994. The Governor Hotel was sold to Provenance Hotels in 2012 and renovated, and in 2014 it was renamed the Sentinel Hotel.
Location: Located just outside of the downtown corridor, the Sentinel is a great location on 11th Avenue near the Pearl District.
Room quality: We had reserved a standard room at the Sentinel. The room didn’t have a view but the size of the room was smaller than a standard room at The Nines. I think they should have larger standard rooms considering the star rating. While the website states that the room is 230 square feet, it feels like more like 150 because the room is small and it has a larger bathroom. We enjoyed the expansive bathroom while we were getting ready although the decor could use a bit of freshening up. WiFi worked well and the the room had a radio, albeit modern looking but was inaccessible to play our music. I asked downstairs for an auxiliary cord and I was disappointed that the hotel did not carry them. How was I supposed to play my music in the room with no Bluetooth component or auxiliary cord? This seemed quite substandard for a 5 star hotel in 2019. I also asked if they had any paid upgrades for a larger room and unfortunately the front desk mentioned that was not an option.
The tub and shower curtain seemed a bit cheap with a flimsy, worn shower curtain. I also noticed a few hairs that weren’t mine on the shower tiles. The room was very clean other than that but I think that is just the kind of mistake that a 5 star hotel shouldn’t make.
Here we have the bathroom and bedroom area for our room at Sentinel.
Rooms were also a bit noisy for a 5 star hotel. In the morning we could hear people walking upstairs and outside our room. This could be a disadvantage of staying at a historic hotel, but they should really improve their sound proofing.
The bed was large and comfortable, although I preferred quality of the bed in the Nines. The standard room only had a queen sized bed while beds at the Nines are king sized. Being 6’5’’ (1.95 meters), the size of the bed does matter. I think they could improve the bed quality given their star rating.
The room bar had appropriate wine stemware and the room had a small closet for clothes. Seating was comfortable albeit a step down from rooms at The Nines. We did not have adequate room for our large suitcases and the room became a bit suffocating as we got dressed and ready for dinner with friends.
Because this is a historic hotel, the elevators are quite old-fashioned. They are also very slow as there was only one elevator for our floor and the other neighboring floors. It was easy enough for me to walk downstairs to the lobby but this experience could be frustrating for elderly or disabled guests who don’t have that option. The ceilings are also very low which makes a tall person like me feel a bit boxed in. The corridor leading to the guest room elevators is historic and urbane looking but has such low ceilings that I was worried that I would hit my head. I preferred the high ceilings of my room at The Nines.
Price: While I paid $150.00 for the room, there was also a ‘resort fee’ of $27.67 added onto the rate. Obviously price varies considerably, depending on the season but this seemed like a pretty empty hotel which may be partly why the rate was relatively low for a 5 star rating.
Amenities: I used the hotel gym twice during my stay and it is a great space that ironically was previously used as a bank vault in the 1920s. The gym has a good variety of free weights and even has a Peloton machine. The second time I used the gym they were out of towels but I found some in an armoire. The space itself is very unique and won’t appeal to those looking for a modern looking gym.
The lobby area is good looking and has some great seating. We were welcomed right away when we arrived and there is an infused water station near the front desk. I would expect more amenities for the resort fee on top of the hotel price.
Restaurant/ bar quality: We had two meals at Jake’s, the hotel restaurant, and I found the food to be of very good quality. Both salads we ordered had homemade dressing. The crab louie salad was really tasty, with succulent Dungeness crab and the homemade thousand island dressing.
We visited the hotel bar for a cocktail and both were very good and also well-priced considering the star rating of the hotel. The Old Fashioned was particularly well-balanced with light maple flavors wonderfully complementing the citrus tones.
Service: The front desk staff were very nice although they did not provide a few things that we wanted. Towels were quickly delivered to us. We ordered room service from the hotel restaurant which also was quickly delivered to us. I still was surprised why I was not able to upgrade my room — the hotel seemed pretty empty.
Extras: Parking is 45 dollars but we parked in a neighboring garage for $21.00. Their ‘resort fee’ of $27.67 is ‘for use of the Wi-Fi, fitness and business centers, in-room safe, Lather bath products, robes, cribs and rollaway beds.’ We can get all of these at a Super 8 or Holiday Inn. This is all downright absurd, although we did enjoy having an ice machine near our room. A 5 star hotel shouldn’t charge for these many of things that they include in the resort feel, and they offer no pool, hot tub, sauna or a killer rooftop which The Nines offers.
The downstairs lobby offers coffee for their patrons each morning, which is a nice perk, but when I went downstairs they were actually out of coffee. I came downstairs another time and there was a fresh pot.
Having the Domaine Serene Wine Lounge in the hotel lobby is certainly a nice extra perk. I can’t think of another hotel on the west coast that has this first class tasting experience just downstairs for hotel guests. While the lounge is technically not part of the hotel, it really is a nice bonus for hotel guests.
Overall feel: When I am staying at The Nines, I feel like I am at a true 5 star hotel, with its glamorous rooms, modern design and killer rooftop deck. I do enjoy the feeling of stepping into the rustic and chic Sentinel hotel, but for the before mentioned points, the Sentinel is really more of a 4 star hotel than a 5 star hotel and they should do some updating starting with having larger beds and better sound-proofing. There are some challenges with being a tall guest at the Sentinel and the rooms are just too small not to feel a bit closed in.
Portland 5 Star Hotel Bottom Line:
The Sentinel is definitely short of a 5 star hotel in my mind, while The Nines absolutely delivers its 5 star rating. This Portland 5 star hotel battle was won by The Nines.