Hyatt Centric Downtown Portland [In-Depth Hotel Review]

I was in Portland, Oregon, for an event at the conference center, and there was a Hyatt Regency immediately next door. So why did I choose a different property further away? And what made me like the hotel so much? It started with the hotel’s uniqueness and ended with the staff.

I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at the Hyatt Centric Downtown Portland. Here’s how my 3-night stay in May 2024 went down.

Booking Hyatt Centric Downtown Portland

Standard rooms at Hyatt Centric Downtown Portland were available for $144 during my mid-week stay in May 2024.

With taxes, the total price for a “King Bed” room came out to $167. However, standard rooms were available for just 8,000 World of Hyatt points per night. As a Category 2 property, “standard” redemption rates were in effect during my stay.

Redeeming 8,000 points per night gave me a redemption rate of nearly 2.1 cents per point — well above our average valuation of World of Hyatt points at 1.5 cents apiece. The hotel also has studios and suites, which cost $244 or $294, respectively, during my stay.

After booking my room, I contacted My Hyatt Concierge, a perk of Hyatt’s top-tier Globalist status, to apply one of my suite upgrade awards and confirm a 1-Bedroom Suite prior to arrival.

Hot Tip:

Hyatt’s suite upgrade awards are valid on stays of up to 7 nights. Thus, I generally try to avoid using them on shorter stays. Using them on longer stays provides even more value.

Location of Hyatt Centric Downtown Portland

As the name implies, the Hyatt Centric Downtown Portland is in downtown Portland, Oregon. Portland is generally divided into 4 sections, and the hotel is in the southwest quadrant.

The hotel was easily accessible from the 405 freeway and by abundant public transportation options. The MAX Red Line, which ran directly to and from the airport, stopped just 2 blocks from the hotel, and numerous buses and street cars passed near the hotel. A ride to the airport cost just $2.80 each way per adult and took about 45 minutes.

The convention center was about 15 minutes away, accessible with the red, blue, and green lines.

Checking In

I arrived at the Hyatt Centric Downtown Portland around 1:30 p.m. Since check-in time was listed as 3 p.m., I had a feeling that my room wouldn’t be ready yet.

The friendly agent confirmed that the person in my suite had requested a late checkout of 2 p.m. and that my room wouldn’t be ready until closer to 3 p.m. She offered to hold my roller bag while I went to get lunch and work for a bit. With my claim check in hand, I walked out the door with no hard feelings that my room wasn’t ready early.

When I returned after 3 p.m., a different employee had just arrived at the front desk. I looked around the lobby momentarily while she clocked in and retrieved my bag from the back room.

Immediately to the right, near the exterior windows, was a small sofa.

Behind me, I found a pair of seats and an information screen where I could learn about the hotel and the local area.

In the corner, near the front door, was a small seating area with a sofa and chairs.

When the agent returned with my bag, she was friendly and efficient. She found my reservation and thanked me for being a Globalist member. She offered me an information sheet with restaurant hours and the location of various hotel amenities. She also confirmed my suite upgrade before discussing my elite benefits.

Elite Benefits

After providing my key card, the desk agent explained the benefits I could enjoy. These included complimentary breakfast each morning at the Covet.PDX restaurant, daily bottled water, and the availability of late checkout, if needed.

To receive the free breakfast each morning, I received 3 vouchers — 1 per day to present to the server. To avoid any confusion, the vouchers explained what was included (such as tax and tip) and how many people it covered.

Hot Tip:

If I had paid for this stay, I would’ve used The World of Hyatt Credit Card to earn up to 9x points on Hyatt spending — 4 bonus points per $1 spent on qualified purchases at Hyatt hotels and up to 5 Base Points per $1 from Hyatt as a World of Hyatt member. If you don’t have this card, consider other cards that provide bonus points on travel expenses.

Room

My 1-bedroom suite, a king bed with a roll-in shower, was on the third floor, and each room number was on a clipboard, which I liked for its uniqueness. The clipboard also held a paper with a QR code leading to information about the hotel and local area.

Living Room

Immediately inside the door, I found a table with a lamp, a phone, and some art and books. The cement floor in the room was an immediate surprise. I asked other guests if their rooms also had cement floors, wondering if mine was like this because it was wheelchair-accessible. However, all rooms had cement floors.

I entered into the living room, which was surprisingly large. The hotel lists this suite at 470 square feet, half of which must be in the living room.

On one end was a dining area with a table and 4 chairs, a wet bar area (including a sink), and a closet.

The closet had shelves and space for hanging clothes, bedding for the fold-out sofa, and even a flashlight.

A Keurig coffee machine with pods was on the counter next to the closet. Under the counter, I found an empty minifridge.

Across from the sofa was a TV, chair, and cabinet. A locked door in the corner connected to the room beside mine.

The cabinet had shelves and drawers for storage, as well as a small safe inside.

The small sofa could fold out into a bed.

Between the TV and sofa was a round table that I really liked for its unique texture. On top was something that looked like an ashtray, though it must have been meant for something else, given the hotel is non-smoking.

Moving out of the living room towards the bathroom and bedroom, there was a peculiar cement post in the pathway.

On the back side of the post was a note saying not to pull the curtains by hand.

Nearby, on the wall, I found a digital thermostat, light controls, and controls for the 2 layers of curtains: daytime sheer curtains and nighttime blackout curtains.

Bathroom

The interesting wall decorations in this hallway reminded me of a climbing gym. These were next to the sliding barn door to the bathroom.

The bathroom had a lot of counter space, and I was surprised to find the sink all the way at one end rather than in the middle.

Near the sink was a box of tissues and a BeeKind soap bar that had an excellent minty smell.

On the other side of the sink, I found individual squeeze bottles of BeeKind toiletries — each with a different scent.

A large mirror was on the wall, and I found a makeup mirror near the bathroom’s entrance.

I found towels and a digital scale on shelves under the counter.

The bathroom had a roll-in shower with a rainfall and handheld option, a grab bar, and a fold-out seat.

The toilet was at the far end of the bathroom, along with a wall lamp.

Bedroom

First, I loved the bedroom, just to get that out of the way. It had an interesting color palette and unique patterns without going overboard or feeling busy.

The king-size bed was comfortable, though the pillows get just a 5/10 on comfort. There was a wrap-around headboard, and each side of the bed had a nightstand with a lamp and built-in outlets. An alarm clock was on the left nightstand.

The right nightstand held a phone.

A TV and a small table with a flower vase were across from the bed.

Further into the bedroom was a freestanding closet with a bathrobe, iron, ironing board, hangers, and a hair dryer.

In the corner, I found an air purifier and a backlit mirror, which served as the only light in the room at night unless you turned on the bedside lamps.

Views

The outer wall of the suite had floor-to-ceiling windows, and my view overlooked the Sentinel on SW 11th Ave.

Amenities

Internet

Wi-Fi speeds were great during my stay, and the connection was reliable throughout the hotel. I got average download speeds close to 90 Mbps; uploads were even faster at nearly 140 Mbps.

Fitness Center

The gym on the second floor was larger than I’d expected, and it was popular in the mornings. The fitness center had stationary bikes, weight machines, free weights, ellipticals, treadmills, and even a rowing machine.

Near the door was an ice and water machine as well as towels.

The gym was open 24 hours a day.

Parking

Valet parking was the only option at the hotel. The price for up to 3 hours of valet parking wasn’t bad at $15, and the rate for 3 to 6 hours of parking jumped to $30. Beyond that, though, the price seemed steep. The nightly rate was $55 plus tax.

Elevators

The hotel had 3 elevators that worked efficiently. The waiting area on the guest floors had vivid colors in a pixelated pattern on the floor and solid red on the walls.

Interestingly, there was a 13th floor on the elevator button panel.

Event Space

The hotel offered nearly 1,800 square feet of meeting and event space. This total was spread across 2 rooms: an event room with 1,368 square feet of space (holding up to 140 people) and a meeting room with 428 square feet of space (holding up to 12 people). Both rooms were on the second floor, and the larger room could be subdivided.

Food and Beverage

While the Hyatt Centric Downtown Portland technically had 2 food and beverage options, it felt more like 1. Let me explain.

Covet.PDX

Covet.PDX is the main restaurant on the ground floor near the front door. It has multiple seating options, including bar stools. The restaurant is open for breakfast from 7 to 11 a.m. daily and for dinner from 4 to 9 p.m. daily. The bar remains open for another hour, closing at 10 p.m. There is also a happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. daily.

As a Globalist, I had complimentary breakfast here each morning. The menu included yogurt, combo plates, breakfast burritos, and more.

The back of the menu had drinks, including coffee, tea, soda, and alcohol.

As a vegan, I noticed I couldn’t eat any of the options on the menu, despite Portland, Oregon, consistently ranking as one of the world’s most vegan-friendly cities. I asked the waiter about this on the first morning, inquiring if the avocado toast would be vegan if I ordered it without an egg. He informed me that even the bread had dairy and eggs, but the kitchen kept gluten-free bread in stock, so I could get this as a substitute.

I’ll be honest: This scored a 4 out of 10 on taste, and it was rather surprising that restaurants up and down the street were proclaiming their vegan options while Covet.PDX’s menu required numerous customizations to get a vegan breakfast.

On the second morning, I inquired about ordering a bunch of individual items to customize a breakfast, and staff was happy to comply. Thus, I wound up with an everything bagel, slices of avocado, and the vegan chorizo. From this, I built my own breakfast sandwich. I also got a fruit cup, orange juice, and a latte.

The breakfast menu would work well for those without allergies or dietary restrictions. Other guests seemed to enjoy the breakfast options, but I was a bit surprised by the lack of options for a wide range of travelers.

The Market

Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, The Market served drinks, grab-and-go items, and even sandwiches around the clock. It proudly served local products like Portland Coffee Roasters, Multnomah Whiskey Library, Sugar Street Bakery, and Ruby Jewel.

Located between the lobby and Covet.PDX, The Market had alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, coffees, sodas, salads, and more. Since Covet.PDX wasn’t open for lunch, The Market was the only option in the middle of the day.

Given how the 2 locations used the same bar and offered some of the same products (and only 1 was available during lunch), it felt like the hotel’s 2 restaurants were really just 1.

Service

I thought the hotel’s service was excellent — no disclaimers required. When I arrived early, the friendly desk agent proactively offered to hold my bag when I mentioned going off in search of lunch. When I returned to check in, a different employee was at the desk and was equally friendly.

Staff at breakfast were consistently friendly and helpful, allowing me to customize options to build a meal that worked for me. On the final morning, I forgot to bring my Globalist breakfast voucher and said I needed to run up to the room to get it. The waiter simply offered, “I remember you had one yesterday, so don’t worry about it.” Rather than taking a rules-based approach, he took a customer-friendly approach that I appreciated.

At checkout, a desk agent confirmed that I had no bill to settle and offered to email me a final statement anyway, confirming the $0 balance. He also asked if I needed a car pulled up or help arranging transportation — proactive offers of service that added special touches to make the service memorable.

Final Thoughts

The Hyatt Centric Downtown Portland wasn’t the closest property to where I needed to be for 3 days in late May, but I’m glad I chose this property. It was conveniently accessible with public transportation, had friendly staff, and the bed was comfortable.

I didn’t think everything was perfect — such as the valet cost and the oddity of no vegan breakfast dishes in a city world-renowned for vegan fare. However, the staff excelled in helpfulness and looked for solutions to improve my experience. The hotel had several interesting design choices, and not all of them would be my personal choices, but they fit the overall vibe and style of the property, and I’d easily stay here again.