The Heathman Hotel, Portland

This was a mixed bag. The hotel is very well-situated, and some staff members were very helpful (Jared, Harmony - thanks!) The bed was very comfortable, and the in-room coffee was excellent. However, there were issues, especially given the caliber of the hotel. I will start with a warning - I used a popular booking website which persumably includes all fees, so was surprised the hotel nevertheless tacked on an unexpected fee for credit-card processing and there was nothing to be done about it. Also, I found minibar charges for items I did not use - a problem which I could remedy by phone, but still, I was surprised at the error. There were a lot of minor issues which all added up to a negative impression - the air conditioner comes on with a roar after the set temperature dips, so during mid-summer there was a choice between the room being warm overnight, or being continually woken up. The floors were sticky (in my room as well as my traveling companion's), the room had spiders, the key cards stopped working (for both of us), and at times where were people at the desk who were not helpful, either due to being new to the area or just not interested. None of these things in itself would have been enough to be a major issue but with so many things not being up to par, I will stay somewhere else on my next trip to Portland.

Title: Very Disappointing Service and Complete Lack of Response From Management I stayed at The Heathman from August 7 through August 11 in a Studio Suite, one of the hotel's larger and more expensive rooms. The hotel is well located and the room was clean, but the service and complete lack of response from management made this a very disappointing experience. The problems began well before I arrived. My initial inquiry on June 13 requesting basic information about my Studio Suite reservation went unanswered. My reservation stated that there would be a Personal Concierge, but provided no way to contact that person. I sent multiple follow-up emails asking for the estimated total cost of my stay, information about room preferences, and contact information for the Personal Concierge. I received no answers for nearly two months. Several email addresses provided by the hotel also did not accept replies. On July 30, I submitted a formal complaint by email and through the hotel's online contact form. I received an acknowledgment stating that I would receive a response within one business day. I received no response. Kevin Filipello, a member of the hotel's management team, eventually left me a voicemail the day before my arrival, but provided only the hotel's general telephone number and no way to contact him directly. I returned the call and was told he was busy. I left a message asking him to call me back and never heard from him. I subsequently emailed both Kevin and the person I had been told was the General Manager. Neither responded. When I arrived at the hotel, the welcome was impersonal and not particularly welcoming. Given all of the communication problems before my arrival, I would have expected some acknowledgment or effort to make sure the stay went smoothly. There was none. The Studio Suite itself did not look as I expected based on the photos on the hotel’s website. I actually checked with the front desk to make sure I had been given the Studio Suite I reserved. The service problems continued during my stay. I scheduled housekeeping for 11:00 a.m. each day, yet on two of the three days my room was not serviced. On one of those days, I finally had to insist late in the evening that someone at least make the bed. The television and remote control did not function properly. It took repeated requests and three visits from engineering to get the television working and the remote replaced. There were only two hangers in the room and both were being used for bathrobes, leaving no practical way to hang my clothes. The lack of attention to what was being served at breakfast was also surprising. Coffee at both the lobby coffee station and breakfast was consistently cold. I repeatedly requested warm toast and could not get it. The oatmeal served at breakfast was barely lukewarm. These are very basic things that a hotel restaurant should be getting right. Based on the breakfasts I had, I decided that I wouldn't have dinner at the hotel restaurant. My reservation included breakfast for two, but the way the breakfast benefit and daily credits were handled was never clearly explained. My final bill contained a confusing series of charges and credits, and two days after I left the hote,l an additional $4 charge appeared on my credit card without explanation. The individual service problems were disappointing, but what made the experience worse was management's complete lack of response. At no point did anyone at the property accept responsibility or make any effort to address the problems. After returning home, I escalated the matter to Aparium Hotel Group Corporate Guest Relations. I specifically asked for confirmation that my complaint had been received and for a response. I received neither. I subsequently contacted Aparium again asking for the email addresses of its CEO and President because neither hotel management nor Corporate Guest Relations had responded. What makes the lack of response particularly difficult to understand is that hotel management responds publicly to negative online reviews, while my repeated attempts to resolve these problems have been ignored. I've spent an unreasonable amount of time giving the hotel and its management company an opportunity to address these issues without posting publicly. Their failure to respond demonstrates a serious lack of attention to both guest service and basic management at the hotel and corporate level. I will not return to The Heathman and based on my experience, I would caution others about the current management and service issues before considering a stay.

This hotel has horrible customer service. Kevin, Brandon, and the young woman working the front desk are all lying, unhelpful, and rude employees…my experience at this hotel was absurdly bad. The worse experience I’ve ever had at any hotel in my entire life. They falsely promised early check in (and an upgraded room for the trouble) three times and NEVER delivered. We waited 7 hours walking around Portland following their instructions only to be told at 4pm (check in time) that our room was STILL NOT READY! We were exhausted and in complete disbelief especially after spending over $100 at their restaurant and bar to kill time. We took our business to the Benson down the street (who got us in AND upgraded and discounted our rate immediately) after waiting an hour after check in time (5pm now) and still not hearing anything about our room status. They did NOTHING to make it right and were utterly disorganized and disrespectful. Save yourself the trouble, and take your business to someone that actually knows what they’re doing. Shout out to Connie and Madison for being the only nice and competent employees working at this place…(they worked the bar and breakfast). Connie and Madison provided recommendations and great service.

Excellent hotel. We were part of a large wedding party. The outdoor wedding venue was cancelled because of wildfires. So we all wound up spending 2 more days in Portland. And the hotel found rooms for all of us to extend our stay. Special thanks to Nick who managed the changes. First-class service

The Heathman was once the crowning jewel of Portland: no longer. From first impressions upon arrival to my departure two days later, there is precious little to recommend except the outstanding location. (Having said that, there are many hotels in the blocks nearby.) A long-distance private equity owner has stripped this once-wonderful hotel of its soul. The outside looks lovely, but scratch the thin veneer of civility and it crumbles quickly. A hotel stands out through its people and how it handles its guests. The hotel is severely under-staffed, and the few staff people I did encounter or ask for assistance were either incapable or unpleasant. It was like I was an unwelcome guest at a club I didn't belong to. I asked to speak with a manager during my stay, and emailed the hotel after I checked in (there is no chat feature). Just a few outstanding but not exhaustive comments: **No one at the hotel called me to see how my stay was going while I was there. **The $30/day amenity fee wasn't explained at check-in; I had to ask. **There is no "welcome to the Heathman, first time visiting, etc.?" at check-in. It's hard to tell who is staff - they don't wear a nametag or Heathman logos. ** There is one valet for the whole hotel; after a disastrous check-in, I parked elsewhere. When I unloaded my luggage from my car myself, I was then asked by a member of hotel staff "what should I do with this?" (My response: please bring it inside the hotel!) **The restaurant "ran out" of half-and-half at 8:30 am Sunday, and was still out Monday morning. It was also out of oatmeal and sausage both days. **A staff member wearing a chef's coat was conducting what appeared to be a job interview with a candidate in the public lobby of the hotel where all comments could be overheard. **Despite being reassured when I made the reservation that the renovation was finished in May, the hotel is still undergoing construction which impacted me in room 321 and in the Tavern restaurant. There was no escape, no peace. **The "famous" Library is not what it was: in a city of books like Portland, there is no excuse for marketing a library as a main draw while offering airport paperbacks and cookbooks. There's also no place to sit. The Library used to be what is now called the Tavern. The library is now up on a mezzanine level along with conference rooms. ** I had to call and email twice to get my final bill. It was incorrect. At the end of the day, the Heathman doesn't know what it wants to be. It could lean into its heritage and join Relais & Chateaux for example, or Leading Small Hotels of the World. Or it could try to compete in the boutique art hotel, given its location in the Arts/Pearl District. It's doing neither, and it's a shame because the opportunity is there.