The Heathman Hotel

A Portland legend dating back to 1927, The Heathman Hotel invites groups of up to 150 to convene in a sophisticated art deco atmosphere. This fully restored National Historic Landmark offers every modern luxury, plus a location convenient to the city’s financial, commercial, and retail districts.

Named after local bridges, the hotel’s eight meeting rooms span 3,800 square feet on the mezzanine level. High-tech amenities include wireless Internet access and the latest audiovisual equipment. An adjacent banquet kitchen provides exclusive service for dining functions. The mezzanine also features a private entrance to the neighboring Portland Center for the Performing Arts, a contemporary fine art gallery, and a 4,000-volume library of signed first editions. Every author included in the collection, from Tom Wolfe to John Updike, has stayed at the hotel.

Art deco splendor and original fine art also grace the hotel’s 150 rooms and suites, along with high-speed Internet access, two-line speaker phones, and data ports. Guests have their choice of three bed types accompanied by Tea & Slippers service at turndown. Personal concierges stand by to fulfill any request—be it dinner reservations, delivery of in-room computers and fax machines, or scheduling in-room spa treatments.

After completing the day’s business, guests enjoy Northwest cuisine at the Heathman Restaurant and live jazz performances at the Tea Court—both venerable Portland traditions like the hotel itself. There are no packages available at this time. There are no hot dates at this time. Posted Apr 2, 2008 by stepheng
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Hotel Confidential: Books by your Bedside


For all you wordsmiths in our midst, a Portland hotel hopes to make your wildest fantasies a reality. That is, if you dream about lodging somewhere with a cataloged lending library.

In December, the Italian Renaissance-style Heathman Hotel, built in 1927 and located in the downtown cultural district, unveiled its 4,000-title library-and a coinciding package, called "Books by your Bedside." The $229-per-night package promises perks like a free hardcover book written by an author who has also slept at the Heathman (past guests include Tom Wolfe, Wallace Stegner, John Updike, and Alice Walker), a travel reading light, a tour of the library, and some enticing swag from local independent bookstore behemoth (and Rolf Potts favorite) Powell's. Plus, Heathman vows to make a donation in each guest's name to SMART (Start Making a Reader Today), an Oregon nonprofit that promotes literacy for children.

Heathman's library boasts signed editions from seven Nobel Prize winners, 14 Pulitzer Prize winners, five U.S. poets laureate, and 2,000 books from the collection are on display in the Mezzanine Library's custom-designed bookcases. It's one of the largest hotel libraries in the country and received distinction by AAA this year as the country's only independent hotel with a library of its scale.

And-yes, it does just keep getting better-rather than typical dime-a-dozen hotel art, Heathman's 150 luxury rooms all feature works by regional artists, and, of course, the hotel's efforts to earn an EnergyStar certification tug at our eco-loving heartstrings.

Whether you book a room at the Heathman or not, be sure to peruse our travel library for some of Traveler's handpicked reads.

Photo: John Valls