Here There and Everywhere

McMenamins Kennedy School Hotel in Portland, OR

We don’t like cooky cutter hotels. When we start thinking about a trip, I put a lot of time into looking at hotels. I ask AdventureMan “do you want to stay downtown?” “What would you think about staying in a former poor-house?”

Not every choice turns out, but AdventureMan was kidding me because I still remember one really bad hotel in France in like 1987.

This time, I nailed it. I hit it out of the park. When I saw his face, I nearly danced for joy. He loves this place.

McMenamins is a trendy Oregon brewery that has done some really smart things – put good food into their breweries, and bought up old, decaying buildings, restored, renovated and turned them into hotels with charm and character. The one we are staying at is an old elementary school, and much of it is still in place – the wide hallways, the fabulous wooden floors, the signs for restrooms, gymnasium, etc. and classrooms which have been turned into guest suites.

The closet in our room is the former cloakroom, just like the very old school I went to school in, with hooks in place for students to hang their coats:

This is the major restaurant. There are also at least three bars, maybe four, and other spaces which are used for meetings and events.

One of the things we love is that the neighborhood and community gather here. There is a movie theater that plays current films; guests at the hotel get free admission, but other people are here, too. There is a soaking pool outside near the old gymnasium, and local mothers had their children in the pool, warm enough to be teaching them to swim on a cool rainy day in Portland.

It hits a lot of blocks for me – high ceilings, huge windows, wooden floors, all this and a sense of history and a gathering place for the community. Nearby is a growing arts and crafts street, gentrifying, with lots of really good restaurants. This is a really cool place for us. AdventureMan loves the history of the place, the glory of the vibrant plantings in the gardens, free parking and nearness to culture, food and convenience (drug store, very trendy grocery store, etc.) We like the Portland vibe.

April 11, 2018 - Posted by intlxpatr | Adventure, Arts & Handicrafts, Character, Community, Cultural, Customer Service, ExPat Life, Hotels, Road Trips, Travel