The Nines – A Luxury Collection Hotel had been on my list of properties to try for quite a while; well back to the days of the Starwood Preferred Guest program. However, perhaps I waited a little bit too long into the Marriott Bonvoy evolution of the loyalty program in order to test this property out. My stay was marked with getting locked out of my room during an event; read on to see how the hotel dealt with this situation.

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This post is one chapter on a weekend trip from Canada to Portland, Oregon, United States of America. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status, and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards. For parts of the trip, please see this index.

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Review: The Nines, A Luxury Collection Hotel, Portland, Oregon, United States of America

“Once a Starwood Preferred Guest favorite, The Nines offers most of the same wonderfulness, with a little Marriott Bonvoy backsliding”

I happened to be on a road trip through the Portland, Oregon area for a weekend of summer skiing at Palmer Snowfield up on Mount Hood and a little wine tasting through the Williemette Valley. I needed a place to stay for my two nights in town.

Since I’m always seeking Marriott nights for that next redemption, even though I’ve already qualified for Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Platinum, it made the most sense to stay in downtown for the best selection of hotels.

In terms of selecting different hotels, The Nines – a Luxury Collection Hotel looked to be the most appealing, along with the Ritz Carlton Portland at a much higher price point. The Portland Marriott Downtown Waterfront looked a little dated. The Hi Lo Hotel by Autograph Collection also looked to be reasonable contender, along with The Bidwell Marriott Portland. In the end, I went with the great reputation of The Nines – A Luxury Collection Hotel, as being a past Starwood Preferred Guest favorite.

Booking The Nines:

During my friday and saturday night visit, the weekend rates were quite soft. I ended up paying about $235 USD per night on a summer weekend night, which came to approximately $275 USD by the time all taxes and fees were included.

As with other hotel stays, my booking strategy was to book the cheapest room possible and hope for a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum / Titanium level upgrade to a better room.

I would end up getting a mild upgrade courtesy of Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite status. My base level Superior Guest Room was upgraded one category into an outer facing Deluxe One Guest Room. I might add that there were higher room categories available and for sale the day I arrived. As a result, I can only conclude that the hotel policy is to limit category upgrades for Marriott Elites to a slightly better room as opposed to the very best available room.

As always, I booked through the Marriott Bonvoy website, which as a Marriott Titanium Member, entitled me to a complimentary upgrade to the best available room, including select suites, and a complimentary late check out up to 4 PM.

Marriott Bonvoy Opportunities:

The Nines – A Luxury Collection Hotel has variable pricing, dependent if you are travelling during the popular summer travel months, or the softer winter travel months. The hotel also had higher pricing during the weeknights, with rates dropping on the weekend. Rooms can be found for as little as 40,000 Marriott Bonvoy points with variable pricing up to 63,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. It is worth checking out to see whether there are any Marriott Bonvoy point redemptions available in order to maximize value.

As a refresher, If you value Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.8 cents per point, it only makes sense to redeem points under the right circumstances. For example, it would only make sense to redeem 40,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for a room valued at over $320 USD. If you are redeeming against a room that is 63,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, then you’d have to have a room rate over when those same points are worth approximately $504USD. While it’s unlikely you’ll get this much value out of your Marriott Bonvoy points, it is possible that room rates could get this high during a peak travel season.

Marriott Bonvoy members get the fifth night free when redeeming five or more day stay. Keep in mind that by redeeming five nights, and getting the fifth night free, will increase the value proposition by lowering the average number of points per night.

Arriving to The Nines:

I arrived to The Nines – A Luxury Collection Hotel by rental car. Driving from Argyle Winery’s cellar door, I arrived into downtown Portland. Using Google Maps, I had no problems locating the hotel.

The hotel is set across from the Pioneer Courthouse in the historic Meier and Frank building that dates back to 1909. The building occupies a full city block, and is in a glazed terra cotta style as a masonry skin.

On arrival, there was a sandwich board outside advertising valet parking for the high price of $53 USD. Since there were a number of parking garages within two blocks of the hotel, I ended up self parking the car for $11 USD overnight, without “in and out” privileges.

I unloaded my rental, and went off to self park my car at the independent garage(s). I asked for advice from the valet, but the instructions weren’t super clear. The valet initially sent me to a garage that was closed. I ended up finding another garage just down the street.

There has been a lot of recent discussion on the safety of downtown Portland. The Nines – A Luxury Collection hotel finds itself in a neighborhood that has some homelessness, but with some precautions, I didn’t find it entirely “unsafe”.

There is a strange mix of luxury nearby. On my arrival, there was a Porsche 911 parked in the valet zone at the front of the hotel and there were a number of high end retail stores in the mall kitty korner to the hotel that included a Louis Vuitton & Gucci storefront along with trendy Din Tai Fung. While I wouldn’t expect the cleanest streets, I didn’t find the neighbourhood to be completely unsafe or terrible.

Checking into The Nines:

The hotel check in was located on the eighth floor. As a result, I took the bank of elevators up to the check in level. The check in was located behind the elevator banks and in the atrium of the Meier and Frank building.

I was politely checked in by a Marriott Bonvoy associate “in training”. As indicated earlier, I was pro-actively upgraded one category to a Deluxe outer facing room from the base level Superior that I had booked. While I ended up with an outside facing room, instead of one that faced the inner darker courtyard, it was hardly a memorable upgrade. While there were Studio Suites available for sale, these didn’t seem to be available for upgrade reasons.

I ended up selecting breakfast as my Marriott Bonvoy Titanium welcome amenity. Breakfast was served in the Urban Farmer Restaurant, which was located in the atrium.

While I didn’t have to pay one during my visit, it seems that The Nines has recently instituted a Destination Amenity Fee (Resort Fee). I happened to notice these charts around The Living Room lobby bar, highlighting the mostly useless inclusions. The inclusions offered a $30 USD food and beverage credit, along with “live entertainment” and wine tastings during the evening hours only.

The Room: Deluxe Guest Room – 1 King

I was assigned room #920, which was one level up from the lobby level on the eighth floor. There were pleasant views from the lobby waiting area of the surrounding city scape.

I wandered down to #920, which was located at one of the far corners of the hotel. The hallways were decorated in a modern contemporary color that was unique and different than my usual Marriott stays.

Entering the Deluxe Room, I found myself in a green hallway accented with black. The room presented in very good to excellent condition with an upscale look and feel.

Consistent with a historic building, the room was pretty compact at 230 sq feet or 21 sq meters. Despite the small space, The Nines made the best use of the space.

The room offered a small desk, along with patterned wallpaper against the accent wall.

There was a small blue chaise lounger that rounded out the space of the room.

There was a large flat screen television, located next to a small desk workspace.

Being a Luxury Collection vranded property, the room was well equipped. The room offered a Nespresso classic coffee maker, along with a full set of glassware.

In addition to glassware, there was also a full set of snack bar and minibar drinks. This was pretty convenient, as there wasn’t any obvious convenience stores around the hotel in this downtown neighbourhood.

The hotel did provide a few bottles of Nestlé Pure Life water on a complimentary basis. These were not replenished on a daily basis.

The room did offer room service, along with a hotel calendar of things occurring in and around the hotel.

In a bit of a low rent touch, there was a “tip’ envelope in the room. In my humble opnion, this is a bit out of place in a property branded as a “Luxury Collection Hotel”.

The bathroom appeared equally as chic, with a corner oriented single vanity sink. The bathroom offered a small stand up shower that was encased in tiled flooring.

The bathroom itself, much like the room, was quite compact and best suited for one. Being a single traveler, I didn’t find this to be too much of an issue. Couples travelling together may find the space a little tight.

The toiletries were provided by Byredo Le Chemin and were available in both dispenser and individual soap bar formats.

In terms of sleep quality at The Nines – A Luxury Collection Hotel, the property offered a “pretty good” sleep quality. There was a little bit of hallway noise from other guests. In terms of noise from the outside, I didn’t have any neighbourhood noise or other distractions during my sleep.

Around the Hotel Property:

The Nines – A Luxury Collection Hotel is an urban business hotel with amenities that you would expect under this category. As a result, the hotel is quite full featured for an inner city hotel.

The Nines Fitness Centre:

The Nines offered a fitness centre. While there was no swimming pool that is sometimes common at inner city full sevice hotels, the fitness centre was larger than expected.

While I didn’t get the opportunity to use the gym on this visit, it’s nice to have this amenity available for those staying on a longer week long stay.

Food and Beverage:

The Nines offers two restaurants in the hotel and one evening lobby lounge. The Urban Farmer is located in the hotel’s inner atrium, and the Departure Restaurant and Lounge located on the roof top of the property. The lobby lounge is entitled The Living Room and offers evening cocktails.

The Living Room:

The Nines offers an evening cocktail lounge. During my visit, it was operating between 3:30 PM to 11 PM. It got pretty quiet towards the end of the evening as I returned home and it was pretty still.

The Living Room offers inner atrium views of the Meier and Frank building. It makes for a bright but, in my opinion, not particularly engaging space.

The one advantage of this particular space was that it offered quite a few seating combinations.

The Urban Farmer:

Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Breakfast

I visited The Urban Farmer on two occasions over my stay for breakfast. Marriott Bonvoy Elites are offered breakfast in the Urban Farmer restaurant, if they elect breakfast as their welcome benefit.

The Urban Farmer breakfast menu was better than expected. The men offered upscale choices such as Dungeness crab omelettes, shrimp and grits, avocado toast and fried chicken sandwiches.

Marriott Bonvoy Elites at Platinum level or higher will be given a $30 USD credit against any item on the menu. This covered almost all of my breakfast, although not quite all of it. Previously, the hotel offered a full $40 USD per person, which would have completely covered the whole breakfast.

I enjoyed an Avocado and Spinach Eggs Benedict with a potato rostie ($28 USD).

On my second day, I enjoyed the Dungeness Crab Omelette and an orange juice ($35 USD).

The food was pretty tasty and enjoyable. I ended up ordering a bit on the heavy side. Despite this, the food was pleasant, digestable and not greasy.

Getting Locked Out:

My stays throughout the Marriott program have been pretty uneventful. Typically, everything runs smoothly and without issue. However, on this particular stay, I ended up having a service issue that was eventually resolved.

On the morning of my first night, I had plans to get up to Palmer Snowfield on Mount Hood for summer skiing. The snowfield was only open between 7:30 AM to 2 PM. As a result, my plan was to get up for 7AM, enjoy early breakfast at the Urban Farmer, then out the door for 8AM for the ninety minute drive up to Mt Hood; arriving at about 9:30 AM.

After getting up early, and finishing up breakfast, I ended up returning to my room where my skis were stored. I tried my key cards on the door and they wouldn’t work.

Returning to the front desk, I ended up getting the cards re-keyed. I did get a verbal caution from the front desk that occassionally, there were additional issues wirth the door that sometimes required additional intervention.

I returned to the room door for a second time, where the key failed to work again. I returned to the front desk who contacted maintenence by radio. I was asked to return to the room to wait while maintenance worked on the door.

I met up with the maintenance tech at the door. After fiddling with the door lock for anout 5 minutes, he indicated he needed to get additional tools to work the problem. At this point, I was quoted that this would take an hour to further fix the issue.

I ended up going back to the front desk to wait in the lobby. I politely expressed my displeasure at this since it was cutting into the main reason for this particular trip. I was initially offered a complimentary breakast in Urban Farmer, but when I explained that as a Marriott Bonvoy Titanium, this was of limited value to me as it was already free, I ended up getting referred to a manager to discuss compensation, the next morning.

They ended up getting into the room after about 45 minutes. The whole process cost about an hour of time, which was a bit of a let down since I missed part of my paid activity.

On check out, I raised the issue with the fornt desk manager who offered an appropriate amount of Marriott Bonvoy points as goodwill compensation. These points posted well before my stay credited. The hotel also took care of my breakfast overages and “comped” my breakfast charges of $8 and $4 beyond my platinum allowances.

Bottom Line: The Nines

My stay at The Nines was representative of my recent stays with the Marriott Bonvoy program; slightly enhanced but no where near as elevated it used to be under the legacy Starwood Preferred Guest era.

While I got an upgrade, it wasn’t to the highest room categories. The food and beverage allowances were not as generous as they used to be, and I ended up getting stuck out of my room when I needed to be somewhere else.

While these are first world problems, and I won’t likely remember this in ten years time, it wasn’t the smoothest stay experience.

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If you have stayed at The Nines – A Luxury Collection Property, did you experience a smooth stay ?

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