I honestly don't think I've ever had a worse or more disappointing hotel experience than the one I just had at River's Edge in Portland. From the outside, when I first arrived, I wasn't sure if the hotel was even open. It appeared to still be under construction. The only things visible from outside the entrance were construction debris and plastic tarp. I wouldn't have been surprised to find I had simply gone to the wrong place. However, the doors did automatically open as I approached, so I cautiously entered. I expected to be chased out by an angry construction worker. There was no lobby, to speak of. The check-in desk was essentially a folding card table with a computer, and a frazzled employee who seemed to be frustrated to have to work under such conditions, exhausted from having to make excuses for the position they had been put in. My room was supposed to have a balcony with a river view. Only, the windows and doors to the balcony were sealed off with more plastic sheeting. Not only could I not see the river, I couldn't even get onto the balcony. When I went to wash my hands, there was no hot water. I mentioned it twice to the person the ”front desk,” but there was still no hot water when I returned from an evening out. I called down again to inform them that I still didn't have hot water, and was told that someone would call me back shortly. They never did. Consequently, I was unable to shower the next morning. I had to tell the person at the the front desk, again, that there was no hot water on my way out for the day. We did end up having hot water when we returned that evening. I had been told that the construction that was taking place that had necessitated the plastic sheeting on my balcony would be taken down the next day, and that our balcony would be accessible, but that never happened. When we returned from one of our evenings out, the elevators stalled just as it reached our floor, and the doors only opened part way. We had to carefully exit sideways to fit through the gap, but we were worried that the doors might close on us as we did, or that the elevator might suddenly decide to go up or down before we got through. We were informed that our room would only be serviced if we requested, so it basically felt like we paying for a bed, a parking space, and nothing more. Our bill was $437.54 for two nights of feeling like we were trespassers at a construction site. This is not a place that anyone should pay any amount to stay at.
