DoubleTree by Hilton Portland history

The Merchants’ Hotel at Northwest Third Avenue and Davis Street opened in 1885, and is a remnant of Portland’s cast-iron architecture that dominated Old Town and Chinatown in the late 19th Century.

It proved so popular that an expansion was added to the north in 1909. It opened in 1894 on the northeast corner of Southwest Washington Street and Broadway downtown, and originally was called the Imperial Hotel.

Gevurtz specifically envisioned developing a grand hotel that would cater to the many new travelers arriving in Portland after its Lewis and Clark Expedition centennial in 1905.

It opened in 1907 as the Hotel Nortonia, and celebrities who stayed there included Louis Armstrong, Mel Torme, Spike Jones, Sammy Davis Jr., and Lionel Hampton.

The boutique Hotel Lucia at Southwest Broadway and Stark used to be known as the Imperial Hotel, and was built in 1909 as an offshoot to the original Imperial, which was directly to the south on Broadway and now is known as the Kimpton Hotel Vintage.

Dating back to 1912, the hotel was originally the creation of businessperson Phillip Gevurtz.

When the Sovereign Hotel was built in 1923 at Southwest Broadway and Madison Street, it cost $650,000, and at nine stories was considered Portland’s first skyscraper.

The first Heathman, which opened in 1926 at a cost of $1 million, was at the northeast corner of Salmon and Park, and originally featured more than 300 rooms.

1931: Westin Hotels purchased the Multnomah Hotel and began operating it as part of its famous collection of holiday destinations.

In 1951, Meier & Frank department store bought the hotel, and tore it down for a parking garage.

1957: Elvis Presley reserved a suite at the Multnomah Hotel and wound up attracting a massive crowd of excited fans.

One of the Sheraton’s big draws was Kon-Tiki restaurant, which opened along with the hotel in 1959 at a budget of $300,000.

1965: After operating as a hotel for more than half a century, the Multnomah Hotel was converted into office space for the 1,200 federal employees who worked for the General Service Administration.

The Oregonian noted that what set Paris’ cooking apart were little touches that produced “minor miracles in flavor.” The restaurant, which featured a “Roaring 20s”-themed nightclub, closed in 1972 along with the hotel, which saw a drop in business as train travel declined.

The Broadway Hotel building, which dates back to 1913, is located on the Northeast corner of West Burnside and Northwest Broadway. It originally was a regular hotel before becoming low-income housing, and is seen here in 1979.

In 1984, the Heathman underwent a massive renovation that dovetailed with the opening of the Performing Arts Center and the rebranding of the Paramount Theater as the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

1985: The United States Department of the Interior listed the erstwhile Multnomah Hotel in the United States National Register of Historic Places.

1995: New owners subsequently purchased the building and began an extensive renovation that saw it transformed back into a beautiful hotel.

In 1997, the Multnomah became a hotel again when it was renovated and restored by the Hilton company as part of its Embassy Suites brand, with 276 rooms – roughly one-third of its original room count.

In 2004, new owners moved the hotel’s entrance from Southwest 10th to 11th Avenue, and reopened the hotel’s ornate fourth floor ballroom, which had been closed to the public for 80 years.

In 2007, the hotel was rebranded the Hotel Monaco (a name shared by several hotels in the Kimpton Group) after a multi-million-dollar renovation.

The Benson has hosted a number of United States presidents, ranging from William Howard Taft, who stayed there during the hotel's first year, to Barack Obama, who stayed there while campaigning for the White House in 2008.

In 2015, after a head-to-toe remodeling, it reopened as the Hotel Eastlund, with 168 rooms and suites, and rooftop dining at Altabira City Tavern.

2016: The Embassy Suites Hilton Portland Downtown was inducted into Historic Hotels of America.