Relaxing in a room at The Inn at Northrup Station

My three nights at the Inn at Northrup Station in Portland, Oregon, took me back to New Zealand. The Kiwis have no shortage of quirky hotels with all the comforts of home. Here in the U.S., this is just a rarity.

What makes it stand apart from other hotels in Portland? And in the country, for that matter?

First, there’s an in-room kitchen. A stove, four burners, a full-sized refrigerator. Now, Portland has all the restaurants you could ever want. So why bother with a kitchen? Because of the abundant farmer’s markets. Sarah and I went to a Saturday market … scored some morel mushrooms, fresh pasta, crab, baby bok choy. We turned it into an awesome feast.

Even the outside looks pretty slick.

The neighborhood also stands out. It’s right on the Portland streetcar line, which connects to the MAX lightrail (to the airport and many other points). You’re walking-distance from Jeld-Wen Field (home of the Portland Timbers MSL team), the Pearl District, an uncountable number of shops and restaurants. And yes, brewpubs.

Baby bok choy cooked up just right.

And give Northrup Station style points. No bland beige or institutional furniture. Purples, yellows, reds … I know plenty of people who’d like their house to look like a room at Northrup Station. It oozes “hip,” but not “hipster.”

The service is far more personal and friendly than average. The staff members are friendly, ready to print your boarding passes, give you free tickets for the street car or directions to just about any cool spot. You also get a free if unspectacular breakfast. Didn’t bring a computer? Just slide behind one of the Macs.

Finally, the price is reasonable. Less than $150 a night in the beginning of summer – with all the fees and taxes. Just try equaling that in Seattle or Vancouver.

A hotel room with a kitchen - a must if you want to try local flavors (like morel mushrooms) cooked your way.

When I return to Portland, I’ll stay here again. I’ll try scoring a room on the third (top) floor … some people have heavy footsteps.

But if all I get is a second-floor room, I still won’t complain. Not with all the other factors adding up to a great and unusual hotel.

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Comments

• June 20, 2011, Kish@business travel companies writes: The mushrooms look sumptuous and not bad for the price.

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Hey, I wound up in the New Times! They wanted to know what sort of edibles I’m slurping into my gullet. Check out Justin Schmid, What are you eating?. It features a photo of me menacing the camera with a half-eaten possum pie at the Sandfly Cafe somewhere between Franz Josef and Nelson in New Zealand.

Rene, our bus driver was thrilled as only a Naked Bus employee can be. During our break at the Sandfly Cafe, he went up to all the other passengers telling them that I was eating possum pie … he had very distinct “see, he ate it and didn’t die” tone in his voice. It was hysterical. When he was done telling everyone else, he wanted to talk to me about it.

“It’s easy to eat, i’n't, mate?” he kept repeating.

Awesome guy. Best bus driver ever.

The post also has me extolling the virtues of Sun Up Brewing, golden beets and other cool things I like eating.

Comments

• January 14, 2010, chantel writes: Congratz! I'm not sure which is cooler... The fact that you wound up in the New York Times, or the fact that you ate possum pie!!
• January 14, 2010, admin writes: Hey, stranger! Are you getting your blog back on? That was actually the New Times, no York in the middle. It's a chain of weekly newspapers owned by Village Voice. The best thing about it is that most of the chain has the Savage Love column, which is gross/funny beyond words. Jeez, no I feel like a loser that it wasn't the New York Times. Maybe I'll make that my goal for 2010!

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Song of America in its heyday.

Back when I was a teenager, I considered cruises the ultimate vacation. Think about it: All sorts of activities, all sorts of food, all sorts of girls. I would’ve been happy with a ship that sailed straight into the ocean and didn’t touch ground for seven days. Alas, I had to deal with cruises that had the putting people ashore interrupting my skirt-chasing and carousing (in as much as teenagers can carouse). With my trusty wingman, Art, covering me, I had many good times aboard ships. I’ll be nice enough to Art to spare him a recap of the super-cheesy line he used on two girls within hours of boarding, and a description of his shambolic dance moves.

Cruising the Mexican Riviera

I’d say our finest time was on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line’s Song of America. By the standards of the time (the time of the cruise being 1992, when the ship was 10 years old), it was a good-sized ship. We sailed from LA through the Mexican Riviera, which included Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan. I have to be honest – the ports didn’t do much for me. In fact, I got stung by a blue bottle in Puerto Vallarta. But Art and I had our usual shipboard antics, which included dragging a passed-out shipmate back to his cabin after he vented the contents of his stomach on the club’s dance floor (we were old enough to know how to avoid such a fate). We met a ton of fun people, ate everything in sight and raised hell until all hours of the night, every night.

The Song itself was a really wonderful ship, though nowhere near as opulent and extravagant as something like the soon-to-be-launched Oasis of the Seas. The Norwegian/Caribbean crew was excellent – for a touch of character, a band consisting of crew members played live reggae music at night out on deck – far better than the stuff you’ll hear on the radio. I don’t know if they still do that.

Would I Cruise Now?

These days, cruises rank way low on my scale. Not enough adventure. Too much rich food. Not enough time to do anything cool in port. I also think the tipping aboard ship has gotten out of control. I think they waste too much space on stuff like casinos, too – though the ice rinks I’m hearing about sound awesome! A lot of these ships are built in Finland, so I imagine they must have saunas.

On the other hand, I still love being far out at sea, especially at night. One of the coolest things I’ve ever seen was a Hawaiian volcano dumping lava into the ocean at night, and the hiss from the steam it made hitting the cool seawater. The stars at sea are also a sight to behold, with no light pollution to be found. And I love the tiny staterooms, the compact, no-space-wasted feeling. I also slept like a baby with the pitching and rolling, along with the rumble of the diesel engines.

I think a stripped-down, adventure-oriented cruise line would be an interesting option among all the spoil-you-rotten-and-fatten-you-up fare to be found. I can see putting ashore each day for mountain biking, a really rigorous hike, some paintball … how fun would that be? I would also favor, if the ship were big enough, having a schweeb aboard and having tournaments throughout the cruise for fastest speed.

Remembering the Song

So Oasis of the Seas will hold 5,400 passengers. It’s nearly 1,200 feet long. Where does that leave ships like Song of America, with its paltry load of 1,200 passengers and just 703-foot length? Well, Royal Caribbean sold her. She’s now sailing as the MS Thomson Destiny. I hope she’s cared for well. I have nothing but good memories from that ship.

Comments

• September 23, 2009, Adam writes: We did a small 3 day cruise down to Mexico a couple of years ago and it was a lot of fun but I would agree with you that there just isn't enough time at the port. I too liked the feeling of being out in the ocean but would love to have like 2-3 days at the port to at least get to enjoy some activities and the culture of the ports.

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