I have been looking forward to staying at this hotel for a long time. It is definitely a very unique hotel, as others have said. I mainly enjoyed my experience but also have some mixed feelings about it

Location
The location in downtown Portland is outstanding -- very convenient in downtown with lots of restaurants / shops nearby. 2 blocks from light rail that takes you to airport for only $2.40

Room
I am a big fan of W's and the room reminded me of one. I was in a King room facing the street. I liked the decor of the room and the bed was comfortable. However, I had several issues with it. The room was really small. So small as to be uncomfortable for two people and really small for a city like Portland (compared to large rooms at Westin). The room also had a number of "green" features that just took things too far and made my stay less enjoyable: 1) No plastic cups for water; 2) Only one bar of soap (thought Starwood fixed this last year?); 3) Ridiculous packets of shampoo / conditioner / water that were nearly impossible to use. Also, the iron didn't work and the shower leaked all over the floor. The decorative curtains were ridiculous and there was not adequate "functional" curtains to properly block out sunlight

So, overall, the room was decorated nicely but was too small and lacked in function. I preferred the room at the Westin by a long shot

Lounge
One of the features of this property is an above-average Starwood lounge. However, while it is a great lounge, I have to admit I was a little disappointed based on the glowing reviews in earlier threads. I don't know if the quality has gone down or if my expectations were too high. The lounge is large and nicely decorated. They have excellent local beers, wine, and Jones soda available -- however, it is not self-serve, so you do need an attendant to get these items for you (no problem with this and the staff was friendly). I saw others say spirits were available -- I was not offered this and did not ask so cannot verify. I was very disappointed by the food. Breakfast was just a small continental breakfast and during the day the only food available were pita chips & dip and fruit (apples, apricots). Yes, this is better than most lounges. But not the best I have ever seen. For example, the Sheraton Palo Alto has self-service beer and wine, hot appetizers in the evening, and a large breakfast in the morning. Better than average but not amazing

Staff
The lounge staff is extremely friendly and went out of their way to offer suggestions about the local area. The front desk staff was just okay and seemed to take a long time -- resulting in very long lines

Misc.
As others have mentioned, lots of problems with the key cards, which was somewhat annoying

So, I think this comes down to small room versus lounge access. At least the lounge gave us a place to hang out (with free drinks) and somewhat compensated for the smaller room