Just completed a 4-night stay.

Short Version:

The Good/Excellent

• Price as Points/and Cash (9k points is decent, and $90/night is an insanely good deal for this property)
• Breakfast (Quite good, and a standout for the price)
• Rooms (Spacious, comfortable and I like the aesthetic)
• Location (Assuming you like downtown PDX, I do)

The Not Great

• Lack of basic stuff in the rooms (No water glasses of any kind, no corkscrew)
• Front desk service (Oh, you want a water glass? We don't really provide those, why don't you check at the bar and see if they'll give you one?)
• Messing up confirmed Globalist room requests
• Expensive ($50/night) Valet Parking (for non Globalists) and no EV Charging Option
• Some street noise on lower floor rooms

Overall: At $90/night (like it was during our stay) this hotel is an insane deal and everyone should stay here. Even at a more normal $150-$200/night, it's still offering a very nice experience, especially for globalists with breakfast.

Longer Review:
This was our second stay at the Portland Hyatt Centric, having stayed previously in the summer of 2022. We were in town visiting family over Thanksgiving and were surprised to find that rooms were available on points, a decent value for points and just $90/night as cash! While I was tempted to pay cash to save points, I've been trying to be better about using vs. hoarding award points. So, I booked 2x rooms for our family for 4-nights, on a combination of points and free night certs. I also called the globalist line to apply (expiring before I'll be able to use them another way) suite upgrade certs. I was able to get both rooms confirmed, even though I shouldn't technically be able to stack suite upgrades on top of free night certs.

We arrived Wednesday afternoon, and had no trouble checking in. We were placed on the 3rd floor (the front desk clerk said it was "the biggest room in the hotel") in an accessible king suite, and a 2 queen across the hall. The second room wasn't the suite we'd had confirmed, but honestly it worked well for our needs, was close, and I didn't want to deal with the hassle of complaining to the front desk and getting it fixed, so I didn't. As a side note, the last time we stayed here they also messed up a confirmed room request, so it seems like this might be symptomatic at this property.

The rooms were comfortable. The accessible suite was enormous, and even the 2-queen felt spacious. I like the decor. I'd ask for a higher floor next time, we were over a streetcar route that was quite noisy, and one night there was some pretty loud dance music that filtered pretty clearly into our room.

What was odd was the missing "standard amenities" you'd expect in any hotel: no glasses of any kind, and no corkscrew. When I went down to the front desk to ask, I got told, "Oh, we don't put glasses in rooms. You can ask at the bar and they might give you some."

I did, and the bartender (like the breakfast staff) was quite nice and accommodating. But it was weird that glasses (particularly) weren't provided, or available from the front desk.

The valet experience was very good and convenient, though for a non-globalist paying $50/night (especially if you've only paid $90/night for the room) to park your car is wild. There's plenty of cheaper public parking garages nearby, but while some "PDX is a lawless wasteland" fears are overblown, car windows really are getting smashed fairly regularly, and I wouldn't risk parking in a non-secure location overnight in downtown Portland at the moment. It was frustrating that (especially considering the price) EV charging isn't available. This was one of our first EV road trips, and we had to rely on fast chargers since we weren't able to charge overnight at the hotel.

If I wasn't getting free Globalist Valet, I'd probably opt for the $20/night Southpark garage that's on 9th and Taylor, and seems to be well secured + offers EV charging.

Breakfast was a standout, as was the breakfast globalist treatment. We were given "coupons" that explained Globalist breakfast benefits, which were quite fair and given for both rooms (not a requirement of the program, but something I've been given on every qualifying stay when I've booked 2-rooms). Every one of the dishes we tried (and we had the whole menu between us by the time we checked out) was good, and some were excellent. On-par with a breakfast you'd go out to in Portland. Even the espresso drinks were Portland-standard, and the service (especially the first 2-days we were there) was excellent.




Avocado Toast

2 Egger

Breakfast Burrito

Breakfast Sandwich

Globalist Breakfast Voucher


We used the health center every morning. It's not particularly large or impressive, but it has the basics and was never overly-crowded during our stay.

Stuff Nearby
Like I mentioned, we quite like this part of Portland. Here are a few of the spots nearby I'd recommend:

• Never Coffee - Right across the street, excellent coffee.
• Lil' Shalom - Same block as the Centric, small outpost of Shalom Y'all, excellent Middle Eastern quick bites and good Happy Hour value
• Multnomah Whisky Library - Same block as the Centric. Member-only club, but it's possible to get into the green room and even the main area just by showing up and getting on the waitlist. Easy to put your name on since it's next to the Centric. Excellent cocktails and a spiritual destination for Whisky lovers.
• Powells - I'm not sure if it's possible to visit Portland and not know about Powells, but on the off chance, it's just a couple blocks from the Centric. Plan to get literally lost in there, find books you never intended to buy, and spend far too much money but not regret any of it.
• 23rd / the Alphabet District - A little over a mile away from the Centric. Easily walkable. My current favorite shopping/restaurant/strolling neighborhood of Portland. My two favorite stops are Snow Peak (out-of-my-budget but still fun to look at Japanese camping gear) and Paxton Gate (odd preserved animals, bones and curiosities).

Is Downtown Portland a Post-apocalyptic Hellhole?
Short answer: no, though it's not perfect. Like I mentioned above, there are real problems like car break-ins, and homelessness. On the other hand, from my (visit the city once or twice a year and almost always stay downtown) perspective, things are getting better, not worse on the homelessness front, and there's clear investment and progress in terms of how downtown PDX looks, and is maintained.

As a reference point, one night of our stay my wife was going to come meet me a few blocks from our hotel around 8PM. I asked if she wanted me to come back and meet her. She poked her head out, saw plenty of people walking around and told me there was no need, she felt totally comfortable walking on her own.

You'll probably see some unhoused people, some who might be visibly high. You probably shouldn't park your car someplace unsecured. You'll also still be in the middle of a bunch of great shops and restaurants and entertainment venues, in a vibrant area that seems to be on much more of an upswing than a downswing. I wouldn't choose to live in downtown Portland, I love visiting there.