Portland

I agree with Jen: the Ace Hotel is reason enough to go to Portland.

Zoe, Dan, Michael and I were in Oregon last week, and - if I may speak for them - the hotel was one of the highlights of our little trip (check out the Flickr photos for more proof).

Dan and Zoe stayed at the downtown hostel, but the hotel was our base, so they were able to enjoy most of the goodness of the Ace Hotel along with us: Zoe snuggled into the couches in the lobby with a cup of Stumptown coffee and planned her photo-booth escapades while Dan hunkered down with the other laptops (dang school work) at the plank table that overlooked said couches. Meanwhile, I danced around our room and Michael spent a few extra minutes in the shower because it was so spacious and lovely.

We loved the snacks in the room, even though they were a little bit pricey. We ate the beef jerky but managed to resist the draw of the $8 chocolate covered hazelnuts.

We also loved the room service options, but never took advantage of them. A thermos of coffee from Stumptown and a cheese plate from Clyde Common (not at the same time, obviously) is in the cards next time around.

Finally, we loved the simple design of the room, especially the desk and the bed. We might even be inspired enough to make some changes to our own living space. A mattress on the floor just doesn't seem right anymore (it's not as bad as it sounds).

Yes. We loved the Ace Hotel. That said, we were also slightly troubled that it was able to target our tastes so well. But we were more pleased than troubled.