The Duniway: Hotel Review (& Favorite Weird Things to Do in Portland)

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I had the most amazing time on a mini-vacation to Portland for my birthday last weekend. We drove down, which only took 6 hours from Vancouver, and spent 2.5 days exploring Portland. We stayed at The Duniway, a new boutique Hilton hotel and had an amazing time. Today I wanted to share some photos and talk about The Duniway hotel; as well as share with you three weird “Portland must do’s”. Portland is one of my favorite cities and there is tons of content on the web for things to do. Instead of the usual then, I thought I would share with you three weird but oh-so-fun things to do in Portland that I just love. I mean, the city’s slogan is #KeepPortlandWeird , so how I could I not share these! Stay tuned to the bottom of the post for those!

First though, let’s talk about the rooms at The Duniway.

We stayed in a king room and, as you can see in the photo above, it was beautiful! I loved the decor – the paintings on the wall were beautiful, and I liked that even in a room with just a single king bed there is a couch/nook area to hang out as well as a desk in case you need to get any work done.

Despite being on vacation, I still needed to put in an hour or so of work each day (#LawyerLife) so having this spot was perfect! I loved being able to wake up, make a cup of coffee and settle down in the room to work for a bit before my guy woke up for the day. It was nice to not have to leave for a coffee shop to get work done!

The room itself, as I mentioned, was surprisingly spacious- and that includes a spacious bathroom! his and her sinks and really good lighting!

.. and yes, for the record, I am indeed curling my hair in the below photo while having a glass of wine. You mean you don’t drink while you do your hair?! haha

Enough about the rooms. Let’s discuss the rest of The Duniway! The only thing I didn’t like is that the pool/outdoor area was under construction. It was really nice one afternoon and it would have been great to spend some time by the pool/soaking up the sun! That said, from what I can tell the pool / outdoor area construction is almost complete and it is scheduled to open up next month. Just in time for any summer trips to Portland!

The Duniway is also home to one of Portland’s chicest new restaurants; Jackrabbit. The atmosphere of Jackrabbit reminds me a bit of mad men 1950’s Americana and the food is American cuisine.

We went for cocktails and dinner there on our first night and it was fantastic. The cocktail menu is extensive to say the least! I went with the City of Roses and guy went with a local craft beer. Both were delicious!

The food at Jackrabbit was amazing, but heavily, heavily meat based. Thank goodness I am a pescetarian, not a full blown vegetarian or vegan, as I don’t think there would have been more than one maybe two things I could have eaten. If you are a meat eater or pescetarian I highly recommend Jackrabbit, but if you are vegetarian or vegan you probably want to pass.

We started out with oysters as an appetizer, which came with three different homemade sauces. I’m not a huge oyster fan – I only have them maybe twice a year – but these were definitely delicious. For our meals, guy got the Bacon Chop (which he said was amazing. … my only thoughts on it were ‘holy crap that thing is as big as his head’) and I got the fish of the day (pictured below).

Overall, we had an amazing time in Portland and I highly recommend The Duniway as a place to stay. I also forgot to mention it is in a great central location – right across from Pioneer Courthouse square. Perfect for this law nerd who fully dragged my guy to the courthouse to check it out haha.

Alright, last thing! I couldn’t write this post without including my three favorite ‘weird’ Portland activities.

3 Weird Portland Must-Do’s:

1) Stark’s Vacuum Museum:

Yep, you read that correctly. Portland vacuum store Stark’s actually has a ‘museum’ component to it. Who knew that there could be a museum about probably the most mundane home good?! It’s worth checking this place out for the photo op and to see what vacuums looked like throughout history. They even have one from the 1800’s!

2) The World’s Tiniest Park

Portland is home to Mill Ends park, what the Guinness Book of World Record’s has declared the smallest park in the world. And when they say small, they mean small! It is in the middle of an intersection and is about 2 feet across! Again, this is worth visiting just for the weird novelty of it!

3. Drink Coffee in a Double Decker “Coffee Bus”

If you go to Portland you absolutely have to go to Tov Coffee. Tov is an Egyptian coffee shop located in a double decker bus and it is nothing short of amazing. Egyptian coffee on it’s own is delicious, but they also have a number of delicious coffee drinks – my personal favorite was a caramel latte with cardamom – and snacks, including the best turkish delight I have ever had! The decor itself, being in a double decker bus, is also really cool and definitely worth a visit!

For More US Travel Posts Check Out:

• Palm Springs: A Girls Weekend Travel Guide
• New Orleans Travel Guide
• How to Pack for 4 Days with Just a Carry On

**Thank you to The Duniway for hosting me in Portland. As always, all opinions are my own and all reviews are honest.

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