The Nines (hotel)

• 1. Introduction

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  The Nines hotel in Portland, Oregon takes its name from a pair of nines separated by almost a century. The building that houses it opened in 1909. The hotel opened in 2008. When Pebblebrook Hotel Trust acquired the property in July 2014, it paid $127 million for it, or $384,000 per key. That kind of investment raises a natural question: what makes this particular hotel worth that price in Portland's competitive market? The answer starts nine floors up, in a building with a long history before the first guest ever checked in.

• 2. The Meier and Frank Building

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  The hotel sits inside the Meier and Frank Building, which opened in 1909 and remains one of Portland's landmark commercial structures. Rather than occupying the building from top to bottom, The Nines claims only the uppermost nine floors. That decision anchored the hotel's identity in the building's own story, turning the year of the building's birth into a name badge. The Luxury Collection franchise, operated under Marriott International, sets the standard the property is designed to meet.

• 3. Scale and Standing

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  With 331 rooms, The Nines is not the largest hotel in Portland. Thirty-two of those rooms are designated suites. That total places it sixth among Portland hotels by room count. The Hyatt Regency sits above it on that list, with 600 rooms; the Hyatt opened in 2019, more than a decade after The Nines welcomed its first guests. Management of the hotel and its dining operations falls to Sage Hospitality Resources, while Pebblebrook Hotel Trust holds ownership.

• 4. Dining on Two Levels

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  Urban Farmer, the hotel's gourmet steakhouse, occupies the 8th floor, which also doubles as the hotel's lobby. That unusual arrangement puts the check-in experience on the same floor as a full-service restaurant. Higher up, at the very top of the building, Departure Restaurant and Lounge offers Pan-Asian cuisine. Two distinct dining identities share the same address, one rooted in American steakhouse tradition and the other looking toward Asia for its menu.