Last month, I headed out to my fourth in-person FinCon — this time taking place in Portland, Oregon. Shortly before heading out to the West Coast for the event, I booked my room at the official event hotel: Hyatt Regency Portland.
Did this end up being a smart move? Let’s take a look at my experience at this Convention Center-adjacent property.
Hyatt Regency Portland at Oregon Convention Center King Room Review
Booking and How I Booked
As you can imagine, the Hyatt Regency is bookable via any number of travel portals or directly through Hyatt. In my case, since I was going to Portland for FinCon, I took advantage of their room block rates. Yet, due to my waiting until the very last few hours to book, the base room option was no longer available. Instead, I went for the next tier up, which was a city river view room.
That option was $224 per night, with taxes and fees adding $35.84 to each day (so $259.84 total).
Location (AKA Getting to the Convention Center)
If it weren’t obvious from the property’s full name or my stated reason for staying there, this Hyatt Regency is located steps away from the Oregon Convention Center. In my experience, it would have five minutes at most to get from my room to the hall. This was hugely convenient and made it so that I didn’t really have to leave the block.
That said, if you do want to venture out, there’s also a light rail station situated between the hotel and the convention center. Apparently, you can even take that to PDX — which I had every intention of doing before remembering that my flight was at 5 a.m.
Checking In
The Hyatt has a small porte cochere, but one that felt pretty “chill,” for lack of a better word. Basically, that just means I had no issues finding a spot to hop in an Uber. Plus, from the drop-off point, the check-in desk is right there.
When I arrived, there wasn’t any line. The agent I spoke to was very friendly and gave me a quick rundown of the property. Within a couple of moments, I had my keys in hand and was ready to head up to my room.
By the way, apparently, I still have some sort of Hyatt status I didn’t know about, which was good news because it entitled me to the two bottles of water in my room for free. Sans status, each one of these standard Aquafinas would have cost me… well, I actually forget how much they were, but I want to say $6? Regardless, I was glad I didn’t need to go buy them from the lobby store.
Elevators
I mention the elevators at the Hyatt Regency Portland only to praise them. Whether traveling up to my room or down to the lobby, I never had to wait long at all to catch a car. And while I do find the need to scan a key card before hitting a floor number to be an annoying (albeit likely needed) practice, at least these elevators allowed me to rescan my key and hit another guest’s floor. Yes, I like to be a helpful elevator operator — and also hit the “close door” button in between stops. I should do it professionally, to be honest.
Anyway, I give two thumbs up to this elevator bank and, as ridiculous as my previous paragraph was, I made an even more ridiculous Instagram Reel about the voice in these elevators.
The Room
Walking into the room at night, the first thing that caught my attention was the glowing spires seen through the window. As it turns out, this was the convention center. Looking closer, beyond the building, I could see freeways, the river, and more. It was a pretty nice view, honestly.
In front of the window was a couch, which was quite comfy. A small table was also there, so you could sit on the sofa and either eat or work if you wanted. Yet, I did my work next to that, on the small desk that’s attached to the wall. This was a bit cramped, but it got the job done.
As for the King bed, I managed to sleep well on it — although, even on the top floor, I could hear some random road noises in the night. But, the bed itself was comfortable, so that definitely helps. My only nitpick with the arrangement of the room was that there wasn’t a great place to put my phone at night. It seemed that, wherever I set it down, I’d have to contort myself to pick it back up while in bed. Again, this was a small defect but a noticeable one for me.
In the hallway part of the room, in lieu of a regular closet, there was some open furniture with hangers, places to store luggage, and more. This was also where you could find some practical amenities. I was pleased to see that the room was equipped with a Keurig machine (although I ended up using my Aeropress anyway).
There was also a mini-fridge… except that it’s actually a “beverage chiller.” How does that differ from a mini-fridge? Well, for one, it may be even smaller. More importantly, though, it’s not that cold. It even states on a sticker that its not for medication storage, which would also imply it’s probably not safe for holding food at temperature. While it’s not like I would have made use of a mini-fridge on this particular trip, I hate this near-worthless middle ground and hope I don’t encounter such an appliance again.
Finally, there was the bathroom. Like the Intercontinental I just stayed at in Indy, this shower featured both a rainfall and handheld option you could switch between. I loved this overall, although I could have used just a bit more pressure. Nevertheless, I liked the shower itself and the personal products that were stocked in it.
One thing I noticed soon after being in the room was that there was no door on the bathroom. This didn’t matter to me as I was alone, but my initial thought was that this would be awkward if you were sharing the room with a platonic travel buddy. However, it wasn’t until the night before I left that I realized there was a barn door that slid to separate the bedroom from the hall and bathroom. So never mind!
Dining
The Hyatt Regency is home to a variety of dining options. First, for a quick cup of (so-so) coffee, a sandwich, grab-and-go items, and more, there’s a Market location. I tried the cheese pizza flatbread from there, which was pretty tasty! The Ruby Jewel lemon lavender ice cream sandwich I bought with it was even more delicious, but of course, that item isn’t made by or exclusive to the hotel.
Next, there’s a lobby bar called Spoke & Fork. I ended up ordering from here twice: once ordering chicken fingers and fries using their online service and, the second time, I opted to pick up some Jojos on my way back to my room. Both were fine, but I do have to give them extra credit for calling my room when my online order was ready for pick-up earlier than expected. They also had Athletic beer on hand, so that’s another plus.
Finally, Bridgetown BBQ is also found in the lobby. However, this was the one place I didn’t have a chance to try during my stay.
Outside of the hotel itself, there are a few other eateries in the area. One option is Bugerville, which is what I had almost immediately after I arrived at the hotel (I literally punched up my order during the Uber ride). Apparently, it’s a local fast food chain that, in addition to a standard menu, has a number of vegetarian and vegan options. I’ll say that it hit the spot after a long day of travel, but wasn’t anything to write home about.
All in all, while I’m sure there are other, better options nearby, I was content to stay close on this trip. I will say that I appreciated the variety on site as well — especially having a convenient market there. This proved to be a great option for grabbing something in between convention sessions.
Final Thoughts on the Hyatt Regency Portland at the Oregon Convention Center
When it came to attending FinCon 2025, the Hyatt Regency Portland proved to be the perfect place to stay. In addition to offering outstanding proximity to the convention center, I also appreciated the lobby dining options, the view, and the room itself. However, even with the room block rate, I do think it was a bit pricey. Also, the whole “beverage chiller” situation annoys me more than it should.
Meanwhile, if you’re not attending a convention, I’m not sure this would be a good pick. Sure, you could take the light rail elsewhere, but I have to imagine there are more plentiful options in other parts of the citiy. But, if you are headed to the Oregon Convention Center, I’d say you’ll definitely want to book this property as long as the price is reasonable.