Benson Hotel
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Benson Hotel
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The Benson Hotel complex: the original 1912 building is on the right, 1959 annex to the left
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| Location: | 309 SW Broadway, Portland, Oregon |
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| Coordinates: | 45°31′18.4″N 122°40′43.4″W / 45.521778°N 122.678722°WCoordinates: 45°31′18.4″N 122°40′43.4″W / 45.521778°N 122.678722°W |
| Built: | 1912 |
| Architect: | Doyle, Patterson & Beach |
| NRHP Reference#: | 86003175 [1] |
| Added to NRHP: | November 20, 1986 |
The Benson Hotel is a 287-room historic hotel building in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States.[2] It is owned and operated by Coast Hotels & Resorts. It was originally known as the New Oregon Hotel,[3] and is commonly known as "The Benson". It has a reputation as one of Portland's finest hotels. The hotel is named after notable businessman and philanthropist Simon Benson. The Benson is the seventh largest hotel in Portland based on the number of rooms.[4]
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[edit] History
Simon Benson had wished to build a world-class hotel in Portland. During the population boom that occurred between the 1905 Lewis & Clark Centennial Exposition and the Great Depression, Benson fulfilled his wish.
The firm of Doyle, Patterson, and Beach designed the main hotel building in French Second Empire style. The hotel opened on March 5, 1913 as an annex to the adjacent Oregon Hotel, on the southern half of the block. It was briefly known as the New Oregon Hotel, but was quickly renamed The Benson Hotel. Chicago's Blackstone Hotel served as the inspiration of the building's overall design.[3]
Benson sold the hotel to William Boyd and Robert Keller in 1919. They, in turn, sold it to Western Hotels in 1944. In 1959, the old Oregon Hotel building next door was demolished by Western to make way for a 175-room annex to the 1912 building. Western was renamed Western International Hotels, and finally Westin Hotels. The Benson was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.[1] Westin Hotels sold the hotel to WestCoast Hotels (now Coast Hotels & Resorts) in 1988.
El Gaucho Restaurant is on the ground floor of the building.
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Oregon National Register List" (PDF). Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. June 6, 2011. p. 30. http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/docs/oregon_nr_list.pdf. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
- ^ "Portland — Benson Hotel". Quikbook.com. http://www.quikbook.com/getprofile.asp?code=2188&market=2022. Retrieved 2008-12-22.
- ^ a b Benson Hotel in the Oregon Encyclopedia
- ^ Stevens, Suzanne (February 24, 2012). "List: Top Portland hotels". Portland Business Journal. http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/morning_call/2012/02/list-top-portland-hotels.html. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
[edit] Further reading
- Benson, Alice Simon Benson, Northwest Lumber King (Portland, Ore.: Binford & Mort, 1976)
- MacColl, E. Kimbark Money, Merchants, and Power: The Portland Establishment, 1843-1913 (Portland, Ore.: Georgian Press, 1988)
[edit] External links
Media related to Benson Hotel at Wikimedia Commons
- Benson Hotel (official website)
- The Benson Hotel History
- Hotel Oregon
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