Under $50

Hostelling International—Portland, Northwest (425 NW 18th Ave., 503/241-2783 or 888/777-0067, www.nwportlandhostel.com, bunks $22 for HI members, $25 nonmembers) has a great location between the shopping and dining of NW 21st and 23rd Avenues and the artsy Pearl District—in other words, within walking distance of two of Portland’s most exciting neighborhoods. The hostel is in a restored turn-of-the-20th-century building and features dorms with 2–4 beds per room, private rooms, a fully equipped kitchen, and a coffee bar.

$100–150

Easily one of Portland’s most unique lodging choices, the Inn at Northrup Station (2025 NW Northrup St., 503/224-0543 or 800/224-1180, www.northrupstation.com, $139 and up, free parking) is an older motel in now-trendy Northwest Portland that has been totally, and we mean totally, renovated into a retro-hip showcase with a wild color palette—sort of George Jetson meets the Summer of Love. Each of the rooms has full kitchens, boldly designed furniture, and lots of room to make yourself at home (if your home’s a design showcase). There’s a rooftop garden, plus lots of curious and outrageous art everywhere. The inn is right on the Portland Streetcar line, so you can get to the Pearl District or downtown in minutes without having to worry about parking.

The top B&B in Northwest Portland is Heron Haus Bed & Breakfast Inn (2545 NW Westover Rd., 503/274-1846, www.heronhaus.com, $145 and up). Built in 1904 and perched in a prime West Hills location, this ivy-covered 10,000-square-foot English Tudor home is one of the city’s most impressive B&Bs. It offers six guest rooms on the second and third floors, all with fireplaces, modern private baths, cable TV, and terrific views of the city and the Cascades. Furnishings are comfortable, casual, and contemporary, and continental breakfast is served in the formal parquet-floored dining room. Guests can avail themselves of a sunroom, a morning room, a mahogany-paneled library, a study, and a secluded garden with a patio; the shops and restaurants of NW 23rd Avenue are just a few minutes walk away.

by Judy Jewell and W. C. McRae from Moon Oregon, 8th Edition, © Elizabeth & Mark Morris and Avalon Travel