Benson Hotel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Benson Hotel complex. Original 1912 building is to right, 1959 annex to the left

The Benson Hotel is a 375 room historic hotel building in downtown Portland, Oregon, USA.

It is currently owned and operated by Coast Hotels & Resorts. Also known just simply 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.

[edit] History

Simon Benson had wished to build a world-class hotel in Portland. During the population boom that occurred between the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial Fair 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 1912 and Chicago's Blackstone Hotel served as the inspiration of the building's overall design. The building was originally an annex to the Oregon Hotel, and was known as the New Oregon Hotel.

In 1959, the old Oregon Hotel next door was demolished to, ironically, make way for a 175 room annex to the 1912 building.

It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 as reference number #86003175.

A number of international celebrities have stayed at the Benson. In November 2005, Paul McCartney stayed at the hotel while visiting Portland on his US Tour.