Portland, Ore. – McMenamins plans to open a 63-room hotel next door to the Crystal Ballroom, thirty years after it took over the northwest Portland concert venue. The Oregon-based chain’s goal is to create a new entertainment and lodging district in the Rose City. “This is kind of a dream scenario,” Shannon McMenamin told reporters Thursday, during a press tour of the hotel. McMenamins bought the building in 2024 and it’s now undergoing major renovations.
It originally opened as Hotel Nortonia in 1906. It’s had various names through the years and the first-floor speakeasy was raided at least twice. “These are the kind of things that we’re going to try to incorporate into the decor, and in the black and white photographs,” says McMenamins Historian Jon Smart. Also part of the decor: song lyrics. Local artists are painting song lyrics into murals in the hotel’s hallways – but only those of songs performed on the Crystal Ballroom stage.
Once finished, the yet-to-be-named hotel will have three bars, including a recreation of that original speakeasy. McMenamin says a secret library-bar is going in on the fourth floor, “Potentially have an entry that would be hidden from the public. So, you’d have to go through a process of trying to find the space, similar to what we’ve done at the ‘broom closet’ at the St. Francis School, down in Bend.”
Music Director Jimi Biron says the goal of the project is to create a “Crystal Blocks” entertainment district, mirroring the west end of Nashville, “We’re really trying to replicate that here on the west end of Portland. So, we have to have something going on all the time; that’s my mandate.” He adds, “This is all based around the Crystal Ballroom, where the greatest bands of all time have come through.”…