319 S.W. Pine

Years: February 1912 – 1963

1965-1992 Governmental offices

1995 [reopened 1997] Embassy Suites Portland

Multnomah Hotel

Photo above was approximately taken around 1920.

Per Wikipedia: “The 700-room hotel was built by local entrepreneur Philip Gevurtz[4] and opened on February 8, 1912.[5] The nine-story building filled an entire city block.[6] It was operated by Western Hotels, now known as Westin Hotels & Resorts, from 1931 until it closed in 1963.[7] At the time of its closure, The Oregonian wrote that the Multnomah had been "one of the most famous hotels on the Pacific Coast".[6] From 1965 to 1992 the building housed government offices.[7] It was sold in 1995 and restored, its 700 rooms reduced to 276 suites,[8] reopening in 1997 as the Embassy Suites Portland - Downtown. The hotel has hosted Queen Marie of Romania, Charles Lindbergh,[6][7] Rudolph Valentino, Amelia Earhart,[9] Jimmy Stewart, Bing Crosby, Jack Benny, Elvis Presley,[10] and every president from Theodore Roosevelt to Richard Nixon.[8] Maurice Ravel and Lisa Roma concert in Ball Room Feb.15, 1928 8:30 pm”

One item of note, it opened in February 1912, and almost immediately became infamous for the arrest of Horace Tabb during the 1912 Vice Clique Scandal.

“There are hints that the Multnomah may have held the interest of gay men from the time it opened.  It had special adjoining rooms on the seventh floor used especially by traveling salesmen.  The Multnomah maintained a card file of guests’ “likes and dislikes,” so as to cater to them upon return visits.  A new owner taking the building just a year later eliminated the hotel’s vaudeville shows, finding them “not suitable entertainment for Portland.”  Cait Curtin, The Grand Lady of Fourth Avenue: Portland’s Historic Multnomah Hotel, (Portland: Binford & Mort, 1997).  It now is an Embassy Suites Hotel.

Per the book A Curious and Peculiar People by David Grant Kohl, “There were Turkish baths in the basement of the Multnomah Hotel, operating as a separate business from the hotel. Several spas were located in the Portland Hotel and the Dekum Building. Many of these had disappeared or were in decline by the 1960s.”

Further on:

“The Multnomah Hotel at SW 4th and Pine became the first Oregon hotel to serve liquor by the glass in 1954 after State liquor laws were changed. The Multnomah had eclipsed the Portland Hotel as the fashionable site for local events and visiting dignitaries… With the change in  Oregon  Liquor Control Commission rules, a bar was carved out of the lobby-level Stirrup Room known as the Jester….Immediately popular in those days of near-paranoia about public drinking, the Jester soon had a piano bar and music by Bart Woodrow or  Jack  Baine.  The Jester was described as a pleasant drinking room, with an unobstructed view into the lobby, which featured “pick-me-ups” for the downtown business crowd.  The concept that would become the “happy hour” had been born… Soon discovered by discrete gays, the Jester served as an ideal venue to see and be seen, and to meet “friends of Dorothy.” Dorothy refers to Dorothy Parker of the New York City Algonquin roundtable, not Dorothy Gail, and her little dog Toto, of Kansas. To aid in communication, interested men usually wore a green coat, often sporting a pinkie ring on the small finger, and smoking  Pall  Mall cigarettes.  Pall Malls became the fag of choice since their motto was for men of distinction.”

He also states that “Also conveniently located in this full-service hotel were Turkish Baths, operating as a separate business from the services offered to hotel guests.” It appears that there were Turkish Baths.”

TURKISH BATHS Multnomah Hotel – Per A Curious and Peculiar People book by David Grant Kohl while writing about the Multnomah Hotel cited: HE also states that “Also conveniently located in this full-service hotel were Turkish Baths, operating as a sperate business from the services offered to hotel guests.”

Below are two ads one Left from The Oregonian on May 16, 1920, and the other from  The Oregonian on June 11, 1920. By July 1920 the ads ceased. More research to be done on what happened to the Turkish baths.