Palms Motel, Portland - discuss

I'm preparing a blog post to go with pictures I shot of the Palms Motel (very near the Alibi) in Portland. I don't need much text, just a little to accompany the pics. I know the age of the place (1954, according to employees) but most of the reviews I've seen are negative.

However, a TC user is a different animal than the general public and might be able to comment more from the framework of a mid-century enthusiast's expectations and subtle observations.

I already know the sign is awesome; had I had more than ten minutes I might have set up a lawn chain and just gazed at it the way other people admire a Monet.

I believe some of you have actually stayed there...any comments or stories?

I love the Palms! It's definitely not for everybody, though.

It's not the nicest digs, to be sure. When I last stayed there, I was given a room with a deadbolt that didn't line up with the door frame, and curtains that when closed left a 3" gap looking right into the room (the Palms is a courtyard-style motel). The room wasn't the freshest, in either aroma or appearance, but... that sign! That short jaunt to the Alibi! It did the trick for me.

:down: This is me & my friend Mo in the incredibly tiny tub in our Palms hotel room. It really was just a shower, trying very hard to look like a tub. We'd never seen anything like it, so we had to take this picture to commemorate it.

:down: That's a television wall mounting bracket sitting unused (obviously) atop our television; the round white thing on sitting on the bracket is our room's smoke detector. That's how it looked when we got there.

:down: The courtyard:

:down: The sign during daytime:

:down: The sign at night:

:down: One of my favorite pictures... neon monkey!

When I last talked to the owner, he excitedly told me about his plans to add more neon monkeys to the sign, and to have them look like they're climbing up and down, but I knew to not hold my breath for it.

It's the sort of place that I love just fine, but I'm careful about recommending to others. It's a little gross, a little scary, a little weird -- but dang if it hasn't given me some great laughs and memories. I have my days where I want something predictable and comfortable, but usually I like a little more spice in my stew. It's for adventurers only.

I do so love TC. I ask for a comment or two on a motel and in less than an hour I have not only that, but a picture of two women in a tub.

Thanks, Humuhumu!

By the way, as to those 3" curtain gaps, potato chip bag clips (usually no more than three) work well for closure unless they open up the view around the sides of the window in doing so.

Nice photos. What's with the mini-fridge blocking a door? Now that we've moved out of Portland we might as well give The Palms a try on a future visit. Are pets allowed?

Ahh the Palms! My husband and I spent Valentines there 3 or 4 years ago. It is a dive but in a good way. We started out with a few frames of bowling at Interstate Lanes, dinner and drinks at the Alibi, and onto the Palms Motel for the night. We made sure to book the room with the hot tub and were a bit mystified when Apu said "oh jes and 'ere is the key to the 'ot tub". ??? Turns out the said key is to turn on the jets to a regular size tub. It was hilarious, especially being that we shelled out an extra 15 bucks for it. I don't think even I could have fit in the tub by myself...and since a dead horsefly was already enjoying it, who was I to kick him out! All in all it was rad and one of the best dates we've ever had. Don't forget to have breakfast at the Overlook, eat in the bar , the fire pit and the Monte Cristo is to die for.

During my very very short stint as a cabby with Broadway I often found myself checked into the less popular 'zones'. You see, the computer in the cab had the city all divided up into zones and you could see how many drivers were checked in ahead of you in each zone's queue. Most of the cars hung out downtown, or at the airport, or in the trendy hoods with all the bars. I never checked into a zone that had more than one or two cars in it.
Interstate ave is smack dab in the middle of these less popular zones. I spent alot of time sitting in the taco bell parking lot just north of the Alibi waiting for a fare to pop up. Anyway, my fares were often pimps and dealers. These guys were actually my favorite. They kept me occupied for hours, driving from one place to the next, sitting and waiting in the cab with the meter running while they did hell knows what in this house or that hotel room. Anyway, they never balked at what the meter said, tipped well, and were polite and business-like.

These people inevitably had business at the Palms.

No juicy story to go with the post, sorry. Thats just what I think about when I see the Palms.

For a dive catering to the seemy underbelly, they've done a pretty good job keeping the sign buzzing.

Hooray for the Palms!

Web site updated!! Now more updated than ever!!
http://www.rumdemon.com

[ Edited by: Rum Demon 2007-01-15 19:16 ]

I stayed at the palms in 2005ish ... my family was homeless at the time ... though the owners were nice.our room was filthy and the bathroom hadnt been cleaned in who knows how long ... once i got my kiddos settled in bed our first night there and i dozed off we were awoken by what u ask ...?? A giant explosion and what do you know the room directly above us was a meth lab that freakin blew up ... .good times ... so we evacuated babies in tow .. my infant(at the time) ,3yo(at the time) and i all ended up covered in glass,from the window above exploding as we were running out of there, and god knows what ... my other 2 kids were unscathed as they got out before us ... we lost everything we had ... it sucked , he owners put us in a different room and now from the trauma i avoid that entire area to this day .... way to make an impression ...

Ooooooooooof!!