1912 American Renaissance hotel built by Portland entrepreneur Philip Gevurtz that once hosted nine U.S. presidents; its 'Woman in White' is now said to glide the 10th and 11th floor corridors of the Embassy Suites that occupies the building today.
319 SW Pine St, Portland, OR 97204
Age
All Ages
Cost
$$
Embassy Suites rates typically $150-$300/night; 276 suites in the converted historic building.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Downtown sidewalk approach; elevator service throughout.
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1912 · American Renaissance Architecture · National Register of Historic Places · Hosted Nine U.S. Presidents · Historic Hotels of America
The Multnomah Hotel opened February 8, 1912, with founder Philip Gevurtz hosting an opening gala that drew 8,000 attendees. Architects Gibson & Cahill designed the nine-story building in the American Renaissance style; it filled an entire city block bounded by SW Pine, SW Oak, SW 3rd, and SW 4th. With 700 guest rooms it was, in its prime, one of the grandest hotels on the Pacific Coast and welcomed nine U.S. presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to Richard Nixon along with international royalty and Hollywood celebrities.
Western Hotels (now Westin Hotels & Resorts) operated the property from 1931 until its closure in 1963. The Oregonian, marking its closing, described it as 'one of the most famous hotels on the Pacific Coast.' From 1965 through 1992 the building served as federal government offices.
A major renovation and conversion began in 1995. The building reopened in 1997 with 276 suites as the Embassy Suites Portland Downtown, retaining the original American Renaissance facade, the grand staircase, and the marble-clad lobby. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 28, 1985, and was designated a Portland Historic Landmark.
The property is a member of Historic Hotels of America and continues to operate as a Hilton-affiliated full-service hotel in downtown Portland's Old Town/Chinatown-adjacent core. The original ballroom space — used during the hotel's first life for jazz orchestras and society events — is preserved and used for modern events.
Sources
The Multnomah/Embassy Suites' best-documented apparition is a 'Woman in White' described in early twentieth-century dress. According to Paranormal Traveler and Haunted Rooms America, she is most often seen on the 10th and 11th floor corridors, described as 'lost' or 'searching' — sometimes appearing to be checking for a room number that no longer exists in the renumbered modern building.
Staff members per Paranormal Traveler report seeing her reflection in windows or mirrors and turning to find no one physically present. Late-night guests speak of footsteps echoing through corridors long after the hallways have emptied; doors are said to creak open without a draft, and faucets occasionally turn on by themselves.
A recurring sound-based phenomenon involves a 'party from the past' — jazz, laughter, and the clinking of glasses heard from an unoccupied upper floor, which falls silent when investigated. The original Multnomah hosted prominent jazz orchestras and society events through the 1920s and 1930s, and the lore frames the activity as a residual echo of that era.
Maintenance workers and basement staff have described tools moving from where they were left and a disembodied whispering voice in the basement-level utility corridors. None of these accounts have been tied to a specific named individual or to a documented death in the hotel; the reports remain anonymous and the entities unnamed.
Notable Entities
276-suite Embassy Suites occupies the 1912 Multnomah Hotel — once a 700-room hotel that hosted nine U.S. presidents from Theodore Roosevelt to Richard Nixon. The 10th and 11th floors carry the strongest paranormal reputation.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
Portland, OR
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George Heathman built the 10-story New Heathman Hotel in 1927 at SW Broadway and Salmon on what was then Portland's 'Great White Way' entertainment corridor. Designed by Portland firm DeYoung & Roald in the Jacobean Revival style, the concrete-and-brick structure was Portland's largest construction project to date and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
Portland, OR
Portland lawyer and former U.S. Congressman Rufus Mallory commissioned the Classical Revival-style hotel, which opened in 1912 as the Mallory Hotel. Mallory died in 1914, leaving his wife — author, publisher, and prominent spiritualist Lucy A. Rose Mallory — as sole owner until her death in 1920. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006 and reopened as Hotel deLuxe the same year.