The band tonight is not that shabby. As I listen to them work their way through their first set, I decide that I like their lyrics and, if I wasn’t lying in bed, I’d probably be tapping a foot to the beat. It’s a rare occurrence that I get to critique live music from the comfort of my bed. The fact that my head is only 15 feet from the lead singer, much closer than many of the seats in the bar, allows me to hear the music with perfect clarity. I could be even closer to the band but I’m in the top bunk. Jen, who is sleeping in the bunk below me, is probably only 10 feet from the band. Of course, this distance is in vertical feet and there’s a floor between us and them. But when you decide to book a room at the White Eagle, which bills itself as a rock and roll hotel, it would be disappointing if the music wasn’t loud enough to make the walls vibrate.
The White Eagle Saloon & Hotel is part of the McMenamin’s kingdom of brewpubs, bars, movie theaters, and unique hotels. It is also one of the best deals in Portland for cheap, quality accommodations. A small, two-story building, the saloon takes up the entire first floor and there is a dozen hotel rooms on the second floor. Since the White Eagle is located in an industrial area under the Fremont Bridge, the urban views are spectacular.
The White Eagle originally opened in 1905 as a bar that catered to Polish immigrants as well as dock, mill, and railroad workers in the nearby industrial areas. According to the McMenamin’s website, the patrons could indulge in a brothel upstairs or an opium den downstairs. Another feature of the building, the website states, is that in the basement was a tunnel leading to the waterfront. Legend has it that through this subterranean passageway unlucky patrons were shanghaied to fill the ranks of ships’ crews. In the early 1970’s, the bar started having live music and that tradition continues today, with live bands playing seven nights a week.
As Jen and I discovered, $30 will get you a small room with bunk beds right above the stage. A bit more will get you beds that fit two people and slightly more distance from the band. All rooms are “European-style,” with bathrooms down the hall. There is free McMenamins-roasted coffee in the morning, free wireless Internet during the day, and the cover charge for the bar is waived in the evenings.
The McMenamins, like they have done at all of their properties, have put a lot of attention into the details. From the historic photographs of the hotel to the tiled guitars in the shower and the painted quotes in the rooms, I spent a fair amount of time wandering the small hotel just looking at the walls. The hotel might be small, cramped, and loud, but it has enough quality and charm that these become good things.
The band tonight is some sort of a folk/rock act which is much better for sleeping than the thrash metal band who played the night before. I look at my watch and figure that they’ll be playing for another hour. Most bands this week seemed to have knocked off at about 12:30am. As I lie in the dark room, I think that I’ll have to look up their name in the morning. That way, when they become famous, I can brag that they once sang me to sleep. Of course, that is, if I can fall asleep. And not fall off the top bunk.
