The Jupiter, a refurbished mid-century motel, is visually appealing, stylishly designed, and eminently livable; luxury, however, is not part of the program. Get your head around this idea and you’re in for a good time. The Jupiter is aimed at young, creative types, an audience that’s interested in design and in thoughtful and quirky hotels, but that would feel underdressed in a high-gloss hotel like one of Ian Schrager’s, for example.

Unlike its counterpart across the street, Jupiter NEXT is an unapologetically contemporary structure. Its height affords it unparalleled views of the city, especially in its west-facing rooms, and its modern construction allows for generous floor plans and rooms that are as luxurious as they are stylish. And we do mean stylish. Though it’s a move upmarket, Jupiter NEXT hasn’t lost touch with its hip origins.

The Hoxton, Portland, set just outside the Chinatown Gateway, adapts the brand’s post-industrial, London-born aesthetic to a century-old building, but it’s not a copy of the Shoreditch original — here the Hoxton group’s in-house design studio took their inspiration from the Northwest modernist movement of the Sixties and Seventies.

A 19th-century sailors’ hostel in Portland’s Chinatown finds new life as a low-frills, high-style boutique hotel, one that’s meant to fill a gap at the low-budget end of the market. Some of the Society Hotel’s rooms remain hostel-style, while others are private but share bathrooms, and the best ones are fully en-suite. There’s a café and bar that does triple duty as a restaurant, as well as a rooftop deck.

Portland’s creative culture and youthful character aren’t always obvious in its downtown hotels. Across the river, though, in one of southeast Portland’s most rapidly up-and-coming corners, is a hotel that puts its guests right in the thick of it. Hotel Grand Stark is from Palisociety, whose hotels are known for two things: their careful tailoring to their settings, and their lively, convivial atmosphere.

Portland may be better known in the popular imagination for its hip eccentricity, but it can also do urban elegance with the best of them. Woodlark is a perfect illustration, a pair of historic buildings (one the 1920s-vintage Hotel Cornelius) combined into a single hotel, one that effortlessly embodies Portland’s stylish, cosmopolitan side.

The Sentinel is a splendid Arts and Crafts hotel with a bit of a Lewis and Clark fixation; murals depicting the explorers adorn the lobby walls, alongside mahogany paneling and rich leather furniture. The décor is so well done it’s hard to believe it’s a restoration — the hotel was just a shadow of its 1909 glory, rescued from dilapidation in the Nineties, the west wing converted into the new lobby in 2004.

Portland may be better known for its homespun, folksy charm, its artisanal espresso and one-speed bicycles — but with The Nines, there’s finally a chic luxury option. The name is no accident: “dressed to the nines” isn’t a phrase you hear often enough around Oregon, but it certainly applies here. The location is classic city-luxe, atop a historic building overlooking Portland’s surprisingly elegant downtown square.

Lucia’s personality comes from a confident and rather grown-up visual identity, some charming and slightly quirky historical architecture, a location in Portland’s increasingly vibrant downtown, and a first-rate collection of black-and-white prints from David Hume Kennerly, a highly regarded local photographer. What brings it together, in the end, is the service: “Make It So” is something of a motto for Hotel Lucia’s staff.

Downtown Portland is surprisingly urban — streetcars, high-rise buildings, the works. But the RiverPlace Hotel’s having none of it. Here the views are of the waterfront park, the marina, the Hawthorne bridge, and the waters of the Willamette River. There’s a bit of a country-house vibe about the place, or a mountain lodge — sans mountains, but with plenty of timber and stone, and a fireplace seemingly around every corner.