Greetings from Portland, Oregon. Below is an update on the area’s newest travel-related developments. We hope you will find this information useful. If you prefer not to receive future media updates on Portland, you may unsubscribe here.

• Hey there, Georgie Girl! Doggie Diva Reigns at Portland Hotel
• Urban Winery and Tasting Room Open in Portland
• Oregon Convention Center Recertified as LEED-EB Silver

The Hotel Vintage Plaza’s newly hired director of pet relations is a bit of a clotheshorse. Or, perhaps we should say “clothespooch.” That’s because Georgie, a curly-faced Havanese adopted by the pet-friendly Vintage Plaza, has a killer outfit — complete with matching accessories — for just about every occasion. Naturally, it was at a people-and-pets fashion show that Georgie made her official Portland debut last month.

Georgie, who can be reached at georgie@vintageplaza.com, spends most days having her photo taken with guests, modeling outfits, and, according to her online bio, performing “crumb patrol” after staff meetings. But her presence is really a sign to guests that their own pets will be heartily welcomed by this Kimpton property. Upon arrival, the names of visiting pets are highlighted on the lobby chalkboard. And, for an additional $75, any guest can upgrade to the Lap of Luxury package, which includes amenities for both canines and caretakers:

• Water and wine (spring water for dogs; bottle of wine for caretakers)
• Two boxes of truffles (Bone Jour Gourmutt for pups; Moonstruck for humans)
• Fashion collar (only for the dogs)
• Frosty Paws pet ice cream
• Pet basket with complimentary treats
• Food bowls, mat and bed for use during hotel stay
• Valet parking

For an additional fee, the hotel can also arrange in-room doggie massages and/or grooming treatments at LexiDog boutique.

The Hotel Monaco Portland, the Vintage Plaza’s sister property in Portland, also has a director of pet relations on staff. Art, a golden lab, serves as the Monaco’s pet concierge. Unlike Georgie, however, Art has a more laid-back approach to fashion, rarely sporting anything more daring than his favorite leather collar. Art can be reached at art@monaco-portland.com.

The Hotel Vintage Plaza is located at 422 S.W. Broadway, Portland 97205; 503.228.1212. For more information on the hotel and its pet-friendly packages, visit www.vintageplaza.com. The Hotel Monaco Portland is located at 506 S.W. Washington St., Portland 97204; 503.222.0001; www.monaco-portland.com.

Media Contact
Lota LaMontagne, LAD Communications
503.827.6564, lota@ladcommunications.com

Come Thanksgiving, Portland oenophiles will find they have yet another reason to give thanks. That weekend (Nov. 29-30), indie winemakers John Grochau of GC Wine Cellars and Stewart Boedecker and Athena Pappas of Boedecker Cellars are scheduled to open the Portland Wine Project in Northwest Portland’s industrial area. This combined winery and tasting room represents a tasteful trifecta for a city that already enjoys two urban wineries: Hip Chicks Do Wine, located in southeast Portland, and Urban Wineworks, based in the Northwest/Nob Hill neighborhood.

Featuring flights of both GC and Boedecker wines, the new tasting room offers an alternative for visitors whose schedules don’t allow time to journey to Portland’s surrounding Willamette Valley wine country. The facility also nicely rounds out the liquid assets of a city whose residents have been long spoiled by an abundance of craft beer outlets and microdistilleries.

At 9,671 square feet, the Portland Wine Project is one of the largest urban wineries in the area. The facility is located at 2621 N.W. 30th Ave., Portland 97210; 503.288.7752; www.portlandwineproject.com (website currently under construction).

Media Contacts
Athena Pappas, Portland Wine Project/Boedecker Cellars
503.288.7752, info@boedeckercellars.com

This October, the Oregon Convention Center (OCC) was recertified by the U.S. Green Building Council as LEED-EB Silver, making it the first convention center in the nation to achieve recertification at a higher level. In 2004, following a major expansion of the OCC, the center was rated LEED-EB (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, Existing Buildings category). To earn the points required for Silver certification, the OCC partnered with Portland-based Green Building Services. Areas of focus in the process included the installation of low-flow plumbing fixtures, adjustments to HVAC systems and the purchase of renewable wind power, which now accounts for 40 percent of the electricity used by the facility.

With more than 500,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space, the OCC is the largest convention facility in the Pacific Northwest. Among the most beautiful of the building’s existing sustainability features is the Rain Garden, a series of landscaped ponds through which all rainwater draining from the OCC’s five-acre roof flows, before reaching the nearby Willamette River. As the water moves through the rocks and native plants adorning the ponds, it is filtered of pollutants.

The OCC is managed by the Metropolitan Exposition Recreation Commission (MERC), a division of Metro, the Portland area’s elected regional government. Metro oversees regional recycling and sustainability efforts, as well as managing the area’s Urban Growth Boundary and several regional performance and event venues.

For more information on the Oregon Convention Center, visit www.oregoncc.org.

Media Contacts
Stephanie Soden, Metropolitan Exposition Recreation Commission
503.274.6589 or 971.227.1195, stephaniesoden@mercvenues.org