The Society Hotel was a great place to stay during my conference at the Oregon Convention Center, which is just a few minutes away on the light rail. The hotel rooms are simple and comfortable, and there are awesome restaurants and bars close by.
Just one note: I'm from a city, but the scale of Portland's homelessness problem was still shocking to me. There are a lot of homeless people on the streets near the hotel. That said, I never felt unsafe walking around during the day or at night.