A new hotel campus has landed just three miles from Portland International Airport, and it's bringing something Oregon hasn't seen before: a dinner show starring a tiny animated chef projected directly onto the tabletop. The Mindaro, a JdV by Hyatt hotel in Northeast Portland's Parkrose neighborhood, opened Friday with 90 guestrooms, a restaurant, a café-bar and an event center all sharing one address at 11707 NE Airport Way.
Hyatt announced the opening in a statement, describing the new property as part of a larger campus that also includes the existing Hyatt House Portland Airport, according to newsroom.hyatt.com. The Mindaro's 90 rooms each run nearly 500 square feet, the company said, while Hyatt House Portland Airport contributes 112 guestrooms, including 73 apartment-style Kitchen Suites with full kitchens. Together, the two hotels add up to 202 guestrooms on the shared campus. An earlier trade report from c-mw.net had projected The Mindaro would open with 88 rooms, though the hotel's final room count landed at 90.
The campus concept ties together lodging, dining and events under one roof, and French outlet La Revue des Hôtels reports that Vesta Hospitality, a hotel management company based in Vancouver, Washington, is associated with the property. Rick Takach, the company's chairman and chief executive, described the site as a campus combining accommodation, dining and events, per that same report, and the outlet notes Vesta added The Mindaro to its portfolio as the property joined JdV by Hyatt, one of the hospitality giant's 36 brands. The hotel's general manager is Phillip Wilson, according to La Revue des Hôtels.
A Tiny Chef Takes Center Stage at Jawfish
The headline attraction for many visitors won't be the rooms at all but dinner at Jawfish Restaurant, where Le Petit Chef has set up shop. Hyatt calls the show a first for Oregon, describing it as an immersive culinary adventure that combines a three-dimensional animated dinner show with curated prix fixe menus. Reservations are required, and performances run Thursday through Sunday, Hyatt said in its announcement.
Published seating times list shows at 7 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays and 5:30 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, according to the Portland Tribune. The same outlet reported the concept had welcomed more than 50,000 guests worldwide, and a review from OregonLive noted the company's website listed 135 locations across 52 countries at the time of its visit.
Pricing follows a tiered menu structure. The Portland Tribune listed the standard menu at $150 per person, a vegetarian option at $125 and a junior menu at $75. OregonLive's reviewer similarly reported $150 per adult meal plus a 22% service fee, not including drinks, and said the Junior menu ran $75 for children ages 6 to 12. That same reviewer put a two-person bill, including two non-alcoholic drinks and the reservation deposit, at $383.08, and noted dinners ran at least two hours long.
What Else Is On the Campus Menu
Jawfish itself is open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and also handles catering for events held elsewhere on campus. The Hollow Café + Bar rounds out the food options, serving Stumptown coffee and breakfast in the morning before shifting to regional wines, craft beers and small plates later in the day, per the seed report from La Revue des Hôtels.
Guest rooms come stocked with Caravan Coffee single-serve pods and Smith Teamaker teas, along with free Wi-Fi, the outlet reports. The Mindaro also offers a 24-hour fitness center, a 24-hour H Market, room service, guest laundry, electric-vehicle charging points and pet-friendly stays for dogs for a fee, subject to hotel conditions. A free airport shuttle runs around the clock, with Hyatt describing the service as around-the-clock transportation to and from PDX.
Event Space Figures Vary by Source
The Mindaro Event Center, also run by Vesta Hospitality, is built for meetings and gatherings, though exact size and capacity figures differ depending on the source. Hyatt's opening announcement describes a 5,300-square-foot ballroom, while the hotel's own webpage lists it at 5,000 square feet. Travel Portland separately describes the event center as including two boardrooms and a divisible event space of more than 2,000 square feet that can split into two rooms, according to travelportland.com.
Capacity estimates also diverge. A Hyatt fact sheet describes the event center as accommodating up to 360 guests across more than 8,000 square feet of flexible space, while c-mw.net separately reported a banquet capacity of 380 guests. La Revue des Hôtels, drawing on its own figures, describes the event center as including a ballroom of about 490 square meters and a divisible Willamette Room of more than 185 square meters, putting total event space on campus at more than 740 square meters.
Whatever the final tally on square footage, the campus model gives Vesta Hospitality a single address to sell for weddings, conferences and layover dinners alike. For travelers passing through PDX, the pitch is straightforward: a bed a few minutes from the terminal, a kitchen suite if you're staying awhile, and a dinner show unlike anything else currently running in Oregon.
