I got a chance to visit Oregon’s Portland International Airport yesterday and ventured just beyond it to be on hand for the opening ceremony at the new aloft Portland Airport at Cascade Station.

aloft is Starwood Hotels’ new uber-hip, high-tech line of hotels. This one has a cool bar complete with weekend DJs, loaner bikes for use on the nearby bike trails, plug and play gadget boxes in the well-insulated rooms and, soon, an in-room feed from the airport control tower so guests can identify the planes taking off and landing out front.

The hotel is part of the “Lifestyle Center” of shops (including an IKEA) and amenities that has popped up right next to the airport.  And while the hotel is brand new, it has a reassuring “old” Portland connection. The local company that built, owns and manages the hotel – Pollin Hotels – also built, owns and manages the Sheraton Hotel at the airport, which was the first hotel built at Portland International Airport, about 35 years ago.