Seattle Advice

[ExilePA]

Hello all, looking for some advice on our upcoming Alaskan cruis in July.

 

Currently I'm trying to get hotel firmed up for out trip. I was able to secure and awesome rate at the Hampton out at SeaTac ($120) thanks to a family member working for them.

 

Our flight gets in at 11am Seattle time. I have been reading up and it seems like light rail/monorail options are our best bet for doing some sight seeing/touristy stuff in Seattle for the day/early evening. Looking at seeing the market, original starbucks, possibly Space Needle.

 

Now the question, given the time our flight gets in and the light sight seeing we want to do would we better served trying to get a hotel in downtown Seattle? Based on some of the rates I've been seeing it looks like after taxes and taxi fare from the airport we'd be looking at double the price of our currently booked Hampton SeaTac room. Is the extra cost worth it or will we be perfectly content staying out at SeaTac and using public transit for our sight seeing?

 

I realize this is subjective, but looking for opinions or a "What would you do?" suggestions.

[CruiserBruce]

Do you buy Rolex, or Timex? Mercedes or Ford?

 

"Worth it" is a value judgment only you can make. All I can say is the place to see sights is not by the airport.

Edited April 10, 2015 by CruiserBruce

[mapleleaves]

Can't your relative get you a discount at a downtown Hampton?

 

I'm a budget traveler so a hotel room is just a place to sleep and shower. With the Light Rail being so cheap and convenient, $3 for a 40 minute ride, I wouldn't pay twice the price to stay downtown.

 

But can YOU afford twice the price to stay downtown? your downtown plans aren't extensive. How would your plans change if you were staying in town instead of Seatac? I mean, what is that extra $125 going to get you?

 

Bottom line tho .... your money, your budget.

[VibeGuy]

What's the value of 40 minutes each way? Personally, I'd rather put that $100 towards virtually anything else. There are great hotels in Downtown, but comparing apples to apples, my money is at the airport.

[deejae]

Try price line...I got the Warwick Hotel 3 1/2 * downtown for $175 a night in early August

[deejae]

The Warwick goes for between $320 & $347 per night... not a bad deal

Edited April 10, 2015 by deejae
duplicate

[martincath]

Time vs money - hotel shuttle to seatac, extensive walk around through the parking garage to get on the light rail, then the trip downtown will take an hour a pop (if you get lucky and shuttle driver drops you at the LINK station, take ten mins off) plus whatever delay there is waiting for the shuttle itself at the hotel and again at seatac coming back.

 

If you have only a short stay, losing two hours a day of sightseeing is enough to mean missing out on something entirely that you could have seen if you were staying closer.

 

For me, I'd only consider staying at seatac while actively touring Seattle if I knew I'd be back soon, or was staying for say three or more days and able to fit in everything I wanted to see.

 

Try the hotels in the Seattle Center area - because there are some many popular sights within a few minutes walk they punch above their weight in convenience for most tourists and are cheaper than the downtown-proper hotels. We always liked the Maxwell (we drive, so free parking in Seattle is a big bonus), but have gotten great rates and had good stays at the La Quinta, Mediterranean, and Hotel Five (this is actually in-between downtown and Center, right across from the monorail though if walking back up to the needle is not for you). Since you have someone on the inside at Hilton, see what rates they can get you at Homewood Suites too but NB: it's on a pretty steep hill so cabbing back after dinner is a good idea...

[VibeGuy]

There's also the other Homewood Suites on Lower Queen Anne, which is three blocks from the west edge of the Seattle Center.

[ExilePA]

This is what I love about cruise critic! I didn't realize that it was a 40min commute into Seattle from SeaTac. Need to see if I can find a deal downtown. If I can find a hotel for maybe $40-50 more it sounds like it would be worth it.

Edited April 10, 2015 by ExilePA

[mapleleaves]

This is what I love about cruise critic! I didn't realize that it was a 40min commute into Seattle from SeaTac. Need to see if I can find a deal downtown. If I can find a hotel for maybe $40-50 more it sounds like it would be worth it.

 

Light Rail schedule:

http://www.soundtransit.org/Schedules/Link-light-rail

 

The walk to the Light Rail station at SeaTac takes 7-10 minutes. But you would ask your hotel shuttle driver to drop you AT the station or as close as possible.

But heck, if you can get a room downtown for $50 more and it's within your budget, definitely go for it.

[MeeCruiser]

I agree with the others above. I'm a Portlander, and I think you will be wasting valuable sightseeing time transporting yourself to and from downtown. SeaTac is not close to downtown. I was laughing looking at hotels on hotels.com when they say airport is 12 miles from whatever the hotel. That is not true. It's a 40 minute drive no matter what and that's with no traffic issue whatsoever.

 

Try a Best Western or something like that around the Space Needle which, I think is considered City Center, but I'm not positive. You need to be prepared to hoof it around, but I think Seattle is a great walking city. You can take light rail from the Space Needle to the Westlake stop. That is the light rail section that was made for the World's Fair back in the day. Kinda cool! Then walk over to Pioneer Square and on down to Pike Place Market. Maybe you want to tour Safeco Field if you're into baseball, but that is a little further south. Totally doable, but you are going spend some time walking.

 

Keep this in mind, just about everything you would want to see in downtown Seattle is between the Space Needle and Safeco Field which is about a 2.5 mile walk one direction. I can't think of a better way to spend a day in the city. Have Fun!

 

Smiles,

MeeCruiser

[NancyL2]

We were booked in the Hampton SeaTac for our upcoming September Alaskan cruise....and I cancelled the reservation just this past Wednesday.

I want to see the sights and not spend my time on the rail or taxi traveling.

We are now booked at the Warwick...within blocks of most sights. And very close to their rail system if we don't want to walk. It is quite a bit more pricey but I probably won't be back for another Alaskan cruise out of Seattle and for me the extra money is worth the experience.

There also is a grocery store accross the street for last minute needs.

[dbsb3233]

Hello all, looking for some advice on our upcoming Alaskan cruis in July.

 

Currently I'm trying to get hotel firmed up for out trip. I was able to secure and awesome rate at the Hampton out at SeaTac ($120) thanks to a family member working for them.

 

Our flight gets in at 11am Seattle time. I have been reading up and it seems like light rail/monorail options are our best bet for doing some sight seeing/touristy stuff in Seattle for the day/early evening. Looking at seeing the market, original starbucks, possibly Space Needle.

 

Now the question, given the time our flight gets in and the light sight seeing we want to do would we better served trying to get a hotel in downtown Seattle? Based on some of the rates I've been seeing it looks like after taxes and taxi fare from the airport we'd be looking at double the price of our currently booked Hampton SeaTac room. Is the extra cost worth it or will we be perfectly content staying out at SeaTac and using public transit for our sight seeing?

 

I realize this is subjective, but looking for opinions or a "What would you do?" suggestions.

We were faced with nearly the same dilemna for our July cruise. Downtown hotels were damn expensive, while Sea-Tac hotels are half the price (or less). So we opted just to fly in another day early and spend 2 nights in hotel for the same price. We did choose a little nicer hotel than the cheapest ones (Cedarbrook Lodge) for $170/ni + tax (AARP rate). Our flight arrives 2:45pm and we'll just take their free shuttle to the hotel and relax around the grounds that evening. In the morning we're light railing it to downtown (a mere $1 senior fare). Doing a Pike Place Food Tour, monorail to Space Needle/Cihuly, free time for shopping/misc, and then dinner before heading back to the hotel. Then in the morning we relax before catching the Seattle Express ($12pp) shuttle to Pier 91 (then the same shuttle service to Sea-Tac after the cruise).

 

We have an older senior with us that we don't want to push very hard with walking and luggage, so this looks like a pretty good balance between price, time, personal preference, etc.

Edited April 10, 2015 by dbsb3233

[tambo913]

Great Thread. Thanks Everyone for all the info! Learned a lot.

[ExilePA]

After everyone's advice, looked at what kind or rate we could get at the Hampton downtown. It was roughly $45 more for the night. I think it's money well spent. Thanks again everyone!

[g35girl]

Have you tried the Arctic Club Doubletree (this is also a Hilton property)? It's closer to Pioneer Square, but only a block away from the light rail. We are staying there prior to our May cruise and I got the room for $179 a night.

 

Given it's location, we can take the light trail from SeaTac and save on cab fare, plus from what I've read it's a really easy, short commute to the Market and Space Needle.

[dbsb3233]

Have you tried the Arctic Club Doubletree (this is also a Hilton property)? It's closer to Pioneer Square, but only a block away from the light rail. We are staying there prior to our May cruise and I got the room for $179 a night.

 

Given it's location, we can take the light trail from SeaTac and save on cab fare, plus from what I've read it's a really easy, short commute to the Market and Space Needle.

That's a good rate. I wish we could get something like that, but our cruise is in July and the price of that hotel is $330-$370 then (nearly $400 with tax). Prices double in mid-summer.

[C-breeze]

That's a good rate. I wish we could get something like that, but our cruise is in July and the price of that hotel is $330-$370 then (nearly $400 with tax). Prices double in mid-summer.

 

Hey, I know you from the Asia 2014 Millennium cruise. You helped me a lot on my Visa. I finally met you at a trivia game. Did you get your things back from the hotel in H.K. that you forgot?

 

We got a good deal at The Paramount Hotel in Seattle. Going on a Celebrity cruise to Alaska the week before Memorial Day.

[dbsb3233]

Hey, I know you from the Asia 2014 Millennium cruise. You helped me a lot on my Visa. I finally met you at a trivia game. Did you get your things back from the hotel in H.K. that you forgot?

 

We got a good deal at The Paramount Hotel in Seattle. Going on a Celebrity cruise to Alaska the week before Memorial Day.

Hey C-breeze! Yes, I finally got the money back that we left in the Hong Kong hotel safe. Or about 2/3rds of it anyway, after exchange rates and letting the person that retreived it for us keep some for their trouble. Found a very nice person that saw my hotel review over at TA and contacted me saying she was staying at that hotel later in the year and volunteered to pick it up for me.

 

Glad you got a good Seattle hotel deal. We'd have prefered a hotel downtown but we'll have an older person with us that can't walk TOO far, and the hotel rates in the area within 4-5 blocks of Pike Place were all over $300/ni (or were hotels people didn't recommend). So we'll stay 2 nights instead by the airport for the same price and just light-rail in for the full sightseeing day. Probably works out better anyway as we won't be as rushed trying to see things on flight day or embarkation day.

[Grandpaul]

we're looking at taking a cruise out of Vancouver in Sept. Isn;'t there some way to get to Vancouver from Seattle and back? We fly Southwest and since there are 4 of us I believe we would save a lot of miles if we flew to Seattle instead of Vancouver. We've been to Seattle a few times and like it a lot and want to spend a couple days there also.

[martincath]

we're looking at taking a cruise out of Vancouver in Sept. Isn;'t there some way to get to Vancouver from Seattle and back? We fly Southwest and since there are 4 of us I believe we would save a lot of miles if we flew to Seattle instead of Vancouver. We've been to Seattle a few times and like it a lot and want to spend a couple days there also.

This is asked so often it should probably go into the FAQs!

 

There are multitudinous ways to get between Seattle & Vancouver and vice versa:

Amtrak (train only twice a day, 6amish and 6pmish with overpriced buses on all other departures);

Bolt or Greyhound for scheduled coaches;

Quickshuttle for cruise-and-airport-convenient pickups & dropoffs are a bit of a premium over the buslines but still less than Amtrak buses;

Rent a car one-way;

Fly (which is almost never going to be save money, but it is an option);

There's even the possibility of taking the Clipper to Victoria then BC ferries to Vancouver for a reallllllly leisurely but scenic route.

 

Ballpark $50pp and 4-5 hours each way for travel - if you sign up EARLY for Amtrak and get Supersaver tickets, get cheap Bolt bus or a great deal on a rental car you could cut that down by a third or more; last minute train tickets, adding Business Class, getting hit with dropoff fees could double it.

 

Quickshuttle is the only definitively-priced option, and even they vary a little depending where you want picked up/dropped off - direct between SEA airport and Canada Place pier in Vancouver is $59 one way or $99 return, with other locations cheaper.

Edited April 16, 2015 by martincath

[dbsb3233]

we're looking at taking a cruise out of Vancouver in Sept. Isn;'t there some way to get to Vancouver from Seattle and back? We fly Southwest and since there are 4 of us I believe we would save a lot of miles if we flew to Seattle instead of Vancouver. We've been to Seattle a few times and like it a lot and want to spend a couple days there also.

I'd check with your cruiseline first, on the off chance they offer coach service from Sea-Tac to the Vancouver port.

 

A quick google search for "Seattle Vancouver Shuttle" yields some results, like http://www.quickcoach.com , but that's not direct to the cruise port. Probably need to taxi from wherever the endpoint is.

 

I saw some posts at TA mention taking the train:

 

http://www.amtrak.com/cascades-train

[Grandpaul]

Thanks for the quick excellent info.

[zephyr17]

I'd check with your cruiseline first, on the off chance they offer coach service from Sea-Tac to the Vancouver port.

 

A quick google search for "Seattle Vancouver Shuttle" yields some results, like http://www.quickcoach.com , but that's not direct to the cruise port. Probably need to taxi from wherever the endpoint is.

 

I saw some posts at TA mention taking the train:

 

http://www.amtrak.com/cascades-train

Um, QuickCoach does serve Canada Place pier directly during the cruise season. Their website doesn't show that now, as the only the schedule through May 8 is posted.

 

Might want to let local folks who might know the details answer the questions, Colorado.

[VibeGuy]

One reasonable possibility to consider is having a refundable backup strategy and then checking rental car prices up to and including the day you need them. I have paid $20-42 for one-way rentals from major brands in either direction in the last couple of years, no drop charges. I've generally had to use the airport location in Vancouver to get that kind of rate - the Alamo/National in the port is always $150ish and the Avis has been under $100.

 

We're improvisational travelers and don't mind a little uncertainty to save $$$ and expand our options for the day in Vancouver.