Seattle Pre-Cruise Hotel Recommendation

[SSAtlantic]

Any hotel suggestions for a late arrival overnight stay prior to Princess cruise? Also, would we be better off staying near the airport with a longer trip in the morning to Pier 99 or a longer trip to a hotel after a late night arrival on a Friday night? Due to work/grad school we cannot come in any earlier. Thanks. 

[Glaciers]

@SSAtlantic

Unless you’ll be doing any exploring before you board the ship the next day, most certainly stay near the airport. The hotel prices can be substantially less expensive. Use Seattle Express to get to the pier.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

Late night arrival I'd stay by the airport and get a good nights sleep.

[jeromep]

On 1/12/2023 at 7:06 PM, bermuda8553 said:

I also booked the Belltown Inn.It was the cheapest, but still looked walkable to pier 66. Has anyone stayed here or know anything about the area?

My wife stayed there for business a couple of months ago.  Nice place.  Clean rooms.  She especially liked the sky deck.  She had a room that faced the inside air shaft, so no views of Seattle street life.

 

Belltown is basically a residential (apartments, condos) neighborhood with street level small businesses.  It is one of the nicer parts of Seattle, right now.

 

It could be considered walk able down to the Bell Street pedestrian bridge, which connects with the building at Pier 66, but that is 4 blocks before you even get to the bridge.  It is mostly downhill.  If your luggage is on wheels and you don't mind carrying that distance, you will probably be just fine.  But the Uber ride to the pier will be very short if you choose that option.

 

The biscuit place on the ground floor of the hotel is good.  Breakfast and early lunch service.  Orders only online and only for takeout, so again, great choice for a pre-cruise breakfast.  It has a colorful name.

 

I hope you enjoy Seattle when you are there.

[jeromep]

On 1/21/2023 at 7:20 AM, SSAtlantic said:

Any hotel suggestions for a late arrival overnight stay prior to Princess cruise? Also, would we be better off staying near the airport with a longer trip in the morning to Pier 99 or a longer trip to a hotel after a late night arrival on a Friday night? Due to work/grad school we cannot come in any earlier. Thanks. 

Hotel prices are generally less expensive in south King County, so down around the airport and Renton.  @Glaciers and @scottca075 all make great points.  However the commute from the airport hotels up to Pier 91 will be anywhere from 35-60 minutes (depending on traffic and how heavy the foot is of your driver).  It is a 17-20 mile trip depending on if you go up I-5 or you go up the back way along hwys 509 and 99.  If I'm driving it I'll always take a combination of 509 and 99 as they are usually less clogged up than I-5.  You don't have to worry about that really since you'll probably just grab an Uber or Lyft to get to the port.

 

I'm not into using shuttle services, I've not had good experiences in the past using group shuttles, and avoid them due to unforeseen stops and unorganized fellow passengers or unorganized drivers.  I've never had an issue with ride share services in Seattle.  Taxi's are so-so in the Seattle area.

 

The choice you need to make is going to be if you want to be haling a ride share or taxi at the airport and staying at a more expensive property in Seattle, and getting to bed later, or if you want to take a short ride to a nearby location and deal with a longer ride into the city the next morning.  On average, your total ground transport cost (so cost of trip to hotel and cost of trip from hotel to pier) whether you stay near the airport or go into the city will be about the same.  You either make up distance the night you arrive or the next morning.

 

The nice thing about staying in the city is that you have a lot of dining choices outside of the hotel, that night and even the next morning.  If you stay south near the airport your dining choices will be hotel restaurants, for the most part.

 

So, I guess in the end it is six, one, half a dozen.  If it were me, knowing what I do about Seattle traffic, I'd probably opt for the longer ride into the city the night I arrive, and then sleep in and have a much shorter ride on city streets to the pier in the morning.  I'd also lean toward the city because there will be more breakfast options than just the hotel dining room or restaurant.

[bermuda8553]

3 hours ago, jeromep said:

My wife stayed there for business a couple of months ago.  Nice place.  Clean rooms.  She especially liked the sky deck.  She had a room that faced the inside air shaft, so no views of Seattle street life.

 

Belltown is basically a residential (apartments, condos) neighborhood with street level small businesses.  It is one of the nicer parts of Seattle, right now.

 

It could be considered walk able down to the Bell Street pedestrian bridge, which connects with the building at Pier 66, but that is 4 blocks before you even get to the bridge.  It is mostly downhill.  If your luggage is on wheels and you don't mind carrying that distance, you will probably be just fine.  But the Uber ride to the pier will be very short if you choose that option.

 

The biscuit place on the ground floor of the hotel is good.  Breakfast and early lunch service.  Orders only online and only for takeout, so again, great choice for a pre-cruise breakfast.  It has a colorful name.

 

I hope you enjoy Seattle when you are there.

Thank you for the info. I got a little nervous reading the reviews. The hotel got great reviews but there were a lot of references to a large homeless population in the area. I decided to cancel and booked the Marriott. Its suppose to be right across the street from the terminal. A little pricy, but we are older and it seems its worth the extra $ for the convenience.

[Ferry_Watcher]

12 minutes ago, bermuda8553 said:

I decided to cancel and booked the Marriott. Its suppose to be right across the street from the terminal

 

Hoping that you are sailing on NCL which uses Pier 66 (as well as some of the luxury lines) .  All the other major cruise lines sail from Pier 91 - a bit north of the DT core.

[nowornever]

Like almost all cities, big or small, the Seattle police dept. maintains a publicly available set of statistics on each area's crime rate.  Here is a portal to the SPD crime site so that those really concerned about the location of a particular hotel can check out the area.  While this map may appear a little daunting, a google search of the location of the hotel in question would locate the hotel on the grid.  For those on summer cruises (almost everyone,) sunset is around 9 pm so, unless you're pub crawling until the wee hours, you'll be back in your hotel before dark over an hour later.  Plus you'll have more daylight to enjoy the eye-candy scenery & the amazing sunsets from downtown.

 

https://www.seattle.gov/police/information-and-data/crime-dashboard

[fsufancc]

We are sailing RCL on the Quantum OTS in June with our 3 grown kids and spouses.

 

I booked a room in the Warwick Seattle.  We did an Amtrak trip just before the pandemic and the Warwick was one of the hotels on our itinerary.  It was clean and comfortable, on-site restaurant and bar, a 10-minute walk to Pike Place Market. There was a CVS across the street so we could grab some needed supplies. Join their frequent stay club (free) and you will get deals sent to you.  We got the room for $177/n which was hundreds of dollars cheaper than other places in the same area.  Breakfast was not included. 

[eileeshb]

On 1/23/2023 at 10:05 PM, jeromep said:

My wife stayed there for business a couple of months ago.  Nice place.  Clean rooms.  She especially liked the sky deck.  She had a room that faced the inside air shaft, so no views of Seattle street life.

 

Belltown is basically a residential (apartments, condos) neighborhood with street level small businesses.  It is one of the nicer parts of Seattle, right now.

 

It could be considered walk able down to the Bell Street pedestrian bridge, which connects with the building at Pier 66, but that is 4 blocks before you even get to the bridge.  It is mostly downhill.  If your luggage is on wheels and you don't mind carrying that distance, you will probably be just fine.  But the Uber ride to the pier will be very short if you choose that option.

 

The biscuit place on the ground floor of the hotel is good.  Breakfast and early lunch service.  Orders only online and only for takeout, so again, great choice for a pre-cruise breakfast.  It has a colorful name.

 

I hope you enjoy Seattle when you are there.

Good to hear. I'm intending to fly in a few days early as I'm travelling from Ireland and I prefer to allow a cushion against flight delays as well as time to see the city. 

Google maps is telling me the walk to the pier is only 12 minutes and I have wheeled luggage, the decider will be the weather... if it's bucketing rain then it'll be cab or uber, otherwise walking should be fine.  Though do you know if the pedestrian bridge has an escalator or elevator at the pier side ?

From what I can see on Streetview its hard to tell though it does seem to go into the terminal building.

I'm hoping to avoid need for Ubers or cabs as much as possible as the roaming charges for the data use on my phone are horrific. A 10 minute drive from Miami Airport to the closest phone store using google maps cost me €40 in data roaming previously.

[psuboater]

3 hours ago, eileeshb said:

Good to hear. I'm intending to fly in a few days early as I'm travelling from Ireland and I prefer to allow a cushion against flight delays as well as time to see the city. 

Google maps is telling me the walk to the pier is only 12 minutes and I have wheeled luggage, the decider will be the weather... if it's bucketing rain then it'll be cab or uber, otherwise walking should be fine.  Though do you know if the pedestrian bridge has an escalator or elevator at the pier side ?

From what I can see on Streetview its hard to tell though it does seem to go into the terminal building.

I'm hoping to avoid need for Ubers or cabs as much as possible as the roaming charges for the data use on my phone are horrific. A 10 minute drive from Miami Airport to the closest phone store using google maps cost me €40 in data roaming previously.

Looks like you're coming in October -- which has been hit or miss for rain, but the past couple of years it's been pretty sunny in October. We don't get rain in "buckets" typically, especially that early in the season, we're pretty similar to the weather you get in Ireland - cloudy and misty is most of the winter. Days that have steady, soaking rain don't usually happen until late November.

 

It's been awhile since I've taken that elevator, but there should be one on the pier side. 

 

Also to avoid roaming fees, the hotel you're staying at will be more than happy to hail you a cab if need be. 

 

Enjoy our city!

[Ferry_Watcher]

4 hours ago, eileeshb said:

From what I can see on Streetview its hard to tell though it does seem to go into the terminal building.

 

Just double checking that it's Pier 66 that your ship sails from (as oppose to Pier 91)

 

All passengers enter Pier 66 at the street level.  Most likely you will exit the elevator prior to the pedestrian walkway across Alaskan Way and cross the street at the light.  Quite easy.

[eileeshb]

12 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

Just double checking that it's Pier 66 that your ship sails from (as oppose to Pier 91)

 

All passengers enter Pier 66 at the street level.  Most likely you will exit the elevator prior to the pedestrian walkway across Alaskan Way and cross the street at the light.  Quite easy.

It’s NCL so afaik that’s pier 66, though with NCL these days if it’s cheaper to use pier 91 they’ll switch especially as it’s only their ships sailing that late in the year.

 

47 minutes ago, psuboater said:

Looks like you're coming in October -- which has been hit or miss for rain, but the past couple of years it's been pretty sunny in October. We don't get rain in "buckets" typically, especially that early in the season, we're pretty similar to the weather you get in Ireland - cloudy and misty is most of the winter. Days that have steady, soaking rain don't usually happen until late November.

 

It's been awhile since I've taken that elevator, but there should be one on the pier side. 

 

Also to avoid roaming fees, the hotel you're staying at will be more than happy to hail you a cab if need be. 

 

Enjoy our city!

the joy of Irish weather is we can get all sorts at any time of the year. We could have the warmest weather in October and snow in May, or vice versa. Last winter was ridiculously mild here with very little rain, this winter it was utterly foul from October onwards. Having been in Portland in March I’m expecting very similar weather to here  I.e. completely unreliable. 

[Ferry_Watcher]

55 minutes ago, eileeshb said:

It’s NCL so afaik that’s pier 66, though with NCL these days if it’s cheaper to use pier 91 they’ll switch especially as it’s only their ships sailing that late in the year.

 

Looks like NCL is at Pier 66 for the entire season.  It will be nice to be able to walk to your embarkation.  I imagine that if you are in town for a few days before your trip that you will venture down to Seattle's Waterfront so you will probably walk pass Pier 66.  The NCL Sun is scheduled at Pier 66 on Wed Oct 11, but I am not sure if you will be in town that early.

[kas97]

We are flying in 3 nights before our cruise in June.  Would you stay near the Space Needle or downtown?  I have places I want to visit in both for our short trip. We will be relying on public transportation/monorail/ride share (aka not renting a car(.  

[KeepCalmBearOn]

15 hours ago, kas97 said:

We are flying in 3 nights before our cruise in June.  Would you stay near the Space Needle or downtown?  I have places I want to visit in both for our short trip. We will be relying on public transportation/monorail/ride share (aka not renting a car(.  

 

I think either is fine, but I like the food better in what you are calling "downtown". Downtown is a pretty large area, I like being walkable to Pike Place Market. Hyatt at Olive 8 and the Kimpton Hotel Vintage are two of my favorites.

[tonit964]

On 2/21/2023 at 9:43 AM, scottca075 said:

 

I think either is fine, but I like the food better in what you are calling "downtown". Downtown is a pretty large area, I like being walkable to Pike Place Market. Hyatt at Olive 8 and the Kimpton Hotel Vintage are two of my favorites.

Can you please tell me if Starbuck's Reserve at 1124 Pike St is walkable from Hyatt at Olive8?

TIA!

[Gardyloo]

1 hour ago, tonit964 said:

Can you please tell me if Starbuck's Reserve at 1124 Pike St is walkable from Hyatt at Olive8?

TIA!

Walkable in around 10 minutes.  Uphill going, downhill returning.  Map - https://goo.gl/maps/93pGABmNGfZGa8sY7

[tonit964]

21 minutes ago, Gardyloo said:

Walkable in around 10 minutes.  Uphill going, downhill returning.  Map - https://goo.gl/maps/93pGABmNGfZGa8sY7

Thank you so much!

[KeepCalmBearOn]

1 hour ago, tonit964 said:

Can you please tell me if Starbuck's Reserve at 1124 Pike St is walkable from Hyatt at Olive8?

 

It is. Google Maps will tell you to walk up Pine and turn right on Minor. I'd usually walk up 8th to Pike. It is slightly (and I mean slightly) longer, but I like the area on 8th & Pike better.

[tonit964]

16 minutes ago, scottca075 said:

 

It is. Google Maps will tell you to walk up Pine and turn right on Minor. I'd usually walk up 8th to Pike. It is slightly (and I mean slightly) longer, but I like the area on 8th & Pike better.

Perfect! Thank you very much!

[red4lisa]

How is the Sheraton Seattle? It is offered by the cruise line for a pre-cruise stay. 

[Suzanne123]

It’s great.  Very clean, safe and comfortable.  We were there last year, and I booked again for our May cruise. Large Starbucks in the lobby.

 Do book directly with the hotel. The cruise line charges per person and not per room.  

[KeepCalmBearOn]

8 hours ago, red4lisa said:

How is the Sheraton Seattle? It is offered by the cruise line for a pre-cruise stay. 

 

If it is the Sheraton Grand on 6th Ave, it is very nice.

[Boozy O Croozy]

We're cruising to Alaska in September '23. Looking at the Marriott Waterfront. As mentioned above, the convenience factor is worth the price to us.