Seattle Hotel Help Needed

[wdblake]

We are going on an Alaska cruise out of Seattle. We will be arriving a day early with enough time to see the sights. We are looking for a nice inexpensive hotel with close proximity to both the Space Needle and Pikes market. Also is it safe to walk around this area?

[Sandy Sails]

Being a Seattle native, I know nothing about the hotels; however, I do know that the Pike Place Market and the Seattle Center (where the Space Needle is) are not very close in proximity. I would suggest staying at a hotel in downtown Seattle (i.e. Hotel Monoco) and walking to the Pike Place Market (about 3 blocks north to 2nd & Pike). It's very safe during the day to walk around in that area. You can take the monorail from Westlake Center (5th & Pine) to the Seattle Center very easily. Again, safe to walk around during the day. When I went on an Alaska cruise two years ago, we stayed at the Hotel Monoco (5th & Spring) the night before, just for fun and for close proximity to the pier. We ended up walking around Pike Place Market and the waterfront until about 9 p.m. with no problems. City buses are free in the downtown area, fyi. Have fun! And bring an umbrella and sunglasses (glare).....:cool:

[love2cruiseseattle]

Maybe check out the Comfort Suite Seattle Center or Silver Cloud Lake Union.

 

Downtown hotels are pricey. Check out tripadvisor to see how other folks rate some of our local hotels.

[uomograsso]

We did the same thing for our Alaska cruise in Sept 2003. Flew into Seattle the Friday Night before the cruise leaving on Saturday. We stayed at the Springhill Suites it should run about $129 - $159 (my fiance's sister works for Marriot, so we got the Friends & Family discount of $49/night) a night. It is right off the interstate, not close enough to down town to walk, but they do have a shuttle that will drop you off downtown and pick you up again. It has a nice continental breakfast included. We checked out Saturday morning (the will store your luggage for you!!) Then we took their shuttle van downtow, you need to check what time it is leaving and reserve it ahead of time) We spend the morning exploring Pike's Place Farmers market, got back to the Hotel around noon. We took a cab to the docks, about a 15 minute ride at most. We were about within 45 min of our arrival and had the times of our lives!

Two things I would check on. Does the hotel have a shuttle & were will they take you? Will they store your luggage for you after you check out?

Another tip. When we were there in 2003, cabs from the airport were about $35 & a limo was about $50. Check the prices with Sea-Tacs ground transport info desk as riding in the Limo was a great start to a fantastice vacation.

[Sandy Sails]

The airport has an Airporter bus that goes to all the main downtown hotels - not sure how much it costs but it's cheaper than a cab. There's also Shuttle Express, which will cost about $25 to downtown hotels.

[Maggie 3]

My husband and I are going to stay in Seattle on Friday May 19 after our cruise. We have never been and are going to be there til Monday 1:00 PM. We need a hotel and help with attractions. I know we want to go to the Pike Place Market as we have a meat company in a smaller market on Capitol Hill in Washington DC and think we would like to see Pikes. What should we not miss in Seattle, restaurants,attractions? We don't think we need a car but not sure. How far is the cruise dock from hotels, airport and what can anyone tell us about transportation?

Thanks

[love2cruiseseattle]

Depending on which cruise line you are on, you will either dock at Pier 30 or 66. Pier 30 is a short taxi ride into downtown Seattle, it is located on the piers where the container ships come in. Pier 66 is in the main waterfront area, across the street from the Seattle Waterfront Marriott and just down from The Edgewater Inn. There are lots of hotels to choose from in the downtown Seattle area and the prices vary, so I would check out some travel web sites or check with a TA.

Downtown Seattle to the airport is about a $30 taxi ride or there is also the Seattle Airporter which is a Grayline bus that picks up at many of the major DT hotels. http://graylineseattle.com/airportexpress1.cfm

 

Seattle has a very good bus system that is fairly easy to use. http://transit.metrokc.gov/

The monorail that ran between the DT area to the Seattle Center is out of service so that is not an option.

 

There was a posting from someone who is also from Seattle that has lots of great suggestions for sites to see around Seattle:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=320965

 

Whatever you decide you should have a wonderful time visiting our great city.