Where to stay in Seattle?

[mila]

DH and I are going there (my 1st time) for about 4 days in the fall. We will have a car. Can you recommend some neighborhoods that are good to stay in? (We are still on the fence about hotel vs Airbnb.)

eta: Will we need a car?

[farmvillelover]

I've recently stayed at the Sheraton, and 2 Kimpton hotels and was very happy with each. Wouldn't have wanted a car. Everything was very walkable and what wasn't was a quick uber ride.

www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/seasi-sheraton-grand-seattle/

www.reservations.com/hotel/hotel-monaco-seattle-a-kimpton-hotel?rmcid=dsa&utm_source=googleads&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0IygxqSQ5wIVHx-tBh0tNgmCEAAYAyAAEgKl_fD_BwE

Kimpton Palladian : www.guestreservations.com/palladian-a-kimpton-hotel/booking?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyYTQmqWQ5wIVia_sCh19SwbWEAAYAiAAEgIZ8_D_BwE

[joenali]

You could stay in west Seattle and take the water taxi downtown. Look for rentals on Alki beach. It’s fun and pretty, and away from downtown, but also easy access to downtown.

[letsgetweird]

Don't rent a car. I made that mistake. Parking is horrendous.

[macmars45]

If you're staying in Seattle itself you probably won't want/need a car. Parking is terrible. If you're wanting to head out into the surrounding cities you might want a car.

[Roc A Bee]

I stayed at a Hyatt near the Needle. We didn’t have a car and I honestly wouldn’t want to drive there. We walked everywhere, and when we got tired, we took an Uber.

[pinkballoons]

We stayed at an AirBnB in Wallingford and we loved the neighborhood. There were lots of great restaurants within walking distance. It’s a bit further away from the city center, but not inconveniently so.
We debated over renting a car and finally did because we took a drive out to some of the islands. Otherwise, we would have relied on public transit.

[tacocat]

abnb.me/lmUstfVno3

This is really close to the light rail and Colombia City has a bunch of restaurants and is close to the lake. I think I good option outside of downtown. Cheap and easy uber to a lot of places too.

[sakura]

What are you interested in doing while in Seattle? If you want to go hiking, you may want a car to get out of the city. Or if you want to go to restaurants, breweries and museums and stay in downtown or Capitol Hill you won’t want a car.

[mila]

Jan 19, 2020 22:39:00 GMT -5 sakura said:

What are you interested in doing while in Seattle? If you want to go hiking, you may want a car to get out of the city. Or if you want to go to restaurants, breweries and museums and stay in downtown or Capitol Hill you won’t want a car.

Sightseeing and eating delicious food! While we love hiking, we won't be doing so on this trip.

[mila]

Jan 19, 2020 22:26:05 GMT -5 tacocat said:

abnb.me/lmUstfVno3

This is really close to the light rail and Colombia City has a bunch of restaurants and is close to the lake. I think I good option outside of downtown. Cheap and easy uber to a lot of places too.

Thank you! While we don't plan to eat any meals @ Airbnb, I prefer Airbnb (vs hotel).

[msmerymac]

I stayed here, which was a nice location, walking distance to Pike Place and the Space Needle. We also spent a lot of time in Fremont, but my husband lived in Seattle for 3 years, so I was with someone familiar with the city who told me where to go and stay.

www.staypineapple.com/hotel-five-seattle-wa

[InBetweenDays]

Depending on what sort of sight seeing activities you want to do, I'd probably opt to stay downtown. Light rail serves some areas, but beyond that Seattle doesn't have a great public transportation system.

[picksthemusic]

We like the Westin when we do a staycation, but there are a ton of really fun, nice places to stay depending on your budget, and where you want to be in the city for walkability. The Westin is pretty centralized, and our inter-city buses do a pretty good job of getting you around, but we have taxis and Uber/Lyft if you are okay with that kind of thing.

[nellgirl]

We live in Vancouver and spend 1 or 2 weekends in Seattle every year. We usually stay at the Kimpton Hotel Monaco and we LOVE it. It’s not right on the water, but in a great, walkable area, close enough to both the stadiums and Pioneer Square and the market/Belltown/Space Needle areas. Our kid is nearly 4 and has no issues walking between the hotel and the various attractions, to give a frame of reference.
We’re actually in Seattle right now and staying at the Thompson Seattle. We decided to try something new, even though we’ve been happy with the Hotel Monaco. I really like the location of the Thompson, but I’d take the Hotel Monaco any day.
If I were doing AirBnB, I’d still try to find something downtown as long as waking doesn’t faze you. Downtown Seattle is super walkable but parking is atrocious. We prefer to park and walk everywhere.

[wesleycrusher]

Jan 20, 2020 10:31:39 GMT -5 InBetweenDays said:

Depending on what sort of sight seeing activities you want to do, I'd probably opt to stay downtown. Light rail serves some areas, but beyond that Seattle doesn't have a great public transportation system.

I went a few years ago for a wedding and stayed in Belltown with friends at an Airbnb. It was easily walkable to most touristy plaes, but we took buses to get around for the wedding events. Maybe because we're from the city so used to taking public transportation, but we had no issues getting where we wanted.

[InBetweenDays]

Feb 2, 2020 5:19:12 GMT -5 wesleycrusher said:

Jan 20, 2020 10:31:39 GMT -5 InBetweenDays said:

Depending on what sort of sight seeing activities you want to do, I'd probably opt to stay downtown. Light rail serves some areas, but beyond that Seattle doesn't have a great public transportation system.

I went a few years ago for a wedding and stayed in Belltown with friends at an Airbnb. It was easily walkable to most touristy plaes, but we took buses to get around for the wedding events. Maybe because we're from the city so used to taking public transportation, but we had no issues getting where we wanted.

Glad to hear you found it easy to get around. We have no problem getting to and from downtown from our house (we're in an urban Seattle neighborhood just outside of downtown), but to get from one neighborhood to another can be difficult. Especially if you are trying to go East/West rather than North/South.

[ladyfern]

I would find an airbnb on Capitol Hill that is close to the light rail station. You could just take the light rail from the airport, and the Cap Hill station is one light rail stop from Westlake Center downtown. Capitol Hill has an amazing variety of restaurants/bars/coffee shops/breweries/people watching/etc and one of my favorite bookshops (Elliott Bay Book Company). It is super walkable. Broadway is the main street N/S, with the Pike Pine corridor intersecting it and running E/W down to Pike Place Market and the waterfront. You could also Uber if you wanted to check out any of the less accessible neighborhoods (ballard, Fremont, etc).

For public transit, you can get an Orca card and use it on the lightrail, Streetcar (which also runs down Broadway through Chinatown and to Belltown and the Stadiums), busses, the monorail and (I think) also the ferry if you wanted to walk on and ride to Bainbridge and back or something.