As the title implies, we didn’t get a chance to spend a long time in Seattle. And it’s a shame because I really enjoyed the city. It actually reminded me of San Francisco. In fact, several people we’ve talked to said they moved to Seattle from the Bay area because it’s cheaper.
Well, cheapness is relative. Let me tell you, hotels in Seattle are quite expensive, via cash or points. Fortunately, we were able to use our renewal certificates from Chase IHG credit card. You can’t beat that deal! We had to spend one night before our cruise to Alaska, so I wanted a central location, convenient to downtown area. I did some research and settled on Holiday Inn Express and Suites Seattle-City Center It currently costs 40K points per night, and cash rate is $200 or more, depending on the season.
As it’s always the case with that particular hotel brand, breakfast is included. This is definitely a selling factor because with two kids, having a complimentary breakfast is not only convenient, but makes our stay less expensive. Unfortunately, I lost the photos of the hotel, so check out TripAdvisor page for guest reviews.
Here are my thoughts. It’s OK, but I would look elsewhere. The rooms are extremely small, and some are pretty old and dingy. My in-laws were upgraded to a suite, which was quite nice. Breakfast area was extremely crowded and food was not that great. This is probably the worst Holiday Inn Express we’ve stayed at.
But… Since I used my annual certificate that cost me $49, I can’t really complain. So, this is the only instance where I would recommend staying in this particular hotel. There is an indoor pool, but we didn’t get a chance to use it. If you are a Hyatt loyalist, you may want to look into staying at Hyatt Place Seattle Downtown.
It costs 12,000 Hyatt points per night and rooms have two queen beds and a sofa bed. So, you can potentially fit six people, though it will be tight. Breakfast at Hyatt Place is out-of-this-world compared to Holiday Inn Express. Personally, I would rather spend 12,000 UR points rather than 40,000 IHG points for one night in Seattle. Update: my reader Julie mentioned that you may also want to look into Hyatt House.
Of course, it does depend on your point balances as well as preferences. Like I said, if you have an expiring IHG certificate, might as well save your precious UR points and deal with a somewhat mediocre room for just one night. I would. You can see other chain hotels on AwardMapper
Space Needle, here we come!
We arrived in Seattle fairly late, so we just made our way to the hotel and went to bed. The next morning we had about three hours at our disposal. Naturally, I wanted to do something. My husband felt differently. I told him we are not sitting around this mediocre hotel for several hours. The weather is beautiful, and we are going to see Space Needle, darn it! Reluctantly, he agreed.
Even though the hotel was close to Space Needle, it wasn’t convenient enough to walk all the way there. Instead we called a taxi. I’m still an Uber “virgin,” gasp! It only cost us $8 one-way for four people, which is cheap.
On the other hand, admission to Space Needle (see reviews on TripAdvisor) is the opposite of cheap, especially when you have to pay for four (or more) tickets. The cost for adult admission is $23.10, $14.70 per child. Pretty steep for an elevator ride, no? That being said, if you are in Seattle, you MUST do it. Why? The views, of course!
We left my son with in-laws back in the hotel and took my daughter and sister-in-law with us. Everyone had a great time. It didn’t hurt that the weather was gorgeous that day. You could even see our cruise ship in the distance.
If you have more than few hours in Seattle
I hope that we will have a chance to come back someday and see more of the city. My in-laws flew in few days before us, so they were able to do some real sightseeing. You can view the list of things to do in Seattle on this TripAdvisor page. Some of the highest rated ones are Chihuly Garden and Glass and a visit to Pike Place Market
The one place my husband really wanted to visit, but didn’t get a chance to is The Museum of Flight He is a true avgeek and loves anything aviation related. My in-laws took some pictures for us, though:
Seattle, we’ll be back!
P.S. Check out this post on Travel Codex with beautiful photos of Seattle, taken from a small plane.
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Author: Leana
Leana is the founder of Miles For Family. She enjoys beach vacations and visiting her family in Europe. Originally from Belarus, Leana resides in central Florida with her husband and two children.
I was in Seattle 2 years ago and surprised at the how expensive the hotels were. My mom opened up the credit card and used both her certificates at the Hyatt Place. Looking back it probably was not the best value but at almost $400 a night and no points to redeem, plus she doesn’t travel much anyway, it was the best option for us. We dined at the restaurant inside the Space Needle which views were very nice. I actually liked Seattle more than I thought, it wasn’t my pick to visit but there is lots to do besides what you already mentioned the First Starbuck’s is a neat place, just go early!
@Boonie I love Starbucks, so I wish we had time to visit the original store! Hopefully next time. I agree with you, central Seattle hotels are quite expensive. I was surprised too, because I was expecting them to be cheaper than New York or San Francisco. That certainly wasn’t the case. I think burning those certs on Hyatt Place was absolutely the right decision for your mom. I would do the same thing, without a doubt.
@Stephanie Thanks for the tips! I actually love Victoria and Butchart Gardens. Such a neat place! I really wish we had more time in Seattle, but my husband was out of vacation days. And I didn’t want to fly without him. I hope we’ll make it back one of these days.
Honestly, our hotel wasn’t bad, it just isn’t worth 40K IHG points. I know Seattle is an expensive city, but the place needs a complete overhaul badly. They did remodeled some of the rooms, so it’s just a luck of the draw. We arrived late, so ended up with the crappiest room on property, I’m sure! Oh well, it was only for one night.
And I agree, Hyatt sounds like the way to go. While 12,000 points is not dirt cheap, it’s a good deal for Seattle. I think I’ve seen that Edgewater property when we were boarding ship. It’s fancy! You got a deal for $130.
Leana – sorry to hear about your hotel – what a bummer. I love Seattle – I actually like it more than San Francisco.
Before I got into points, JetBlue gave out random coupon codes – mine was for free flights to Seattle back in 2012. Hubby and I flew for $28 (taxes) and I paid $130/night for The Edgewater Hotel thru Hotwire with a free upgrade for a water view (I will never pay that for a hotel again now that I have points).
Hyatt’s are the way to go in Seattle – you can do Hyatt House or Hyatt Place for 12,000 points. We went twice to Victoria on the Victoria Clipper – it’s expensive but the Buschart Gardens and city are worth it.
Chihuly is just amazing and Pike Place is neat. You should definitely go back.
For Hyatt loyalists, I might also recommend staying at the Hyatt House. It’s relatively new and is located right under the space needle and next door to the music museum (which was really cool). We stayed at the Hyatt House during our visit to Seattle last summer. The weather was nice so we were able to make a leisurely walk to pike place and back too. We love Seattle.
@Julie Thanks for your input. Yes, I saw that property! It looked very nice, but I had a hard time finding availability for rooms with two queen beds. I will mention it, though.