Don't Stay at the Edgewater in Seattle
 

I just stayed at the Edgewater in Seattle and it was the worst experience that I have ever had. The hotel was old and musty with stained carpets in the hallways. They put me in the smallest room I have EVER stayed in with only a glass coffee table at the end of the bed for a desk. if you squeezed and chair in there you could not get by. The drain in the sink was so clogged it would overflow when washing your face if you didn't turn it off. The front desk personnel were apathetic to my concerns. The train track was 50 yards from the front of the hotel and trains would come by at all hours. They photocopied my license in case they would get a "charge back" on my credit card. They would NOT give back the photocopy when I checked out saying they would keep it for 90 days! There are plenty of nice hotels in downtown Seattle. Please don't stay here!

With all respect.

You have never posted here before. Why should we credit your comments?

Keith

And since you know there are "plenty of nice hotels" in Seattle, why not tell us about some of them? Or did you come to this site thinking it's not to be helpful or positive, but just a place to vent complaints?

Running down a hotel in a city does nothing if you can't praise another one in its place.

But, at least GHill's review counter-balances those who continue to recommend the Edgewater based on a weekend stay five years ago.

=;
Careful NeoP...remember what happened the last time you were involved in a Pac NW imbroglio.

Or the poster who drives by, takes a photo of the front door and then posts a review ...

Someone please tell me if you know... did or does the Edgewater have little birds in the hotel or in rooms ( birds in cages)...
A friend told me about staying in a hotel on a hill in Seattle facing the water and it sounded so charming but then she told me about the little bird in a cage ..
anyone know?
Or did someone stay there and eat the bird and then review about how yummy it was? **((F))

hmmm. Don't know about birds, but isn't it the Hotel Monaco in Seattle that offers a free goldfish for your room. I like to eat goldfish with my cocktail, but not the kind that come swimming in a bowl!

lol, no these were birds.. in cages.

I like to eat goldfish too.. bet you can't eat just one :D

Speaking of the Hotel Monaco, a local Portland station did a piece this morning on the Valentine's Day package being offered by the one here. Something about rose petals on the bed, with chocolate and raspberry body paints... I asked my wife if she wanted to change our reservations for the weekend. Walking on the beach in the freezing cold rain won out! b-(

"Birds in the room"???

No...but I do know where there are ***bats in the belfy***.

<i>Walking on the beach in the freezing cold rain won out!</i>

I'm with her!

The goldfish thing is a Hotel Monaco or Kimpton thing everywhere I think (I know it is in San Francisco).

As for birds, if I arrived at a hotel and there were a bird in the room, or for that matter in a cage behind the front desk, I'd be outta there FAST (even if it meant sleeping on the beach in freezing cold rain!) -- can you tell I have a bird phobia, which actually has a name -- ornithophobia.

GHill,

I see you posted the same review on Trip Advisor, and that it is also your only post on that site.

Were you recently fired from the Edgewater?

Do you have a grudge with somebody in management there?

The Edgewater isn't a hotel I recommend in Seattle (mostly because of its location), but there seems to be something missing from your review that has caused you do be so angry as to bad-mouth it on two sites I know of.

HTTY

htty, I also read that review. The reviewer seemed to be unhappy about what is stated here as well as the parking charge and not getting a room upgrade.

This is one more reason why consumers need to do their homework. The train tracks have been there forever and you can see them on a Google map. The square footage of each type of room is stated on the hotel's website. I found the parking charge there, too, although that took some doing.

I have no idea whether the Edgewater is good, bad, or indifferent (I haven't been there in years and review at Tripadvisor are mixed), but when we get posts like this, I always wonder what the other side of the story is.

I'm having a hard time trying to understand why GHill's posting is meeting with such cynicism.

He or she is only posting a personal experience/opinion. And I can imagine plenty of situations where a person may not have previously used a travel forum, or perhaps just lurked, and then had a bad experience and wanted to let others know about it. While I might take such a first time review with the proverbial grain of salt, I don't know that I would automatically suspect an ulterior motive. (And aren't most trip advisor reviews 1st or 2nd timers?)

Now if someone comes on a forum for the first time making really outlandish claims, that might be different. But I really didn't get that sense here. JMHO.

It would prompt me to post on Fodors or Tripadvisor if I had a terrible experience, even if I hadn't ever posted before. There are many recent bad reviews on TA. Expedia seems to be more positive reviews. It seems on TA that if you get a booking for Edgewater on an auction site, that you are more likely to get a different less desirable room. I do wonder how often TA gets positive reviews from owners or staff. But usually I find reviews on here, TA, and other sites very helpful. It does help when there are several reviews of a place. There is always going to be someone who wasn't happy with something.

A friend who works in the restaurant business locally told me that all their employees received a written notice including Trip Advisor's website address asking them to post, mainly running down other restaurants that were highly rated and possibly touting their own. Sure enough. In the next couple of weeks there were at least a dozen negative posts about the top rated local restaurants, all from first time posters.

I was reacting to the instruction, &quot;Don't Stay at the Edgewater,&quot; and this: <i>I just stayed at the Edgewater in Seattle and it was the worst experience that I have ever had.</i>

It is difficult for me to sympathize with somebody whose &quot;worst experience&quot; is the one described in the post.

Fodor's has a number of paranoid posters who immediately suspect &quot;fake post&quot; in many different circumstances. Never mind that there's a very plausible explanation for GHill posting for the first time on Trip Advisor and Fodors: one lousy experience motivated him/her to sign up and post everywhere. I've felt that way too before after bad experiences and probably thought about &quot;telling the world&quot; or anyone who would listen.

I myself have been accused here of being a fake. Years ago I used to defend Sheryl at BiddingForTravel and was subsequently accused by several posters of being in cahoots with her (I was not). As a result I'm loathe to accept a post as fake just because of a few suspicious posters.

I agree with your sentiment, Andrew. I have been to the Edgewater recently, however, and found the public spaces spectacular and the location hard to beat. It is right on the water with spectacular views. I don't know about the size of their rooms but I've been in many small rooms so it would be hard for them to exceed that. The hotel was not old and musty, IMO; far from it.

Oh, I didn't say the review was valid - he/she could be completely off base. Some people blame the hotel for bad weather - you can never tell. I simply said it could well be a former hotel guest's legitimate post (even if unfair), not someone pretending to have been a guest as some people here claim.

Then again, I've had a number of cases where my own experience has gone against conventional wisdom. Many claim for example that Verizon Wireless has great customer service, but I had terrible problems with them - the main reason I dumped them.

Oh, I knew what you meant, Andrew, and I was agreeing with you that it could be a legitimate post and legitimate gripe by someone....just that I disagreed with him, even if he's for real. :)

I have mixed emotions about TA. It was interesting as I was going to meet friends in SF and they asked for a hotel recommendation and I told them about the hotel I usually stayed at which I had always been very pleased with. They decided to stay there and made reservations as did I. Right afterwards someone posted on TA and said the hotel rooms had tons of bedbugs. What? Long story short, no the hotel did not have bedbugs and we had a lovely stay at the hotel. I imagine that is was some disgruntled fired employee or someone from another hotel that posted about the bedbugs on TA.

I have no idea about the OP.

There is NOTHING fake or exaggerated about my post. It is absolutely true. I am a business traveler that stays in downtown Seattle frequently. I have stayed in the Crown Plaza, Ace Hotel, Hotel Vintage Park, Red Lion and Sheraton - all downtown. ALL were pleasant and priced about the same as the Edgewater except for the Vintage Park.

So you can believe it or not. Go ahead and stay there and suffer like I did. I was just trying to help. I didn't even mention the $30/night parking that valet parking was required. The lot was right in front of the hotel but was blocked off so you had to use the valets and tip each time you dropped off or picked up the car.

I never check when I make a reservation to see if it is near a railroad track much less check the square footage of a room (as someone suggested).

I have never had a more miserable stay in a hotel rated like the Edgewater (4 star). The Motel 6 in Coos Bay, OR (that I was forced to stay in years ago) was a more pleasant experience. At least it was quiet and no trains and the sink ran and had a desk in the room.

Thanks for the clarification.

Well I for one think this is a great post. Often it is a bad experience that gets someone to post for the first time on a travel forum (unfortunately). I've never understood the raves about the Edgewater myself. It's old and in a very inconvenient location. Except for being waterfront, I can't see why you'd want to stay there.

We have stayed at the Edgewater at least once a year for the last 20 years and have recommended to many friends
We have NEVER encountered any of the issues stated by GHILL.
There are rooms that face the city that are small--my brother stayed in one but said it was very comfortable..and he is picky..
We always stay in "bay-view" --most have gas fireplace in corner, big comfortable beds and armchair with footstool,small desk,adequate bathroom and window where you can see the whole bay..the ferrys at night are beautiful
Now that said, a few years ago it was looking a bit "run-down". they did a complete re-do.
(i think that is when they put in the fireplaces) and unfortunately discontinued the free coffee in the Lobby and took aways the big bowl of free apples..
I do think there room rates are excessive even on the off season but you get what you pay for.

I am sure I saw it after the redo, traveler24.....it did not look old or tired at all. It was pretty swanky. That being said, I wouldn't stay there at retail rates; definitely look for a deal.