Hey all I will be spending 2 1/2 day sin Seattle and trying to decide if I should stay in DT or grab a cheaper hotel in Bellvue and just drive to DT. I am thinking of doing a whale watching tour in the san juan islands 1 day, the space needle and maybe catch a garden in bellevue and see a friend for dinner in the kennmore area.

I am leaning towards a hotel in DT and just drive over to bellevue since most of the activities seem to be DT for my short stay.

Thanks all

Ntgeek

Stay in downtown. We have friends staying at the Warwick near downtown. I see it doesn't get great ratings on trip advisor but they are liking it a lot. They are on a budget and got a decent price.
Visit the Seattle botanical gdns if you want to see a gdn.

My aunt and uncle had heard raves about the Warwick when they visited Seattle a few years ago, and they were a bit disappointed in it. They aren't hard to please but didn't think it was a very nice hotel.

I love Priceline so I try to use them whenever I can. I like to try for the 2.5 star hotels in the Lake Union zone which are currently either the Courtyard by Marriott or the Residence Inn, both nice hotels with long walking of downtown and with available free street parking. You could try for a 3-star or 4-star hotel also but you may wind up having to pay $20/night extra to park depending on which hotel you get.

My aunt and uncle had heard raves about the Warwick when they visited Seattle a few years ago, and they were a bit disappointed in it. They aren't hard to please but didn't think it was a very nice hotel.

I love Priceline so I try to use them whenever I can. I like to try for the 2.5 star hotels in the Lake Union zone which are currently either the Courtyard by Marriott or the Residence Inn, both nice hotels within long walking of downtown and with available free street parking. You could try for a 3-star or 4-star hotel also but you may wind up having to pay $20/night extra to park depending on which hotel you get.

Thinking on Andrew's comment re Lake Union, we had friends from Bellevue who stayed at the Silver Cloud at L. Union during the wind storm and they really enjoyed it. I don't think it is very expensive. They could walk to SEattle Ctr, where the Space Needle, EMP, etc are located.

The Courtyard at Lake Union has a free shuttle to most DT areas. Very convenient and we enjoyed staying there.

I would stay downtown. Bellevue is too far away and why "commute" on your vacation. I would not even stay at Lake Union myself. Rather somewhere right in the downtown core.

I have not stayed there but drive by the Warwick every morning. It looks like an OK place. Or my favorite The Mayflower Park Hotel, smack dab in the center of downtown.

Listen to Suze. She knows Seattle.

More importantly, I commuted to a job in Bellevue for 12 years -yuck!

I stayed at the Warwick - about 3 years ago, so not sure what it is like now. But I really enjoyed staying there and got a great rate through seattle supersavers from the conv/visitors bureau http://www.seattlesupersaver.com/SCV...ferersource=GO

I live in Bellevue and believe me, the commute from into Seattle is NO VACATION! Agree with others--stay in Seattle, try Priceline for good deals, and have a great time. (Though if you're really into gardens, the Bellevue Botanical Garden is fantastic.)

Thanks for the great replies. I think I will try DT then and just jump over to belleve for the garden and to visit a friend.

sorry for the late reply but seems I am not getting notifications when post were left to this message.