I will be doing a 2 night layover in Seattle before taking my connecting flight to Anchorage. This will be my first visit to Seattle. I had initially planned to stay at an airport hotel, and take the train in for sightseeing. But now I am wondering if it would be better to stay in a downtown hotel.

What would be the best location for such a short stay?

I would stay in town near any of the LINK light-rail stations that serve the airport (Westlake station and others). It's a breeze to get downtown and back to the airport, and it's cheap, too - I think $2.50.

It's been years, but we loved the Inn at the Market, and it's a great location for touristing.

We loved the Westin. It is a short walk down to the waterfront and also not too far from the Space Needle.

It's been since '05, but we loved The Alexis, great location and very comfy.

We spent a night at Inn at the Market, and loved it all except the Tempurpedic mattresses. Not sure if they still have them, but we wouldn't stay again if they did.

for 2 night stay, definitely make the trip into town. the marriott on the water is pretty nice (altho not guaranteed a great view).

Another vote for the Westin. It's right across the street from the Westlake LINK station and a short walk to the waterfront and the market.

Don't stay at the airport. It is so dreary there. you could check out hotwire or priceline for hotels in the downtown area. Westin, Sheraton, and Hilton often are available in the 4 star category. all are centrally located. Hyatt is great, newer, but might not be an option through prepaid sites like Priceline.

Thank you, everyone, for your helpful suggestions.

My two favorite downtown hotels are:
The Mayflower Park
The Warwick

(don't stay at the airport)

I'm interested in what time the OP's flight leaves from Seattle to Anchorage. If it leaves at a decent hour, and not in the wee hours of the morning, then definitely a downtown hotel.

Additionally, IF the flight doesn't leave painfully early, I could even see using Priceline.com to land a room in the "downtown Seattle" area. Hopefully it would be very near to the underground tunnel for the LINK rail line, but even the worst case scenarios for a "FOUR STAR" hotel downtown (@ a Priceline bargain) can work, provided the flight isn't too darn early.

Last August we stayed at the Red Lion, booked through priceline for $75 per night. A very nice hotel, clean comfortable room, great staff, perfect location.

Mark

I've decided to use Priceline and try to get a downtown location.
(My flight leaves at about 12 PM.)

Thanks again everyone, for your information!

hotwire is also good, and as long as you're staying "downtown" then any 4 star should be good. I think the Sheraton, Westin are all good and may work with points, etc. Hotel Andra is good Monaco is nice and a good location as well.

We really were comfortable at The Mayflower and loved its walkable location. Hotel Andra looked really nice )modern, trendy, upscale) and it was connected to one of my favorite restaurants, Lola.

If just by yourself, check out the HI hostel at 520 King St. It is about 2-3 blocks from the Amtrak station and Qwest Field.
It's not too far to walk to the city "free bus zone".
Don't miss Pike Place Market and the Space Needle.
You can get an hour of free internet access at a very beautiful library.

Joyce,

Understand that from just about anywhere in downtown Seattle, your task of getting to the airport from your hotel entails reaching the BUS TUNNEL (there's only one) which runs beneath 3RD AVENUE.

Once there, the "Link Light Rail" runs so often that you wouldn't even need a schedule. Furthermore, the LAST stop is the airport, so you couldn't get lost once you boarded.

IF you were somewhere in the bus tunnel @ 9:30am, boarding the Link Light Rail (there's only one rail car down there, the rest are mere city busses)... you would reach the airport @ somewhere near to 10:00am, in what is probably plenty of time.