i will for sure. heading there tomorrow. picked the edgewater. i'll let you know how it is.

mscarls is right on. i think andyk could do much better. we'll see how it goes for them. i hope he checks out those hotels that others suggested, particularly the andra. i stayed there again last week on business and loved it.

I hope you enjoy the Edgewater as much as we did, AndyK! Make sure you have a meal at the Six Seven restaurant there. Very nice. With the cool weather, I'm sure they will have all of the fireplaces going. Check out the back wall, it's cool with all the fireplace inserts there.

Enjoy Seattle! ***kim*** (~~)

I am going to get flamed for this but our company uses the Seattle Sheraton and has nothing but good things to say about it. Generic perhaps, but well located and with good service! Great rooms, too.

Andy and friends may already be here in town. That said, I'm sitting at my office here in Seattle on a rainy day, so here's my best hotel list:

Mayflower Park Hotel
Inn at the Market
Roosevelt Hotel
Hotel Monaco
Sorrento Hotel
Alexis Hotel

IMO The Edgewater is passe and tacky and definitely not walking distance to anywhere.

Not tacky and passe at all! The hotel has a great shuttle service that literally took us everywhere. Being right on the water was wonderful for us, since we really enjoy water views from our hotel.

Inn at the Market and the Fairmont Olympic were also considerations, but we chose the Edgewater for the water location. ***kim*** (~~)

Sorry Kim, didn't mean to offend. But I live in Seattle and am a stone's throw from all of these hotels mentioned.

Fairmont Olympic (isn't that the old Four Seasons?) and The Edgewater are simply not the same class of hotel IMO.

No offense taken, Suze! When was the last time you stayed at the Edgewater? ***kim***

Kim, I confess I have never stayed at any of the hotels since I live in downtown Seattle. But have been in the bars and restaurants of every single one of them. Maybe I better go back to the European board where my experience is first-person and seems to be more timely ~LOL.

Yes, staying there is quite a different experience than just visiting for a few hours! LOL We were there for four days and were treated like royalty. ***kim*** (~~)

***kim*** You win, fair & square, I shouldn't be posting when my information is not complete. Will you at least allow that The Edgewater is not "near the action"? But rather quite a ways down the waterfront, in a commercial district, not walking distance to downtown restaurants, shopping, siteseeing? All of the other hotels suggested on this thread are right in the downtown core.

I wouldn't want to stay "right in the downtown" core, LOL! Just a personal preference. Actually the Edgewater was walking distance to the waterfront activity but we chose to have the hotel shuttle take us around.

Remember, we were there in August, high tourist season and Seattle was very busy at that time of year!

I've had this same discussion about a Portland hotel that I love (The Riverplace) vs. the downtown hotels. I just prefer to have water views whenever I can. It's very sooting and relaxing for me to be able to watch the ferries from right outside my hotel window by the nice fireplace while sipping my morning coffee in my comfy robe in front of that fireplace at the Edgewater.

I love the furry bear footstools that they place in front of the fire to rest your feet on after a long day of sight-seeing. Nope, not giving up my water views! LOL ***kim*** (~~)

oops, make that soothing! ***kim*** (~~)

suze, you've not been out in the hotel scene lately. you've missed a few new ones. don't respond with recommendations unless you can back it up.

Larry, Sorry but you have no idea where I do or don't go. I apologized to Kim because I was incorrect. As for the rest that came to my mind, these are old stand-bys of grace & class in downtown Seattle, I never implied they were the newest or the hippest. I thought they were appropriate suggestions in reponse to what the Original Poster was looking for.

HI Suze, what's your opinion on the Fairmont property now. I know it used to be a Four Seasons a couple of years ago. Is it still the grand dame of Seattle, so to speak? Is the quality still the same as when it was a Four Seasons?

I have a Fairmont in Sonoma (The Sonoma Mission Inn) that I really like. They seem to be "upper-end" in the hotel chains, but the Four Seasons is just know for luxury and high standards. ***kim*** (~~)

Kim, No comment. Seriously as Larry has clearly instructed me... <don't respond with recommendations unless you can back it up>

I have never stayed at the Four Seasons Olympic, now the Fairmont Olympic. When you live in a city the occasion to overnight in a very expensive hotel unfortunately does not often arise. I have spent plenty of time in their sumptuous lobbies, bars and restaurant, but again that was back under the Four Seasons ownership, and as you clearly pointed out above this is not the same as staying there.

Having said all that, I will stick my neck out with "Yes" she is still a Grand Dame hotel of Seattle. I would give it that for the historic building alone, regardless of what is going on inside.

Yes, the building is historic. We tried to find it last time we were in Seattle, never did. We just wanted to check it out. It's supposed to have a gorgeous indoor swimming pool that my daughter just had to try out. Maybe this summer! We almost booked two nights at the Edgewwater and one at the Fairmont, but no one wanted to move around that much.

I hope to see it this summer,tho! I'm fascinated by old hotels. ***kim*** (~~)

The hotel address is at 411 University - so the corner of 4th & University, the other cross-street being 5th & Seneca.

The Four Seasons is planning a new hotel at First & Union in Seattle. It will reportedly be a hotel/condo combination.