Seattle - Bellevue v. SeaTac Airport
 

Hello,

We will be spending the Labor Day weekend in Seattle, our first visit to the area. Now, I've read prior suggestions re staying in Downtown for sightseeing. However, the prices for downtown hotels are sky high (I did try Priceline and did go up to $100 for a 2-star). If we decide not to spend the extra money to stay in downtown, how does Bellevue compare to the SeaTac Airport area? Which is preferable? Thanks and sorry if I sound like a novice (I am).

If "airport strip" sounds pejorative, it is meant to. Miles from anywhere, surrounded by parking lots and strip malls. OTOH, Bellevue means crossing one of the floating bridges, which can become congested without warning.

There is a strip (sorry) of motels along Interurban east of the airport and south of Seattle. Try Priceline again, using Tukwila as a location.

I was faced with this type of problem and did not want a car --so I stayed at airport motel (2-3 bloks from airport) to get downtown I went back to airport out by baggage area and got a bus downtown..(sorry can't remember #) Went to Pioneer Square area and then could get free buses . There is a big area where the buses are free-can get map for this at any visitors center--also online
I know this sounds like inconvenient--but I saved $ 300 on a 3 day trip--and the motel at airport had great breafast and nice rooms..

I'd recommend looking at two areas north of downtown - along Lake Union and in the University District, and at Capitol Hill closer in.

Look at the Courtyard, Residence Inn and Silver Cloud Inn at Lake Union, and the University Inn, Watertown Hotel and another Silver Cloud in the University area.

There's also a new Silver Cloud on Broadway in the Capitol Hill area, and another at Safeco Field. Both are convenient to downtown. I believe rooms at the Capitol Hill SCI can be had for ~$150 a night, which is an excellent deal.

Thanks for the replies!

I just bid and won ($60) a room in Extended StayAmerica Seattle - Northgate. Per mapquest, it's about 9 miles away from downtown.

Northgate is a straight shot up I-5 freeway from downtown. Depending on time of day (traffic) and day of the week will take 15-30 mins. to drive. Definitely more convenient than the airport imo.

Unfortunately as is commonplace among people who name hotels, the Extended Stay Northgate is nowhere near the Northgate Mall. It's located on Highway 99 in Shoreline, couple of miles from the nearest freeway entrance.

Highway 99 is a strip commercial arterial. You can use it to get downtown (plenty of buses) or you can cut over to the freeway, but don't try the latter at rush hours as it will be jammed in both directions.

The bus will be convenient if you want to get to Seattle Center over Labor Day weekend, where the giant Bumbershoot arts festival will be drawing upwards of 200,000 visitors. www.bumbershoot.org

Oops, sorry, bad of me to be spreading misinformation. Thanks for catching my mistake.

If Mapquest is to be believed, it is 0.7 miles away from the I-5.

<i>If Mapquest is to be believed, it is 0.7 miles away from the I-5.</i>

By the crow, maybe, but there are only exits/entrances to I-5 at NE 125th and NE 145th Streets, so you need to go north or south a ways before you can cut over to the freeway.

I misspoke earlier - it's not in Shoreline, it's in Seattle. I glanced at the Google Map included on the hotel's website (http://www.extendedstaynetwork.com/M...cationID=14162) and it shows the location being near the intersection of Aurora (99) and Westminster Way in Shoreline. Obviously somebody goofed up; the website map doesn't jibe with the street address.

Looking at the address, I recognized the place - close to Sam's Club and a big K-Mart on Aurora.

Same story on access, though, just a few minutes closer in.

If there is such a thing as a &quot;false economy,&quot; that what you got with the Extended Stay America located in a very inconvenient spot.

I used PriceLine once--and never again.

EugeneNY: did you use biddingfortravel.com BEFORE making your Priceline bid?

It's really important to do research using tools like BFT and tripadvisor.com prior to making a bid.

EugeneNY -

I'm a Seattleite recently transplanted to the SW. I'm home every six weeks or so to visit clients/see the fam, and I've stayed at that ESA several times. I wouldn't normally recommend it to someone just in town for the weekend to sightsee, but you're stuck with it now and I'm here to tell you it's not that bad. On a weekday morning I can make it from there to Fishermen's Terminal in 25 minutes or less (as always, traffic gods permitting). You will do that or better to downtown via Aurora.

Granted, it's in a bit of a dodgy area, but Greenlake is just a couple of miles south, the Oak Tree theater is closer than that, and you'll likely not be spending all that much time in your room anyway. The hotel is perfectly safe, clean, and you saved enough money, imo, to deal with the relatively minor inconvenience of its location.