Hi all,
Aussie girl here hoping to get to Seattle for a conference at the end of August this year. Hubby coming with me.

Budget is Tight (capital T!).

The conference will be at the Westin Hotel.
Can anyone recommend a hotel downtown, within easy travelling distance (by foot or otherwise) to the Westin, that is around $100-150 US a night? I need to be at the Westin by 7.30am each morning it seems...

Tell me if I'm dreaming

Greetings from Seattle! I'm no downtown expert, but let me just encourage you to stay downtown if you can. Do NOT stay near the airport (SeaTac) or even in the U District (by UW) because traffic will make it very hard to arrive by 7:30am. You'll love Seattle in August! (The thought of it is keeping me alive right now!)

Thanks NWMom!
I'm definitely going to book somewhere downtown.
I'm looking at maybe the Moore hotel or the Mediterranean Inn. There is also the imaginatively titled 'Seattle Hotel' - though this is 1 star and I think maybe a little too budget...

Any comments or suggestions from other Seattle residents or visitors?

Try the Sixth Avenue Inn. It is diagonally across the street from the Westin. It's more like a motel (four stories high) but is a nice enough place, and the location is perfect.

$100 I doubt, but $150 should be doable. Get a map which shows hotel locations and make a deal.

The Sixth Avenue is showing room prices of $119 to $129 (for 2 people) in August.

www.sixthavenueinn.com

In addition to the Moore and the Sixth Avenue Inn, the Executive Pacific Plaza Hotel at 4th and Spring is another reasonably priced but still decent option downtown. Small, basic rooms, but the location and price are good.

Thanks to all for speedy replies. This site is such a great resource!
I'm leaning towards 6th ave inn or EPPH.
Trip is still in the 'planning what it will cost us' stage so fingers crossed it goes ahead...

You might want to check and see what the conference rates are at the Westin. We have stayed there quite a bit for large group events like that and the rates were always very good...under $130 per night.

The Mayflower Park Hotel
Sixth Avenue Inn
The Moore Hotel
Would be my picks, in that order of preference.

You might also check the Ace Hotel in Belltown (they have a website).

Mediterranean is up on lower Queen Anne Hill so you'd need to catch a bus to get to the Westin each day, it would be a bit of a hike to walk it.

A few hotels outside the downtown area have free shuttles that will take you to the convention center, and/or else are located on express bus lines that could also get you there cheaply. For example, the University Inn (located near the University of Washington in an interesting area) has rooms for $130 or so for most of late August, and they have a shuttle downtown. We've stayed there and found it quite comfortable. http://www.universityinnseattle.com/. Similarly, the hotels on Lake Union north of the downtown (but closer than the University District) also offer shuttles - Residence Inn, Courtyard, Silver Cloud - which may be more than $150 but which are usually available on Priceline for much less.

One thing to note is that the first Monday in September (the 3rd this year) is a national holiday in the US, and also that weekend is the annual "Bumbershoot" music/arts festival in Seattle. That's good news and bad news - hotels fill up (bad); however if you can stay around the festival is a total blast. www.bumbershoot.org.

I would definitely also try Priceline for downtown hotels. While there are seldom great bargains during the (northern) summer for Seattle, due to cruise ship activities and other tourism, at your price point I'd expect you to be able to get something downtown in the 3- or 4-star category, i.e. much better than the places listed by other posters here. From Oz you can bid using Priceline's Hong Kong operation - www.priceline.com.hk - which will allow you to register with an Australian address and credit card, unlike the N. American or European versions of Priceline. (Not affiliated with the chain of Aussie pharmacies BTW.)

More great info - thanks so much! I was wondering if the Westin would offer conference rates but since their normal rate seemed to be $250+ I wasn't sure if it would drop enough. But I'll definitely check it out once the conference info is updated to include the accommodation options.
Suze - thanks for tip on the hike! gardyloo - thanks also - esp the info on the US public holiday! Eek! We'll be leaving Seattle on the 31st Aug so can't stay around which is a shame. I'll look into Priceline - it seemed a little complicated but I gather the idea is that you select an area (downtown) and the star rating you want and name your top price.. And if they can get a match, then you're booked, but otherwise you can try again?

Ended up booking the Sheraton via hotwire for $143 + tax.
Conference rate for Westin was released after (of course) at $199 + tax, however over 5 nights I am pleased with what we got. Also as we won't be spending much time in the room I don't think, given the option, we would have chosen the Westin at that rate over what we got the Sheraton for.

You're welcome (although I was trying for a moment to remember recommending a "hike" to someone -lol!)

I stayed in the Sixth Avenue Inn, maybe one block to Westin's entrance. There also was a McDonald's if you need food cheap and fast. The Inn's restaurant is opened for B, L, D.

I made reservations on-line, I think through Expedia, or maybe Inn's website. Try also Quikbook.

We paid under $100 a room at the end of May, but it was maybe 8 years ago.