thanks indie, i'll check it out. could it be more feasible to keep the car rental at this location for less $ parking than downtown? we're finding that to return the rental car early is more expensive than keeping it for the entirety of our trip...

My friend stayed at Mediterranean recently and liked it alot. He had a car with him, I'm guessing he paid extra for parking but you can check with the hotel. It's a bit out of the way but not by much, and a better price than the downtown-proper hotels. Excellent 2nd suggestion, if the Mayflower doesn't work for you.

My beau vetoed to Mediterranean and isn't as sold on the Mayflower as I am. Does anyone have thoughts on the Andra Hotel (his contribution) or more info on Silver Cloud at the stadium? These are his top choices right now but a little pricier...

You'd think picking a hotel wouldn't be so difficult, but I guess that's life! We've had a few trips cancelled/put on the back burner because of a car accident I had earlier in the year and I think we're both being pickier about this Seattle trip since it's the first (and possibly last) trip we'll make 'til next Spring.

So thanks for all of the fantastic input!

I've never seen the rooms at Andra but we eat lunch at their restaurant (Lola) occasionally. Seems like a fun place and the location is great. If you are keeping the car, there are lots of public lots to the east, most about $8 a day, and on-street parking is free at night ( but be sure and pay or move the car after 8 am!)

Silver Cloud is way out of the way unless you are spending all your time at baseball games.

Did you consider Hotel Max?

The Andra's great. But it's going to be more than $200 unless you can find a discounted rate. Try looking on the visitseattle.org Lodging Guide page or email me.

I agree with Enzian's comment about the Silver Cloud Stadium--great location for a game, but not for seeing the rest of Seattle.

The Max is a cool hotel but the rooms are teensy tiny.

I don't think Hotel Andra is in your price range either.

I would not stay all the way down by the stadium. It's not really convenient to downtown propery and is in an industrial part of the city.

One other concern I'd have about Hotel Andra is there is a construction site directly across the street to the south at the moment.

I think Hotel Max is a good option. I used to like it alot when it was the Vance, yes I know the rooms are tiny.

The problem is your budget and your good taste aren't quite lining up

Thanks for all the info on Silver Cloud. I think that's enough to knock it off my beau's list. We'll probably end up at the Mayflower (I'm hoping at least) unless we get a great rate elsewhere. Seems like it's got the most bang for the buck, which is important since (as suze so aptly pointed out), our taste does not fit our budget. Give us another few years enzien, thanks for the parking tips, and I will certainly look into the Max.

Thanks again to all!

P.S. Suze---thanks doubly for the heads-up on the construction across from the Andra, it will likely be the tie-breaker between it and the Mayflower...

ok, did a little leg work on the Max and the rooms do look tiny! But they have AAA rates and a package that includes the Experience Music Project, one of the "musts" on our list. Only problem is that they have both smoking and non-smoking rooms. I hadn't thought about this before (coming from CA), but I would much prefer an all non-smoking hotel. Does anyone know if any of the hotels we've been looking at fall under this catergory? If not, I guess I'll just have to do the research over Oh well, my mistake...

wow i'm surprised to hear that. i didn't know they let anyone smoke anywhere in the greater seattle area these days!

suze---is that subtle sarcasm or am I just super-sesitive I know a lot of the hotels in Seattle are exclusively non-smoking, so I'm really not trying to be facetious!

No, I was serious. Things are really strict against smoking all around the city these days. I guess I just assumed most hotels had gone completely non-smoking.

The Silver Cloud Inn on Broadway has availability for your nights at $149. Excellent transit service downtown, convenient to cafes, pubs etc. on Broadway/Capitol Hill. New and nice place.

The Silver Cloud on Lake Union is also available for $179 or so, farther out but great views of the floatplanes and action on Lake Union; they also have a free shuttle downtown.

Oh, I'm glad to hear that (about the smoking); my beau has asthma and it really bothers him around smoke...Gardyloo, thanks for the info on the Silver Clouds and transit, I appreciate it!