tprsrs6

Looking for a hotel in one of these areas...Pike Market or Space Needle/Seattle Center.
Is one area better than the other (safer)? What's the distance between the two?

I'm finding hotels are $$$$ so if I have to pay big bucks I just want to make sure we're in a good area.

DebitNM

These two areas are not within walking distance! We stayed in Pike Market area and loved it and found it very convenient. We took bus to Space Needle. Didn't rent a car the entire time we were in seattle. Can walk or take bus just about everywhere -- even Boeing Space Museum.

We stayed in Alexis Hotel and Inn at the Market. They were both excellent.

Hope this helps...
Debi

Gardyloo

The Pike Market is in the city center, a block from the waterfront and 3 blocks or so from the main retail core (Nordstrom, Macys et al.) Very much a downtown scene - lots of street life, lots of cafes, bars, shops, cars, buses etc.

Seattle Center is about a mile north of there. The Center itself is a large park with concert halls, theaters, the Space Needle, Pacific Science Center, fun fair, Key Arena (Sonics for the time being) and things like that. The hotels in the area are on the periphery, mainly the northern and western sides (i.e. away from downtown) of the Center. To the east of the center is SR 99, a busy freeway-ish arterial that cuts off the center from the rest of the city.

Staying around Seattle Center will certainly be cheaper, but it will be much less convenient to downtown activities. If that's what you're planning, then the downtown hotels will probably be a better deal. If you don't mind taking hotel shuttles, you could stay there, or else look at Lake Union, on the other side of the SR99 highway that I mentioned, where there are several affordable hotels that offer downtown shuttles etc.

NWWanderer

The Market area is much more central than Seattle Center--I would say it's at least a mile, maybe a little further, between the two. So it's walkable, but a long walk.

There was a thread recently on the area around the Inn at the Market and safety concerns--I would imagine a search on "Inn at the Market" would bring it up.

I personally would stay in the more central location.

tprsrs6

Thanks so much for the replies!

Is the Best Western Pioneer Square worth looking into? The other hotels mentioned are way out of our budget....we need 2 rooms since we're a party of 6.

jent103

I agree with the Market votes, having stayed near Seattle Center last summer for a conference downtown. SC-downtown is walkable, but it's definitely a long walk, especially if you're with kids or have any health issues. I would rather have stayed near Pike Place and been able to easily walk to the waterfront and downtown shopping. Seattle's public transit is good and busses are free within the downtown area, so it would be easy to get to the Space Needle area if you stayed near the Market.

mark99

Definately not the space needle area.....I find the W hotel to be one of the best places to stay and you can wlak to everything.

I think this W...staff and all is one of the best W's in the U.S. San Fran and Honolulu W's should send their staff here for TRAINING!!!

lovesadventure

There have been recent posts about the Pioneer Square district not feeling too safe at night. Pioneer Square is one of the main bar districts in Seattle. And not really the nicer/yuppy bars.

I stayed at the Best Western Pioneer Square with my girlfriends some years back, and we didn't have any problems. But this was before Belltown was a major (high end bars and restaurants) center.

If Pike Place area is too much, I'd suggest looking at the hotels near Lake Union. They generally provide shuttles to the downtown shopping area (from which you can walk to Pike Place), and are more affordable. They even have suite configurations, which may or may not work for your group.

christy1

NWWanderer, in that Inn at the Market thread everyone agreed that there were NO safety concerns about that hotel. Why would you perpetuate the idea that there are?

NWWanderer

There was a recent thread about that hotel, as well, and the Pioneer Square area, which can be a bit dicey at night due to the shelters located in the area.

What is your budget? If it's below, say, $200 or so for summer, I'd look into the Executive Pacific Plaza hotel at Fourth and Spring...it's an older budget hotel but the rooms were renovated recently. The Sixth Avenue Inn is another budget choice downtown but I think a renovation is overdue there.

And have you tried the Seattle Supersaver website? It's run by the CVB and will sometimes have better rates than Expedia and other sites like that or the hotels themselves.

NWWanderer

Christy1, no, no, my intent was just the opposite! If the poster reads that thread, he or she will see exactly what it said and see that the safety concerns were addressed (or at least I hope they were).

christy1

NWwanderer, sorry I misunderstood your post. I'm think I'm getting a little sensitive to some of these other posts that claim certain parts of town are dangerous, when they are not. Like lovesadventure's post that says people don't think Pioneer Square is safe at night-I think people here have given tourists the heads up that you will see more that usual numbers of homeless there (but if seeing homeless people is going to bother you, you probably shouldn't come to Seattle, or maybe ANY city, at all), and there are a lot of bars that cater to a younger crowd, but I've never seen a post where anyone actually has had any issues (nor do I know anyone that lives here that has had anything bad happen in PS, and I work on the north edge of it). In fact there is a recent post by someone who just stayed at that Best Western and liked it a lot.

NWWanderer

I understand. And while I walk around all parts of downtown at night by myself pretty frequently (I go to a lot of shows and concerts at various clubs, etc), Pioneer Square does feel less safe at night to me than other parts of downtown, even though I've never had anything happen to me there or anywhere else for that matter. I personally would choose to stay in a different part of downtown because of that if I were making that choice, everything else being equal. But as you said, it's a matter of making sure people are aware of what to expect and I would not say that the area is *dangerous* by any means.

mark99

I just want to comment on the "homeless people - should not go to any city" etc.

I'm sure you were not saying it was no big deal....BUT...it is way out of control in San Francisco and getting bad in Seattle.

And it DOES bother me to be constantly and needlessly harrased...and I strongly believe that some people will not return because of it. There is plenty of help for these people...but they have to WANT to be helped. For the most part these people DO NOT use the money for "food" they simply use it to buy more drugs or alcohol.

My last visit to Seattle there was one fella that was particularly pressing for "food" money...and my wife with the good heart insisted I fork out yet again to someone....I challenged her to come with me and follow from behind...and sure enough he headed straight to the liquor store! CASE CLOSED!

Donate money to help groups to assist, and get tough with these people who have nothing better to do than harrass the public.

tprsrs6

OK, it looks like Lake Union might work for us....especially with the shuttles and free parking.

Right now I'm looking at the Silver Cloud Lake Union....any comments?

Any other Lake Union recommendations?

How far is Pike Market from Lake Union? How far is Space Needle? Is it a lot of traffic to get there?

NWWanderer

I think Silver Clouds are generally a good bet, and a good value so I think it would be the best choice in that area although you might want to look at the Courtyard as well to compare rates. It's not far at all from there to the Space Needle (maybe a five minute drive under normal traffic conditions and a 15-20 minute walk although much of it would be along a very busy arterial) but it is a couple miles from the market so you'd have to take the shuttle or a bus.

If there's something going on at Seattle Center like a Sonics game then yes there will be a lot of traffic between the Lake Union area and downtown or Seattle Center.

lovesadventure

I think there's also a Courtyard Marriott and a Residence in down by Lake Union. Although I've heard the Silver Cloud there is really terrific with their guests.

Christy1, assuming that some of the others in the party of the OP are children, no, Pioneer Square would not be my first choice for them. And it is absolutely fair to say that "some people" do not find Pioneer Square safe at night.

After all, that's the area where you hear about Seahawks' players getting bonked on the head with street signs and Mardi Gras parties getting out of hand.

gail

We stayed at Residence Inn Lake Union. Loved the additional space, nice breakfast included, evening wine/beer. "commute" into Seattle was easy and got to see seaplanes taking off and landing on the Lake. Nice area to stroll in AM.

Certainly not near the areas you mentioned, but I see you are expanding your geography.

enzian

Did you look at the Sixth Avenue Inn? It's right downtown, a block from the Westin---the neighborhood is fine and you can walk to everything.

christy1

Lovesadventure, my point is perceptions v. reality. Do some people FEEL like they wouldn't be safe there at night? Obviously. Is that based on any reality-actual random crime statistics, muggings, purse snatchings, etc? Nope. Sorry, a Seahawks player getting in a bar fight has nothing to do with a threat to tourists, and I think it's a big disservice to posters here to warn them away from what maybe one of the only downtown hotels in their price range.