Seattle Hotels

Hip Hotel Ändra’s sleek décor is a tasteful nod to Seattle’s Nordic heritage melded with Pacific Northwest contemporary design, featuring wood, water and stone throughout. Finnish architect’s Alvar Aalto salon chairs and Arne Jacobsen’s striking orange swan chairs make the living room loft a cool place to hang out. Guest rooms come with traditional Scandinavian patterns, alpaca headboards, striped chenille bedspreads, Lacava sinks and FACE Stockholm bath products.

Housed in a spectacular Tom Kundig-designed building, the 12-storey Thompson is the hottest new addition to Seattle’s hotel scene. The 158 guest rooms are the epitome of class – think dark-wood panelling with brass details – and the best rooms feature floor-to-ceiling windows with views over Pike Place Market. There’s a rooftop bar boasting a dazzling outlook towards the Olympic Mountains, a ‘glam-rustic’ restaurant and a spectacular events space for business travellers.

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Fairmont Olympic Hotel captures the elegance of a bygone era - without stinting on modern luxuries. Its 450 rooms have cosy furnishings with excellent amenities, and the service is impeccable. This Seattle hotel, built in 1924, also has a sumptuous health club with indoor pool and whirlpool plus an on-site spa. Other features include two superb restaurants.

Funky Hotel Max sells itself as a destination for the ‘creatively inclined’. Its décor is bold, bright and chic, with original Seattle artwork throughout. Each guest floor hallway focuses on the work of a particular photographer – check out the fifth floor for the works of Charles Peterson, who documented Seattle’s grunge era. This floor celebrates Seattle’s Sub Pop Records indie record label and each room comes with a Crosley record player and vinyl records curated by Sub Pop.

Modern and colourful, Hotel Five’s guest rooms are all shiny hardwood floors, bright red accent walls and super-contemporary furnishings. It’s the neat little extras that make this hotel stand out too – freshly baked pineapple cupcakes and coffee each afternoon in reception, golf umbrellas in every room (a Seattle essential), plus complimentary bikes and town car service. Max’s Café is a great stop for breakfast or lunch.

Wonderfully eccentric décor, friendly staff and an enviable downtown location combine to make this one of the city’s top mid-range boutique hotels. Rooms are famously comfortable (some even boast views over towards the Space Needle) and guests have access to an indoor pool, fitness centre, café and 24-hour business centre. Outside, it’s just a hop-and-a-skip to major attractions such as the Teatro ZinZanni, Seattle Center and Experience Music Project Museum.

Just a couple of blocks away from Pike Place Market, the Moore Hotel and Theater date back to 1907. Rooms are basic, but clean, and a good price for the location. The theatre itself (run separately by the Seattle Theatre Group) is Seattle’s oldest operating theatre and has been renovated in 2013. All the grunge-era greats played there, including Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, Nirvana and Soundgarden.

This turn-of-the-century Seattle mansion has been lovingly restored and is now a nine-room, seven-suite bed and breakfast, combining period detail and the comforts of modernity. A large living room and library on the ground floor retain original oak panelling and fireplace fixtures. There is also a heated swimming pool in the private gardens. The hotel has three rooms with a shared bathroom, which are substantially cheaper than en suite options.

The original hotel in the ultra-cool (and affordable) Ace Hotel group is located in a former maritime workers’ hotel in Belltown, close to all the major Seattle attractions. Rooms are simple but stylish, many with original artwork, hardwood floors or pieces of vintage furniture. Standard rooms come with a sink, but you need to share a bathroom. Deluxe rooms have private bathrooms. There’s a cosy breakfast room with DIY waffles, juice and Stumptown coffee.