It was an admittedly bold choice for a man of my age to choose to stay at the W Hotel in downtown Seattle. I was worried that it would be too cool for me. To hip. Too loud.
Thankfully, this was the ‘mildest’ W hotel that I’ve ever experienced. Yes, there was a lot of red neon. But it was quiet. Relatively simple. Most importantly, most of the other guests were benign looking middle-aged people just like me. My peoples!
A full review of my one night stay at the W Hotel in downtown Seattle
For those of you who don’t know, the ‘W’ brand is Marriott’s attempt at attracting a younger / hipper / guest (the kind who craves social interaction). It’s basically the opposite of what I look for in a hotel. I took a gamble by choosing to stay at this property, and I’m happy to report that it was a really nice experience.
Location
The W is located on the corner of 4th and Seneca St. in Seattle. It’s just four blocks from the waterfront, and very centrally located in the heart of the downtown area. It’s the perfect hotel to use as your home base while exploring the Emerald City on foot IMHO. The airport is just 20 minutes away airport via a taxi or Uber. There is no airport shuttle service.
At the very least, I’m sure they saved a lot of money on signage by not having spell out a long-winded name. Welcome to the W Seattle!There’s no mistaking this for an H Hotel, that’s for dang sure.
The lobby (and checking in)
Unlike my last W hotel experience (The W Hotel in downtown Austin), I didn’t hear – or feel – any thumping bass coming from the lounge as I walked through the main entrance. The lobby was as quiet as a library – but visually exciting as a nightclub.
The reception desk. I can only hope that he got a discount on his room for showing up in W brand colors.Where am I again? Oh that’s right. The dubya. It’s actually a really nice lobby. The coffee station is much appreciated, and I’m sure that lounge area (with a stage) pops off every Friday and Saturday night. The only thing missing is a stripper pole!
Getting to my room
I learned a lot from my last W experience. This time, to be sure that I would be as far away from all the party noise as possible, I chose a room on the 18th floor. It was a long elevator ride to the top, but oh so very worth it.
Elevators or stairs (your choice). Considering that my room is on the 18th ******* floor, I opted for the mother******* elevator.Shoutout to the poor soul who is tasked with switching out these elevator floor mats 3 times times a day.All that neon disappeared real quick here on the 18th floor, didn’t it?“What if…the stripper poles are in the rooms?”Room 1804. I’m ready for it, but the question is: is it ready for me?
The room
As soon as I opened the door to my room, it became fairly obvious that this property used to be a low budget hotel. Sure, it was a nicely designed room, but the structure of it was very simple. It was essentially a box with fancy wall coverings (not typical of other W Hotels).
404 stripper pole not found.OK. This is certainly isn’t bad, but I will admit that I was expecting something a little swankier.
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These beds look pretty good to me (if a little thin). Eliminate just one of them, and there will be plenty of room for that stripper pole methinks. To anyone from the W corporate office who may be reading this, feel free to contact me. I’ve got lots of other really great ideas!From this view (next to the TV), it’s hard to tell what brand of hotel this is. Generic city, baby!Some views are better than others though. Now this looks like a dubya!Wood planks harvested directly from Mount Rainier National Park? Ha! It’s wallpaper.If the wood ain’t real, the gas lamps certainly aren’t either. They look good though.It’s basic(ally a fairly simple room with a smattering of fancy touches).This seating area next to the window is nice. It’s also a nice place for all of downtown Seattle to see you doing disgusting things, so…behave!Thankfully I am far more boring than I am disgusting.Meh. This is certainly a nice room, but not typical of a W Hotel IMHO.They should have went balls out with the wood paneling wallpaper. I told you that I was full of great ideas!The near unlimited supply of extremely expensive snacks is very ‘W’ though. They must make a killing on this stuff.I mean, if you’re going to spend $15 on a little bag of M&Ms, you might as well get totally s**tfaced with something from the minibar.Oh! The aviation nerd in me found this blanket to be really interesting. It’s essentially a pattern of 1:44 scale model Boeing 747-8 parts (something that I don’t think that many partygoers here at the W would give two s**ts about). Because it ain’t a proper hotel review without pics of the phone, complementary water, coffee maker, and the USB charging outlets. #nailedit
The view
Selecting (and paying more for) a room on the 18th floor was so very much worth it. The view was nothing short of spectacular – and it reminded me a lot of the view that I had in my room at the Westin in downtown Phoenix. I did have to wonder if anyone in the surrounding buildings could watch my every move, though.
Now that’s a view! My apologies to anyone in any of these buildings who saw me doing things they will never be able to unsee.
The bathroom
Just like the rest of the room, the bathroom was stale, sterile, and reminiscent of the Hilton (or whatever) that preceded the W. It was large though, and very clean. I very much appreciated the robe.
How many people do you suppose have made it this far into the review? Those that bailed 20 pics ago have missed out on the best part (the bathroom).Actually, that was a bit of an exaggeration. The bathroom is certainly nice, but nothing worth sticking around for.Just think of all the things you could be doing instead of looking at this pic of the toilet!Isn’t it a rule that swanky ‘party’ hotels have to have a glass walled showers? What fun is a night at the W without pressing your buttocks (or breasts) up against the glass like they do in rap videos?Behold (if you dare) the bathroom vanity.Thank you for providing a bathrobe! It went a long way towards making me feel less salty about not being able to press my buttocks against the glass.
Room service
It’s not very often that I’ll order room service, but it was late (and I was hungry). I reluctantly chose the $40 Kobe beef burger, and you know what? It was probably one of the best hamburgers I’ve ever had in my life. No lie!
I’m convinced that this hamburger (topped with thick cut bacon and oozing with cheese) took five years of my life. But you know what? It was so freakin’ worth it.
Pros and cons of the W Seattle experience
Whether or not I would choose to stay at this property again would depend on the price. There are a lot of other great hotels in the immediate area, so they would have to offer me a deal I couldn’t refuse to get me to come back. Honestly? A free Kobe beef burger is all that it would take.
Pros
The location is excellent. It’s within walking distance of everything in the core downtown area.
Maybe it was because I stayed on Thursday night (as opposed to a Friday or Saturday), but I didn’t get the loud / obnoxious ‘party’ vibe that I’ve felt in other W Hotels.
The views from the upper floor rooms are worth paying more for.
Cons
The rooms are very basic. This was not designed from the ground up to be a hip / stylish W Hotel.
There is no shuttle service from the airport. Expect to pay $70(ish) each way for an Uber or taxi.
