Continuing on with the reviews of my USA trip in September, I stayed in Seattle for around a week. I spent two nights in Seattle downtown itself, then moved to Bellevue for five nights. You can read the earlier instalments of this trip, on EVA Air who took me from Jakarta to Seattle:
Review: EVA Air 777-300ER Business Class (CGK-TPE)
Review: EVA Air ‘The Infinity’ Lounge
Review: EVA Air 787-9 Business Class (TPE-SEA)
For the two nights in Seattle downtown, I stayed at the Hilton Seattle. Having made several trips to the USA in the past and stayed in various properties in the Hilton portfolio, I don’t expect much from hotels there. Unless it’s a more upscale, proper luxury brand like at least Conrad or JW Marriott.
The Hilton Seattle was more or less in line with my expectations. It’s not a bad hotel, and perfectly serviceable for resting up after a day exploring Seattle and its surrounds. The rooms appear to be recently renovated, although as with any older hotel in the USA, there are little details that clearly belong in the past. It does have an Executive Lounge, which is always useful in the USA (unlimited free water), and its location is decent, Overall, the Hilton Seattle is a perfectly serviceable place to stay in Seattle. I won’t go out of my way to stay there again if I travel to Seattle again, but neither would I avoid it.
Booking
For this stay, I had booked a King Bed Room for a total of USD485 (~SGD680) plus USD84.15 in taxes, totaling USD569.15 (~SGD800). It’s a lot to pay for a fairly lacklustre hotel, but it’s about par for course in major US cities. The rates later in the week were actually much higher, so I was glad I could bunk in with the girlfriend in her company-paid accommodation.
Hilton Seattle Location
The Hilton Seattle is located in downtown Seattle, surrounded by the retail and commercial areas. Pike Place Market, a major tourist attraction in Seattle, is located about six blocks away. There’s a light rail stop a couple of blocks away, which goes to SeaTac Airport to the south, about 45min away. The Westlake Center Seattle Monorail stop is also a couple of blocks away, for access to the Space Needle and Uptown.
With the relatively small size of Seattle downtown, most sights and attractions are walkable from the Hilton. I would personally like to be a little closer to Pike Place, but there’s really nothing to complain about with the Hilton Seattle’s location.
Check-in
I arrived at the Hilton Seattle after a fairly quick Lyft ride from SeaTac. The Hilton Seattle has a very nondescript, easy-to-miss ground entrance. The reception lobby itself is located on the several floors up, with the lower floors of the building taken up by the carpark.
The Hilton Seattle’s reception lobby is fairly compact, and there was almost always a queue at the reception desks. There was such a queue when I arrived, and it took awhile for me to be attended to. My Hilton Honors Diamond status was recognised, Unlike most Hilton stays, I had not been pre-upgraded in advance. I was told the hotel was fully booked due to various conventions and sporting events going on that few days. I was asked if a mid-level room was OK, to which I requested something higher. They were able to find a room on a 20-something floor, which I accepted.
As a Honors elite, I was entitled to complimentary water (yes, water isn’t free normally in most US hotels). In my experience, this is normally given at check-in, however on this case the front desk mentioned they didn’t have any available and to come back the next day. She also pointed out the location of the Executive Lounge beside the reception desk, and its opening hours.
The Room
I was initially given a room on a higher floor, I can’t recall the exact floor but I think it was 23rd. However when I got there, I found it was right next to the elevators, and didn’t have a work desk. I immediately called down to the front desk, who informed me they had no other Executive rooms available, and would I be ok with a standard rooms. Since I get lounge access as a Diamond, having an Executive room or not was inconsequential. Also, these rooms beside the elevators – XX01 – are smaller and don’t have a work desk as mentioned. As compensation for these shortcomings, the rooms are accorded Executive Lounge access, but I would take a good sleep and productivity over the lounge access. I’d recommend avoiding these rooms as much as possible.
I went down to get the keycards re-coded for my new room on the 14th floor, 1404. Readers of my other hotel reviews will know I usually avoid rooms on low floors, but on this occasion I didn’t have a choice.
The room at the Hilton Seattle looked somewhat modern and recently renovated. It’s hardly the fanciest the hotel room, but it certainly looked better than some other Hiltons I’ve stayed at in the US. The air-conditioning system looked ancient, but at least it wasn’t too noisy with all sorts of weird rattling, which is one problem I tend to encounter at older US hotels.
A small shelf held the coffee machine and minibar. The coffee machine was a Cuisinart, while the provided coffee itself was from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. That’s an odd choice in the hometown of Starbucks. The minibar was empty, as most hotels have tended to do since the pandemic hit. I prefer that personally, more space to store my own drinks and no risk of accidentally getting charged when moving items.
The bed was a standard king size, with what the hotel calls “oversized pillows”. While it was king size, for some reason we felt it smaller than other hotels’ king-size beds. As with most hotel pillows, these were too soft for my liking.
The TV was a LG 49in. I didn’t use it as I spent most of my time either outside or recovering from jetlag.
The work desk was rather basic, and a little on the small side. The power outlets were Type-A only, but there were also USB charging ports.
Each bedside table had a lamp. As is typical with US hotels, the lamps had an inbuilt power outlet and USB charging ports. This type of lamps is something I only ever see in US hotels. The power outlet was a Type-B and there was sticker sign to use it only for cellphones and laptops.
Between the window and the bedside table was a small armchair. Not sure what’s the purpose of this chair, since there wasn’t even a side table to place items while sitting on the chair.
The bathroom also looked like it had some new wallpaper and tiles fitted not too long ago. I also appreciated that the lighting here was bright, which is not always the case with these older Hiltons. The only annoying aspect is that bath was shower/tub combo. Because the tub is the only place for a shower, I usually end up with a choice of having the usually gross shower curtain in the tub, or a flooded bathroom because of water splashing out.
The provided toiletries were the usual Hilton-standard Crabtree & Evelyn, in large pump bottles fixed to the wall. Oddly, the bar soap and body lotion were Neutrogena.
Overall, there wasn’t really too much to complain about the room. It’s not exactly a room I looked forward to heading back to, but it was reasonably pleasant, clean and at least looked updated. There’s probably nicer and better-appointed rooms in Seattle, but the Hilton Seattle surpassed many other Hiltons in the country.
Facilities
In terms of facilities and amenities, the Hilton Seattle has an on-site restaurant, Executive Lounge and a gym. I didn’t dine at the restaurant during this stay, so can’t comment on that.
The Hilton Seattle has on-site parking in the building, which I used. The carpark isn’t managed by the hotel, but parking charges can be charged to the guest folio, and earn Honors points from that. The parking cost me USD49 per night, with in-out privileges. The hotel provides a pass which can scanned at entry and exit, with just the USD49 charged per night.
Executive Lounge
The Executive Lounge is located on the reception level, between the reception desks and the hotel restaurant. The Hilton Seattle is actually one of very few Hilton properties in the US that still have a lounge. Of course, I didn’t expect anything fancy from the lounge. In fact, the only value I place on a hotel lounge in the US is unlimited water. I, and many other guests, casually took a couple of bottles out from the lounge every visit. No staff seemed bothered by this, or even noticed.
I felt was fairly nice decorated, though being tucked away in some random space meant there was no natural light.
During my stay, besides water stops, I only popped by the lounge to check out the breakfast offerings. Sightseeing and dinner plans meant no time to for evening cocktails. The breakfast offerings were pretty mediocre. A couple of cereals, bread and muffins, hashbrowns, cardboard bacon and gross scrambled eggs were the extent of the food. The coffee was of course Starbucks. Best save the calories and have breakfast elsewhere.
The most useful thing about the lounge, as mentioned, is the unlimited water. Soft drinks were also available throughout the day, namely regular Pepsi, diet Pepsi and Sierra Mist.
Gym
The gym is located on the ground floor. It’s not very big, but seemed decently equipped for its size. Towels and a water dispenser were provided.
Conclusion
The Hilton Seattle served its purpose as a place to rest after a day out. It’s not the fanciest hotel around, but there wasn’t really anything particular to fault the hotel on during this stay. The recently renovated rooms looked and felt more pleasant than other Hiltons in the USA I’ve stayed at. As with most hotels in the USA, it’s a matter of keeping expectations in check. In this case, I would say the Hilton Seattle delivered exactly what I expected it would.