Comfortable Seattle Hotel
The first thing you might notice about the Crowne Plaza is its central location in downtown Seattle.
Pike Place market is about ten minutes walk and it is about a mile to the Space Needle.
It is located adjacent to a busy I5 interchange, and is therefore easy to find once off the freeway, though you do have to watch out for those one way streets.
The hotel is surrounded by shops, restaurants and stores, including a three floor Target near Pike Place.
Parking is by valet only and chargeable at $41 per night (including taxes).
The lobby is inviting and comfortable and there are chairs and sofas for guests.
Check in process was friendly, quick and efficient, and for some reason we were upgraded to a better room with two queen beds on the twenty sixth floor.
The staff also signed us up to the Crowne Plaza rewards package for free, which got us free drinks in the bar with a meal and a discount on breakfast.
The room was very clean and quite spacious, with a flat screen TV, safe, fridge and tea and coffee making facilities.
There is also an iron and board in a cupboard adjacent to the entrance.
There was a large desk, though I was disappointed to find no free wireless internet, which is charged at $9.98 per day.
There is a business suite with free to use computers and printers on the fifth floor.
Our room overlooked fifteen lanes of extremely busy I5 freeway, which was fascinating for us to see as visiting Brits, but I imagine is less interesting for American businessmen.
Also I would imagine that the lower floors would be subject to increasing amounts of traffic noise, as we could hear a little noise from our 26th floor room, though it did not disrupt sleep.
i found the beds to be comfortable, and there were quite a few pillows to each bed and extra pillows in the cupboard adjacent to the entrance to the room.
The meals in the Regatta Bar and Grill and of a good quality with generous proportions, and the prices are compatible with and perhaps a little cheaper than some of the bars and restaurants surrounding the hotel, so it is a good place to eat and drink in the evening if you don't want to be out and about after dark.
The buffet breakfast in the morning was only just over $12 with the offered discount, and was of a high quality and the freshly cooked omlettes were delicious,
It is possible to eat breakfast elsewhere, but this is a good deal for an eat as much as you like buffet.
On the day before checking out I found there is a computer terminal in the lobby for checking in with an airline and printing boarding passes, which was free to use, though the staff at reception were only too happy to do this for me.
The hotel was pleasant to stay in and some aspects of my visit were good value, and the only issue I had was with the high parking charge and lack of free wi-fi,
However I would stay there again and would recommend to anyone visiting Seattle.