When people tell me they want to visit Seattle, I suggest the same thing, always: August or September. It’s divine here during those two months, truly there is no place I’d rather be. But in winter, it can be daunting and our New Year’s weekend stay downtown was tempered by disappointing weather — umbrella challenging wind and rain that seemed to come from all directions meant walking around was less than pleasing.
Had we been home, I’d have made soup and watched movies — at the hotel we opted for comfort food and Sherlock Holmes on PBS. I’d had pretensions of a visit to the zoo, but given the remnants of my bad cold, we opted out of that, ate donuts, poked around the sales downtown, eyed the abandoned market, and did a lot of sleeping. Not a remarkable change of scenery, but it’s nice to be obscenely lazy from time to time.
I’m asked to recommend places to stay from time to time so I was glad to get to spend two nights at the Holiday Inn. It’s fairly generic, but the location is very convenient, the rooms are clean and quiet, and the bed we had was crazy comfortable. Another Seattle friend spent New Year’s Eve at the Westin at a rate similar to the listed rate for the Holiday Inn, so as always, I’d shop around. Still for a mid-range room in a decent location for seeing the city — 10 minutes walk to the market, less to the Space Needle — I’d say the Holiday Inn fits the bill.
Note: I always enjoy when bloggers share what things actually cost, and will try to do more of the same in 2010. Below, our expenses for the weekend.
- Holiday Inn: Executive level suite, breakfast included, published rate for the dates of our stay: 101.00+taxes*
- Holiday Inn parking: Two nights, 20.00*
- Uptown Espresso: One latte, one tea, one biscotti and a shortbread biscuit: 6.21
- Top Pot Donuts: One latte, one Americano, one raspberry jam biscuit and a cinnamon sugar donut: 8:84
- Pike Place Chowder: Salmon and chips, chowder plus crab roll lunch: 25.77
- Emerald Grill: Mac and cheese, a burger, and two sodas: 30.62
*Comped by PR company
Nice, but I’d still opt for the West Seattle Villa 🙂 (Josefa too) R.
Actually, I never mind bad weather when I’m away on a getaway – well, maybe “never” is a little strong – for exactly the reason you said: “it’s nice to be obscenely lazy.”
I don’t seem to be able to manage that at home! 🙂
Despite the bad weather, it must be fun to do this in your own backyard. I like how you’ve itemised the costs.