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Hotel Class: 
3 Stars - 1 Review and 386 Opinions
4242 Roosevelt Way NE, Seattle, Washington, 98105, United States
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387 Opinions
RB_Oakes
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Got a suite, which costs only a few bucks more than a room. It was very spacious, with a king bed and a sofa bed. The Watertown itself has a somewhat Scandinavian look, with clean lines and well-proportioned spaces. It is located in the U District, which is much more liveable than downtown (and three blocks from the Big Time Brewery!). The service was decent but unspectacular. I admit I didn't inspect the facilities. But I really appreciated not only the value in the suite but also that the hotel didn't really look nor feel like a standard hotel. I've stayed in much more expensive hotels that were just giant corporate hotels and felt like it. So I liked the Watertown and expect I'll make that my hotel of choice when in Seattle (which is often).
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My husband and I found the Watertown Hotel very clean. The staff was friendly. The continental breakfast was great. The Hotel had a warm home feeling. Every evening there were cookies at the front desk that guests were welcome to help themselves to.
I stayed at the Watertown Hotel, located near the university, because I had a special deal from TravelZoo.com for $10 off the regular price. It was a delightful experience and better, for my traveling taste, than the W Hotel downtown (for which I also had a TravelZoo discount). Finding it is easy, parking onsite is easy, and the surrounding neighborhood is interesting and funky. The Watertown has a clever "ala cart" menu that visitors can use to select carts (literally) for their room based on what theme sounds interesting to them--spa cart comes with bath goodies, art cart comes with crayons and watercolors, baby cart comes with things you'd want if traveling with an infant. You can request a cart in advance or when you check in. My room, located in a corner, was the size of my living and dining rooms at home--I couldn't believe how huge it was. I highly recommend staying at the Watertown and eating at the vegetarian restaurant Carmelita located about 15 minutes' drive away, through a residential area.
We recently returned from a holiday visit to Seattle and we stayed at the Watertown after reading all the positive reviews on this website. As many have already said, this truly is a "unique urban hotel". The rooms are clean and modern, with microwave, mini-fridge, coffee maker, and FREE highspeed internet access. We had one of the suites so our room had a fairly large sitting area as well. Complimentary continental breakfast is included (which was fairly good - bagels, muffins, toast, cereals, etc), in the afternoon the front desk has a basket filled with fresh baked cookies, and the evenings offer complimentary wine tasting and you can order appetizers or a light meal (cost for the food). We had a light dinner at the hotel one evening and it was quite tasty! The "ala cart" program is great - and free! We tried out the spa cart which included everything you need to relax after a busy day of meetings, sightseeing, or shopping.....plus you can either keep your cart for your entire stay, or exchange your cart the next day and give a different "theme" a try. As mentioned there is no room service or restaurant on site (only the bistro area for breakfast & the evening wine tasting), however there are many restaurants within a few blocks walking distance. One of the best meals we enjoyed was at Mama Melina's - recommended in previous reviews of this hotel and the reason we decided to try it out. It was fantastic - the food, the ambiance, the music, everything about this tiny family run restaurant was enjoyable. It is casual and it is busy, if you go on a weekend you may want to make reservations. If you stay at the Watertown I'd highly recommend a meal (or two!) at Mama Melina's....even if you stay elsewhere in Seattle I'd recommend an enjoyable evening here.
Our only complaint about the Watertown was the beds & the noise level on the streets outside. The beds are a mattress on a modern wooden frame - no box spring. They look sleek & match the modern room decor but we found it uncomfortable. The location of our room was on the NW corner of the hotel and the street noise (traffic, university students out on a Friday night, etc) was often loud enough to wake us during the night. Perhaps a different location in the hotel would be better, although I think you'd need to be right in the SE corner. Now if you are a sound sleeper...you probably won't find this to be a problem. For us it was an issue and we ended up shortening our stay at the hotel and eventually moving to another downtown property. Please note we were at the Watertown over a weekend & it also happened to be Halloween weekend so there were LOTS of students out & about partying. The situation may be entirely different during the week.
Overall the Watertown truly lives up to its claim as a unique urban hotel with friendly staff and excellent value. I would recommend it to others and simply caution them about our noise trouble (which of course the hotel has no control over). Also...if you check out the Seattle Visitors Bureau website they have a coupon you can print for discounted rates at the Watertown (www.seeseattle.org)
This hotel is not located in downtown Seattle. It is near a University and is not close to any Seattle attractions except the university. Read all reviews of other hotels before booking this one unless your business brings you to this area.
This hotel has a wonderful sense of style about it, and is located in an ideal place for those of you needing to be close to just north of downtown.
Our stay at the Watertown was for four nights at the Watertown, in a view room. The room was excellently maintained, and was set up in what I considered to be a very clever configuration. The closet and drawers were part of the walls, and acted as a divider between the bathroom and the rest of the room. Your mileage may vary on that configuration, but the decor and furnishings were very modern art deco-types.
One thing to look for are the "a la carts", provided by the hotel. These are standalone carts with themes, such as the "movie cart", the "spa cart", the "computer cart", etc. You can request one, and it will be in your room when you arrive. The Spa cart had massagers, foot spas, etc. The computer cart had a computer with printer, which hooked up to the internet. That's all we got, but there was a list of about 15 different ones.
The staff we had contact with was very friendly and accomodating, no problems there. There's a morning breakfast spread, including cereal, bagels, boiled eggs, french toast, coffee, orange juice, etc. The dining area for that was very open and comfortable. There is free underground parking underneath the hotel, which was very safe and convenient.
This hotel is located in the University district, just north and west of what most people would consider to be the true downtown. It's across the bridge to the north from downtown, but like most of Seattle is still very busy and vibrant. Such as it is, this hotel is ideal if you have business involving the University, but it is literally 3 blocks from I-5, so getting to downtown would take maybe 5 minutes by car.
If you're looking to go shopping, there is a cute shopping district to the West, including many well-known stores like Banana Republic. Three blocks to the south across the bridge is Montlake and Capitol Hill. Just across I-5 to the east is the Wallingford district, and to the North and NorthEast is Ravenna and Greenlake.
So, some people might quibble about the location, but I really can't see a problem. If you're in Seattle on business and really *need* to be *in* downtown, then you might want something marginally closer. But, if you're in Seattle on leisure, and your focus is the northern area of Seattle (especially the university), I cannot recommend any other hotel.
I have stayed at Watertown before and I absolutely LOVE it. It is very reasonalby priced for a new hotel. The staff was informative and super friendly. The bedding is so comfortable and cozy that it doesn't seem like you are staying at a hotel at all. When visiting Seattle I will stay at only Watertown.
Watertown advertises itself as "a unique urban hotel" and it is, offering such amenities as wine tasting in the afternoon, bike rental, and a variety of fun "carts" that one can reserve free of charge! I chose the spa cart which contained everything I needed to have a relaxing retreat in the bath, right down to music choices (and the best part was no extra charge). The continental breakfast was way above average, the decor very modern and sleek, and not typical of standard hotel room configuration (plus, everything was immaculate). There was a well-stocked little area in the lobby for snack purchases, as well as a nice workout room and conference rooms. The staff was very pleasant and competent, and obviously cared about doing a good job; rates were very reasonable. Contributing to its hip, urban feel was the close proximity of the University of Washington--we enjoyed walking around the area and even found a wonderful little farmer's market several blocks north which offered local specialties in seasonal produce and baked goods. We will definitely make the Watertown our hotel of choice during our next opportunity to visit Seattle!
Love the Watertown
Tucked into the University District, this spiffy, handsome and well-designed hotel is also friendly and thoughtful. Our room was spotless. It was also not mauve or florals - a plus in my book. The bathroom was pristine with a gleaming granite countertop. The closet opened from both sides, so you could dress after washing up without having to alarm your roomie, and the shower curtain rod was curved so as to provide ample room for sudsing. Aveda bath treats. Free local phone. A substantial breakfast is included. And free car-pool in and out of downtown for hotel guests. We didn’t get a chance to ride the complimentary bikes, but a return trip to stay here is guaranteed. Watertown is like a sleek, little Saluki standing tall among the mangy mutt motels and the big dog plusheramas.
We visited my son in Seattle and spent 3 days at the Watertown. First of all, we benefitted from a special they were running which made this great little hotel incredibly affordable. The room was large, extremely comfortable, and somehow the Watertown manages to bring a lot of warmth to a very contemporary decor--no overstuffed chairs or ridiculous hotel room prints, yet it wasn't minimalist stark either. Very soothing, all in all. Service was GREAT. One afternoon a windowshade came undone and we could not fix it ourselves. When we returned later that day the shade was repaired and the management had left a little chocolate hammer to indicate the repair people had been there. Parking was free, lobby was bright and airy, desk help were friendly and extremely helpful. Great touch--little specialty carts that can be ordered for your room--spa to games to computers. A great little perk especially for those traveling with kids.
We'll be back!
Got a suite, which costs only a few bucks more than a room. It was very spacious, with a king bed and a sofa bed. The Watertown itself has a somewhat Scandinavian look, with clean lines and well-proportioned spaces. It is located in the U District, which is much more liveable than downtown (and three blocks from the Big Time Brewery!). The service was decent but unspectacular. I admit I didn't inspect the facilities. But I really appreciated not only the value in the suite but also that the hotel didn't really look nor feel like a standard hotel. I've stayed in much more expensive hotels that were just giant corporate hotels and felt like it. So I liked the Watertown and expect I'll make that my hotel of choice when in Seattle (which is often).
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