Anyone who has ever lived in the Pacific Northwest can tell you it has a special allure. Natural beauty combines with an easy-going life-style to make the landscape even more attractive and time pass lazily along. It's real living, the natives say. This summer, take advantage of the travel deals to Seattle and the low air specials and wireless boutique hotels to see what all the fuss is about. Any city where Microsoft, Starbucks, a still active volcano, and grunge music all call home can keep you busy and wide-eyed for at least a long weekend.
Finding a hotel in Seattle is easy with Seattle Supersaver (tel. 800/535-7071; www.seattlesupersaver.com), a website that specializes in finding the least expensive and available hotels in the Seattle metropolitan area. Searching is easy -- by price, location, specific hotel name, star-rating, or even available promotions. A general search of downtown hotels requesting a stay from May 5 to May 9, 2005 with no specific price range, star-rating, hotel name or promotion yielded four pages of results with sometimes four different price-listings per hotel ranging in price from $75 per night at a Day's Inn to $369 per night for an Executive Suite at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel, a luxury hotel built in 1924 and renovated in 2001-2.
The site also provides a link to www.seeseattle.com that has a detailed schedule of events, festivals and things to do in the general vicinity. If you decide to use See Seattle as your starting point for research, check out the link to "Package Deals." We found an excellent "Theatre Package" at the exclusive Mayflower Hotel (tel. 800/426-5100; www.mayflowerpark.com), an old school Seattle gem that includes two tickets to a performance at the famous Fifth Avenue Theatre, a short walk from the hotel. Both the hotel and the theatre are Seattle landmarks built in the 1920s. The package starts from $279 per night and includes the two tickets and valet parking as well as accommodations in a renovated classic room. You can stay out of that lovely rain if you stay at the Mayflower. The hotel opens directly into the Westlake Center, a four-story glass enclosed shopping mall that also serves as a transportation hub to the Seattle Monorail which can take you to many of the city's great sites including the Space Needle, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's "Experienced Music Project," and the Pike Place Market, an outside open-air farmer's market with culinary delights.
For wine lovers, other hotel options include the Hotel Vintage Park (tel. 800/853-3914; www.hotelvintagepark.com), a downtown Seattle hotel catering to wine lovers in town to sample some of Washington State's incredible vintages. With a wine-growing region yielding many top-notch small vineyards, Washington State rivals Napa, Sonoma and Santa Barbara in its tasty wines. The hotel serves as a center for wine lovers with nightly wine tastings and even a special "Grape Escape" wine package that includes a private wine tasting at the Pike Place Market Tasting Room, a wine journal with a special wine opener, and a morning newspaper with coffee service. Prices start at $179 per night. Call the hotel to make advance reservations and inquire about other wine-related offerings.
To get there independently, United Airlines (tel. 800/241-6522; www.united.com) has special $59 one-way fares from Washington, D.C. to Seattle. A three-day advance purchase is required and you need to travel between from May 1 to May 10, 2005. Air security taxes and departure fees are not included in the fare price. Other low-priced air options include Air Alaska (tel. 800/252-7522; www.alaskaair.com) that flies to Seattle from a host of destinations. For a limited time, some Internet-only deals include round-trip from Phoenix to Seattle for $149 and Palm Springs-Seattle for $179. These specials must be purchased between Tuesday at 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time and 10 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. They're usually good for travel the following weekend. Check back every Tuesday for the very low priced weekly specials. Round-trip from New York to Seattle booking two weeks in advance will run you around $271.
Head to our Washington State Message Boards to talk with fellow travelers about what to see and do while in Seattle.
