WA Seattle Summerfield Suites Downtown

[WillTravel]

(Seattle downtown zone on Priceline)

We got here at about 10 AM Sunday 8/31 and knew that we probably would not be able to check in right away. No problem, as they took our luggage. I told the staff we'd be back around 11 PM. The lobby is very nice. It doesn't have chandeliers, but has a modern, pleasant decor.

When we got back, we were assigned Room 501. This is a 1-bedroom suite, with a kitchen, sitting area with desk, sofa, two coffee tables, armchair, a TV (and some sort of game device) in a wall unit, and then a separate bedroom with its own TV. There was a balcony with a sliding glass door that extended all along the area of the living room. It opened onto a courtyard facing the apartment building next door. I've read some reviews of people who got noisy rooms overlooking the freeway, but this was not a problem in our case at all - it was very quiet. There were various interesting prints on the wall that appeared to be related to Seattle's aviation history. High-speed Internet access is available for a fee (I think it's $9.95, but check). The suite looks like it is pretty new - I suspect the building is less than five years old. I have several friends who have 1-bedroom apartments that are smaller than this suite. The bathroom was standard and had many more towels than I am used to getting.

Sadly I had to disrupt the decor and pull out the sofa bed. This is the only drawback of this arrangement - not getting two standard beds. My daughter had the bedroom and reported that it was extremely comfortable. Next time if we get this place you can be sure I will insist on trading! I had no problems sleeping on the sofa bed, however. We requested a delayed checkout of 1 PM, and that was granted with no problems.

There is a complimentary breakfast buffet. This features several types of sweet rolls, breads, bagels, and cereals, along with the standard accompaniments, as well as a comprehensive and well-laid-out assortment of fresh fruit. Nothing will match the breakfast buffets I had in Scandinavia, but this was pretty good.

Parking is $18/day with unlimited in/out privileges. I didn't have a car, but read this in the brochure. This is actually much cheaper than most hotels in downtown Seattle - some are as high as $36, I think.

I read in the brochure that Summerfield Suites has two plans: the 1-bedroom suite and something called a studio suite which has the same features, except that the bed is not in a separate room. I don't know what the usual suite for Priceline guests is, but we may have been lucky to get the 1-bedroom plan.

The sad thing is that this might be a hard hotel to get on Priceline. Priceline will often "upgrade" you to a 3* if you bid for a 2.5*. The cheapest 3* in downtown Seattle seems to be the Holiday Inn, which is way less convenient and I strongly suspect it is of lower quality. There are also other 2.5* hotels in downtown Seattle, and I don't know if they are as good as this one. But in my opinion, this hotel is a better deal than many 4* hotels.

[WillTravel]

This time we had an even better experience, if that's possible. We arrived for check-in around 11:15 PM. We had to wait for three other people to be checked in. When it was our turn, the clerk told us that he had automatically given us a late checkout of 2 PM so that we wouldn't have to rush in the morning. We were very happy for that, particularly getting it without asking. I didn't ask for any particular bedding arrangement, figuring we would just work with what we got. So imagine our delight to find we had two double beds in the bedroom, as well as the sofa hideabed (which didn't need to be used). The complimentary breakfast was pretty standard for a 2.5* hotel - I'd personally like less sugar and more whole-grain and protein options, but a reasonably healthy selection was available if you chose with care.

As before, the suite had two TVs. I noticed that the TVs could not be raised to a very high volume. I remembered reading on Flyertalk that some hotels had instituted this so that the noise would not disturb neighbors. That makes perfect sense, as with two TVs on in every suite at high volume, there could be quite a cacophony.

I'm not one to be bothered by such things, but in my quest to be an objective reviewer, I did see a couple of chipped spots which would benefit from a spot of paint. All in all, this was a very nice, fully-equipped apartment.

Note that as of January 5, 2006, Summerfield Suites is now a Hyatt brand, rather than Wyndham. The clerk explained to me that this was an improvement, because now you got free local calls and free Internet. I didn't use either, but I have to agree.