6 Best Seattle Waterfront Hotels

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Pick the room name before the hotel. Seattle’s piers sit at the bottom of a hill that drops nearly 100 feet from Pike Place Market, and hotels on that slope sell water-view rooms right beside city-view ones. Here’s where I’d book, depending on how close to the piers you want to sleep.

Seattle Waterfront Hotels

Which Seattle Rooms See Elliott Bay

Inn at the Market, Four Seasons Hotel Seattle, Thompson Seattle, by Hyatt, The State Hotel and Hotel 1000, in the Unbound Collection by Hyatt sit up the slope and look down at the bay.

• Read the View Word: A view word in the room name is the minimum: Water View, Sea View, Bay View or Waterfront. Rooms named City View or Seattle-View face buildings. Four Seasons Hotel Seattle sells Seattle-View and Bay-View rooms as separate types.
• Terrace Rooms Look at the Skyline: At The State Hotel, the top-floor terrace rooms face the city. The private terraces connect to the shared rooftop deck.
• Peek and Partial Mean a Slice: Four Seasons Hotel Seattle promises unobstructed water in its corner Deluxe Bay View rooms, while the standard Deluxe Bay View room lets the bay peek in through its window. At Inn at the Market, a Peek room shows only part of Elliott Bay.

Pike Place to the Piers Without the Hill

Pick the route down by what you’re carrying.

• Hillclimb Stairs Go Straight Down: The Pike Street Hillclimb is a run of stairs from the market’s Main Arcade down to Alaskan Way. The market’s own visitor guide says to cross Western Avenue from the south end of the arcade to reach it.
• Elevators Skip the Stairs: Both the Leland Elevator at the south end of the Main Arcade and an elevator at the end of the MarketFront pergola avoid the stairs. Pike Place Market also lists elevator access from its parking garage and from Alaskan Way.
• The Overlook Walk Is Step-Free: Gradual ramps and elevators link the MarketFront to the Aquarium’s Ocean Pavilion along the Overlook Walk, a step-free route. Public elevators stand at both ends of it.

What Sits on Each Pier

The piers are numbered from south to north along Alaskan Way.

• Pier 57 Holds the Great Wheel: The Seattle Great Wheel stands at the end of Pier 57, Miners Landing, alongside its restaurants and gift shops. The wheel gives views toward the Olympic Mountains.
• The Aquarium Fills Piers 59 and 60: Pier 59 is the Seattle Aquarium’s main building, with Pier 60 reached through a breezeway to the north and the Ocean Pavilion just east of both. Pike Place Market sits up the hill to the east.
• Bell Street Is the Cruise Pier: Bell Street Pier on Pier 66 combines a marina, a conference center, restaurants and the cruise terminal. The Port of Seattle describes it as an 11-acre complex on the downtown waterfront.

Cruise Days on the Waterfront

Seattle has two cruise terminals.

• Two Terminals, Two Directions: Seattle runs cruises from Pier 66 on the downtown waterfront and from Pier 91 at Smith Cove. The two are nearly 3 miles apart by road.
• Pier 91 Needs a Ride: Pier 91 sits north of downtown, so a hotel on the waterfront is a taxi or app-based ride from it. Your cruise paperwork names the terminal.
• Sailing Season Fills Hotels: Cruise ships sail from Seattle from about April to October. That season overlaps the summer peak for downtown hotels.

When the Water Views Are Clearest

The Olympic Mountains across Elliott Bay show on clear days, and the month sets the odds.

• Pick July or August for Clear Skies: August is the clearest month, with clear to partly cloudy skies about 70 percent of the time. July is the driest month.
• Winter Brings Cloud and Rain: The wet season runs from about October to April, with November the wettest month and January the cloudiest. A bay-view room in those months looks out at more cloud than it does in August.

Waterfront Park Piers Worth a Stop

Piers 58 and 62 are the park’s two rebuilt piers.

• The Lawn Is on Pier 58: A marine-themed playground and a lawn overlooking Elliott Bay fill Pier 58. Public restrooms sit near it.
• Floating Dock at Pier 62: Pier 62 has a floating dock and a flexible events space. It also has public restrooms.

FAQs

1. Is the Seattle waterfront safe at night?

Waterfront Park is patrolled by security officers around the clock, and Seattle Center runs public safety there. That patrol covers the Park Promenade, Pier 58 and Pier 62, the park’s two rebuilt piers. After dark, stay on the Promenade, where the patrols run, rather than cutting up side streets toward the hill.

2. How long is the train from Sea-Tac Airport to downtown Seattle?

Link light rail runs from Sea-Tac to Westlake Station in roughly 35 to 40 minutes. From Pioneer Square station it’s a few minutes’ walk downhill to the piers by Colman Dock. The train runs direct from the airport to downtown, so there is no change of train and no ticket to buy in advance. Pick the station nearest your hotel before you board.

3. How close is Seattle Marriott Waterfront to the cruise pier?

Very close: Seattle Marriott Waterfront sits directly across Alaskan Way from the Pier 66 cruise terminal, about 0.1 mile away. You cross Alaskan Way at the crosswalk or take the sky bridge from the Bell Street garage. Pier 66 sits inside Bell Street Pier, next to its marina and restaurants.

4. Can you take a ferry from the Seattle waterfront?

Washington State Ferries sail from Colman Dock at Pier 52 to Bainbridge Island and Bremerton. The terminal at 801 Alaskan Way is reached over the Marion Street Bridge or by stairways and elevators along Alaskan Way. The Amtrak station is about seven blocks from the terminal. Check which of the two destinations your sailing serves before you head down to the dock.

5. Is there a paved path along the Seattle waterfront?

A paved waterfront path runs from Pier 70 in the north to the ferry terminal in the south. The Park Promenade covers the stretch from Pioneer Square to Pier 62 with benches and a protected bike lane. It passes the Great Wheel and the Aquarium, and the 20-acre Waterfront Park around it stretches from Belltown to Pioneer Square.

6. What is the Overlook Walk?

Pike Place Market’s MarketFront reaches the Park Promenade on the waterfront by the Overlook Walk, the first direct pedestrian link between them. It is part of the waterfront rebuild that also produced the Promenade, Pier 58 and Pier 62. From the top you get 360-degree views of downtown, Elliott Bay, the Olympic Mountains and Mount Rainier.

7. How far is the Seattle Aquarium from Pike Place Market?

The Aquarium sits directly below the market, at the foot of the Overlook Walk. Its Ocean Pavilion entrance has an elevator that gives direct pedestrian access to the Overlook Walk and Pike Place Market. That puts the market straight up the hill from Pier 59, the Aquarium’s main building, at the bottom of the hill.