The Baroness Hotel — Hotel in Seattle

I stayed at The Baroness for two nights November 2-4, 2019. The hotel is on the historic register and was built in 1931. Entering the lobby is like stepping back in time. Originally The Baroness was part of a trend of upscale fully furnished "Apartment Hotels" in desirable neighborhoods. Some apartments were for residents, while other units were for travelers. Each room has a kitchen. My roomy suite had a living room with two closets, a couch, easy chair, coffee table, TV, and a desk and chair. There was an open doorway into a full kitchen (refrigerator, sink, stove/oven, Kurig) with a small table and two chairs. On the other side of the living room was a set of wooden french doors that led to a queensize bedroom, walk-in closet with shelves, and a separate bathroom with sink, tub/shower. In it's prime this apartment would have been elegant, indeed. Nowadays, its a bit more shabby chic, but the rooms were very clean and homey. There was a lot of natural lighting and windows that open (with safety bars so you don't have to worry about falling out.) There was a large window in the kitchen, two large windows in the living room, and a large window in the bedroom. Since there is no AC, so windows that open would be comfortable in the summer. My room reminded me of my Grandma's house in the 1960's--in a good way! The price was very affordable compared to many modern downtown Seattle hotels and chains. The location is excellent! On the edge of Capitol Hill, near the hospitals, it is an easy walk or very short Uber ride anywhere downtown. The Baroness and it's sister hotel across the street, The Inn At Virginia Mason, share a lovely cafe on the lower level of The Inn. The Rhododendrum Cafe serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and has a full bar. There is an courtyard off the dining area, but it was closed due to the season (cold!) Guests at either hotel also have access to a rooftop patio on the 9th floor of the Inn at Virginia Mason with a great view of the city and bay. The neighborhood is as quiet as a city neighborhood can be. Expect a few sirens from nearby hospitals and avoid a room next to the ancient elevator if you are light sleeper! If you are an out-patient surgical patient or have a family member in the hospital, ask about hospital rates. The weekend I was there most of the guests appeared to be Seahawks fans in town for the game! Also, kudos for customer service. The front desk attendant and other staff were very polite and professional. I would stay here again in the heart of the modern city, with reminders of...

It's a heritage building, which means it's old, and the room decor reflects that. This didn't bother me as I knew I was only going to be at the hotel while sleeping. But if you are someone who focuses on aesthetics this might bother you. The bed was super comfortable, and the mattress was amazing, that's all that mattered to me. No A/C but there was a box fan in the closet and that was perfect.

It was very clean, however, because the building is very worn it can look dirty at a glance. The tub has staining and scratches in it, the washroom mirror/cabinet/shelf has rust spots, and stuff like that, but the rooms and the building, in general, are well taken care of and maintained in terms of cleanliness.

There are self-serve paid laundry machines available, and the rooms have kitchenettes, a fridge, microwave, sink, oven, and stovetop, as well as cabinets for storage. It's close to a few grocery stores so this is a great option for extended stays. My oven and stovetop didn't work, I didn't need them, but as the kitchenette was listed in the room advertisement maybe double-check when you book! I think I recall being asked about needing a kitchenette when confirming the booking and I said no, so maybe that's why mine didn't work, but just something to be aware of.

I booked this place for the location. I don't drive, so it needed to be close to the tour bus drop off at the convention center, as well as close enough to walk to and from the downtown, waterfront, Pike Place Market, and T-Mobile Park, everything was within a 30-minute walk.

The neighborhood seemed pretty safe and clean, and this was important for me traveling alone and knowing I'd be walking everywhere. However, as I'd never been to Seattle before I did not know how uphill this hotel was to T-Mobile Park, which was my main destination. They are very steep hills! When booking keep in mind your mobility levels and destinations in mind as this may be a factor, especially if you don't drive or want to pay for ride-sharing.

One issue I had was the incidental charge because there was a problem charging my card. I use Koho which is a debit Mastercard, and when they ran the card it said it didn't go through on their end, but it is showing as a pending charge on my account. Hopefully, the charge will just drop off in a few days without issue. It did cause some confusion at check-in.

Overall I would give the hotel 4/5 stars, and I...

I chose this hotel due to its proximity to Seattle Convention Center (where I was attending a conference). From the hotel, the convention center (Arch) is just a 6-7 minutes walk. The hotel is at the top of a steep slope. (I made the silly mistake of walking from University Street Station to the hotel with my heavy luggage.) The easy way to reach the hotel from downtown during daylight hours is to enter Seattle Convention Center at 7th/Pike, take the escalators to level 4, walk through Freeway Park, enter Virginia Mason Medical Center Breezeway at Seneca St/Terry Ave & take the lift from Level 4 to Level 6. The hotel is directly opposite the Breezeway entrance at Level 6. After daylight hours, it would be wise to spend some money to take bus 2 (from downtown) or First Hill Streetcar (from International District or Capitol Hill) to avoid the punishing uphill climb and the ubiquitous homeless people. There are numerous dining options around the Convention Center and along Madison Street (behind the hotel), and there's a huge supermarket at Madison St/Broadway. Staffs are friendly but during my arrival there was only 1 staff at the reception with 2 people ahead of me in the queue and a guest with special needs requiring assistance to book a cab so I ended up waiting quite a while. There is only one elevator with space for only 2-3 people/luggage so take the stairs or expect a wait. My room was clean, hot water was fast, wifi was fast (albeit a need to re-login every 24 hours). There's no air-con but there's a big portable fan so it's still bearable. There's a small kitchenette with sink, mini-fridge, stove, oven and a few cups but surprisingly zero utensils & cookware (not even one spoon!) The bathroom is equipped with simple toiletries and the housekeeping team did a great job replacing my towel and bedsheet every day. Overall this place is good value for money as the price per night here is $50-$100 lower than the other hotels near the convention center. (The savings were substantial considering that I stayed...