The Inn at the Market is the best hotel/inn I have ever stayed at. My husband and I were very happy staying here. The location is great, the staff was fantastic, our room was beautiful, we loved the entire place. I will stay there again no doubt! It is a GREAT place for romance!

We last stayed at Inn at the Market, Seattle's boutique darling overlooking the Sound west of First Avenue, in 2001. At the time it seemed charming, luxurious, well-managed, and well-positioned to walk the downtown area. When we returned in June, 2006, we found the property in exactly the same state, down to the carpets and the paint job, only five years older. Like the dowager in Dickens' Great Expectations, this old dame hadn't moved in five years (OK, Mrs. Havesham didn't move in 20), and no amount of air spray could cover up the decay. The area around the hotel has likewise declined, such that a stroll towards Pioneer Square had all the patina of a Fellini film, replete with panhandlers, stoners, bikers, and guys with pants well below their plumber's line for ease of repulsive viewing.

Restaurants in Pioneer Square appeared dirty and the famed Skid Row area has returned as a flexible homeless folks' hangout. Too bad a city as wealthy as Seattle can't cope with the needs of its least able. While I see a potential synergy between quarters for the homeless and the rooms at the Inn, I suspect the $500/night rates might prove a bit daunting.

I continue to give stars for friendly, professional service, regardless of a property's physical condition, and the employees at the Inn are thoroughly helpful. But they can't take the cigar smokers off their own balcony, nor the drunk, nocturnally screaming frat boys from the adjacent streets. I hear the Four Seasons is opening a new hotel in the Fall....

It was great to stay so close to the market, with all the shops, restaurants, and food purveyors in easy walking distance. The hotel was very stylishly decorated, and the lobby area had just been redone (still smelled slightly of paint). Our room was unexpectedly large, and so was the bathroom. It seemed a bit of a waste of space to have such a large bathroom but only have a regular size tub with in-tub shower (and the shower head was not on a hose, which I missed). Still, it was trendily decorated in the Pottery Barn style, and clean and quite comfortable. Our room overlooked the harbor, which was great and made it a bit quieter.

The amenities, comfort, style, and location made it a great place to explore Seattle from. The staff could use some work in terms of turning this into a top-notch service hotel. Two examples:
1) The first night we arrived late (10pm) and asked about places we could get a bite to eat. First, the (young) man behind the desk recommended their own restaurant for desserts. I then asked if there were any nearby tapas places (and I pronounced it in correct Spanish "tah-pahs" rather than "taa-paas"). He just stared at me for a moment, then said there were a couple of places just down the street. Turns out, he was directing me to two strip clubs (he thought I said "topless"). I am a 46 year old woman, and was with my husband. Seems pretty unlikely that I would be asking about topless bars, and he must have thought that or he wouldn't have stared so. Didn't it occur to him to ask me to repeat myself, or to look puzzled and ask me to describe the type of place I was looking for? Inexperience, I guess. After wandering up and down the street, and seeing The Lusty Lady and Showgirls, but no tapas restaurants, my husband and I did get a big laugh.

2) There is no place to park near the hotel--you have to use their valet parking, where you drop your car off right in front of the hotel. The second night we were there, the street in front of the hotel was closed and we couldn't get to the valet area. We drove around for 15 minutes, trying to find a different way in. We finally had to move some police barriers on another street and sneak in to get in front of the hotel. The desk was apologetic, but shrugged it off. And it must happen regularly--in the morning it was clear that the street was closed due to bigger happenings at the market on a Saturday. How difficult would it have been for the hotel to move its little valet parking sign and the valets and have the guests drop their cars off at the corner, 30 feet away?

These are minor glitches, but for $300+ a night, you expect a hotel to work these sorts of kinks out of the system.

Other than that, we had a nice time.

We loved this hotel! It was cozy, not stuffy or snobbish at all, and the service was fantastic. You can feel it when you walk in the door. We had a great view, our room was beautiful and quite large with huge bay windows. This hotel has great ambiance and it is in the perfect location. Go to the market (next door!) and get some wine, meats and cheese. Ask for a bottle opener and glasses from the front desk. Now go out on the rooftop deck and watch the beautiful sunset. You will catch yourself trying to figure out a way to live at this hotel. And... what a bargain! In retrospect, I would have paid hundreds more. I can't believe this hotel isn't number one in Seattle.