arabian_wine Senior Member Joined: 7 Aug 2004 Posts: 23 Location: nyc Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: olympia cremina Grinder: innova Vac Pot: bodum Drip: delonghi
Posted Mon Apr 25, 2005, 8:27am Subject: Recommend Seattle Lodgings for an espresso tourist?
My boyfriend and I are taking our vacation in Seattle in July, purely for the espresso experience. (and I hear you have pretty mountains and it's not a bad place to visit!)
We have not chosen the date or hotel (or b&b or whatever) and thought it was worth asking here for guidance since our main goal is to peruse coffee shops. I have found a ton of advice and details in these forums regarding cafes we should check out, and from this it looks like Capitol Hill might be a comfortable home base.
But I know nothing about and noone from Seattle so I hoped that some Seattlites who understand our needs (the coffee) might have some good guidance on what neighborhood(s) might be best for us settle in for the week.
bradinvancouver Senior Member Joined: 23 May 2004 Posts: 165 Location: Vancouver, BC Expertise: Professional
Espresso: LM GB5(anyone need an... Grinder: LM Swift/Mazzer Major Drip: Fetco coming soon/Capresso... Roaster: Gothot from afar
Posted Mon Apr 25, 2005, 8:41am Subject: Re: Recommend Seattle Lodgings for an espresso tourist?
I stayed at the travelodge space needle for the scaa conference. It's within 5-10 minutes of downtown/pike's place on foot and has free parking. It's clean and has a free breakfast - well, free donuts and horrendous coffee. Anyway, it worked for me and it's central provided you have a car and, important, cheap! I booked on short notice for less than $100 Cdn/night through expedia. You can find cheaper in outlying areas for sure but this is a great bet for being near the downtown. many of the coffee shops you'll want to visit are reasonably close to downtown i.e. walkable - some like hines and zoka will require a car. The scaa conference had a map handout with most of the good shops - if anyone has one, perhaps they could scan it in and send it to you. Make sure you don't do like I did and not make it to Victrola :-( "The best shot I had while in Seattle.... was at Victrola." ). Always give yourself a reason to visit again...
arabian_wine Senior Member Joined: 7 Aug 2004 Posts: 23 Location: nyc Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: olympia cremina Grinder: innova Vac Pot: bodum Drip: delonghi
Posted Mon Apr 25, 2005, 10:32am Subject: Re: Recommend Seattle Lodgings for an espresso tourist?
Thank you so much -- that is very helpful. Trying to decide between convenience and price is tough. And when we say convenience, we don't mean the same thing as the travel books do. It is helpful to hear from someone else who was there and wanted the same kind of convenience. We plan to drive to get to some of the important espresso spots, but it will make a huge difference to be able to walk to at least a few.
Duly noted about Victrola -- and that map sounds great. Thanks for the first-hand experience notes. I have a feeling we will go back, I know at least we will be extremely depressed at the options when we return home to nyc.
Posted Mon Apr 25, 2005, 11:43am Subject: Re: Recommend Seattle Lodgings for an espresso tourist?
If you want to be pampered and not too far (a very short bus ride or a 1/2 mile walk) from both Capitol Hill and downtown, I recommend the Sorrento Hotel on First (aka Pill) Hill--9th and Madison, across from the Bean Poast roastery and Virginia Mason Hospital. That's where I stay when I'm visiting SU School of Law (my alma mater--I'm Midwest Alumni rep). Not cheap--but weekend rates are usually cheaper than midweek because its clientele is more business than tourist-oriented. I've stayed there for as little as $150/night.
Sandy www.sandyandina.com ------------------- Life's too short to drink lousy coffee, play crummy guitars and write with ballpoint pens.
arabian_wine Senior Member Joined: 7 Aug 2004 Posts: 23 Location: nyc Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: olympia cremina Grinder: innova Vac Pot: bodum Drip: delonghi
Posted Mon Apr 25, 2005, 12:16pm Subject: Re: Recommend Seattle Lodgings for an espresso tourist?
I have to admit that we would love to be pampered, and $150 is not completely out of our price range -- but the website lists the rates as starting at $295 -- is that just bs, or do you go through expedia or other resv. services in general for better rates?
Posted Mon Apr 25, 2005, 1:10pm Subject: Re: Recommend Seattle Lodgings for an espresso tourist?
I got my law school's special conference rates--but look for Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz, and other discount travel sites (Hotwire is cheapest, but you can't specify the hotel--just the level of luxury and general location). Regardless, that $295 is the "rack rate," which almost NOBODY ever pays. Call the hotel directly and see if they have any discounts--sometimes weekend packages with a meal or two can be a significant saving. The restaurant there--the Hunt Club--is incredible, a destination in itself. (Your airline might also have the Sorrento as part of a tour package). If you can couple your stay to a specific event happening in town, you may be able to get a bigger discount too.
Sandy www.sandyandina.com ------------------- Life's too short to drink lousy coffee, play crummy guitars and write with ballpoint pens.
arabian_wine Senior Member Joined: 7 Aug 2004 Posts: 23 Location: nyc Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: olympia cremina Grinder: innova Vac Pot: bodum Drip: delonghi
Posted Wed Apr 27, 2005, 6:10am Subject: Re: Recommend Seattle Lodgings for an espresso tourist?
We will definitely make it to Victrola, very excited about a grand tour.
This is probably a very ignorant question, but how do I look you up off-list? I could not figure out how to send an email to a member outside of a thread, and I imagine this thread will be pretty dead by July.
bradinvancouver Senior Member Joined: 23 May 2004 Posts: 165 Location: Vancouver, BC Expertise: Professional
Espresso: LM GB5(anyone need an... Grinder: LM Swift/Mazzer Major Drip: Fetco coming soon/Capresso... Roaster: Gothot from afar
Posted Thu Apr 28, 2005, 5:02pm Subject: Re: Recommend Seattle Lodgings for an espresso tourist?
I was sorting through the handouts I brought back from the conference and found the SCAA map - I've scanned it and posted it under my Seattle trip (old trip, not SCAA conference) on the last page - http://24.85.243.50:8000/pics/?folder_id=1026
Click on it once to enlarge and once again to get to full size for saving/printing.
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