Do any Seattle residents have a good suggestion for a hotel to stay at in June when we’re down for Gnomedex? Ideally, it’s close to the Bell Harbor Conference Center and less than US $200/night (a surprisingly tall order for a town like Seattle).
UPDATE: Having never done the pick-a-random-hotel thing, we decided to take Derek’s advice (see below) and try Hotwire. We ended up with the Sheraton, which seems satisfactory. It’s less cool than last year’s hotel, the Vance (now called Hotel Max), but also a little cheaper at US $155 per night. In terms of distance from the conference centre, it looks like the Max and the Sheraton are equidistant. Though, that’s driving as opposed to walking.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
Darren: I’m not from the area but is it not feasable to commute back each evening to BC. Save you a few hundred dollars?
Michael: Others can chime in, but I think it’d be just barely feasible, and make for extremely long days. It’s my impression that the drive is 3 to 3.5 hours from downtown to downtown.
Plus, then, I wouldn’t get to participate in any of the groovy evening activities, or wander around Seattle a little bit.
I guess it all depends on your comfort level. For $200, you can get a pretty wide variety of lodging. Seattle isn’t as expensive as you think.
If you’re on the cheap, there is the Moore Hotel on 2nd and Virginia. It has good rates, and even “European Style” rooms, but it’s 100 years old and I’ve gotten some grief from tech types for recommending it. It doesn’t have all the *usual amenities*, shady neighborhood(it’s downtown), people smoke nearby, etc.
There are numerous bed and breakfasts and small hotels on 1st near the market. I’ve heard really good things about Pensione Nichols and the Ace Hotel on both price and charm.
There are of course, Holiday Inns and Travel lodge chains, but visitors that I have had have told me whille their rates are competitive (always book online), they’re really not great, and at the end of the day, they’re chains and don’t add much to your visit.
Hope this helps.
-matt
Tris Hussey from Qumana pointed me to Hotwire, a service that I think is affiliated with Expedia. The weird thing about it is you get to pick the neighbourhood of the hotel (within a few blocks in the case of downtown Seattle), the star rating, and the amenities, and choose from several options, but YOU DON’T KNOW THE HOTEL until you book it.
It’s a way for hotels to purge excess room inventory without advertising rates that are too low. And it seems to work great. I just checked Downtown > Pike Place for June 29 to July 2 and found a four-star place for $157 USD per night, or a 3-star for $124.
If you’re not picky about the particular hotel, it’s a good way to find something. And since you pay right away (oh, and no refunds!), you get the benefit of the currently good Canadian exchange rate.
And if you care, we’re staying at the Westin, booked via Travelocity at about $175 per night USD. My wife’s podcast co-host used Hotwire and got a better deal at a similar nearby hotel (I can’t remember which right now), so I recommend it.
The Moore Hotel is great and my first choice in Seattle but does come with some nightlife etc. Very reasonable rates too.
http://www.moorehotel.com/rates.htm
I’ve stayed at the Ace hotel and it’s a pretty cool boutique hotel http://www.theacehotel.com/index.html.
Nice restaurants and bars in the area. You can stay in a room with a washroom or opt for the room only and share a common washroom. No parking so you have to park in the lot behind the hotel.
Not sure if it’s near the conference centre.
Thanks for the suggestions.
hey darren, it’s bob from the hockey ng here. next time try priceline.com; my girlfriend gets us places in seattle for less than 70 US per night all the time… once we got two nights at 42 per at the lake union residence inn…