Hotel Overview

This is obviously a very new hotel. Both the promotional photos and the actual stay gave off that distinctive cleanliness you tend to get with a newly opened property.

Another highlight of this hotel—or really, of many Hilton properties in general—that appeals to me is how great the staff attitude is. Since I was visiting the hotel to celebrate a birthday, I asked the staff to help order a cake. They were even more diligent than I was when it came to the size, style, and overall details. From recommending a bakery to buying it and placing it in the hotel room, I had full visibility into the entire process. And all of this was handled simply by messaging the hotel through the Hilton app, which was extremely convenient.

On top of that, we wanted to spend more time exploring Pike Place Market, so this hotel became the obvious choice. The screenshot below shows Tripadvisor reviews for this hotel, and most of them praise the location...

Location

The location is excellent: 1610 2nd Ave, Seattle, WA 98101, right next to Pike Place Market. You can slip out whenever you have time and watch the famous fish throwing, which is pretty fun.

Stay Details

Before the weekend free night certificate from the AMEX Hilton Aspire expired in September, I quickly booked a room in Seattle. When choosing a hotel, I had only one requirement: the more expensive, the better. That was when I realized that several downtown Seattle Hilton properties were priced pretty similarly. On the dates I checked, they were all averaging $300+ per night. After ruling out "budget" brands like Embassy, I chose The Charter Seattle, one of the newer-looking properties in the Curio Collection.

  • Stay date: August 2019
  • Room type: Standard Room - 1 King Bed Deluxe City View (this "city view" was really blocked quite badly, which I'll explain later)
  • Redemption: Weekend free night certificate from the AMEX Hilton Aspire; reservations must be made by phone at 800-446-6677.

For more on the AMEX Hilton Aspire credit card, please see its dedicated review. The current welcome bonus is 150,000 Hilton points, worth about $750!

Quick application link: Click here to apply directly!

Redeeming a $347-per-night room this way was definitely a great deal. Below is the email I received after booking the room.

You can see that the confirmation email shows the booking as redeemed with "points," but there is no need to worry. I specifically called to ask, and they said that as long as the Honors reward ID is correct and matches the number for the certificate from the AMEX Hilton Aspire, everything is fine. After that, it was just a matter of waiting for check-in.

Exterior and Facilities

We drove to the hotel. Before going, I looked up nearby parking and found that the lots around the hotel were all very expensive. Compared with those, the hotel's valet parking at $55 per night actually seemed reasonable, so we parked at the hotel.

The hotel is in a very busy area, and there was construction nearby when we visited, so the traffic situation was genuinely complicated. We had to try turning several times before finally getting in. In front of the hotel there is a strip of temporary parking running alongside the road. When we arrived, it was right at the peak check-in period, and the entire row was full. We had no choice but to coordinate with the valet staff out front, turn on our hazard lights, and temporarily block a lane while waiting for another car to move out... We waited about 5 minutes, and there were another three or four cars behind us. With construction still going on in front of the hotel and only two lanes open, this clearly made traffic even worse.

I took this from upstairs. At the time, you could see that only one parking spot was open, while the rest in front were all full.

The hotel is not large. Right by the main entrance is a small counter where the valet staff coordinate parking. After you pull into the temporary parking area and hand them your car key, they give you a receipt. Whenever you want your car brought out, you text the hotel with the number on the receipt, then go downstairs, give them the number, and pick up your key. At check-out, you just return the receipt to the parking staff.

The small cabinet on the right side of the photo is where the valet staff are stationed.

The valet parking sign next to the long temporary parking area.

The entrance is a small automatic sliding door, followed by a short hallway and then two push doors. Once you push through, you arrive at the check-in area and a small "lobby." Behind that small "lobby" is Patagōn, the hotel's Argentinian restaurant.

This automatic sliding door is the hotel's main entrance. It really is quite small.

After passing through the automatic sliding door and pushing open another door, you reach the tiny check-in desk.

This is the entire lobby; behind the sofa is the Argentinian restaurant.

Check-in went smoothly. Since the hotel was fully booked that day, there was no chance of an upgrade. After getting our key cards, we found the elevators and headed straight to the room.

Once inside the elevator, you need to tap your room key. One small downside is that tapping the key does not restrict you to your floor—you can still press any floor.

The other sign is also very simple: the gym and sauna are on the 3rd floor, and the meeting rooms are on the 2nd floor.

Room Information

When the elevator reached our floor, I first took a photo of the elevator hallway. The hotel has a total of three elevators.

Turning out of the elevator hallway, you enter the corridor where the rooms are located. The carpet in the Charter hotel, together with the wooden room doors and the lighting, creates a very comfortable feel.

We found the room for this stay: 1115.

After opening the door, I first took a look at where our room was located on the floor plan, shown in the lower-right corner of the fire safety diagram.

After opening the door, the first thing that came into view was the birthday cake the staff had prepared for our stay (it was actually more like a filled bread pastry), along with a greeting card. The two bottles of water behind it were complimentary.

On the other side was the bathroom, and I have to give it credit for having a separate wet and dry layout.

The toiletries for this stay were placed on the sink in the middle. The toiletries brand used by Charter was imperial. I couldn’t really find much about the brand online, but it had a somewhat herbal scent and worked reasonably well.

Across from the bathroom was a large wardrobe. On the left were the garment bag provided by the hotel and bathrobes.

They even provided slippers! Finally, an American hotel that knows to offer them!

Next came the TV and the small cabinet-style desk beside it. The desk was really tiny—just enough space for a laptop, maybe...

At the far end of the desk were some books introducing Seattle.

On the other side was the bed.

The inner side, closer to the bathroom.

The outer side, closer to the window.

As for the in-room mini bar, the prices were high enough that it was better just to look.

Coffee and the coffee machine.

That night, I realized there was no toothpaste, so I called the front desk. They immediately arranged for someone to bring it up, and the whole thing took less than 5 minutes. The efficiency was genuinely impressive.

Hotel Tour

Restaurant and Lounge

At check-in, the front desk told us that before 11 the next morning, we could go to the Argentine restaurant on the first floor for complimentary breakfast. But for night owls like us—plus the fatigue from a long drive—we didn’t wake up until after 10, so we ended up skipping it.

Because it was a birthday stay, the hotel also gave us a complimentary $30 credit to use at the Patagon restaurant or the Fog Room rooftop lounge. Unfortunately, exhaustion (laziness) kept us from using it. :(

Summary

Overall, I was satisfied with this stay at Charter Hotel Seattle.

The staff were friendly and handled things promptly. More importantly, the hotel’s location was excellent. On the flip side, parking was quite tight, and because there seemed to be too few valet staff, the wait times were on the longer side.

Finally, I’ll end with the room key from this stay.