Hi friends! I finally did it! I took a solo vacation! This was the first time since Ella & Logan were born that I was able to spend more than a few days away from them. While I was super excited to get a real break from my full-time mommy duties, I was also a little nervous to leave them. I honestly can barely even remember traveling before kids! But, they were fine!
I partnered with Hilton Hotels for a weeklong trip to check out some of their best hotels in Seattle and I couldn’t wait! I’ve been wanting to go to Seattle for a while. I have several good friends who live there. It had been years since I’d seen each of them and I was so excited to reunite with all of them. I was lucky to have my friend (and fellow Arlington mom) Amelia meet me over there for a few days too. We reconnected with our friend Sunshine and enjoyed a few days sight-seeing and visiting wineries and just having fun!
And spending time w/my friends made all the difference in the world. I relaxed, rejuvenated & felt like someone pressed the reset button on my brain. You all know how much I love DC, but sometimes a week-long getaway is much-needed to relax, recharge and take in a change of scenery.
This trip was also just what I needed to kick off the fall travel season as summer comes to a close. If you’re planning to visit the “Emerald City,” let my mini-vacation be your guide!
I kicked off my week with a night at the Doubletree Seatac and I am so glad I booked this hotel. The day I arrived in Seattle, my flight was cancelled and I had to switch flights and DC airports so that I could still make it to Seattle on the same day as I originally planned. As a result of the flight change, my luggage was misplaced and arrived in Seattle hours before I did. Suffice it to say, my travel day from DC to Seattle was a long and exhausting one and I was lucky that the the Doubletree Seatac is so close to the Seattle airport.
The Doubletree Seatac has a regularly scheduled shuttle with complimentary pick up from the airport. I was beyond happy to get to my room at the Double Seatac and simply unwind and decompress after the long day of traveling.
The Doubletree Seatac has become one of the best stays for travelers lately, and I could see why! It had a gorgeous outdoor pool and hot tub (perfect for some much-needed me-time, lol), and delicious onsite restaurant that was perfect for grabbing a bite after a very long day of traveling on an airplane from the East to the West coast and before exploring the city. I also loved the huge balcony my room had, which included amazing views of the surrounding nature! Plus, for all of you Washingtonians that can’t take a work break and need a place to get stuff done, Seatac even has a supplied business center on-site.
The next few days, I settled into the Hilton Seattle Downtown. This hotel is a short walk from some of my favorite gems in Seattle like the 5th Avenue Theater, St. James Cathedral, and the Sky View Observatory, so it’s a great location for sight-seers-like me! It also had incredibly chic decor and some of the best-and I mean, ring light-quality best-bathroom lighting I’ve ever seen from a hotel. Blogger babes, take note! The Hilton Seattle Downtown is right near the famed Seattle Waterfront, which is the best place in the city for an afternoon of shopping and exploring. The restaurant inside of the hotel has a full service bar and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is a great hotel for foodies!
The Hampton Woodinville was one of the last stops on my trip. It’s close to an abundance of the best wineries in the city-a travel essential-like the aptly-named Tertulla (it means “a social gathering of friends” in Spanish), the winery that sources from Columbia and Walla Walla Valley vineyards. Wineries like Novely Hill Januik, Long Shadows, The Avennia Tasting Room, Savage Grace Wineryand Skylite Cellarsare a short distance as well, so it’s the perfect hotel for wine lovers! Honestly, though, who wouldn’t love a local glass of white or red to go with an uber-relaxing stay?
The Sound Hotel is one of Hilton’s newest hotels, so on Friday night I stayed in a suite there. The interior is as sleek as the exterior, so I loved all of the uber-mod architecture and design inside and out (24-hour fitness center? Yes please)! It’s no secret that The Sound is close to Pike Place Market, which I had a treat exploring and shopping at after enjoying a delicious meal at the hotel’s bistro! It’s also in the center of lots of great local restaurants like Cantina Lena, Palace Kitchen and Top Pot Doughnuts. Be sure to check it out if you’re a foodie!
Finally, my vacation concluded with the Hilton Seatac. I was beyond happy to stay here after one of the most amazing vacations of my life. The complimentary shuttle to the airport made getting to the airport a cinch to get to early Sunday morning at 5 AM. This hotel is one of the few hotels that has a pool. This will be one of my go-to hotels when I return to Seattle with my family. This is a perfect hotel for families. It’s spacious, clean and very quiet.
Seattle CityPASS was one of my saving graces on my trip. It’s a ticket pass that’s valid for nine days at tons of fun local museums, experiences and attractions so you can see the best of Seattle. I used it to explore the Space Needle and Chihuly Garden and Glass Exhibit with my friend Amelia, and we had a blast (though I wished I’d had time in my trip to use it to check out the Seattle Aquarium or Woodland Park Zoo with my kids-definitely must-sees on my next visit). For first-time visitors, this is also a great pass to use since it offers adult and child ticket prices (hello, family discounts!) and they’re always under $100-which is a total bargain compared to some up-front museum fees.
While also checking out attractions like the Seattle Wheel and the original Starbucks (side note, be prepared to wait in line-everyone wants to see the OG ‘Bucks!), it was important to know which neighborhoods to check out too. Make sure you do this while planning your trip here; I did beforehand, and it saved me so much time in knowing which places were the safest and had the most attractions in the city. The Downtown and Waterfront are obvious must-sees, but I also love Queen Anne for its’ close proximity to Pike Place Market and the Museum of Pop Culture (if you didn’t know, Seattle has a super-rich musical background). For a fun girl’s night out or after-dinner drinks, Pioneer Square is the place to be for it’s abundance of nightlife and grunge history. Chinatown is also notable since it’s home to most of the restaurants that have put Seattle on the map-and isn’t new local fare one of the highlights of a vacation?
I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoyed my stay with Hilton Hotels in Seattle! Be sure to reach out to me on any of my social channels (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram). After all, we can all help each other out when it comes to travel advice-and I loved Seattle so much that I’m already planning another trip there for 2020. Also for more video clips of my visit, head on over to my Instagram and check out my highlights reel under HiltonsSeattle, Seattle and Seattle Pt. 2.
Special thank you to the amazing team at Hilton Hotels for helping me arrange this stay. Hilton Hotels offers the best available rates, impeccable customer assistance for the duration of your stay and bespoke service for their handpicked collection of the world’s best hotels. Be sure to check out Hilton Honors benefit program. Hilton Honors gives you instant benefits on every stay when you book directly through Hilton.
Photography by @FlynnPNW. The blurry photos were humbly taken by someone with my iPhone.
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