Located in the heart of downtown Bellevue, Seattle Marriott Bellevue is a great choice for business travelers coming into Bellevue over the week, or visitors coming for pleasure over the weekend. The quality of the Marriott Brand Hotels can vary greatly throughout the country, but is always the first brand to check in the area when I'm planning an out of town trip. Not only do they give more bonus reward points for Marriott Bonvoy members, but usually have a business lounge or M Club lounge where you can get refreshments or breakfast buffet if you a Bonvoy Elite member.
We checked in on a Thursday and stayed for 5 nights, across the weekend, so really got a chance to experience a lot of the hotel, and across the board it was pleasant. Got a spacious hotel room on the 16th floor, which included a pull out couch. Some of the Marriott brands have the the West Elm pull out couches, where the bed is good (using foam and solid framing), to make it seem like you are sleeping on couch cushions with a lot of support. Surprisingly, this was a typical spring couch bed, very flimsy. Luckily, we only needed it for one night.
Bathroom is great. Big shower with dual heads (one being handheld), with glass doors. Quality soap and shampoo. One sink, but large counterspace.
There was a decent size tv with a lot of cable channels. The room also has a small refrigerator and a microwave, so you can enjoy carryout and its leftovers on multiple days. Housekeeping will give you two bottles of water everyday, and you can more from the M Lounge if you have access.
It has an excellent fitness center (no pool though) located one level below the ground floor. It is very quiet and has plenty of aerobic equipment (treadmills and elilipcals) and weight equipment. There are nice touches like plenty of towels, disenfectint wipes, disposable ear buds, and bottles of water.
During our 6 day stay, we never really saw much action at the onsite restaurant and never used room service, so can't say much about that. As mentioned the food at the breakfast buffet was of quality, so that's a good sign...though in my experiences, Marriott adds to the well-deserved reputation of hotel food services being overpriced for mediocre food.
It is very close to the main Bellevue transportation depot, from where you can take buses around the Seattle area. As an example, a bus will directly take you to Sea-Tac in an hour ($2.75 one-way). You really don't need a car, if you don't mind walking or taking public transportation.
The M Lounge is open 24 hours, allowing one to pick up water, soda, and light snacks whenever the need/mood hits you. They serve a hot breakfast 7 days a week and it has a small selection, but is of quality. I especially liked the sliced sourdough bread and the bangers (English style sausage). Wish they had different selection of yogurt...they only had greek-style, which is very different than normal yogurt. Like other Marriotts, this is open for all Elite members and those who explicitly include it in the rate. There is no resort fee, but parking is very expensive ($45 nightly but the car valets are always around and very friendly).
The nightly rates can greatly vary (low as $200 to over $400). Seattle Marriott Bellevue is a great choice for business travelers who have business in downtown Bellevue, folks who have events near the hotel, or visitors wanting to see Seattle over a long weekend. read more