Our flight from DFW to SEA was delayed leaving DFW by about 20 minutes, but the pilot made up for it and we landed in Seattle on time. However, we sat on the tarmac for nearly 40 minutes waiting for our gate to become available. After collecting our checked luggage, we arranged for an Uber to take us to the Hyatt House, our hotel in downtown Seattle.

*The iconic Space Needle sits right behind Hyatt House*

Hotels in Seattle are pretty pricey and we were not really interested in paying for a “luxury” experience with only one night to enjoy. The Hyatt House is only 3-star rated, but it got decent reviews. When selecting a hotel for a pre-cruise stay, it is important to know from which pier your ship will be sailing. Brilliant Lady sails from Pier 91, which is farther north than Pier 66, which is where many other ships depart. Hyatt House is only a 12-minute drive from Pier 91.

The Seattle airport is not close to either of the pier locations and it was about a 40-minute drive to the hotel. The cost for the Uber from the airport to downtown was $90 + tip. Of course, this will vary depending on time of day and availability of drivers.

Check-in time at the hotel is at 4pm and we arrived at 4:45. We booked the room through Chase Travel and they had our reservation and room ready when we arrived. However, while on the flight, I checked the hotel website and noticed that they still had rooms available. Our King Den room was listed for $239, significantly less than the $379 we paid through Chase Travel! My tip is: check to see how many ships are going to be sailing out of Seattle on the same day as your ship. If there are only one or two ships, you can probably find a room last minute for a much better rate. In our case, there is only one other ship in Seattle on the same day as Brilliant Lady, and I suspect that is why the hotels are not sold out. It should be noted that we are embarking the ship on a Tuesday which probably results in a smaller number of cruisers in town.

To make matters worse, the clerk at the front desk informed me that I would not get any Hyatt points for the stay since it was not booked through the Hyatt website!

The Hyatt House is located right next to the Space Needle and we upgraded to a Space Needle-view room located on the back side of the hotel. Turns out, that was a good decision since there is a monorail that runs right in front of the hotel. So, if you want a quieter room, definitely upgrade to the Space Needle view.

The King Den room was just okay, nothing special. This is obviously an older property that has undergone some refurbishments over the years. The bed is soft and was a little lumpy and the pillows not very comfortable. The bathroom is small with almost no place to put toiletries, but it did have a nice size shower stall that looked relatively new. There was a mini fridge, some glassware, a coffee maker with coffee packets, tea, sugar and powder creamer and mugs.

The room can also be very noisy when other guests walk down the hall talking and slamming their doors. But, the worst part was that the A/C vent blew cold air right on my head. I ended up getting up at midnight and MacGyverying a way to redirect the airflow using a paper bag and my iPhone mag charger!

*Blocking an air vent with a shopping bag!*

The clerk at the front desk did tell us that there was a Walgreens just a five-minute walk from the hotel. So, once we put our luggage in the room, we headed out to purchase a few sundries for the cruise. On the way to Walgreens, we saw a few interesting restaurants close to the hotel, so on our way back from Walgreens, we stopped into a local Thai restaurant.

I had the Red Thai Curry, which was good and there was enough for two people to share. Rickee and I shared an order of spring rolls, which were also very good.

After dinner, we walked back to Hyatt House and turned in early. Tomorrow, we will take the hotel shuttle ($12pp cash) to Pier 91 to board Virgin Voyages Brilliant Lady!

This morning, I was able to arrange a late checkout time of 12 noon. While at the front desk, I noticed a flyer advertising a cruise port shuttle. Even though the flyer says the shuttle must be booked 24 hours in advance, the clerk said he could get me on the shuttle for today. The shuttle leaves every hour on the hour and one leaves at noon, which is perfect.

I am pretty sure the reason we were able to book last minute is because there are only two ships in port today. So, if you plan on using the shuttle, book in advance.

I will have to say that this hotel is very well setup for cruise passengers. They even have an express checkout table in the lobby with tape and staplers for those guests needing to attach paper luggage tags to their bags. Very nice touch.

I am not sure if we would stay here again given the high price we paid for an average room. At $250 per night, it would have been a good choice, but not for $380. We would probably look elsewhere should we sail from Seattle again.

Pre-Cruise in Seattle