Thompson Seattle

Honestly I am still debating on my feelings about Thompson Seattle. I will admit that this is my first Thompson experience but my expectation is on par on what I expect from a modern boutique hotel. My first impression was really great, as the lobby was pretty cool with some open spaces for guests to mingle, eat their takeout food and the check-in could not be better. The nice staff managed to get me an upgraded sea view room despite checking in a bit earlier than normal. As a Hyatt Globalist, Thompson hotel really does not provide much more additional amenities, other than free breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Conversation. You can have one juice/cold beverage, one hot beverage and one main course. For Thompson Seattle, they don't have standard suites, only premium suites, so no suite upgrades at all. I went in with no expectation so getting a sea view room is good. The view is indeed nice and I got a view of the Puget Sound, Pike Market, and Seattle Ferris Wheel. The room is not huge, but spacious enough for one person or a couple. The bathroom is pretty good sized with both a tub and a walk-in shower. As mentioned in most reviews here, the hotel was not built in a great way and plumbing was done poorly as there were all kind of small noises at all times. You can hear water running or some kinds of wheezing sounds. I was in two different rooms and the situation was the same. They don't have a strong central a/c system, so each room has an additional a/c unit, but the a/c often has temperature issues. Sadly my a/c unit failed and I finally could not eat the temperature to go down further and asked the kind staffs to check on it before heading out to dinner. Around 9pm, I got a text telling me that they could not fix my a/c unit and need to change my room. Given I have already unpacked in the afternoon and my jetlag (coming in from Asia) was kicking in full speed. I had to pack up again and unpack at 10pm, when my body was screaming that "I should sleep soon". To add insult to the late night room change, I no longer got an upgraded sea view room. Here is what I want to say to all hotel staffs - "When you tell me that I have to change room at late hours and my upgraded room was gone, don't ask me if it is okay. it is obviously not okay but you clearly don't want to upgrade me to a premium suite or the hotel is sold out. This is the time that you tell me that your manager will contact me the next morning and offer me some kind of compensation without me asking!" Sadly nothing was offered other than the half-hearted apology. So I was finally managed to settle into my new room before midnight and I decided that I needed to step up my complaint. I emailed my concierge immediately because I actually want the hotel to know that I was actually pretty upset about the room change, but as of this point, I don't want another room change again to just getting a sea view. While the sea view room is nice, the sun shines directly into the room during the afternoon, so you have to keep your curtains closed during the afternoon hours to keep the rooms cool especially the a/c units are not working well at all. To give the hotel credits, the on-duty weekend manager reached out during the late morning and offered me another room change. But who wants to pack and repack again for the third time within 24 hours just for a sea view room. Maybe if you offer me a suite, I will consider it but it is just meaningless to go through the packing process for a similar sized sea view room. He ended up offering me 5000 bonus points without me promoting. While that was not 100% satisfactory, the hotel really did not have much more to offer me. Unknown to me, my Hyatt concierge actually got in contact with the hotel manager later in the day and she contacted me personally the next day with another compensation. Honestly it made my impression of the hotel a bit better. At least they gave some efforts in service recovery, but at the same time, I am under no illusion that they reached out after my concierge stepped up and my Globalist status also helped. It made me value my Hyatt Globalist status more. For my new room, I just set the temperature to 66 degrees, the lowest possible, and left it there. I tried to change it to 68 degrees and it immediately changes into a full heater mode, so I waited a few minutes and moved it back to 66 degrees. i did not dare to touch the a/c unit switch again. For a new building, I really don't know if there is another long term solution possible unless they want to change all the a/c units. But I also can't imagine how summer will work in this hotel with no possible to opening windows. For the noises regarding piping, there is really no solution, so just be ware of the possible noises. I live in an urban area so those noises did not bother me much, but for some of my family members, I just can't put them in this hotel given their sensitivity toward noises. The hotel location is of course the main selling point, as it is next to the Pike Market, and Target is just a few blocks away. Unfortunately downtown Seattle also suffers some downturns like other major cities given people not coming to work daily, homeless issues, and retail business closing. Many ATM machines are locked up after dark, and the nearby shopping mall, Pacific Place, is pretty sad and even the sole Lululemon store is closing soon. But the Pike Place is interesting enough for a day or so. There are still plenty of cafes and restaurants within walking distance. I don't think I feel unsafe but walking alone in late night hours is not the smartest thing to do. There are plenty of car ride services available and maybe use them after 10pm to get back to the hotel if you are more than ten minutes walking distance, or walk with a group. Conversation, the hotel restaurant, is actually pretty good and is one of the bright spots during my stay. I enjoyed the brunch and breakfast on all three mornings that I was there, and the waiting staffs were nothing but excellent. Everyone was friendly and the food was good. I love my daily oat latte. Honestly, the hotel made a great recovery effort, and the location of the hotel is excellent, but I don't know if Thompson Seattle is my first choice. Read less

Our room was wonderful! Spacious, clean and well-maintained. And we had a great view, if we looked sideways out the window. We had a great night's sleep and we loved it! We also enjoyed drinks and snacks on the rooftop. Awesome views! This hotel has a great location as it is only a few steps away from Pike's Market. (All the steps are downhill, too!) Read less