I lived in Seattle for three years, and will always have a fondness for the Emerald City. It’s changed so much, and even if I wanted to, I couldn’t afford to live there again. However, there’s always the possibility of visiting. I haven’t written much about my time in Seattle, mostly because it was before I started blogging, and I also had a hard drive crash before I moved and lost most of my photos from that period. Super sad! (So, while I don’t usually use stock photography, you might spot some stock images in this post) If you are planning a trip to Seattle, there are a ton of choices of hotels and neighborhoods, so I’ve put together a guide to the best area to stay in Seattle to help you choose the best Seattle neighborhood for your visit.

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Best Area to Stay in Seattle

These are the top seven Seattle neighborhoods I recommend looking at when deciding where to stay in Seattle.

• Seattle Downtown & Central Business District – best area for first-time visitors to Seattle
• Belltown & Seattle Waterfront – best area in Seattle for nightlife
• Fremont – best Seattle neighborhood for boutiques and festivals
• Queen Anne – the best “local” Seattle neighborhood with killer views from the hill
• Pioneer Square – the best place to find budget-friendly Seattle accommodation
• SODO / International District – best Seattle neighborhood for sports fans
• South Lake Union – Seattle’s “newest” neighborhood and home of Amazon.com

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Downtown Seattle & Central Business District

Downtown Seattle is the best area for tourists visiting Seattle for the first time. The central location and light rail station mean you’ll have easy access to every part of the city, and you’ll be in the middle of all of the action. From the Art Museum and Pacific Place shopping center to some of the best restaurants in town, Seattle’s CBD has tons of restaurants, hotels, and attractions. When I lived in Seattle, the chosen hotel for visitors, and I stayed there myself on return visits, is the Paramount Hotel on Pine Street; you can’t beat the location! With the Sound Transit Link, you can go straight from the airport to downtown Seattle in under one hour.

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Belltown & Seattle Waterfront

Not to be confused with Bellevue the suburb, Belltown is where I lived in Seattle, so I’m partial to this neighborhood, which has grown increasingly swanky over the last several years. (When I last visited, there was an entire store devoted to Murphy beds!) It’s wedged between Seattle downtown and Queen Anne, with most of Seattle’s waterfront, including the famous Pike Place Market and the Olympic Sculpture Park within walking distance. If you want to know where to stay in Seattle for nightlife, Belltown is an excellent option. I loved the waterfront hotels, and regularly walked my dog near the cruise ship terminal near the Seattle Marriott Waterfront (check prices) and The Edgewater (check prices.) For the best views of Puget Sound, you should stay in Belltown!

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Fremont

Fremont was actually my favorite neighborhood in Seattle, and if I had stayed there any longer, I would have likely moved to Fremont. Fremont has all kinds of funky public art, including a statue of Vladimir Lenin and the famous troll under the bridge. Fremont was my favorite place for boutique shopping, and I never left the Sunday Market empty-handed. If you want a fun, funky neighborhood in Seattle, I highly recommend Fremont. There are fewer hotels in Fremont, so Airbnb is a good option as well. (Save up to $40 on your first Airbnb stay!)

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Queen Anne

Queen Anne is the neighborhood on the hill overlooking downtown Seattle and is a very family-friendly Seattle neighborhood. Beautiful, historic homes line Queen Anne Avenue as it leaves Lower Queen Anne to climb the hill which offers amazing views of Seattle. Lower Queen Anne is home to the Seattle Center, which is where you’ll find the Space Needle, Pacific Science Center, the Museum of Pop Culture (formerly the Seattle Music Experience), and Key Arena (now called Climate Pledge Arena) which will reopen for sports and concerts in 2021. This is a great place to stay in Seattle if you want to have a more “local” experience, rather than staying down the hill near the tourist attractions.

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Pioneer Square

Pioneer Square is just south of Seattle’s downtown area. This area is a little rough around the edges, although I’m sure it’s improved immensely since I lived in Seattle. It’s a very historic area and is where Seattle was founded. It was also Seattle’s “Skid Row” at one point in time. Travelers looking for budget-friendly Seattle hotels should check Pioneer Square. The location is near everything, so you can easily walk or bus to Belltown, Downtown, Queen Anne or anywhere else you want to go in Seattle. It’s a fun neighborhood for independent shops and bookstores, sidewalk cafes, and historic markers.

SODO & International District

Heading south from Pioneer Square, you run into SODO and the International District. This is where the sports fields (Century Link Field and T-Mobile Park) are located. When I worked for Amazon, we had two buildings in the International District, which was just up and coming in the early ’00s. Besides being the sports hub of Seattle, the International District has Uwajimaya, a fascinating Asian specialty market. If you are taking the train from Seattle to Vancouver, King Street Amtrak Station is also in this neighborhood. I stayed at the Silver Cloud Hotel – Seattle Stadium (check prices), some rooms look right over the stadium!

South Lake Union

I would be remiss not to mention South Lake Union, as it’s an important area of Seattle. When I lived in Seattle, this area was nothing but empty parking lots and a few restaurants on Lake Union. In 2007, Amazon bought up a lot of the neighborhood, which is now home to the mega-Amazon campus and Lake Union Park. Naturally, this brings a lot of young residents, as well as business travelers to the neighborhood. Lake Union itself if a must-see for visitors to Seattle, whether by kayak, boat, or seaplane. (It’s also where the floating houses made famous by Sleepless in Seattle are.)

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Are you ready to book your trip to Seattle? Which neighborhood best suits you?