Seattle Help

...public transportation is a cinch.

As for where to stay, that I can’t help with.

but the public transportation is pretty good.

The best value in hotels is in the area near the Space Needle. That’s on the opposite side of downtown from Safeco Field. When I have stayed there, I have usually done the long pregame walk to Safeco, with a stop somewhere downtown for dinner, then a bus back after the game.

Another nice option is to stay in the U-District (University of Washington), a few miles north of downtown.

Maybe make a hotel reservation now then try for a better deal on a downtown hotel at the last minute via Expedia, Travelocity, etc.

The cheapest place to stay is downtown, which is a bit far from the ballpark, but the ballpark is in a pretty bleak industrial area that doesn’t have anything else. Public transportation is excellent, and you shouldn’t worry about any other stuff you want to do being close to the park.

Non-game stuff: The U-District is good and has some good places to eat, but it’s not much different from any other college town. Capitol hill is a hip sort of neighborhood that has the some nice views and the best restaurants, bars, etc.

If you need something to do during the day: It’s a gorgeous city, so: find somewhere to hike with good views if that’s your thing, or if not take one of the (very cheap) boat rides across the sound.

Some hotels will offer a free shuttle service to the game. You should look into that. But my must do’s for Seattle, dinner at the Met grill and smoke salmon from Pike place market.

Here is a map of the Ride Free area. Safeco is outside the southern boundary of the free area, but only by a few blocks. We stayed at the downtown Westin (at 5th & Stewart) last July because we didn’t bring or rent a car, so we wanted to be close to transit and the waterfront. The hotel’s location was great for that, and it’s a good hotel, but was more spendy than I would have liked.

If you were to stay near the Space Needle (which is probably what we’ll do next time), that’s also outside the free ride area, by a few blocks to the north… and, as Soaker mentions above, would be a LONG walk from there to Safeco, so keep that in mind.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the buses running for free downtown are still on the same streets as all the commuters’ cars—so if you’re going to take a bus to any Monday-Friday night games, plan to be stuck in some heavy traffic. We walked from our hotel for the Friday night game that we went to, because riding most of the way there by bus on Thursday night had been such an aggravating, slow pain in the ass… and walking is better for me, anyway… LOL

My favorite reasonably-priced non-baseball tourist thing we did that weekend: This cruise tour. Beautiful, beautiful area, and I thought it was really cool to see how the locks work.

If you stay at a hotel near the Space Needle and Seattle Center. (It’s the same one built for the World’s Fair in 1962. Yep, it still runs, sometimes barely.) It’ll get you downtown into the free ride zone for the buses.

You can’t miss a trip to the Pike Place Market, and the Seattle Underground tour in Pioneer Square (between downtown and the ballpark) is pretty cool too.

i live in seattle and make the trip to mariners games all the time by walking and bus (im only 16)

just use the public transportation system its easy
people around here are very friendly so u can just ask around

things to keep in mind if your lost try
-look up and find space needle (hard to miss)
-but dont head towards it
-look away from it and ull eventually run into the only other big things in seattle quest field and safeco field

lovely ballpark
i love goin to mariners vs a’s game and just listening to the numerous boos as a’s players walk off victorious

It’s a total dive, open 24 hours, serves breakfast all day, and the service falls in somewhere between aloof and rude. It’s pretty awesome. In the men’s bathroom, they just throw a bucket of ice in a pit in the floor and that’s where you pee. There’s a periscope in there where you can look at the top of the Space Needle.

It’s an interesting place. I won’t go so far as to actually “recommend” it, but I definitely suggest at least checking it out.

Mono…DOH!

If you stay just north of Pioneer Square you’ll be less than a mile from Safeco, a walkable distance.

I can’t remember the name of the hotel where I usually stay, but it’s on the corner of 4th and Spring – it’s a little hotel that caters to Japanese tourists. It’s not a great hotel, but it’s pretty cheap, and there’s a Seattle’s Best coffee shop in the lobby, which makes breakfast easy.

One other thing, where do you recomend I sit at Safeco? Or is it one of those parks that “doesn’t have a bad seat”?

I had a great time when I saw the A’s play the M’s last April. I stayed at the Crowne Plaza ($59 on priceline) on 6th Ave in downtown Seattle and walked to Safeco everyday, which took about 20-22 mins. Also stayed at the Red Lion on 5th Ave for the same rate through priceline, both 3-star hotels. Safeco IS in an industrial area but it is NOTHING like the area around the Coliseum. It was clean and relatively safe especially if you walk down 1st Avenue through Pioneer Square, an area which is populated and has plenty of shops and restaurants. I was also walking distance to the Capital Hill neighborhood where you can find plenty of cool bars and clubs to chill at. You really don’t need a car while in Seattle unless you’re staying at a hotel outside of the city. Hope that helped. The people of Seattle were really friendly. And I noticed lots of A’s fans, so you won’t feel alone.