New hotels in Downtown, Seattle

Downtown Seattle is a strip of steep, narrow hotel country between Elliott Bay and the freeway. Streets drop from Fifth Avenue to the waterfront in a series of hard descents, and that slope decides most things: where you sleep, how tired your legs are by evening, and how long a "five-minute walk" really takes.

The six hotels we track here cover the whole range of how downtown has built and rebuilt itself. One is a 1,260-room convention tower. One is a 1904 office building turned hotel. One sits inside a tower whose first operator walked away. One is a 2006 waterfront property that changed flags in 2026, and one is a Kengo Kuma project that is still waiting for a shovel.

Three stretches, three kinds of stay

The Pike Place corridor

Pike Place Market opened in 1907 and still runs on the same arrangement of fish stalls, produce tables and farmers' stalls, with the buildings stacked down the hillside toward the water. The streets around it hold the densest cluster of downtown hotels, and three of ours are here.

Thompson Seattle is at 110 Stewart Street, one block from the market's Stewart Street entrance. Olson Kundig designed the glass-fronted tower, and Studio Munge worked with Jensen Fey on the interiors. It opened in June 2016 with 152 rooms, under its original owner Commune Hotels & Resorts, and joined Hyatt's Thompson Hotels collection in November 2018. Its address also puts it close to the monorail, which is the quickest route from downtown to Seattle Center.

The State Hotel is at 1501 2nd Avenue, about 90 steps from the market entrance according to the hotel's own description. The building is the 1904 Eitel Building, among the oldest high-rises downtown. It had been offices, a billiard hall and, for a long stretch, nothing at all. The independent hotel opened in April 2019 with 91 rooms, the first time the structure had been used for guests. Weinstein A+U handled the architecture and Vida Design the interiors.

Hotel 1000 is at 1000 1st Avenue, a few minutes' walk from the Seattle Art Museum and from the market. It has been operating since 2006 and has 120 rooms. Until January 22, 2026 it belonged to Hilton's LXR collection. It then moved to Hyatt's Unbound Collection, and Columbia Hospitality took over management on February 5, 2026. The building is old by the standards of this list, yet its Hyatt affiliation is among the newest, so it earns a place among the openings for that reason.

Fifth Avenue and the retail core

East of the market the ground rises, and the district turns to department stores, office towers and Rem Koolhaas's Seattle Central Library. The Central Library opened on May 23, 2004, a diamond-patterned steel and glass box by OMA with the Seattle firm LMN Architects, the same LMN that later drew the Hyatt Regency. The mood changes with the altitude: fewer tourists with tote bags, more people in lanyards, and a library that draws architecture students as well as readers.

Lotte Hotel Seattle opened in September 2020, occupying the lower 16 floors of the 44-story F5 Tower on Fifth Avenue. The tower had a troubled start: the original hotel operator abandoned the project in 2017, and Lotte became the first to run a hotel in the building. Philippe Starck designed the 189 rooms and the restored 1908 church that is now the hotel's ballroom, and the Lotte group places the property in its luxury tier. The church is the detail worth the trip. A Methodist sanctuary of that age, kept intact against a modern glass tower, is not something many hotels can offer.

The convention district

The eastern edge of downtown belongs to events. Hyatt Regency Seattle opened in December 2018 at 808 Howell Street, directly attached to the Washington State Convention Center's Arch Building. At 45 stories and 1,260 rooms it is the largest hotel in the Pacific Northwest, and LMN Architects designed it to LEED Gold standard. The group business it was built for is the reason it exists at all.

The Langham, Seattle Hotel & Residences will be the next addition, but not soon. The group now gives 2030 as the opening year, and construction has not started. The Langham is planned as 187 rooms and suites inside a new 42-story tower built behind the preserved facade of the 1916 Terminal Sales Annex Building, a Bebb & Gould landmark in the central business district. Kengo Kuma & Associates is the architect, Rottet Studio the interior designer, and the plan includes a Chuan Spa and branded residences. It would be Langham's first hotel in Seattle. Until it breaks ground, treat the date as a target.

The waterfront and the museum

The biggest change to the Pike Place corridor in recent years is not a hotel. Overlook Walk opened on October 4, 2024, an elevated park that spans the drop of nearly 100 feet between the market and the water. It links the market's west-facing MarketFront expansion, added in 2017, to the Seattle Aquarium's Ocean Pavilion and to Pier 62, and it has two elevator connections, one in the market garage and one at the Ocean Pavilion. For a guest at Thompson Seattle or The State Hotel, that turns the worst part of the descent into a stroll.

A pedestrian bridge on Marion Street also connects downtown to the ferry terminal at Colman Dock, so a morning boat trip no longer starts with a scramble across traffic.

The Seattle Art Museum is at 1300 First Avenue, on the corner of University Street, in the building Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates completed in 1991. Jonathan Borofsky's Hammering Man, a 48-foot steel silhouette of a worker whose arm rises and falls four times a minute, stands out front and is the easiest landmark to give to a taxi driver. Hotel 1000, at 1000 1st Avenue, is close enough that the museum is a short walk down the same street.

What downtown is actually like to stay in

The first thing to know is the grade. Walking from Pike Place Market up to Fifth Avenue is a climb, and the staircases and public elevators cut through some of the blocks. From a Pike Place corridor hotel the Seattle Art Museum and the waterfront are downhill and easy. Coming back up in the rain, not so much.

Weather matters more here than in many American cities. July through September is dry and long-lit, and the market is at its busiest then, with queues at the original coffee shop and at the fishmongers. November to March is wet, and you will use your hotel as a base for museums, the library and covered shopping rather than for wandering. Listed starting rates give a rough idea of the spread: from $230 at The State Hotel, $210 at Hotel 1000, $260 at Thompson Seattle, $190 at Hyatt Regency Seattle and $290 at Lotte Hotel Seattle. They are entry-level figures for a standard room outside peak season, and summer weekends with a cruise ship in port will sit well above them.

Getting in is easy. The Link light rail runs from Sea-Tac Airport to downtown in about 40 minutes, and the downtown stations put most of these hotels within a short walk or one bus ride. Washington State Ferries leave from Colman Dock at Pier 52, which is useful if you plan to take a boat to Bainbridge Island. Cruise passengers sailing from Pier 66, below the market, sleep downtown the night before the ship leaves, mostly between April and October.

Pioneer Square, Belltown and the neighbors

Pioneer Square is a short walk south and the city's oldest neighborhood. Allow 10 to 15 minutes from the Pike Place corridor if you take the waterfront, a little longer if you cut through the grid.

North of the market lies Belltown, a denser residential and nightlife district that is a gentler walk along the water. South Lake Union is reachable by streetcar or on foot, a stretch of office towers, labs and new restaurants where a lot of the area's recent hotel building has taken place. Capitol Hill sits up the hill to the east and suits a longer stay with more evenings out. For the city as a whole, start at Seattle.

Which hotel for which trip

For a first visit built around the market, the waterfront and the Seattle Art Museum, the three Pike Place corridor hotels are the natural short list. The State Hotel is the smallest and closest to the stalls, Thompson Seattle is the largest of the three, and Hotel 1000 is the one with the longest track record and the newest brand.

A conference at the Washington State Convention Center is the case for Hyatt Regency Seattle, which removes the commute entirely, since the building is attached. That is its whole case, and for an event week it is a strong one: no taxi, no umbrella, no uphill walk with a laptop bag.

Couples who want something with a story will like Lotte Hotel Seattle is the one that makes people ask about the church. Its listed rate starts from about $290, the highest of the open hotels here.

For anyone planning ahead to 2030 and beyond, The Langham is the one to follow, but no booking or confirmed price exists today.

Frequently asked questions

What is the newest hotel in Downtown Seattle?

Lotte Hotel Seattle, which opened in September 2020, is the most recent opening among the open hotels listed here. Hotel 1000 joined Hyatt's Unbound Collection in January 2026, though the building dates to 2006. The Langham is the next planned arrival, now expected in 2030.

Which Downtown Seattle hotel is closest to Pike Place Market?

The State Hotel, about 90 steps from the market entrance according to the hotel. Thompson Seattle is one block from the Stewart Street entrance, and Hotel 1000 is a few minutes' walk.

Which hotel is attached to the convention center?

Hyatt Regency Seattle. It is physically connected to the Washington State Convention Center's Arch Building at 808 Howell Street and has 1,260 rooms.

Is Downtown Seattle walkable?

Yes, but hilly. Pike Place Market, the waterfront and the Seattle Art Museum are close together on the downhill side, while the retail core and Fifth Avenue sit uphill. Plan for a climb on the way back.

When will The Langham open in Seattle?

The group now gives 2030, and construction has not started, so the date could still move. The hotel is planned as 187 rooms and suites in a new tower built behind the preserved facade of the 1916 Terminal Sales Annex Building.

How far is Pioneer Square from Downtown Seattle?

About 10 to 15 minutes on foot from the Pike Place corridor. See Pioneer Square for the district's own openings.