I had no idea where to stay when visiting Seattle so I did a quick google search. This was the…read morefirst place to come up and I'm so glad that I chose to stay here. This hostels nickname should be the clean tortoise seriously at any given point during my stay there were always people cleaning! The kitchen, bathrooms, general area and rooms. The fact that they provide breakfast and have free events is amazing! I ate a hearty breakfast every morning I was there. My belly was happy. I went on a walking tour. HUGE SHOUTOUT TO AMALIA! That tour has been resonating for days since I went on it. She's such a fun interactive tour guide and provided so much good information about the city. I felt so comfortable navigating downtown by myself afterwards. Everyone I encountered there was friendly and respectful. The only thing I will point out is that if you have any mobility issues staying here might be challenging. There are a lot of stairs to get to the main floor and to get to the sleeping accommodations. Overall such a wonderful stay. I felt so thankful to have the opportunity to have this as my home base while exploring the city hope to be back.

Great service, amazing location, and I felt very safe and comfortable. They gave me great recs for…read morethings to do in the area.

PROS - Flat Rate per Day…read more- Convenient - Open from 5:30am-12:30am - Refrigerated Items Accepted - No Size Limit - Pay on Pick Up CONS - Ease of Locating Located in the baggage claim area of SEA-TAC International, alongside the window/exit side between baggage claims 9 and 10 is the convenient Smarte Carte Storage. Be aware that it can easily be missed, but it does have a yellow painted wall similar to that used for their pay-to-rent smarte cartes throughout the arrival and departure areas. My experience was a pleasant one. Given that I hadn't been to Seattle, and it was on my bucket list, it came in handy to have somewhere to drop off my carry-on duffel bag while I explored Seattle on my 8 hour layover. It took some research as this baggage storage area was ran by Ken's Baggage prior to 2016. The price was very convenient, for two overhead sized duffel bags it came out to approximately $18 for whole day storage (this was for 2018/01/04), and Smarte Carte Storage is open almost 24 hours, so you can still access your belongings regardless of when you were to pick them up. However, I do not know if you can add to/access your belongings inbetween drop off and pick up... that would be a good thing to know. The employees were pleasant and patient. Unfortunately, I do not recall the name of the lady who helped store our luggage as we were in a hurry, but Bernard helped us retrieve our luggage.. we also got to see what the storage area looked like in the back, and it is very well organized. They even had a refrigerated area, I'm guessing for any ice boxes carrying any fish/seafood that was caught to be flown out, which was unexpected but I'm sure helpful in many cases. Would I return? Most definitely. I'll be sure to post current pricing as of my visit (2018.01.04) for those that are also searching for a place to store luggage/belongings during a long layover at SEA-TAC. --/ One for ME, YELP for YOU. @sandyexplores

A great option for travel. Rather than hang out in the…read moreairport, we stowed our gear and headed into town for a nice afternoon. This was easy. I would have liked the have seen a Military discount for younger families who seemed to be camping out at SeaTac.

The King Street Union Station is only few blocks from the Seattle Seahawk's Lumen field Stadium…read more Actually the ramp from the station to street level has a wonderful view of the arena. The station primarily servers Amtrak trains, but there's adjacent entrance to the subway line as well, accessible via the ramp. The main building of the station has the iconic clock tower. The station's interior was also beautiful, with high ceilings, art decor on the walls, marble floors and shafts. There were plenty of benches for passengers to sit. Multiple displays were showing the arrival times of the trains. The atmosphere inside the station was much nicer than its exterior suddronding. Once we got to the station, we went to the baggage drop off area. A friendly staff member behind the counter helped us with weighing both of our luggages, tagging them and lining them up for the train. Our train arrived at the platform on time. Our tickets were checked at the door. Staff members were available on the platform to help us find the correct car. Overall I had a wonderful experience of boarding Amtrak train for the first time ever from this station.

We booked tickets Seattle to Portland in advance. Got the business class. Ground crew was very…read moreefficient and helpful. Checked baggage is available at both Seattle (King St) and Portland (Union Station). Passengers can also check up to four bags, first two free, next two with charge, 50 lbs per luggage. Lots of benches for travelers. Coffee station. Bathroom is good. Information board is clear. There was a homeless guy with blood on the head came to sit on a bench. Security came and asked if they need to call ambulance. Some words exchanged. Didn't escalate the situation. We left around that point. I think the security handled it well. Hopefully the guy got medical attention.

Driving used to be fun but not anymore…read more I took Driver's Ed in high school. Studied the WA DOL manual. Got up at 5am on the weekends and mastered parking maneuvers in empty parking lots. Practiced driving on I-5 and steering control on E Mercer Way. Passed the written and driving tests. It was a milestone celebration unlocking freedom and independence at 16 years old. Learned how to use the stick shift and feared the red light at 15th & Spokane St. on rainy days. Drove to Dick's on Capitol Hill with friends. Never had to share the road with electric bikes and scooters because they didn't exist. Never saw distracted drivers with smartphones because these devices weren't available to the public yet. We only had to worry about cars with California plates, the occasional BC plate, or someone who said, "DMV." ;p Driving in Seattle is different now. Traffic is worse. Nobody gives the "Thank you" wave anymore. I know someone who's been driving well over 10 years and they slapped a yellow New Driver sticker on their car and uses it as an excuse to drive like a crazy person. On I-5 I saw a guy texting at the wheel, saw a girl playing a game on her phone at the wheel. Cars without license plates, cars with expired tabs. People driving in the Bus Only lane, people driving with high beams. Motorcycle lane splitting. Witnessed illegal left turns from the far right lane and people driving down the yellow center lane. A lot of these habits and behaviors didn't happen when I first started driving. Seems like the WA DOL manual doesn't apply anymore. Unwritten driving rules and etiquette taught and passed down by old school Seattleites are fizzling out. Those OGs have moved to Clark County near the WA/OR border, Eastern WA, out of state, and out of country. Gas is over $6+ a gallon and if theres an event near the stadiums parking can be between $70-$120. So if someone asks me why I take public transit, I have many reasons why. I take the light rail when my destination is near a station. I take it for peace of mind. I take it to save money. I've become mindful of my carbon footprint. The 2 Line trains from the Eastside are newer and cleaner than the workhorse 1 Line trains. There's the occasional smelly person, the sleeper, and the tweaker but I know have a choice to sit or stand away from them or get up and move. No fare gates or platform screen doors at the stations. Signage and announcements could be better too. As for the near future, I want to attend roll out celebrations for the Graham St. and Boeing Access Road infill stations. I'm also looking forward to the West Seattle and Tacoma expansions.

Overall pretty good with my experiences with Link. On our trips to Seattle if we are planning to…read morejust go to neighborhoods where the train stops through then we definitely utilize that over driving. There are a lot of shortened operation times due to upgrades, maintenance and expansion. As large as the Seattle metro area is I'm surprised there wasn't public transit train installed and with good coverage of stops long ago. But it seems to be happening now. I think of Campbell Scott in the movie Singles and how his plan gets shot down for a broader commute expansion with trains for a plan he submitted. It almost feels like an inside joke and maybe it always was or has been for a long time living in the metro area. Recently we rode on the new expansion that goes to Federal Way. We rode the train up from the large transit center and garage there and it was nice and smooth. A bit long but so much less stress not having to drive. I have my Orca Card handy with me and it's easy on and easy off. Overall good experiences with this train system!

With the recent opening of the expansion of the 2 line going to Lynnwood from Redmond, this…read moreWestlake Station (like all the other stations in downtown Seattle) now services both the 1 AND 2 lines of the Sound Transit Link system. This means that one can take one train without transfer from here to Bellevue and Redmond, crossing Lake Washington on the world's first light rail pontoon railway. My wife and I took this route while visiting our daughter and son-in-law in Bellevue, and the crossing was a routine non-event, just like it is supposed to be. My last review for this station was 2 years, at which time, only the 1 line serviced this station. Because of the way they designed the routes, the inclusion of the 2 line was seamless, requiring no station outages during the transition. My only small gripe is the signage at a major connection point at the center near the elevators, still only shows the 1 line (with its stops at the airport and university), instead of now the opening of the entire East side of Puget Sound area, accessible via the 2 line. It's confusing for visitors...better just to state that lower level is for Sound Transit, instead of explicitly naming each line, if they don't want to change the signage every time. Another big addition that occurred earlier this year (Feb '26), is the use of tap-to-pay (using a tap enabled payment card to pay for fare at the point of entry) at all stations and bus lines (like NYC and London has). We still ended up using our preloaded Orca card this trip, but can discontinue that for future (unless taking the Monorail, which still requires an Orca card). Transfers are free for 2 hours from the first tap (excluding the Monorail), with initial charge being $3. There are no gates, with the pay stations being intentionally out of the way...it really is about the honor system to tap. We also used Westlake station as the transfer point to get from the monorail on the 3rd floor of the Westlake shopping center down to the lower level where the station actually is. Connecting to the 1 line, we got to Sea-Tac airport station in 41 minutes (though from there, it's quite a walk to get to the terminal area).

Five stars for Seattle having public transit that is reliable and generally safe…read more Possible improvements: entering/existing the station can be a bit daunting. There are a lot of folks hanging around outside, maybe doing things that they shouldn't be doing in public. Where I generally stay in Seattle is equidistant to Westlake and Symphony; I'll generally walk to Symphony, but you can't beat the overall convenience of Westlake. 2025: 26/100

Connecting the busy Westlake light rail station to the touristy Seattle Center in downtown, the…read moreSeattle Monorail is 0.9 miles long, traveling on an elevated track, with the endpoints being the only stops. It takes about 3 minutes to travel between, costs $4 per one-way ride, and operates every 10 minutes. My wife and I took it twice during our one night trip to Seattle, and it was a good way to cut off a bit of a walk traveling from/to the airport and our hotel located at the Seattle Center. The monorail system was built in 1962 to take visitors to the World's Fair, which was being held at what is today the Seattle Center. It consists of 2 parallel single rail tracks, each with one train. After each 3 minute journey, the conductor has to walk the length of the train to get to the other forward facing 'locomotive' car, so there is a bit of time between the train arriving and the train leaving again (in the opposite direction). The two trains (Blue and Red) can run concurrently (often during high traffic times like during a Kraken hockey game), but I've only seen one of them run at a time. The space between the two tracks are where people boarding the train must wait, entering this space using an Orca card (tap-to-pay has yet to be implemented). There are no discounts for transfers to other Orca enabled transit. There is one seat on the locomotive car right next to the conductor, providing an unobstructed view facing forward. Would highly recommend doing that if riding it for the first time. It was my 4th time riding, but 1st time on that seat. Spoke to the conductor a little, and learned that for her, it's 42 round trips a day during her shift. Also noticed that the train passes right by the upper level windows of the Hyatt House hotel, so imaging guests in those rooms could get a cool view of the train as it zipped by.

9/14/2025 - Took a monorail ride from the Seattle Monorail Center to downtown Seattle at the…read moreWestlake station in 3 or 4 minutes at a round trip prices $4 each way or $2 for seniors. The Monorail runs every 8 minutes. It is worth the trip!

Not a bad way to go if you plan on visiting Victoria BC. We booked an 8 am departure and grabbed…read moresome window seats. Voyage took about 3 hours but seemed to go by fairly fast. Check-in was simple and going through Customs in Victoria was painless. Ferry does have an on-board cafe for snacks and drinks.

Who wouldn't want to take a fast ferry to another country? Start your morning in Seattle and end up…read morehaving an early lunch in the Victoria harbor with on the Victoria Clipper. We just did one upgrade to get window seats in the economy area, which was totally worth it. The boat was less than half full - if it had been fuller I would have gone for more of an upgrade as the seating in economy is a bit narrow if someone is near you. Staff were friendly and on and off boarding was easy. Food looked edible and it was nice to have servers come through the cabin - they also passed out motion sickness pills - although our ride was smooth. Nice views of the water and mountains all the way there and back. I wouldn't recommend parking in the Bell Street Garage. Although it was ten bucks a day we ended up locked in the garage upon return for more than an hour due to a broken machine and limited staffing. Clipper was not responsive or helpful when we offered feedback on this partnership, which makes me dock a star.

The agent helped plan a nice trip and answered all questions. One small detail needed fixing, but…read moreoverall good help.

I have been using the services provided by AA Travel for more than 20 years, and it has been…read moreunfailingly an effective and pleasant experience. They asked a colleague in SF to hand deliver a passport/visa once when I made a mistake with a travel date. They answered an emergency call outside of work hours to help when my ticket was canceled erroneously by the airlines. They are very professional and really know the work well, and I have been able to rely on them for my travel needs. They do have a "no nonsense style" which some people find to be not warm enough, but they are actually very nice people, and if you realize that it is but the surface (accent, tone, etc), what they can do for you is great. Thank you, Ken and Ling.