The Washington State Convention Center is a fascinating piece of Seattle architecture. Built over Interstate 5 in the center of downtown Seattle, the convention center is a testament to man's ingenuity -- artfully blending the natural beauty of the northwest with its urban​ setting. This modern, concrete and glass structure weaves the surrounding downtown landscape -- including a major freeway which passes below it; Freeway Park, the adjoining man-made evergreen-filled oasis designed to offset it; and the magnificent natural beauty of Puget Sound -- into one stunning, unified urban fabric. read more

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I came to the Washington State Convention Center for a multi-day conference and thought it was a great venue. It's HUGE! Huge. Note this when choosing your shoes for whatever event you're attending. This way you won't end up like me, limping around and bumming bandaids from friends. The convention center is right in the middle of downtown. It's an awesome location, because there are a bunch of hotels you can stay at right nearby (for example -- http://www.yelp.com/biz/sheraton-seattle-hotel-seattle#hrid:MRnZ4AtnurC3QwAH2HWS7A), and there are tons of restaurants, bars, dessert places, and shops to help you occupy your time when you're taking a break or done for the day. Inside, the convention center was immaculate. I was able to easily find my way around the gigantic place, thanks to the helpful signage. The attendants working around the building were also helpful. There are certain areas where an event badge is required, and I felt that this added an extra layer of safety. Not that it's the type of place where I felt insecure. There are a few food options inside, a cute little cafe-type place right at the front (http://www.yelp.com/biz/espresso-caffe-dior-seattle#hrid:ImKVNqAHUqKF5TcZNclDFA), a healthy option (http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-juicy-caf%C3%A9-seattle#hrid:QfQ7rrotWU699MhPyZQlhg), a Subway... These places get packed at lunchtime! Try to eat early or late. Great spacious venue for events. I will pack more comfortable shoes next time! read more

PAX West review: I have spent my fair time in many different convention centers for my job and I can say this one is beautiful and provides ample space. The location in downtown is perfect and there are many hotels nearby. However I've taken off one star for security, the location itself is secure but the way they enlist security detail is a joke. No metal detectors or checking for weapons is a joke considering the size of the convention. Food: There's plenty of food options within the convention center as well as the Starbucks Reserve is not too far away! Walking: It's comfortable, more comfortable than most I've been in . The distances between halls is nice and isn't as stretched out as Las Vegas for example. I highly recommend going to this center if you have an event. read more

Unique Layout | Clean Areas | Not Enough Space They is a unique convention center and it is nice to be walking distance to a bunch of different stores, hotels, and restaurants. The vertical layout causes bottle-necks and there is not enough room as is. So space is its downfall. Other then that it is a pretty nice location with interesting architecture. read more

Nice space and easy to navigate! I'd like to give a special shout out to the Greek restaurant located in the center and he served diet Mountain Dew, Thank you, the city is mainly a Coke beverage land!!! read more

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+ Easily accessible + Many parking options + Blocks away from Pike Place Market and great restaurants + Easy to navigate between the different levels/conference rooms + Tully's inside! and other fooding options + Nice garden area outside when you need a breather + Many hotel choices in walking distance Check out theri calendar for fun conventions to attend haha. read more

Literally the worst bathrooms I have ever seen. Not in terms of cleanliness- the stall doors are the problem. If you go into a stall, male or female, you kind of don't want people to watch you go to the bathroom. With their stalls, there is a deliberate cutout of the top half of the doors- so if you're not crouched over hiding your face, people can see you doing your business if they walk by to check the stall occupancy. They look like baby gate doors, not real stall doors. I cannot even fathom the reason for this but I will tell you it's one of the least inviting designs with an utter lack of thought going into attendee experience. People pay thousands of dollars to go to these conferences- it sure would be nice if they didn't have to worry about someone seeing them sitting on the toilet. But maybe that's just me! I'd really like to know why the stalls are like this, so if someone from WSCC sees this, please do respond. read more

Good venue. Few electrical outlets to recharge in meeting rooms. Enough sitting areas to meet w/ colleagues & great access to local restaurants. Lots of easy access restrooms, clean. Unfortunately, much homeless around but security guards & other measures minimize interference. Occasionally, you have to be stable where you sit. read more

Garden and flower show was impressive. The center itself is huge. Really not much else you can say about a building, since you don't go to see the building but you go to see the event. Escalators were fun. The bathrooms were decently clean. :-p The ticketing staff was a crapshot. I got a knowledgeable girl who knew what she was doing (though rather than pay attention to the customer (me) she instead talked with her male co-worker friend to her left, telling him how she always stacks everything to hand to the customer, so KNEW that she always hands the ticket and receipt out. My friend got a less than knowledgeable/less than helpful (quote "useless") employee. I didn't get details, but obviously the guy she was waited on was having issues.. :-/ ) Overall. The center is fine. read more

I have been to a few conventions in my 19 year career and the Washington one is my favorite by far. A bunch of big conference rooms, lots of room for food and bars and easy access to multiple hotels. You are about 4 blocks from the famous Pike Fish Market. Lots of awesome bars and restaurants around, plus you are only about 2 miles from the Space Needle. They even have a smaller place kitty corner from the main convention center where they can hold smaller sessions. Loved it! read more

This convention center has its pros and cons... I am by no means a convention connoisseur, but I've been to a few in other parts of the country and I've seen better venues. For starters, the building is laid out in such a strange way. The central atrium with the escalators is impressive and architecturally very beautiful, but it cuts the building in half and results in some small, awkward, oddly shaped spaces in the rooms attached. I spent most of my time in the exhibitor hall, which I found poorly laid out and unnecessarily crowded in key places. One of the things they do here is to make the walkways between booths/exhibits different sizes, which seems like it makes sense for crowd control but actually results in traffic jams when a large path intersects with a small one. It's also not the tidiest hall I've ever worked in: you often have to walk quite a ways to find a trash can. Also the floors are not all covered! The walkways are carpeted in some areas and not in others, which is hard for walking and looks sloppy. The exhibitor hall does have some nice amenities, specifically concession stands around the perimeter. I went to the nearest one (I think it was labeled "Solera") a couple of times because it had a cafe vibe and, most importantly, espresso beverages! Unfortunately, the espresso wasn't very good. My first visit, I tried a latte... and it was gross. There was no foam, so it was basically coffee-flavored hot milk. Next time, I asked for extra foam and got something a little closer to an actual latte, but it still wasn't very good. It was the same barista each time (her name was Theresa), so I'm not sure if it was just her or the quality of the place in general. Overall, I think this convention center is good not great, but also not bad. Conventions here are fun and a lot of the center's amenities are quite nice. read more

The biggest pro of this convention center is the prime location in the heart of Seattle downtown. There are a ton of great restaurants, shops and a very convenient train station right nearby, all within walking distance! In terms of the actual convention center, it's a huge space with a ton of meeting rooms. The atrium is very impressive with a corridor of elevators that take you through many floors of the hall. There's some green space and access to outdoors that are off the main street for breaks between meetings. The layout of the main floors are kind of strange because you can only access certain halls through seemingly 'secret' path ways and there isn't a set of elevators that can take you to all floors (somewhat inconvenient for those with accessibility needs since you need to find the next set of elevators that can take you the rest of the way). read more

Spent a week here at a convention. The space is nice and well kept. The bathrooms were always clean and stocked. The floors swept and trash picked up. The staff did a nice job keeping up with all of us. I liked the location. There were plenty of places to eat lunch at within walking distance. In fact there were two food truck parks three blocks away. The rooms and expo spaces were several stories tall. It was a very picturesque view from the lounge areas. The Freeway park was on the back side of the center. Although the area was a nice place to smoke and hang out between sessions, you could not walk more than a block before running into homeless people looking for handouts or smoking pot. There were plenty of hotels , bars and restaurants within walking distance of the convention center making it easy to get around all week without having to rent a car. read more

If Yelp rewarded writers in any respect for brevity, I could succinctly summarize the convention center in a single word: labyrinthine. Since it doesn't, a few more words... The standard staff seem neither obtrusive nor particularly helpful, there primarily to adjust one's experience for the wayward attendee that in some way goes off-script. Food options and amenities are limited, but if one is at a convention and the primary concern is food, time and money was probably wasted in attendance, and there are plenty of options within a 5 block radius that won't be overrun and a few optimal local choices within a 10 block radius for those who aren't decked out in such a way to prohibit movement. As is unsurprising in a major city, approaching via bus or on foot is ideal for those who do not want to pay exorbitant rates for parking in the downtown core. For smaller events that only use a concentrated area, this makes for venue adequacy. I've only been here for geek conventions, and to be fair it's probably because the most personal recurring convention, PAX, that pretty much dominates all of downtown Seattle during its time is at this point simply significantly too large for the sizable complex, but each year it gets more difficult to navigate as the space is reconfigured to meet the burgeoning need. The posted maps do not give a good sense of the maze of escalators, staircases and hidden areas that are likely a by-product of incremental spatial expansion, and while that would be somewhat thematic to the aforementioned, I am confident it is not intentional and increases travel time. This creates a somewhat self-reinforcing negative spiral when coupled with the fact that the city is increasing event taxes, raising pass prices, as the ability to enjoy events of such scale decreases. Alas, with attendance numbers in the high tens of thousands it's the only, if imperfect, game in town. Under duress the appropriate bar is tolerance as opposed to embrace, and the Washington State Convention Center meets that, so I reluctantly game on. read more

holy crap! If that sufficed, I would have just left my review at that...its big, it is beautiful and goes for stories (no serbelle i am not talking about penis!) totally within walking distance of everything and there is a cheesecake factory AND a protein low carb friendly eatery near by? psh! maybe the boyfriend and i should move up there..... but the rain.... alas the rain.... I went here for coffeefest and it was a blast! This place is posh and there is tons of parking.. read more

Welcome to PAX 2009! So they finally sold out this past year after growing every year. It might even be the final year they have it at the Convention Center due to the size restrictions. Though, it was very cool for the safety board to allow them to release extra tickets. I know it made a lot of people happy. The overall Convention center set up is decent. There is nearby parking, escalators, elevators, and plenty of things to eat. But some of the layout is just crazy. There seems to be meeting rooms all over the place and one could get lost easily in a big crowd. PAX had a good layout and plenty of people to help you find your way. The exhibits were fun to look at but the lines to try anything were too long. And too many of the talks I wanted to go to overlapped other ones I wanted to see. My biggest beef was not knowing how they were organizing the concerts. All I can say is it's going to be really interesting next year. That's for sure. Oh and that sucks about the PAX flu. read more

In general the Convention Center is a great place BUT: I attended several receptions while at the AAAS convention in Seattle, and was sickened by candles that abounded in the banquet spaces. Literally sickened because I am allergic to candle smoke. Don't people know of the long list of carcinogens and allergens produced by candles? I started sneezing and had to leave the receptions. Now, days later, I am still suffering from skin rashes, red eyes, and sinus headaches. Wake up Convention Center! Don't poison the air any more. read more

Beautiful architecture. Elegant engineering right in downtown Seattle literally arching over streets. Most other reviewers probably covered all the basics, and told you how the conference rooms are all well equipped, the layout is a little confusing, yet very interesting and refreshing, and the food options around the area is plenty. read more

I've been going to the Convention Center for years, both as an attendee and a presenter. I like that it's a convenient walk from my office and has multiple entry points. I don't park in this area but walk or choose mass transit if I'm coming from outside the city. It's just a few blocks from both the light rail station, tunnel, and bus lines. If you haven't been before, I'd recommend you get there a little early before your event begins. It's not a confusing place but it's an awful big place to get lost if you don't know where you're going. There are a series of escalators, spread out elevators, meeting rooms, conference rooms, exhibit halls, etc. I like some of the food choices around (and in) the Convention Center. There's even things like a gift shop in there to pick up a touristy souvenir to take home. The facility is well-kept in general. Staffing levels seem adequate for the events I've been to - specifically with regard to catering and janitorial services. Recently, the beverage service was well stocked with staff members coming frequently to ensure things were clean, stocked, and ready to go for caffeine crazed Seattlelites. Same with the bathrooms - although I didn't see anyone stocking the bathroom, it was never out of anything during the trips I took there. I like that you can find a quiet place to sit here outside the cold. You can read a book, check your email, or just chill. My favorite places are at the main entrance on the lower level (below all the escalators) and at the top of the escalators where you can exit to Freeway Park. I've had good luck finding a bit of peace in both locations. read more

Let me start by saying I heart conventions. I've been to PAX Prime & Sakura Con here, but I know Comic Con, The Tattoo Convention, & many more also make their way here. It's a big venue that is very easy to get around because there are multiple ways to go to certain side or floor of the building that way not everybody will be depending on one escalator. The Washington State Convention Center is located right in the heart of Seattle where there are numerous parking garages around and if anything, public transportation will always be an option for Downtown Seattle. You could literally also just get dropped off and picked up easily since there's an area for that. On a sunny day, the outside area is a beautiful place to be. There are many rooms inside the building for vendors or activities to do. There are also quick restaurants to grab a bite at or coffee for the convenience of not having to leave the Venue. The bathrooms are clean, I do noticed that the bathrooms right by the main entrance is a bit odd. I'm not sure if I went in the wrong bathrooms specifically for little kids or what, but the stall doors are super short, like somebody could just walk by and look down and see a 100% vision of you! Yikes! Hahahaha. Tell me about your experience if you've been here or is going to after reading this review:) read more

Comicon, PAX, Go Green Seattle, heck... the Seattle Wedding Show? It's ALL HERE and it's all really close to home. Having attended shows and even worked shows, I can say this is without a doubt a big, and high tech operation. From a consumer standpoint this convention center has it all. There's a food court, lots of nearby, affordable parking, nearby restaurants, clean restrooms, a gorgeous glass foyer connection some of the large spaces, and of course TONS of room to host both big and BIGGER events here in Seattle. From a marketing/booth hosting standpoint, this place also kicks butt. As a vendor at a few shows I was given a new set of directions, different parking lots to use and load in instructions. Not all was provided by the convention center itself, but the mere fact that there are loading docks, vendor entrances, vendor elevators and tons and tons of free cards and dollies to use makes working events here really easy. All of the employees seem well-trained on what they're doing, they can direct you anywhere in this monster of a space and everyone is friendly while doing it. If only I could host a HUGE party here.... Hrm! read more

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this place! Comicon!! So this particular convention center is very elegant and functional in design. The parking is close - we parked at a lot down the street, since we were going to a invite only concert at the Hard Rock just down the street. I really enjoyed my time at the comicon. The way the convention center divided the comicon into floors was smart. However, with only a few escalators and a ton of fangirls and fanboys, it can get to be a problem. If you are attending an event here, I would recommend that you get here early. Once you find where your event is, you'll want to check out the layout of what you want to accomplish - that's the annoying thing with comicons, the schedule overlap - I never seem to see everything that I set out to see, do and buy. But that's me... I want to see everything! Which is physically not possible. I do like this venue very much and if I'm in the area again and comicon just happens to be the same time... You know where I'll be. LOL read more

Hooray for Conventions??!!?!?!?! Yes? Anyhoo, I've been to the convention centers at several major cities across the US (San Diego, Chicago, and Washington DC), and it ranks 2nd on my list (with only San Diego being slightly better). Pros: There are ample bathrooms located all over the center, with even some of the bathrooms on the first couple of floors open to the public. The convention center staff have always been nice and informative, and the IT convention center staff is really good at sneaking in between sessions to fix things. The signage is center floors is helpful for getting around but could sometimes be a little better. The chairs are comfortable, and the in-house food is pretty good. Cons: The layout can be a bit confusing. There are many 'levels', and it can be sometimes hard to navigate around the place, even with the signs and such. Overall, it's one of the better Convention Center spaces I've been too; I also like how they have recycling and composting bins!! read more

The best thing you don't know about this place is it is a shortcut from freeway park on the first Hill to Pike Street on Capitol Hill. For that alone was worth five stars. However, I'm sure if you want to come see video games and comic book stuff it's great to read more

Seattle Convention Center - Sunny - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Every year I come here for Sakura con, I become excited. The venue is really clean even though it's packed considering the event is one of the top 8 biggest anime conventions in the whole nation. When it's sunny, go to the 3rd floor and step outside, such a great view and feeling. read more

We went here for the Emerald City comic con today. The convention center was very well kept and seemed clean, but they were missing a couple things. 1. Signage - there were people standing around to give instructions, but there were no signs to tell you were to go to, for instance, pick your badge up. They could have done that better 2. Bathrooms - maybe I was just not looking in the right place, but there seemed to be very very few bathroom locations and I had to walk a freaking mile to get to the only ones that I could find. Other than that - I liked it! Great location, right next to everything you want to be near downtown. read more

Six levels plus adjoining building across the street makes for impressive numbers on anyone's Fitbit dashboard. I didn't eat at any of the eateries because food was catered. Don't know who the caterers were. Boxed lunches were Ok but I would have been unhappy paying for these. Parking rates are ridiculous. $22 maximum for the day. $7 after 5 pm. Water fountains setup for water bottles. No need to push down on the button, just push the side of the bottle against the curved clamp. Restrooms always well maintained. Room temperature very comfortable. Handy coat check. Connecting to the TCC rooms in the other building is on the 4th level. Useful if you don't want to connect on the street level. Not sure what it's like when there isn't a conference but security was well maintained. You couldn't enter any area without conference ID. Lots of art work throughout, comfy seating, fire places. Well planned areas for breaks. Lobby has counter for travel and tourism. read more

Seattle Convention Center - Seating on level 6 - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Seattle, Washington

"Good location, average facilities" The location was convenient. I have been to several convention centers for conferences, but this one was different. I found facilities inappropriate and disability unfriendly. I did not see any ramp besides the stairs that connected to the escalators. The escalators were too many on a single go, that looked scary. And I did not see any elevator at a convenient location. I attended several meeting at the third level, and surprisingly, I could not find any restroom in that level!! read more

I had the opportunity to go to a work conference today at the convention center. This is a really cool place. I'm glad they had it here. Nice big rooms. Plenty of seating. Easy access parking. Center of the city. I had a great day here. Highly recommended. read more

Seattle Convention Center - Pest world - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Came here for an event, really cool space! They have a few restaurants inside and escalators going up. I came here during closing hours but it is a nice place to book events in! My only down side for the star was the floors, it was very slippery and no wet floor sign was around so it was very dangerous, I almost ate the ground! Luckily I was able to hold self! read more

Did you pay for a city maze? No, you are at the Washington Convention Center which has 6 floors and spans across city blocks. Not all elevators will take you where you need to go so to save time look at the electronic reader board. There are shops there and escalators that look like it goes to the heavens. Everything is clean and empty most days except comic con or any con like stuff going on. This is a great venue in the center of all things Seattle. All the rooms are high tech and equipped for your conference. Staff is friendly when you can find them because this place is huge! Parking is a bit pricey so use alternative transportation. It is conveniently next to freeways. read more

Seattle Convention Center - Convention Center ready for the holidays - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Seattle, Washington

There are at least 100 males to 1 female here. The convention center people pointed it out in the opening speech. If there was an apocalypse, the human race would be in trouble. Why is this place so expansive? moving between rooms takes at least 15 minutes if you're booking it from one corner to the next. (Minus one because my shoes are grating against my feet like sandpaper.) Also - while the floors are clearly marked, the garage entrance isn't. Clearly, I'm overwhelmed by the experience and can't find the exit to the supplemental parking that is (dis)connected to the main center. BUT if you park anywhere, go to the supplemental one bc it's about half the price. I can't say objectively if my issues are committee based or whether the experience was on the center itself. All I know is, why does all of the shops shut down at 5 when we are done at 5:30? Can't you be open for another hour? read more

This convention center is big and small in many areas...let me explain... What I mean by BIG is that this place has many places for a convention or exposition to utilize. The venue is located in the heart of downtown Seattle where there are many things to do. With Seattle getting bigger and bigger with many developments around the city...this venue will do well for it's city. The small...minor problem for this venue, but I believe it should be addressed...is the transition hallways between the North and South Halls are tiny for a large convention like the one I attended. We were packed like sardines to get to the other side of the venue. The Washington State Convention & Trade Center will do it's city and state a fine job none the less. Maybe I will visit this place again next year for another PAX show. read more

The Washington State Convention center is a gorgeous building, but that's about it. From the outside, it is truly a marvel, but once you get inside, it is sort of a confusing maze. I was in town for a conference and the day of registration/set-up, was just a confusing mess. There are elevators that do not actually go up to where you need them to go. There are steps that go in areas you do not want to be, and then there are the 4 set of escalators that can be a paid when you have your hands full off trade show stuff and have to create a balancing act while riding them up to the 4th or 5th floor. Luckily, the conference folks had great signage throughout, but the convention center itself, does not. You can find yourself easily lost if you are not careful. Ladies, wear your flats as you hike through the center, and then put your heels on once you are settled...trust me on this! read more

It probably says something about Seattle's ego that the downtown convention center claims province for the whole state. Not the Seattle Convention Center, it's the WASHINGTON STATE Convention Center. Somewhere the Yakima board of tourism must be upset. Nevertheless, a convention center can be distinguished by a couple of items: architecture, location, ease of access and usefulness of the rooms. I'd say it gets good marks for half of those, thus three stars on the convention center scale. It's hard to beat the downtown Seattle location. Easy walking to the shops along Pike/Pine, a short hop to tourist havens (Space Needle, Pike Place Market) and a good choice of restaurants in a short distance. The rooms are also spacious and can accommodate most needs. I'm not sure it's so architecturally distinguished; the things I think about most are escalators and the views from the windows, so it's close to an average mark on this. Biggest downside is that getting around in the center isn't terribly intuitive. It's not impossible, but a first time visitor can easily get lost. At a recent visit, a convention was well organized with lots of people around to point you in the correct direction. That's kind of a double edged sword: it's good that they're organized enough to have volunteers to point you around, it's bad that the layout is confusing enough that they need to do so. read more

I've worked and attended a variety of events here from Bill Clinton speaking to Seattle GreenFest and well, ya know, it's got lots of open space as a conference center has. The staff always working here is very friendly and helpful. I like the layout with the long tiered escalators, good food choices, and a nice place to chill at the top of the escalators in the foyer. Primarily though, I use the convention center as a sidewalk because the escalators wisk me up to my residential neighborhood without having to walk the SUPER sketch sidewalk under the convention center frequented by junkies. It opens to freeway park at the top which is a nice but VERY urban park. read more

The only two conferences I've been to have been held here, so I have no basis for comparison, but I'd say the WSCTC is okay. First, the bad news: There are not many food options inside. But worse than that, on my first day of my most recent conference I could not figure out where my first meeting was because there was no directory that covers the whole building. I had to cross my fingers that I was heading in the right direction, and luckily, I found it. The good news: Despite my initial problems, once I'd been around a couple times the layout was not too convoluted and it was easy to find my way around. It is also within walking distance of a lot of downtown shopping and dining options. If I could suggest one thing: how about a coat check or some lockers? It sucks not to have a place to deposit all your personal items and conference swag, especially when you're basically living in this place for days on end. read more

Big, clean and spacious. Plenty to see and do here and the art collections scattered throughout the venue need a fair amount of time to browse through. I was here for Sakura Con 2012 and 2013 and have to say it's one of the best convention centers that I've been to. Very well designed and user-friendly in terms of layout and accessibility. The convention center is also close to a number of pretty decent eateries and walking distance to the Light Link Rail and various downtown hotels. Can't speak for parking as I never drove, though. read more

The main reason for my trip to Seattle was the trade show at the Convention Center. The only odd thing about the convention center was the feeling of ascending to the pearly gates (as long as The Simpsons have it right and you do ascend using a long escalator). You have to go a long way up to get to the exhibit halls, and even further for the lecture rooms. I didn't think this would be a problem until it came time for lunch, and I really wasn't sure if I'd have the time to go all the way back down again, especially when factoring in the required decompression time! All jokes aside, it was a very professionally run center - the staff were very courteous, and didn't act like they were part of some convention mafia as I've seen at other events. There was a good selection of food establishments on the ground floor, a Starbucks on the main floor, and plenty of easy casual eateries in the vicinity too. I can't get wildly excited about convention centers, but I certainly had no complaints about this one. read more

Stop by the visitor center kiosk to get the coupon book and lots of brochures to help you decide where you want to go while in Seattle! A couple shops, including a coffee shop and clean restrooms inside. read more