I don’t see a thread for this property yet, so a few thoughts after a stay last night.

We needed one more stay to close out a challenge under the AA partnership so that we will have free breakfasts as we head on a two week swing through Asia for Christmas. We picked the Thompson because it also will trigger another brand explorer free night and it had a cheap weekend rate that made it more or less a wash.

It’s holiday shopping season and apparently for “the kids” it’s santa pub crawl season, so there were lots of santa outfits out and about. The hotel is in a great location and has a small but easy enough to locate valet area on Stewart (which is one way so approach from 2nd not 1st). Valet was quick and easy. Fromt desk is in a bit of teething still, new staff thay didn’t understand the system and so took about 10 minutes to upgrade. Poured us cups of sparkling wine which was nice, little plastic cups that look like what you provide a urine sample in, maybe not such a good look!

We booked the lowest room and wound up mid floor height with a water view. Room is smallish but ok. Decor is not my style, flat black mosaic tiles on bathroom floor, black fixtures, sort of 80s retro. Windows have no tinting so close those blinds people! Great visibility into rooms from down on the street, maybe that’s you thing...

The “Nest” upstairs on the roof is a joke. It’s not actually that crowded, its that they have maybe 2 bartenders and one cocktail waitress and so the wait for a drink is completely unacceptable. So bad that we abandoned the lines and went down to Conversation for a cocktail only to find that closed at 10pm. It’s ok to have a hip place for the kids on the roof where there are lines, but if you dont have a proper lobby bar open til 11 or midnight, gong, I’m not coming back. In this hood you can walk a block or two and find a place for a drink, but this is a serious shortcoming for a hotel like the Thompson. That may be intentional and they may not care that i wont come back or recommend the place to colleagues and friends, but I’d say if you are 35+ this place likely doesn’t have you in mind.

Otherwise, the bed is comfortable and noise level was great for an in city hotel. Location cannot be beat too if you are here to explore. The Pike Place market is a block away.

Food wise, there are many options around so we didn’t try the hotel for dinner. We hit Chan a nice hip little korean place on Post alley. There is a vietnamese place on the same block as the hotel too. We did go to Conversation for breakfast and it was meh, lots of better places around so i would skip this, even if it’s free as a globalist.