What a fantastic thread! I never cease to be amazed at the resources available here at FT ^

I have a lodging question I'd like to get some feedback on:

We (2 adults + a 1yr old) are in thinking about visiting Seattle for a 4-day weekend mini-vacation in September. F.ex. arrive Fri am, depart Mon pm. We've never been to Seattle, or WA, before

Reading some of the suggestions in this thread and the highlights in the Seattle Times and NY Times articles it sounds like staying somewhere downtown, close'ish to the Pike Place Market would be ideal. (And it sounds like the itinerary in those two articles should be enough for about 3.5 days worth of sightseeing )

If possible I would like to avoid a rental car for the weekend and instead rely on making our way around on foot with the occasional bus or taxi ride. How does this strategy sound? How pedestrian friendly is downtown Seattle?

Searching in the usual-suspect on-line travel sites, there are only so many hotels in this area, and they are all pretty expensive (big surprise ), as in $250/night and upwards....

Is there any way to get away with a little less on the hotel budget and still stay somewhat downtown? Any hotel suggestions? Is it still walkable to the "main attractions"?

Alternatively, would we be better off staying at a cheaper hotel in a different area (which one?) and either getting a rental or relaying more on cabs? How hard/expensive is it to park close to downtown attractions?

Thanks for any hints, help and links to other sites/threads