Hi, looking for some advice on where to stay. Planning on catching a 7:40am train from King street station on a Wednesday mid-June, and need somewhere to stay the night before. Research seems to show everything at 200+; I could redeem 10k spg points, but that feels like a bad value. The few cheap places I found had terrible reviews. I thought about an airport hotel, but at that hour of the morning I'd want to take a cab and it would be $50, making the hotel cost meaningless.

all suggestions appreciated...thanks!

Unfortunately that's what things cost during cruise season. Many cruise pax departing from Vancouver find that airfares into SEA are considerably cheaper than into YVR, but then they discover that the surface logistics - SEA to hotel, hotel to train, train fare, then train to dock in Vancouver, all can easily erase the cost advantage. The good news is that the train ride is quite scenic, and won't be affected (aside from probable overbooking) by the highway troubles with I-5 due to the bridge collapse.

Pretty much any downtown hotel will be within a $10 cab ride of the King Street (Amtrak) station. Hotels near Seattle Center/Space Needle will be less convenient, but not out of the question.

I'd look at a couple of properties that fall under the radar sometime. The Silver Cloud Stadium hotel is across the street from Safeco Field (Mariners) and have a local van that I believe will take you to the station (which is around 4 long blocks from the hotel if you want to walk.) Silver Cloud's Broadway branch is another possibility.

The downtown Courtyard by Marriott is a good property located at the south end of downtown, walkable (maybe) from the station. The Doubletree Arctic Club is in a wonderfully renovated historic office building nearby. Both are very walkable from the Pioneer Square light rail station (service from the airport) so you could save some money the night before by taking the train from the airport in the first place.

Otherwise, of course there's always Priceline and Hotwire.

Thanks for the info! I'm actually not cruising, flew into Seattle because that way I could use an award ticket Silver Cloud hotel might be a good option, it's at least convenient for an early morning train. I've been playing with hotwire, might end up doing that except it doesn't seem all that much cheaper.

Whether you're cruising or not, that's the reason the market is as tight as it is.

Staying at the airport might not be that terrible an option. You could use the free shuttle on arrival, then taxi (around $45) in the morning. If you used the light rail the previous evening to get downtown ($3) and a taxi in the morning (say $15 with tip) then $45 - $18 = $27, which would be the "break even" savings you'd need on the hotel front. IMO easily done. If you use Hotwire or Priceline at the airport, rates way below $100 are common, so you could end up $50 ahead or more, i.e. the cost of the train ticket.

Lol I know, I was just saying.

Yeah, I was debating about the airport hotel, but I sort of decided that I wanted to maximize time in Seattle itself. Plus, I get nervous about getting places on time, so being closer to the train is just better for ease of mind.

Ended up doing a Hotwire reservation, got the Hyatt at Olive 8 for $200 incl. tax, which isn't bad. Not the greatest deal ever, but a much nicer hotel than I would do otherwise. *shrug* the downside to taking vacations in the summer, I guess. And considering my AXON award in Vancouver is saving me $1300, I guess I won't complain too much.