From the moment we walked through the front doors, we were thrilled with this hotel. The staff is incredibly welcoming and couldn't do enough for us. Super friendly and helpful throughout our entire stay.

I’ve been meaning to write this review since September and just haven’t had the time until now.
I’ve stayed at the Inn at the Harbor Steps twice in 2011.
The first time was for one night Saturday, July 9th, with my daughter and her best friend for a bachelorette party at Can Can, http://thecancan.com/
The second time was for three nights September 21, 22 & 23, for a birthday celebration with my daughter.
Both times we had a queen room facing the Harbor Steps which is an urban park.

Location:
Can you say location, location, location; the Inn At The Harbor Steps is in the heart of all there is to do in the downtown core. It’s within an easy walking distance of the Pike Street Market, Pioneer Square, Westlake Center, the waterfront, Bell Town, Seattle Art Museum. If you want to go to the Seattle Center to see the EMP, it’s a short walk to the monorail which will take you directly there.

This may be the only hotel in downtown Seattle, except the Edgewater on the waterfront that has balconies.

The Harbor Steps is an urban park that runs between 1st ave, Western ave and the water front and it’s a lovely example of urban outdoor planning. In good weather you can sit on your balcony, enjoy the view and people watch. They are demolishing the Alaska Way viaduct, an old elevated freeway that runs along the water front. Right now you have a peak a boo view of Elliott bay from those balconies overlooking the Harbor Steps. When the viaduct is gone you will have a wonderful unhindered view of the bay.

Queen Rooms:
The Inn is located within a large downtown apartment complex and the queen rooms we stayed in are very large, about the same size as the studio apartments, somewhere between 550 and 600 sq ft.
The rooms are nicely laid out, with a staggered open separation between the two beds, so if you are in one bed you can’t see the other bed unless you crane your neck around.
There is also a nice sitting area with comfortable chairs and tables just before the door to the balcony. There is a full sized enclosed closet in the hallway leading to the large bathroom. There is a mini fridge and coffee area between the closet and bathroom. There is also a large desk work area just inside the front door to the right.
The bed linens and towels were all very nice and always clean and the amenities in the bathroom though not upscale, were not bottom line and were adequate. There is traffic noise from the viaduct but I only noticed it when I was out on the balcony and it didn’t bother me.

Breakfast and Afternoon Tea:
At breakfast there are usually several quiche type egg dishes, hot oatmeal, cereal, fruit, muffins, breads, pastries, juice, coffee and tea. The Afternoon Tea offers tea, coffee, white and red wine, cheese and crackers and some kind of cake. The afternoon tea/wine was always lightly attended and the attendant always asked for our room number I don’t see how apartment residents could take it over as mentioned in another review and the attendant always kept everything fully stocked.

Fitness Room and Pool area:
We didn’t use the fitness room but did walk thru and it seemed to have a nice assortment of machines with big windows looking out to the south and west. We did use the pool area which was large and very clean. I did not see any of the problems mentioned in another review.

Service and Staff:
We were always greeted warmly and all of our questions and requests were answered and fulfilled in a very professional and friendly manner by the front desk staff. I never saw cleaning carts left parked in the hall and our room was always very clean after the cleaning staff was there.
In July, 30 minutes after checking out and while waiting in line for the ferry, we discovered we had left a large bag with all of our Pike Place Market purchases on the floor of the parking garage. We called the hotel and they immediately sent someone down to look, they found the bag and mailed it home to us. The hotel manager sent me an email later to make sure we had received the package.

Parking:
Yes, because of all the one way streets, you do have to drive two blocks make a right, go one block, make a right, go back two blocks, park and take an elevator back to the lobby using keys that are not electronic. It was just not a big deal to us, the parking rate is a good value compared to other hotels in the same area. The blocks are short, the garage is well marked and secure and you have easy in/out privileges that don’t involve waiting for a valet if you want to drive out of downtown area.

To sum it up The Inn at the Harbor Steps is not a 5 star or maybe even a 4 star hotel, I’m not sure I fully understand those ratings anyway. There are starting to be telltale signs of wear like carpets, paint and curtains that need up grading soon, if they don’t want to lose customers willing to pay their prices.
The wine at the afternoon affair probably does come from a box as another reviewer said.

Hotels in downtown Seattle are very expensive even in the off season, so for the location and price value, I would highly recommend this hotel and rate it 4 stars.

We stayed at the Inn over a long weekend in December, 2011, a very slow time for Seattle. The property is part of an apartment tower. There are 30 guest rooms.

We arrived after a morning flight, knowing check-in time was 3 PM but hoping for the best. We got in around noon. The reception was cool, to say the least. We were permitted to drop off our suitcases, and they took my number to call us when the room was ready. We had lunch, wandered around, got really tired, hung out in a pub, and came back to the inn at around 2:30. We were told our room had just become available. I wasn't born yesterday - it just wasn't a priority. The front desk people were consistently diffident. I went there one time to ask a question, but three of them were talking animatedly about something and didn't even look up. The staff at the adjacent desk, supporting the apartment building, were consistently friendly and helpful, even though we were not their clients.

Our suite was nice - comfy king size bed, huge bathroom, low def TV, work desk, wet bar and fridge in the sitting room. There were two simple problems with the room. Despite the very nice furnishings, we found it hard to read in the room because the lights were too dim. And the bathroom had cheap single-ply Costco toilet paper. There is no wi-fi in the room, but there was an ethernet jack. I couldn't use it - my MacBook Air doesn't have ethernet - but neither could anyone else, because the port was 10 feet away and at a right angle from the desk.

The breakfast was good, some nice variety. The afternoon hors-d'ouvres were nice, but the wine probably came out of a box.

The room was quiet and comfortable, but I can't give the hotel more than an average rating due to the issues noted above.

The location is FABULOUS. Across the street from the Seattle Art Museum, one block from the light rail to the airport. A couple of blocks from the Pike Street Market.

Loved this place on our recent stay in Seattle. Very close to Pike's Market, everything downtown, and 10 minute walk to space needle and baseball/football stadiums. Great view from our room of Puget Sound. Room was HUGE and nice - free breakfast was a great touch with good variety of food - much more than "continental" as they served two egg dishes, oatmeal, etc. Buildings were secure and safe. Staff was friendly and accommodating. Highly recommend!