The downtown location of the Red Lion is hard to beat: you're in the center of shopping, there's plenty of restaurants, and Pike Market is just a few blocks away. The hotel itself, however, is on the bland side. Rooms are spacious, but generic. The lobby is an odd mix of living room and ski lodge (the fire place in July seemed a bit unnecessary) and a bit too hectic to actually be a place where guests would come down to relax.

Agree with the other reviewers that the elevators can be painfully slow, but disagree with those who found the staff unfriendly/inattentive.

My husband and I came here for a few days to visit his company headquarters. I worked for two solid days in the hotel. Generally the stay was better than expected, given some of the reviews on Tripadvisor.

Pluses
1. Rooms were pretty clean, lots of space, and had appropriate amenities.
2. I was in the room when housekeeping came each day and they did a good job cleaning quickly and quietly (I was on the phone most of the time).
3. Hot breakfast buffet was included each day, although choices were relatively limited. We opted not to have breakfast the second day.
4. Room service for lunch was fast and hot. Menu has some good choices.
5. Customer service was generally courteous and friendly.
6. Fantastic location downtown, just a few blocks from Pike Place and one block from Westlake. Lots of great restaurants and shopping around here.

Minuses
1. We had problems with outbound calls. First night we tried one phone and had to have the front desk "release" the line for outbound calls. Second day I tried another phone and had to call again to get it released. This one never worked, so I usedmy cell phone the entire time I was here.
2. The room is not really set up for working. No speaker phone or mute capability.
3. TV didn't work one morning; all the channels were snow.
4. Pay movies didn't work; got a message that the movie had to be ordered at the front desk. Called to ask them to order it and they said they'd take care of it. Movie never started.
5. Water pressure and heat are acceptable but lower than we'd like.
6. We were two doors down from the elevator, so we could hear people noise when they were waiting outside. Fortunately not too much noise from neighbors (although the headboards rattle anytime you move on the bed).
7. Within a few blocks of the hotel you can find a lot of vagrants and other people at loose ends. When we had dinner last night just a couple blocks away, two bike cops were frisking and interrogating two young men right against the window where our table was situated.
8. Pike Place Market shuts down at the end of the day, so don't wait to see it at night.

I would consider staying here again if the rate were right ($250-300 seems steep).

Nice hotel, great location, decent service, terrible security. I was staying on the 15th floor and went to walk down the stairs to use the vending machines on the 15th floor. I ran into several homeless people sleeping in the stair well. Where was security?

This is a first tier hotel, with equivalent rates. This lack of security is frightening.

My wife and I stayed at the hotel during Aug 08 for 6 nights.

The pillows were like rocks, the beds were hard, and the sheets were a rough poly-cotton blend, and the towels were like sandpaper.

We stayed on the 20th floor, executive tower, Bay view side.

We checked in on a Sunday afternoon and the Fire Alarms sounded at about 2:30 AM Monday morning. We evacuated down the stairwell to the lobby.

After the 'All Clear' was announced by the evening / night Manager I inquired as to the cause of the alarm. His comment was someone was smoking in one of the rooms on the 20th floor; he just was not sure witch room.

A multi-million dollar hotel and they don’t know which room - that is frightening!

We returned to our room and the alarm went off again about 1/2-hour later.

By the way; parking is $30.00 per night.