As much as any city, Seattle is synonymous with the tech industry. Over the past 40 years, Seattle and its suburbs have seen hometown heroes like Microsoft and Amazon grow into some of the biggest businesses on the planet. Around them has sprung up a diverse network of companies whose work touches nearly every aspect of public life, from Redfin to Costco to Wizards of the Coast, to name a few.
Tech culture has seemingly permeated nearly every aspect of city life here—a fact about which some local Mossbacks grumble—and it has transformed certain neighborhoods entirely over the past few decades. This is especially true of the South Lake Union neighborhood, where Jeff Bezos has parked his mighty balls, and a new crop of office towers and hotels have sprung up around them in priapic fashion, eager to serve Amazon’s considerable needs.
Seattle is also a distinct cultural destination in its own right, and the stuff you’ve seen before on TV—like the Pike Place Market (please note it is not possessive; Pike Place, not Pike’s Place) or the ferry boats scooting around the Puget Sound—is very much worth checking out while you’re in town. Live sports, live music, a surprisingly good comedy and theater scene, great shopping, and awesome restaurants (particularly with fresh seafood) are all on deck for Seattle travelers, and I do suggest trying it all.
I know you’re here for work, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun. With the right hotel, a bar or two to decompress in, and a choice dinner reservation, Seattle offers high levels of enjoyment amidst the busy professional environment. We work hard, we play hard—try and keep up, and no one complains about the rain, because it’s simply a fact of life.
Where to Stay in Seattle
107 Pine Street, (206) 596-0600
Tucked a block away from Pike Place Market, with epic views looking out over the market and on to Elliott Bay, this Seattle location from the California-based Pali Society offers unbeatable location benefits galore. You can literally use the market as your breakfast pantry, just a block outside your door—grab a morning pastry from Piroshky Piroshky or an espresso from Ghost Alley—and in a matter of minutes be anywhere downtown for meetings or at the Convention Center for convention stuff. Beloved Pike Place market mainstays like Athenian Cafe (for seafood), Alibi Room (for day drinking), and Café Campagne (for all-day French bistro) are seconds from your door. It literally does not get more Seattle than this.
110 Boren Avenue N., (206) 455-9077
Tech travelers with commitments in South Lake Union may want to choose a hotel directly adjacent to the action, and with around 10 to choose from, let me make it simple: Level Seattle is where you want to stay. This place is hyper modern to the extreme, with blazing fast Wi-Fi throughout the property, a vast, impressively modern gym with Peloton bikes and a climbing wall, and a level of detached chic interior design throughout that fits the busy travel vibe. If you’re here for a night or two, this place is great; if you’re in town for longer, and really getting your tech work on, Level Seattle also offers tastefully furnished apartment suites.
700 3rd Avenue, (206) 776-9090
The Arctic Club hotel is epic, in every sense of the word. Originally founded in 1908 as a social club for prospectors, financiers, and adventurers drawn to Seattle by the Klondike Gold Rush, the building was added to the National Register of Historic places in the late ’70s, and became a hotel in the late aughts. Today it’s operated by Hilton; many of the rooms have vast panoramic views of downtown, including the Olympic Mountains to the west and the historic Smith Tower building on the edge of Pioneer Square; and every room features free Wi-Fi, HDTV with streaming and casting, and complimentary breakfast. Eight of the suites feature rooftop terraces, so if you’re looking to splash out on a hospitality suite situation, this is a great option. The best part of staying here is your nightly proximity to the Polar Bar, which oozes history and sophistication, making it the perfect place to take a happy hour meeting or meet colleagues for a wind-down drink after meetings or post-dinner.
411 University Street, (206) 621-1700
Seattle’s grand dame hotel, opened in 1926, has been lovingly remodeled in a series of tasteful modernizations, including a significant $25 million update completed in 2021. They’ve really got it all here: a buzzy lobby bar, multiple restaurants, including The George, which offers perhaps the classiest brunch in Seattle, and an all-world spa and wellness complex on the bottom floor. The gym is modest and bright, but the real action is at the hotel’s glass conservatory swimming pool, which is set beneath sweeping skyscrapers above. Presidents and ambassadors and dignitaries and rock stars stay here, so why not you?
4140 Roosevelt Way N.E., (206) 632-5055
The University of Washington—my alma mater (real men wear purple)—is a major hub for various nodes of the tech industry, home to several leading research institutions and a world-class teaching hospital at UW Medical Center. If you’re in Seattle for work in and around the U District, it’s worthwhile to stay close by, and the University Inn is the best of the local bunch. Open since the early ’60s, and now managed by hospitality group Stay Pineapple, this spot is bright, clean, and modern with a kitschy ’60s atomic theme (but not too heavy-handed). I’ve been continually impressed by the range of amenities here across multiple stays: snacks in the lobby, free coffee in-room, a reusable PATH water bottle in every room and a filtered “Water Bar” in the lobby, and great customer service. The UW campus is a five-minute walk.
Coworking and Meeting Spaces
1424 11th Avenue, Suite 400, (206) 739-9004
Every real tech city has a coworking space where the people-watching is a good as the connectivity. Such is the scene at The Cloud Room, which floats above Seattle’s fashionable Capitol Hill neighborhood as part of the Chop House Row development. A $40 day pass gets you hi-speed Wi-Fi, printing services, free coffee (and kombucha), and flexible seating across the space’s dreamy warren of nooks and snugs. Check the events calendar for TCR’s many activities, from yoga to live music.
92 Lenora Street, multiple locations
A locally owned mini-chain of coworking spaces, with locations in Ballard, Belltown, and down south in Tacoma, The Pioneer Collective feels rooted in the Pacific Northwest thanks to a timber-forward approach to interior design—and a collection of working people from around the region. Day passes are $35, or $75 for your own private office, with gigabit Wi-Fi throughout and larger office meeting rooms available.
1700 Westlake Avenue N #200
Thinkspace has one thing the other coworking spaces in Seattle can’t match, and that’s proximity to Lake Union. Their Seattle location is set right on the water—you can even rent a stand-up paddleboard in case you need to get in a core workout between meetings. A day pass runs $50 and includes unlimited coffee and tea, showers and lockers, and phone booths as well as meeting room options. If you need to post that #OfficeViews ’gram and make the team back home jealous, this is your place.
Best Cafés and Co-Offices
411 15th Avenue E., multiple locations
A personal favorite for getting a little work done with a nice cup of coffee. Victrola is a long-standing Seattle third-wave coffee bar, and its location on 15th Avenue has seen it all—get a cappuccino and a cookie and hunker down.
425 15th Avenue E
A bookshop dedicated to STEA(A)M titles and a charming, chill coffee bar with plenty of seating. This is the ideal place to work, relax, and perhaps pick up a book for your flight home. Ada’s is a short block or so from a great local cocktail bar called Liberty, in case your office hours need to transition into happy hour.
754 N. 34th Street
Long one of the city’s best cafés, in a charming neighborhood north of the lake with close proximity to the Adobe HQ. Milstead serves coffees from a variety of roasters, all prepared with “third wave” expertise and care. The shop gets busy on weekend mornings, but it’s a charming midweek coffice, particularly if the weather’s nice and you can sit outside.
472 1st Avenue N
A huge space, perfect for setting up your laptop or even taking a chill meeting, with coffee service by local roaster Café Vita. This is also the lobby for Seattle’s much-loved community supported radio station, KEXP, so you get cool points for hanging out here.
1501 17th Avenue E
Opened by former Canlis alums, this spot serves outstanding coffee and makes some of the city’s best pastries. The space inside is cute, and you can work if you need to, but use this cafe as a jump-off point for a walking meeting or a strolling phone call, and explore the leafy neighborhood it calls home.
4214 University Way N.E. (in the alley)
Seattle’s oldest continually operated coffee bar, this space vibrates with history and culture. If you’re anywhere near the U District I highly recommend you stop here for some laptop time amongst the students, professors, and assorted intellectuals that call Allegro a home away from home.
Where to Eat
4903 Rainier Avenue S
Brawling, bare-knuckle offal-forward cuisine to challenge and delight from chef Evan Leichtling, who cooked in San Sebastian and Paris before opening his own place in south Seattle. If a chanterelle and wild boar pot pie or ham and cantaloupe sorbet sound like your idea of a good time, perhaps washed down with some cheerful natural wine or craft beer, this is your place.
1054 N 39th Street
Mutsuko Soma is a James Beard finalist chef for her work at Kamonegi, where she hand-makes soba noodles nightly and runs one of the best tempura programs in the United States. Make a reservation, because this place is tiny, but if you have to wait, their nextdoor sake bar, Hannyatou, is a rollicking good time and features delicious drinking snacks.
2576 Aurora Avenue N
The godfather of Seattle fine dining, Canlis is unbeatable for its view, atmosphere, and timeless mid-century live piano vibes. Their beverage program is epic—in particular the cocktails of head bartender Jose Castillo (order his pimento sherry martini)—and the food from new executive chef James Huffman shows verve and promise. Some untold amount of deals and agreements and contracts and marriage proposals have been sealed behind these doors over the last 75 years, so why not add your Dinner of Great Importance to the historic register?
5107 Ballard Avenue N.W.
Chef and proprietor Kevin Smith operates Beast & Cleaver in North Seattle, an extraordinary modern butcher shop with a James Beard–nominated tasting counter dinner series. But Little Beast is his first proper pub, with daily hours, open in the heart of Ballard. The Guinness is delicious, the lamb korma pie is unreal, and the steaks and chops are the city’s best. Go here.
1411 N 45th Street
Buzzy new young guns Atoma have come out blazing, serving an energetic and stylish tasting menu out of a converted house in Wallingford. Food here is distinctly Pacific Northwest modern—think beef tartare in geoduck XO sauce or shawarma wild mushrooms—and the wine keeps pace. If you’re traveling solo, check out the restaurant’s small, lively bar, which serves the full menu à la carte.
Where to Drink
507 15th Avenue E
Seattle remains an outstanding craft beer town, with world-class bottle shops (Bottleworks) and breweries (Machine House, Stoup, Holy Mountain) very much worth your time. But if a solid pub with local craft beer is what you seek, I love the Hopvine, whose tap list changes constantly but always features notable local breweries from around the Pacific Northwest in a cozy, convivial pub atmosphere. For extra credit, check out another great Seattle beer institution, the Stumbling Monk, which specializes in Belgian beer.
116 1st Avenue S.
Seattle is a great cocktail town, and some significant amount of the city’s cocktail scene has flowed in and out of this space in Pioneer Square over the years. The space is awash in natural light, beautifully open inside and great for hosting a small group. Drink an ideal version of your favorite cocktail here, or order from the ever-changing and concise menu of originals, which happily includes several low- or no-ABV options.
2232 1st Avenue
Presently the city’s hottest cocktail bar, this lauded Belltown bar takes its cocktails seriously, but little else. Great for catching up with coworkers or solo people-watching on a work trip, the bar’s famed Calvados old fashioned and generous 5 to7 pm Happy Hour menu are both major draws.
1923 7th Avenue
A Vietnamese cocktail bar above a cult favorite pho shop, serving pho fat washed whiskey cocktails and epic Saigon-style drinking snacks. This bar is snug, with no reservations, but you can contact them for buy-outs. If you wind up waiting for a table, get the soup downstairs—it’s all delicious.
1919 7th Ave.
Conveniently located directly next door to Phocific Standard Time is Le Caviste, a rollicking wine bar in the Parisian style: dozens of wines by the glass, affordable and interesting bottles, charcuterie and small plates for snacking with baguette, and the beautiful glow of candlelight. Many South Lake Union tech denizens have wandered in here at some point and found a new favorite—as for me, I visit every time I’m in town.
Eastside Stuff
It’s not unlikely for your work trip to Seattle to involve a visit across Lake Washington to Seattle’s Eastside—Bellevue, Kirkland, and Redmond—which is home to headquarters for Microsoft, plus major campuses for Google, Meta, and Oracle. Bellevue’s bland office tower downtown conceals some really great restaurants, bars, and cafés.
180 Bellevue Way N.E.
I purposefully left sushi off the Seattle-proper portion of this guide, because no matter where you’re staying, the best sushi in the state of Washington right now is at Takai by Kashiba. A 2025 James Beard Award semifinalist, this restaurant is the latest from Seattle sushi legend Shiro Kashiba. Yes, there’s sushi bar omakase by reservation, but they’re also offering some creative options like an Executive Lunch Box service and even limited dinner take-out omakase, in case you just can’t leave the office (but still need to eat absurdly well).
10455 Bellevue Way N.E.
Stylish, moody, clubby in the best way, this might be one of the best mall cocktail bars in America, hidden away in a basement corner of Lincoln Square, adjacent to the the W Bellevue hotel. Classic and modern cocktails, upscale food, a monster mezcal list, and so, so much whisk(e)y are what you’ll find here at this, probably the chicest place to sneak a drink in all of Seattle’s Eastside.
Multiple locations
Sometimes you just want a good bubble tea. But not all bubble tea is created equal, and at Chicha San Chen, a constant crowd and hum of action portends a high-quality experience all around. The Bellevue outpost of this Taiwan-born chain makes boba fresh each day, uses the very best fruit and flavors, and takes tea brewing seriously as part of the experience. Follow the crowds.
10300 Main Street, multiple locations
A PNW homegrown answer to Din Tai Fung, with multiple locations across the Eastside. Are its XLB as good as the DTF version? Some have argued yes, but what’s inarguable is the Dough Zone pan-fried pork buns, dan dan noodles, and spicy beef pancake roll, all of which I am required to order on every visit.
If You Have More Time
8498 Seaview Place N.W.
Seattle’s gem of an urban beach park, located in the far north of the city with sweeping views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. You’ll need a car to get there, but it’s so very worth it; few cities in the world can offer an urban park experience like this.
2300 Arboretum Drive E
Forest bathe between stressful meetings, or just get a nice walk in at this enormous free park near the University of Washington campus. There’s miles of trails to explore, right up to the banks of Lake Washington. You’ll forget you’re in a city.
Multiple locations
Perhaps cannabis is illegal in the state or country in which you dwell, but in Washington it’s been recreationally legal since 2012. In the decade-plus since, an upswell of cannabis dispensaries have opened across Seattle—more than 100 total within city limits. My personal favorite is Shawn Kemp’s Cannabis (and not just because I remember his dunks from NBA Jam); this spot is stacked with every kind of joint and edible and high-tech hash product you could ever dream of, plus the gear you’ll need to smoke it. If you’re not used to the stuff, start mellow, and ask your budtender to recommend something sessionable to ease you in.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: wired.com
