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Seattle's Convention & Visitor Bureau
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Seattle is a thriving, cosmopolitan city surrounded by majestic mountains, sparkling blue water and a wide array of year-round outdoor recreation, thanks to the region’s gentle, marine climate. Within the city’s compact, bustling downtown district, a wealth of award-winning restaurants, shopping and cultural attractions await.
Downtown Seattle offers more than 6,000 hotel rooms within walking distance of the Washington State Convention & Trade Center. Some recent international hotel brands that have entered the downtown Seattle market include Fairmont Hotels & Resorts and Marriott. Four Seasons has announced its return to downtown Seattle with plans for a proposed 21-story, $100 million hotel/condominium project. Pan Pacific Hotels & Resorts will manage a new 160-room boutique hotel that is currently under construction in the city’s South Lake Union neighborhood. And, MTM Properties has broken ground on its own downtown hotel and condo project.
The Washington State Convention & Trade Center is the Pacific Northwest’s premier meeting and event facility, located in the heart of downtown Seattle’s retail and entertainment district. The center’s prime locale also boasts a 1.5 acre landscaped plaza, 55,000 square feet of retail space and a $1.5 million public art display. The center offers consistently high levels of convention service, state-of-the-art technical support and has been awarded “Best On-Premise Catered Event” by the National Association of Catering Executives. In early 2005, the convention center unveiled its Tasting Room, a first-of-its-kind special events space for meeting planners which showcases the center’s wide selection of menu items, comprehensive wine list and a vast arange of china, linen and centerpieces.
The convention center completed a major expansion in 2001 which doubled its total exhibition space to 207,000 square feet. One of the most dramatic expansion features is a glass-enclosed function space which rises above Pike Street and boasts views of the thriving city center, Pike Place Market and Elliott Bay. The convention center occupies a prime locale in the heart of Seattle’s vibrant retail and entertainment district, surrounded by the city’s top gourmet restaurants, shopping, theater and other nightlife.
The Citywide Concierge Center opened in 2003 on the lobby level of the convention and trade center. More than a traditional concierge desk, this high-tech, high-touch center offers reservations and bookings for restaurants, attractions, tours, transportation, performing arts and sports, and also houses downtown Seattle’s only TicketMaster center. The concierge center, which is operated by Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau and staffed by seasoned concierge professionals, also offers remote concierge services on the convention center’s exhibit floor are also available.
The crown jewel of Seattle’s attractions is the Seattle Center, the 74-acre legacy of the 1962 World’s Fair. Its distinctive 605-foot Space Needle is the city’s leading landmark and symbol. From its observation deck, you can enjoy a 360-degree view of the city and Puget Sound, back-dropped by the snowcapped Cascade Range to the east and the Olympic Mountains to the west. Other popular attractions include the Pioneer Square historic district, Seattle Waterfront, Seattle Art Museum, the Pacific Science Center, Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle Aquarium, Museum of Flight and the Pike Place Market.
A stroll through the Pike Place Market reveals Seattle’s culinary bounty: wild salmon, dungeness crab, oysters, mussels, fresh produce, strong coffee, craft beers and ales and, of course, a wide selection of internationally acclaimed Washington wines. Add to that an array of sophisticated restaurants run by creative and sometimes daring chefs, and it’s easy to understand why Seattle is considered a coinsurer’s dream. The Pike Place Market celebrates its centennial in 2006 and is distinguished as one of the oldest continuously-operated farmers markets in the U.S.
In Seattle, there’s no escape from technology and culture, and the two often convene to offer dynamic meeting venues such as Paul Allen’s Experience Music Project (EMP), Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, the new home to the Seattle Opera and Pacific Northwest Ballet which opened last year, and the Seattle Symphony’s Benaroya Hall.
Seattle is the gateway to the Pacific Northwest, surrounded by Puget Sound and fresh water lakes, two mountain ranges and three national parks. Day and night skiing are just an hour east in the Cascade mountains. Or you could consider a guided sea kayaking tour in the heart of the city, or you could jump aboard a seaplane for a quick “flightseeing” trip
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