We had packed, gathered up our luggage, and were heading out the door of our suite when Tom pointed to another door in the entrance hallway that was ajar for the first time during our stay and said “Uh. Is that another bathroom”?
You all.
We had just spent two days in our lovely suite at the Mayflower Park Hotel in Seattle before our quite fabulous Un-Cruise Adventures yacht cruise and spent the entire time thinking the bathroom off our bedroom was the one bathroom in the place. This is what happens when you are a team of travel writer and photographer who travel constantly, stay in a large number of hotels, spend a great deal of time doing all sorts of activities in a city, and then just don’t open every single door in your fabulous suite.
I can only conclude that, as we both absently passed it several times going in and out, we just assumed it was a closet. So, if you stay in the perfectly wonderful Deluxe Queen Suite at the Mayflower Park Hotel – which I recommend unreservedly that you do – please note that there are two bathrooms.
Not only are there two bathrooms, it’s quite a luxurious expanse which includes a very nice bedroom with two Queen beds, a living room with a television, luxury robes, free wi-fi, and a great flat screen television in the bedroom where we proceeded to watch a marathon of “The Big Bang Theory” episodes. Because we are so very classy.
The rest of the hotel is equally nice.
But let me back up.
We arrived at SeaTac airport in a timely manner with no huge amount of turbulence on our flight – always a good thing – and instead of grabbing a cab to our destination like all the other peons, we were met by our limo driver.
That’s correct.
Our limo driver.
The quite wonderful folks at Bayview Limousine Service not only gave us a great ride to the hotel, our driver also expended a lot of effort locating us in the airport as we apparently blithely walked right past where we were supposed to meet him where he was standing and holding up a sign with our name. Perhaps this should have been our first clue that we would also completely miss the fact that we had another room in our suite. He kindly never complained about the fact that we were apparent dorks but instead escorted us to the limo, insisting on taking most of our luggage, and then presented us with cold bottles of water and bag of chocolates.
Could a mode of transportation be any better than one which provides you with a bag of chocolate to consume en route to your destination?
I think not.
A limo might seem like a big extravagance but we have learned that cabs are so incredibly expensive to take from the airport in a big city (we were shocked to pay $75 for a cab in Niagara Falls) that the convenience of a private and comfortable limo is usually not much more and well worth it. Bayview was completely professional and our driver dropped us off right at the door of our hotel, even making sure he let us off at the area of the check in desk where there were no stairs so it would be easier to manage our luggage.
We walked through the beautiful glass and brass doors of the hotel and were immediately taken aback at our first sight of the luxurious and beautiful lobby area.
Mayflower Park Hotel Lobby. Photo courtesy of the hotel.
Lovely fireplace area in the lobby. Photo courtesy of the hotel.
Stairs from the lobby. Photo courtesy of the hotel.
Built in 1927, the Mayflower Park Hotel was one of the city’s finest hotels and, today, it is still locally owned and an important part of the Seattle downtown area. Interestingly enough, since the hotel was built during Prohibition, there was no area designated as a bar. The current popular bar, Oliver’s, is actually located in what used to be a Bartell’s Drug Store. Prices for rooms in the original hotel ranged from $2.00 to $4.00. Purchased in 1974 by local owners, the hotel opened an entryway directly to the brand new Westlake Center, a mall with plenty of shops and restaurants.
If there is something better than a hotel which connects directly to a mall, I can’t imagine what it might be.
From the beautiful lobby, we headed up to our suite where we were again very impressed. Expecting a hotel room, we were really pleased with our suite with its bedroom and separate living room. And, of course.
Two bathrooms.
Beautiful bedroom in the suite. Photo courtesy of the hotel.
Living Room of our suite. Photo courtesy of the hotel.
We enjoyed every single thing about our stay at the Mayflower Park Hotel, but one of the very best things was the dinner we had at their restaurant, Andaluca. Located right off the lobby, Andaluca is so convenient for guests of the hotel but it is also a very popular location for locals as well – a fact that is not surprising after you eat there. Elegant and beautiful, yet very comfortable, it was the perfect place for us to relax and dine after a long day touring the city. With no vehicle, we didn’t take advantage of the complimentary valet parking, but what a nice perk! The restaurant has a Mediterranean influence and the mahogany mill work, hand painted murals and plush, deep-toned fabrics provide a definite Mediterranean feel.
Lovely Andaluca! Photo courtesy of the hotel.
We settled into our comfy booth and began perusing the menu and I faced my first quandary. I wanted to order everything on the menu. With a variety of seasonal salads, Northwest entrees, sharable plates and fabulous desserts, it was hard to choose.
So I proceeded to order a little of everything.
I started with a cheese platter because how can you not have some cheese when it looks like this.
Blue Cheese platter.
Then came tomato soup. I have to say that I am quite the connoisseur of tomato soup. I have been known to eat an entire can of Campbell’s Tomato Bisque soup at one sitting and I always order tomato soup if it is on the menu. This was superlative.
Tomato Soup.
Then I had the freshest and most delicious pear salad I have ever tasted.
Pear Salad.
Next came this quite fabulous, tender, and delicious steak skewer. Because pretty much anything on a skewer is always good.
It’s just a culinary rule.
Steak on a skewer.
To go with the steak on a skewer, I tried the crispy and quite lovely potato croquettes. Who needs baked potatoes or French fries when you can have a croquette?
Potato Croquettes.
As usual, at this point, I had no need whatsoever for dessert.
But also as usual, I had it anyway. Because how can you not have melting chocolate cake when it is offered?
You simply must.
Melting Chocolate Cake.
After consuming this quite delicious meal, we managed to waddle back up to our suite and collapse on our respective beds in a rather comatose state. If only I had known about our second bathroom, I might have lounged in a hot bubble bath as I digested but alas, we did not know it was hidden behind that door.
Because, as mentioned above, we are apparently clueless dorks.
Oh, well.
We will be sure to check out the second bathroom on our next visit.
Full disclosure: the Mayflower Park Hotel provided us with our stay and dinner, but as always, I will share my honest opinion about any travel experiences I have.
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