Pretty but pricey: Seattle’s newest luxury Hilton the Hotel 1000 – LXR Hotels and Resorts

Hilton’s up-and-coming luxury brand LXR Hotels and Resorts has gotten raves from some frequent travelers. A fairly new LXR property in Seattle — the Hotel 1000 Seattle — joined the Hilton group just a few weeks ago.

TPG wanted to be among the first to review the newly flagged Hilton property, and a work trip to Seattle was timed perfectly for a review.

Good service, nice design and comfortable beds mean I can definitely recommend a stay at this hotel, but at current pricing I would personally probably not go back.

For more TPG news delivered each morning to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.

In This Post

Booking

TPG booked this hotel fairly last minute, and despite low occupancy rates in downtown Seattle, prices were high for this new entry into the luxury Hilton portfolio. I paid $924.38, after taxes, for a two night stay. In fact, prices were the highest I saw for any hotel during my searches the week before … well, except for the Four Seasons down the street. That hotel wanted more than $1,000 a night, so I guess it’s comparatively inexpensive. But the Grand Hyatt was just $250 and there were lots of other options for around $200.

If you want to book using points, I found availability in October for 90,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

I just hate those exorbitant taxes and fees which ended up adding more than $60 per night to the room rate. Those include a Washington State sales tax, a convention and trade center tax, a Seattle lodging tax and a Seattle tourism assessment fee. Ouch.

Fortunately, I remembered that I had an American Express Offer for high-end Hilton hotels to spend $500 and get $100 back, so I jumped on it.

Unfortunately, I still haven’t gotten that credit. American Express has been slower-than-normal in getting credits posted for some folks. I’ve had good luck until this one. A chat agent told me to “be patient.”

I ended up earning 886 Membership Rewards points  worth $17.72 according to TPG’s most recent valuations. That’s not nearly as good as I would have gotten if I had used my Hilton Honors Aspire Card from American Express. That card gives 14 Hilton Honors points per dollar, but it still couldn’t top that $100 statement credit.

I also earned 17,300 Hilton Honors points for my stay — 8,500 base points, a 100% Hilton Diamond bonus of 8,500 points and a 1,000 “MyWay” point bonus — worth more than $103 according to current TPG valuations.

The information for the Hilton Aspire Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.          

Location

Hotel 1000 is in a great spot in the heart of Seattle. It’s on First Avenue and an easy walk from the hotel to Pike Place Market, the ferries or to Pioneer Square. There is a ton of shopping nearby, and lots of restaurants (at least during the week).

Check-in

Check-in at Hotel 1000 was great. There was no line, and two friendly agents were working the front desk. I arrived well before the 4pm check-in time, and was given a room right away.

I was told I was upgraded to a deluxe room, and while there was no separate bedroom, I did have a large room with a nice view and a separate seating area.

I really liked the lobby area. It’s very chic and modern with a separate lounge-like seating area that has free coffee in the mornings.

I didn’t receive any special greeting from my Hilton Diamond status, but since the hotel just switched to Hilton from being a Loews property, it’s not too surprising that they don’t have the whole elite greetings down yet.

 

I also definitely didn’t get a major upgrade despite the status. There is a snack store next to the check-in counter in case you get hungry for a quick bite, but it isn’t cheap.

The front-desk agents did tell me that there is daily housekeeping, which is no longer standard at Hilton properties but remains a standard at Hilton’s higher-end brands like Conrad and LXR.

The rooms

The rooms at the 1000 are spacious and modern with white walls with gray accents. There is marble on the table tops and in the bathroom sink and shower.

The door opens with a plastic key card.

I loved the ice stand boxes in the halls next to the elevators. What a classy way to do ice!

I also loved the beds at Hotel 1000.

There were a ton of pillows which always makes me happy.

There was a decent-sized desk to work from and the internet was lightning fast. I was able to Zoom, and watch movies and TV with ease.

I enjoyed working from the room — not only for the fast internet speeds, but also because there were lots of lighting options and plenty of natural light.

And the views from the room were fantastic. You could see the Seattle Great Wheel ferris wheel and Elliott Bay beyond.

I also like the little seating area next to the bed with a love seat with several pillows.

The bath is one of the highlights. There is a big soaking tub with a shower head in the ceiling. It’s a pretty cool feature, but the water kind of sprays all over so watch that.

There was some visible water damage in the bathroom.

They’ve embraced the trend of visible bathrooms in hotels, but fortunately there’s a privacy shade so you don’t have to be putting on a show for any guests (unless you are into that sort of thing -no judgement).

There was a bit of “ick” on the shade, but I don’t think it was mildew or dirt.. more likely wear and tear.

I didn’t love the cabinet-like toilet, but it wasn’t a big deal.

The shower was nice. The water pressure was good (not great), but it was plenty tall and the shower door opened out with no major leakage.

Hotel 1000 uses Julien Farel bath products. They don’t strike me as especially luxurious, but the Julien Farel Salon in NYC is pretty well known and “fancy.”

The air conditioning system was awesome. I was able to turn it as low as I could stand and the room cooled off (or warmed up) quickly.

There was a huge closet/cabinet in the room that took up most of one wall.

There were two closets which included a safe, luggage rack, iron and ironing board and several coat hangers.

There was enough room to hang my clothes, but I’m not a fan of outward facing closet racks.

The two closets were connected by a marble-topped cabinet with a Keurig machine to make coffee or tea.

There weren’t enough condiments or coffee pods, but I find that to be a nearly universal issue at hotels these days.

Food and beverage

The only restaurant on property is All Water Seafood & Oyster Bay. The are open for breakfast from 7 a.m. until 11 a.m.

I ordered a breakfast sandwich on my first day for $16 and a cappuccino for $7 and an orange juice for $6. The total was $36.10 which included a $6 tip and a 5% “restaurant surcharge.”

Breakfast was delicious … one of the best breakfast sandwiches I’ve ever had.

Service was prompt, efficient and friendly.

Currently, dinner is only served on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

 

Amenities

Here is where the 1000 comes up short. There is no pool. The spa was closed when I was there, but it has since reopened (on Labor Day weekend), so if you are going, you’ll be able to take advantage. There is also an Aveda salon across the street, so it’s not like the area is without resources.

The gym is small, but nice with some machines blocked off for social distancing reasons. I had the gym pretty much to myself.

There is also a golf room with two “greens” where you can do a round of golf with the assistance of a theater screen and a computer. It was kind of fun to hack away at a few balls down in the basement even though I’m no golfer.

Service

Service was great. I was greeted warmly by front desk staff every time I came into the building.

I called the front desk after I ran out of shaving cream, and Katie at the front desk said she’d send a travel-size shaving cream right up to my room. It was delivered within 10 minutes. Every employee I spoke to was friendly, warm and tried to be helpful.

Unfortunately, room service is not available most of the time at the hotel. Because of the restaurant’s limited hours, there is only room service available for breakfast.

Accessibility

The Hotel 1000 is wheelchair friendly with a flat entry and wide elevators. There are several rooms that are Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant, including rooms with double beds and queen rooms. There is Braille signage on the room doors, but the elevator was not Braille-friendly.

Overall impression

I really enjoyed my stay at the Hotel 1000. It’s another nice option in the crowded Seattle market for redeeming points. It’s too pricey, in my opinion, for the limited amenities available, but I can still recommend it if you don’t mind putting out the cash (or points). Great service, nice design, fast Wi-Fi, comfortable bedding and a central location all lead me to say this is a nice addition for Hilton.

Featured photo of Seattle’s Hotel 1000 by Clint Henderson/The Points Guy.