This was a decent, quiet little hotel. Given that it was one of the cheapest we could find in the city, I should be giving it a much higher rating. The rooms were clean and the air conditioning decent (this was important given the heat wave we encountered). It is conveniently located a short walk from downtown. Athough as has been mentioned there's an incredibly steep hill you'll have to climb if you want to walk back. Okay neighbourhood, we never felt insecure about walking around at night. The staff were very friendly upon arrival and were able to give us information on local events and attractions. We only spent one night here and didn't try the restaurant. The rest of our stay in Seattle we rented a small studio/cottage on Bainbridge Island for only $150/night (highly recommended as the prices are cheaper than in Seattle and it's only a 30 min, $6 return ferry ride right downtown)

If you arrive in downtown Seattle via public transportation, the first thing you'll notice about Virginia Mason is the hike up First Hill. (I'd told the kids to pack light.) Though the Inn seemed a bit too out of the way initially, I was grateful for the location when evening arrived and the huge SeaFair parade began weaving through downtown.

We were able to walk to most of the attractions in Seattle from the hotel: downhill to the waterfront, over to the Space Needle, back to Pioneer Square. Though the kids complained about the lack of a pool, the room itself was spacious and clean, with a bathroom big enough for a small party and enough beds to accommodate our family of six.

The staff was pleasant and accommodating, plus the place felt cozy--a pleasant contrast to the chains where we spent most of our vacation.

We reserved room 611 for the nights of July 25-26, 2005. We arrived on 7-25 as expected and found our room waiting. It was nice, clean and comfortable. My wife was having brain aneurism surgery on the morning of 7-26, so we left early. My son had driven in that morning and we were going to use the same room that night. He was replacing my wife as she was in ICU. At 11:45 am we called to make sure the room was available and we were told it was all ready for us.
That evening we left the ICU and got back to the room about 10:30 PM. We immediately found someone else in our room (611). The desk was very helpful and tried to find us a room in another hotel to no avail. A lady assisted the clerk and located a room in the hotel that no one was using (604). We waited for it to be cleaned. She came back and said she would 'comp' the room to us for the night of 7-26 since they had given our original room away. She then said they would hold that room for us since my wife was to be released on 7-27 and the hospital wanted us to stay in Seattle one more night before returning to our home in Spokane, Wa. We would pay for the 2nd night in room 604.
My wife was released from ICU at 7:30 PM. We started for our room, but just to be safe, I called ahead only to learn that it too had been given to someone else during the day. The same lady that had saved it for us was the one I talked to. Again, she was very nice and apologized, but we had no room. We were asked to come over and they would see if there was anything they could do about locating something else since they were full. At this point with my wife hurting and in need of a place to stay, we decided to head east toward home and see if we could locate something else which we finally did...in Ellensburg. Fool me once, shame on you...Fool me twice, shame on me!

The room was very comfortable & clean. The personnel were very friendly & helpful. Their restaurant & dining room (just off the lobby) is certainly worth sampling as the food is great! The Pecan Crusted Pork Loin is just EXCELLENT!! Would stay there again!