Review: Hyatt at Olive 8

During a visit to Seattle earlier this year, we decided to stay at the Hyatt at Olive 8 in downtown Seattle. Olive 8 is a "Hyatt" branded hotel and is located at the corner of Olive Way and 8th Ave (how original). Funny enough, it's also located directly across the street from Hyatt's other primary Seattle property, the Grand Hyatt Seattle. The Olive 8 is a category 4 property, which requires 15,000 points per night if not paying with cash.

Hyatt at Olive 8 Exterior

Hyatt at Olive 8 Exterior

We arrived fairly late after a Friday night flight up from San Francisco and received an upgrade to a Luxury King Suite thanks to an expiring suite upgrade. We made our way up to the 15th floor after an uneventful check-in process and found our room. 

Hyatt Olive 8 Hallway

Hyatt Olive 8 Hallway

Hyatt Olive 8 Room Entrance

The Luxury King Suite is the first level of suite offered at the Olive 8. It was a good sized room and honestly, as with pretty much all suites, really had more room than we ever would have needed. 

Upon entering, there was a small bench directly across from the door (in case you need a place to sit while taking shoes off), then after turning to the left, there was a desk, a small wet bar area, and the living room, with plenty of space for entertaining any guests who stop by. The wet bar had a couple of water bottles, but they were definitely not complimentary, which is something that kind of bothers me about US properties (they're always free outside the US). If the water isn't free, I'd rather it just not be there, but I digress.

Luxury King Suite Living Room

Luxury King Suite Living Room

Luxury King Suite Wet Bar

Luxury King Suite Living Room

The bedroom had a king bed, a chair and side table, another television, and two matching closets on either side of the entrance to the bathroom. It was on the smaller side, but there was still plenty of room, especially because the living room area was quite large.

Luxury King Suite Bedroom

Luxury King Suite Bedroom Closet

The bathroom was quite large with a double vanity, a separate soaking tub and shower area to the right, and an enclosed toilet on the left. The toiletries were KenetMD, which is nothing special, but good enough. 

Luxury King Suite Bathroom

Luxury King Suite Bathroom

Luxury King Suite Bathroom

Luxury King Suite Bathroom

Toiletries

Overall, the room was well-appointed and had everything we would need. I find Hyatt branded Hyatts (so confusing) to be very minimal and modern, which is nice, but you'll not usually find anything particularly special about them either.

The gym, spa and pool are located on the 3rd floor of the hotel. The upper part of the building housing the Olive 8 is a residential space, so the building residents share these amenities with hotel guests. You'll find a lap pool and hot tub as well as a pretty well-appointed gym with plenty of cardio equipment and free weights. The gym also offers dry and chilled towels and water bottles, which are always appreciated.

Hyatt at Olive 8 Pool

Hyatt at Olive 8 Gym

Hyatt at Olive 8 Gym

As a Diamond guest, I had breakfast included Saturday and Sunday morning at the hotel's on-site restaurant, Urbane. Breakfast is served from 6:30 AM to 11:00 AM on weekdays and from 6:30 AM to 2:30 PM on weekends, so there's no reason to miss breakfast even if you have to sleep in a bit, which I really liked. 

The brunch menu had a great selection of both breakfast and lunch dishes and had a lot of really tasty looking options. In the end, I opted for my usual breakfast dish: two eggs any style with toast, potatoes and a choice of bacon or sausage. Chris had the biscuits and gravy. After we ordered, about 15 minutes went by before our server came back to let us know that the kitchen was backed up, so our orders were going to take a while. He brought out a complimentary fruit bowl, which was nice, but it did end up taking about 40 minutes for us to get our food. Luckily, we weren't in a huge hurry, so it wasn't really an issue. Since it's hard to mess up eggs and toast, I was perfectly happy with my meal. Chris said the biscuits and gravy were a little dry, but overall, it was a good meal and as always, I was happy that it was included due to Diamond status.

Urbane Restaurant

Urbane Restaurant

Urbane Brunch Menu

"Sorry" Fruit Bowl

Two Eggs Any Style

Biscuits and Gravy

The Olive 8 is located pretty centrally in downtown Seattle, but it should be noted that it's still quite a hike from the main attractions of the downtown area, including Pike Place Market, the waterfront, and the sculpture park. We were fine with the location, but if you're looking to be right in the center of the action, the Olive 8 is probably not the best choice. Even though it's still downtown, the streets surrounding the hotel are pretty quiet, so that's something to keep in mind. 

Overall, the Hyatt at Olive 8 is a solid choice when visiting Seattle. The rooms are modern and nice, the amenities are there if you need them and it's close enough to walk 15 or 20 minutes to most attractions in downtown Seattle, but far enough away that it won't be too noisy or crowded.