8 Reasons to Lose Your Shoes at the Hyatt Olive 8

Confession:  we went somewhere without the kids.  Yep.  And we didn’t feel bad about it.  Well, maybe a little bad.  But, we showed up at the Hyatt Olive 8 and they welcomed us swiftly.  We made it up to our room and quickly discovered that we’d made the right choice to spend the weekend chillin’ out max and relaxin’ all cool.  

From location to amenities, the Hyatt Olive 8 was the right choice and just what we needed to kick off our shoes and recharge.  Here’s why this particular Seattle getaway was such a great experience and we’re sharing with you as 8 reasons to lose your shoes at the Hyatt Olive 8.

Staff  at the Hyatt Olive 8

So, we live across the Puget Sound from Seattle and rely on the the ferry system to get into the city (or we drive almost two hours).  Getting to the hotel late on a Friday night, it was nice to have valet and desk staff on the ball.  We’ve checked into a gazillion hotels and sometimes you just have to stand around and wait for somebody to grab your keys or confirm that your room is set.  When we arrived at the Hyatt Olive 8 it was smooth as silk all of the way to our door.  It was just stellar.  Also, the desk agent gave us a complimentary movie for during our stay, which we initially chuckled at, but used.

Tip:  if you’re just having a little weekend getaway, it’s okay to relax in your room for some of the time.  If you’ve seen the sights before, maybe spend an hour…just relaxing.  Really, it’s okay.  We watched our complimentary movie (Jurassic World wasn’t awesome, FYI)… and then got sucked into Christmas movies because we could.

Robes at the Hyatt Olive 8

There’s not a hotel we’ve stayed at that provides robes that we haven’t used them.  Why is that?  Is it weird to wear bathrobes?  Totally not weird.  We don’t wear robes at home but totally should.  It’s like wearing a blanket and being snuggly, but more socially acceptable.  When you’re traveling for pleasure, it makes sense to enjoy every aspect possible.  And why not enjoy comfort in the form of lounge wear?  As a rule you always should.  Just always.  And then you’ll have to take off your shoes because, well, they don’t go with bathrobes.

Tip:  many hotels provide complimentary slippers too, but you have to ask for them.  The Olive 8 didn’t have them readily accessible in the room, but they did have flip flops for those enjoying the other amenities (keep reading).

The Pool at the Hyatt Olive 8

You know how we always travel with kids?  Well, apparently when we travel without them we still need to go to the pool.  Usually it’s just us at the pool, and a lot of times it’s only one of us at the hot tub while the other is watching over sleeping kids.  Yeah, um, the pool at the Hyatt Olive 8 on a Friday night… might as well have been a Justin Bieber concert.  It was full of kids and a few parents.  Same with the hot tub.  As dads, we didn’t care.  As adult travelers looking for a quiet moment to relax, um, that didn’t really happen.  The relaxing totally happened, but not the quiet.  

Tip:  don’t go from the hot tub to the pool really fast like when you were a kid.  As an adult it’s not fun and it’s actually really uncomfortable.  When you’re a kid it’s thrilling.  Adult:  not so much.

Sauna in the City at the Olive 8

You know what was wonderfully calm and quiet?  The cedar sauna.  There’s a lot to be said for sitting in a dark, quiet room and breathing slowly… at 120 degrees F.  It’s magical.  We actually forgot that saunas are one of our favorite hotel amenities, so thank you, Hyatt Olive 8, for reminding us.  This took out all of the stress of travel and made us even more okay with letting the grandparents have the kids for the weekend.  And you don’t wear shoes in a sauna.

Tip:  read the rules for the sauna before you get too relaxed.  EVERY sauna ever has a rules board somewhere, and that will say if it’s okay to be nude, if it’s cool to pour water on the rocks and how long it’s safe to just be in there.  Also, the sauna at Olive 8 has a rule that you do not do it alone, as depending on a person’s health, it can be dangerous.

Bonus:  there’s also steam rooms at the Hyatt Olive 8.  It’s a totally different experience than the sauna, so it’s worth taking an extra ten minutes to get that relaxation time too.

Our Room at the Hyatt Olive 8

Hotels in downtown areas, in any city almost, never really have standard rooms that are as big as you’d like.  Go outside of the city and you’re golden, but yeah, not downtown.  The standard room we enjoyed at Olive 8 was larger than the average, so yay!  While it wasn’t a wide room, it was long which made it comfortable to relax in.  And having floor to ceiling windows helped too.  Additionally, the bathroom was located right inside the front door so there was a foyer separating it from the main room, which also added to the overall comfort.  

The bed was ideal, being the perfect amount of firm that you don’t feel the other person move at all, which is a bonus for us as one of us, not saying who, cannot hold still while sleeping.  The sheets were also nice, as were the pillows.

If you have no complaints or second thoughts about the bedding, it’s a good measure of its quality.  Here’s our judgy-judge scale:

questioning means you don’t like it

no thoughts means it’s fine/nice

want to know more about it and buy it for your own home means that the hotel has created sleeping-gold and they’re to be commended.

The View from the Olive 8

That’s one of the perks of staying downtown in any city is that your view is probably WAY different than you enjoy at home.  Our view at the Hyatt Olive 8 was nice.  We looked out into the cty, seeing towers and spires we don’t see every day.  And being there during the holidays, we got to enjoy a Christmas tree on top of the building across from ours.  While the view is going to vary depending on what side of the building you’re on, there are no bad views from the Olive 8, meaning none are staring at a landfill or massive construction site.  In a growing city like Seattle, that’s nice to find.

Tip:  never be shy about asking for a specific view.  If it’s available, chances are you can be moved with little to no hassle.  Also, if you can’t sleep when you’re high up in a building, ask for a lower floor.  Another guest will most likely wish they were on a higher floor.  Be comfortable!

The Locale of the Olive 8

We’ve got a few posts coming about what to do during a weekend in Seattle, but we’ll share a few tips for what’s close to the Olive 8.

the Carlile Room – a Tom Douglas restaurant, it’s got great food with a lot of class.  We enjoyed some really interesting and perfectly crafted cocktails here, and the service was really personable.  $10+ per cocktail w/o happy hour, FYI.  Get:  the Filthy Martini made with pickle juice and garnished with bleu cheese-stuffed olives.

the Roastery – this is the coolest concept Starbucks Coffee Co has ever rolled out.  It’s a five minute walk up Capitol Hill and you’ll not be disappointed.  The Roastery is there to show you the whole coffee roasting process, help you experience tastings in a way you’ve never even tasted wine, or just give you the most unusual coffee shop moments of your life.  The Roastery is more than a Starbucks and absolutely worth the your time.

the Cinerama – once the coolest movie theater in Seattle, it was reborn several years ago into a trendy cinema offering the most popular movie of the season on its screen and chocolate popcorn for its guests.  It’s a beautiful theater and often showcases rare film memorobelia.  Fun story:  WE GOT TO SEE STAR WARS AT THE CINERAMA!!!!  End of story. 

the Downtown Core – you’re two blocks from all of the shopping you could want to do in Seattle.  You’re one block from the Paramount Theater for concerts and Broadway shows.  You’re surrounded by good food.  You’re NOT close to Pike Place Market… which is a good thing.  You’re close enough to Capitol Hill that you can go be trendy and then get home easily on foot.

The Mood in the Hyatt Olive 8

Clean and comfortable.  That was the vibe and mood of the whole hotel.  Yes, it’s a LEED certified hotel and it’s got a 4.5 star rating (per Trip Advisor), so hooray, but everything just felt clean in general, which is an A+ in our book.  The staff was well kept and polite, clean.  The grounds were well maintained and there were no random spills or bits of trash anywhere, clean.  Our room, and in particular the mirrors, were spotless, clean.  Housekeeping was fast and spot on, clean.  It all added to the stress-free, perfect weekend getaway.  And even though we’re not stars in any sense, the quality of service, professionalism and clean everything made us feel pretty first class.  Oh, and we were comfortable without shoes on at the Olive 8.

We would happily return to the Hyatt Olive 8 for a weekend getaway any time.  Its convenient location and overall ease-of-stay were just what we needed.  Our opinions are our own and we stand behind them.  We’ll be sharing more of our weekend getaway tips and suggestions soon, so check back to see what else Seattle has to offer!