The Edgewater Hotel, Seattle

Seattle's over-water hotel, steps from the bay

★★★★★📍 Pier 67, Seattle Waterfront (walk to the aquarium)$$$$

For aquarium visitors, the waterfront walk is the selling point. The rebuilt promenade connects Pier 67 with Pier 59 and the Seattle Aquarium, so mornings start with a stroll along the bay and the aquarium's harbor seals and sea otters, and evenings end back by the fireplace with the lights of the ferries on the water.

Room strategy: book a water-view category — the over-water king with balcony, about 350 square feet with Olympic Mountains views, is the classic, and the over-water junior suites, about 450 square feet with a sleeper sofa, suit small families. City-view rooms are cheaper but miss the point of staying here. The Beatles and Pearl Jam suites, each about 750 square feet over the water, are the music-history splurges; the Pearl Jam Suite was designed with Eddie Vedder and the band's fan club. The Brim coffee shop handles early mornings before an aquarium opening.

Practicals: valet parking only, so consider arriving by light rail and taxi or rideshare; the destination fee covers bike use, which is a pleasant way to ride the waterfront to Olympic Sculpture Park next door. Pair the stay with the Seattle Aquarium and, on a longer Pacific Northwest trip, Bonneville Hatchery and the Oregon coast.