48 Hours in Seattle’s Dog Friendly Hotel Ändra
Brooklyn-based photographer and content creator Melissa Tang travels everywhere with her Australian Shepherd Koda. She shares her pawsome ‘tails’ of adventure exploring Downtown Seattle with us.
Seattle has always been a bit of a dichotomy to me – though its cultural roots are heavily influenced by the emergence of Grunge music back in the ‘80’s, it now acts as a hub for numerous tech giants such as Amazon and Microsoft. Though the downtown area has its fair share of sleek high-rise buildings and modern structures, the city is also surrounded by 360 views of wilderness in the form of mountains, forests, and ocean.
A prime example of this perfect marriage of contrasting elements is Hotel Ändra, where we had the pleasure of staying for a couple nights – located in the heart of downtown, this boutique hotel is 100% authentically Seattle!
The Property
Established in 2004, Hotel Ändra is an independent boutique hotel nestled between South Lake Union and Belltown, right in the heart of downtown Seattle. It recently went through a massive renovation, reimagining its Scandinavian design (a tribute to Seattle’s Nordic heritage) to truly encompass the “hygge” environment of comfort, style and coziness. The hotel truly feels like a home away from home after a full day of exploring everything Seattle has to offer, from Pike Place market (a 5-min walk away) and the Space Needle to shopping, dining, speakeasy-style cocktail bars, and music venues!
Amenities
One of the things that brings this boutique hotel to “luxury status” is definitely the amenities – first and foremost being how dog friendly it is! Not only can dogs stay free of charge (seriously, no extra pet fees!), as soon as we walked into our Superia queen room, we were greeted with a whole presentation of items to make Koda’s stay as comfortable as possible: separate food and water bowls, a rubber mat for the bowls, and even a cozy blanket for him to lay on. The hotel also has a rewards program for its return customers and will often treat guests with “surprise and delight” gifts – we received a lovely welcome gift upon arrival curated with local goods!
The room itself was both cozy and spacious at the same time – I was so amazed to see that we had a walk-in closet AND a seating area with a couch. It actually made it so easy to spend a lot of our time in the room, as I could work from the desk during the day (thanks to the hotel’s free wifi) and also grab takeout for breakfast/lunch and eat in the living area, which had a large coffee table perfect for casual dining. At night, it took almost zero effort to fall asleep on the plush bedding with down comforters, and in the morning, we had our own Nespresso maker with complimentary pods to help us wake up. Little details like these, as well as the integrated USB outlets, reading lights above the beds, TV with Google Chromecast (so we could still binge Only Murders in the Building during our downtime), and even free newspaper delivery every morning made us feel like we had all the comforts of home but in a super luxurious setting!
