Ballard Inn

I thought I was on candid camera!
My husband and I were looking forward to a romantic stay while attending a formal holiday party next door. Upon arrival (where you have to call someone to come over to check you in), we were told that although we would not have to share a bathroom with others, our room had no windows. When we inquired how that was possible (Isn’t that a fire hazard!?), they said that we shouldn’t worry. We then saw our room, which was essentially a walk-​in closet or large coffin — a small full size bed, no windows, super cramped, mattress was about as thin as a sack, and the bathroom (if lucky), could fit one person. We quickly asked for our money back and left — the gal who refunded our money seemed unfazed as this happens often. We peered into some other rooms and none of them looked remotely like the pictures they show on their website — so shady! Run, run, run!

Our second stay here when visiting family that lives in Ballard, and each time we opted for a room with a private bath. The upstairs rooms are lovely but small, and I just do not like trotting down the hall for a bathroom and shower.
The historic building has been lovingly restored, rooms are clean and tastefully decorated, with free wifi. The best part is the location. Dozens of restaurants within a block, shops and a Sunday farmers market on Ballard St. make for a nice stay in the area while costing much less than its sister hotel half a block away.

The Ballard Inn is the sister to the much more fancy (and expensive!) Ballard Hotel down the street. Most of the Inns rooms share a bath and are located in a renovated former boarding house. At least 3 rooms have private baths, 2 of them accessed seperately from a side street.
The Inn is located in the heart of the vibrant and hip Ballard restaurant district. There are more bars, restaurants and chic shops than you can shake a stick at. A) l within a few block radius. Ballard Avenue also host a weekly Sunday farmers and craft market.
The rooms are an interesting mix of modern convenience and antique furnishings. Comfortable and snug. You have access to the athletic club across the street for those who can’t miss a day away from the gym.
If you are looking for reasonably priced, comfortable lodgings in the heart of the Ballard entertainment district, this is the place.

This place was really great. Everyone who worked there: Brendon, Justin and Melissa went out of their way to give me amazing customer service.
They even went and got cream from another room and put it in a bottle for me because there were not any small bottles left.
Also, the location was amazing! Ballard is surrounded by cute shops and restaurants.

Nice clean spot if you need a place to sleep in Ballard for a night. $ 189.00 a night for king bed was a bit much with a shared bathroom though.

Great place to stay if you just need a roof over your head to sleep. I got a Groupon to stay at the Ballard Inn, but I don’t think I would pay over $ 100/​night to stay here.
The room, bath/​shower rooms are very clean. I stayed in a twin room, which was a little small, but I’m from Brooklyn and I’m used to cramped spaces.
The water in the room is a nice touch, and it’s THE perfect location if you want to stay in Ballard. Everything is within arm’s reach.
The only downside is that I had a street level room, which can get loud on the weekends. The walls are also a little thin, so the provided ear plugs were handy. A luxury hotel this is not, but you shouldn’t be spending your time inside if you’re visiting Seattle anyway!

Great historic landmark, excellent job preserving the history while adding a modern look. I’ve never liked shared bathrooms and this is no exception. They are roomy and very well kept but with no staff on sight throughout the night, towels tend to accumulate on the bathroom floors. If your a night owl Like me, you’ll notice these things. The walls are paper thin so you get to listen to the nighttime antics of drunken hipsters. Along with the squeakiest floors in history.
The comfortable beds and amazing pillows make up for these minor details.
Apple’s anyone? All the free green Apple’s you can eat! At least I think they are free, I didn’t pay for the six I took with me when I left at least.
The king deluxe my wife and I had was probably the best room in the hotel. The corner room on the top has a great view of the busy streets below. Busy after four o’clock that is. Happy hour is huge in this area, compared to where I’m from that is. «Are you here for happy hour» you’ll hear as you enter a bar or restaurant. I answered with «Na, I just want food».

Stayed here again for my second visit. All was great in terms of friendliness of the staff, clean hotel and comfy rooms. The shared bathrooms still weren’t a problem. The only problem on the second visit were the Ballard party animals! Keep in mind restaurants and bars are open late and the gym is across the street. You do hear all the activity as if the windows are open. You’re in a great location having access to all that downtown Ballard has to offer however you might require ear plugs and/​or sleeping pills.

Absolutely stunning. Great job updating and renovating this place while maintaining it’s historical charm! Staff were friendly and made some recommendations and accommodated our late check out request. When we booked there weren’t any rooms with private bathrooms which made me anxious, but there are so many you would never be with out when you needed one. Rooms have great luxurious sheets and duvets, and we never needed any of the supplied ear plugs. I didn’t have any of the included coffee (although it was cute and set up nicely!) because there was no whitener of any kind. Beautiful place and location, I will be back for sure!

The beds are comfortable and the staff is friendly. It’s true that you have to share a bathroom with others, but having stayed a few times now, I have never had to wait for a bathroom or even had any encounters in the hall.
The biggest thing to know is that it can be loud. The gym across the street starts early and being in the heart of ballard, the noise at night can go late into the night.
Free coffee in the mornings, direct tv in the rooms, local bars and restaurants to choose from near by.

The bed we had was one of the worst I have slept in just so bad, I never really slept.

First off there are two qualifications for me when it comes to hotels. 1. A comfortable bed and 2. A nice shower. Ballard Inn met both of these qualifications but went above and beyond them as well. I’m not one of those people that needs a King sized bed and food delivered to my room every morning. When I travel I’m there to see the sites not lounge around in my hotel room.
My partner and I stayed in one of the Inn’s «Full» rooms which included a dresser, a full sized bed, and a TV. The full bath was right across the hall from us and even though the inn was FULL TO THE BRIM the four nights we were there I NEVER had trouble getting into the bathroom. If you have an emergency there are two half baths as well. If you’re squeamish about people seeing you walk to and from your room I don’t know what to tell you other than you never would have survived the dorms at my old university. The bathrooms were very well maintained. In fact we never had cleanliness issues our entire stay.
As to the TV I used it twice. Once to watch the news in the morning our second day there and the last night to watch ‘House’ while we fell asleep. It was a little complicated to use but then again my repertoire with televisions is Netflix. I could care less about the TV service since I try to spend as much time in the city I’m visiting as possible.
The Aesthetic of the Inn was what really nailed it for me. The place looks fantastic and reminded me of my childhood traveling through bed and breakfasts in Europe with my family. The neighborhood is spot on. In fact we spent one of our four days just exploring Ballard! The Matador and Bitteroot are fantastic restaurants. There are also some great locally owned shops and a fantastic movie theater all within walking distance. The bus ride to downtown is a quick hope onto the D line (get an orca card if you’re visiting Seattle, for real what’s the point in driving in a city with fantastic public transit?)
For the price and location this place blows it out of the water. Did I mention the free coffee and apples every morning? The service is fantastic and helpful and though we didn’t use it the athletic club next door is free to use for guests. The «pricey» rating on this is a bit deceptive I think since it REALLY depends on which type of room you reserve.
If you’re someone who needs everything handed to you on a silver platter this place is not for you. If you are a seasoned traveler who knows what kind of price gets you what kind of experience Ballard Inn will meet, if not exceed, your expectations. If you are in Seattle to enjoy all the city has to offer without breaking the bank on a hotel room go with Ballard Inn!

It seems there are 2 main lodging options in Ballard, Ballard Inn and Hotel Ballard, which are owned by the same people and are located side-​by-​side. If you can swing it, I’d recommend Hotel Ballard, but the Inn is a good second choice. Most of the rooms do not have en-​suite bathrooms. Mine did, and I think this is probably essential. They do provide bathrobes, but I don’t think I’d much enjoy jaunting down the hallway in one of those. The king bed is very comfortable, and lulled me to sleep very quickly. The heating situation is a bit peculiar, with the tiny Lasko space heater on the dresser being de rigeur. The TV doesn’t have that many channels, but as someone who actually has 0 channels at home, it was an improvement. All in all, it is like a motel, but a chic motel, and is far less pricey than the Hotel. Service was very good. And you can’t beat the location, in the heart of Ballard.

What a lovely visit! I surprised my boyfriend with a night out in Ballard for his birthday. We live in North Seattle and it was a treat to be able to go out in Ballard and not have to drive home.
We stayed in the Deluxe King Room 201 which was lovely and had it’s own bathroom. Everything was nice and the vintage design touches throughout \
were very elegant.
The best part about out stay was the customer service. Sarah, the concierge was
so friendly and accommodating. Not only did she get me checked in quickly and easily but she went above and beyond helping me to set the room to surprise my man.
She put my champagne on ice, found me candles for the cake and even borrowed glasses from a restaurant next door. She was so sweet and enthusiastic about helping me which was great.
Thank you for an awesome evening Sarah & Ballard Inn.
Lori
PS– The only reason I didn’t go with the 5 stars was the street noise from Ballard Ave at 2am. They did provide us with earplugs next to the bed though.

I’m not giving it a 5 star review just because the Ballard Inn is a little overpriced for the size and amenities. That said the location and service are fantastic!
We live in Ballard and a couple of months ago we spontaneously got engaged and planned a non traditional wedding in Ballard. The ceremony and reception were at The Gerald (amazing place!!!) and since we didn’t want anyone driving the Ballard Inn was the perfect solution for all of our family (coming from out of town). Everyone was very happy with their stay (the ladies did grumble a little about the lack of closets) but what really blew us away was the service. I had rented some umbrellas for our guests and had little favors for the rooms, the front desk agents were very helpful in making sure everything was set up for when they checked in.
We also asked if it was ok for us to have some champagne at the hotel before the wedding so that we could get some pictures taken in their beautiful lobby, not only did they agree to that but also suggested other spots in the building that would be good photo shoot areas and stored/​chilled our champagne for us. We ended up also coming back after the ceremony to sign our wedding certificate with the witnesses and our officiate. The front desk agent was so accommodating and super excited to have us there, that we felt very comfortable using their space.
Most of our family members had to head to the airport early the next day and were able to leave several bags for us to come pick up later in the day with no problem.
The Ballard Inn ended up being perfect for what we needed. It’s not anything like your usual hotel, but I think that is exactly what makes it so nice. If you have a good sense of adventure and love creative details, this is a wonderful place to stay.

We spent an uncomfortable night there. The heating system is nil — you either get no heat or you get blasted. Grossly overpriced!

If I had stayed in this hotel any time other than summer I probably would have given it 5 stars because it’s cute, centrally located, and has great customer service. Unfortunately the one night I stayed there I couldn’t sleep at all. It was a perfect 80 degree summer day and my hotel room was really warm so I slept with the windows open. There was street noise till 3am, also no screens on the windows. I was even staying on the second floor and it was a Sunday night. Ear plugs were provided in the room, but I’m just not one of those people who can sleep with them in. I spoke with another guest who had a room facing the side alley to see if it was less noisy on that side, but she couldn’t sleep either. I would only recommend this to people willing to sacrifice some comfort for being close to all the great shops and restaurants Ballard Ave has to offer.

The Good:
The bedding and pillows were fantastic.
The check-​in process and lobby was nice.
Was made aware of the shared bathroom situation while booking.
If you stay on a saturday night, you’ve got a great farmers market literary right outside the front door.
The Bad:
The tv had a paltry number of channels
No in room phone to contact the front desk with questions.
No in room storage, in the room we had. An armoire would have been nice.
No black out curtains.
The Ugly:
Woke up in the morning to see 10+ tiny little black ants scurrying around on the side of the bed. The front desk’s response was unapologetic and said he’d let somebody know.

Absolutely charming little place! This is definitely European/​guesthouse style, as most of the rooms DO NOT HAVE THEIR OWN BATHROOM. If this doesn’t bother you for a night or two, then you’ll enjoy this hotel. The shared bathroom was literally a couple steps across the hall. I loved the décor, and most of all, the hotel was nice and clean. Our room was very small and minimalist, but perfect for a night’s stay and the bed was extremely comfortable. We loved the hotel’s close proximity to many bars, restaurants, and night spots, though if you’re on the ground floor, passerby noise could be bothersome. Parking at night or on a weekend can be troublesome, or you can pay for shared parking at the athletic club around the corner. All in all, really enjoyed the stay and wouldn’t bat an eye at staying at Hotel Ballard again.

I found this place through desperation, during a last minute trip to Seattle. No hotel rooms avaialble due to a confluence of events, so a quick search revealed this place had free rooms. Found out that the place had only been open a week or two when I checked in. The location is in a cool, but a bit out of the way part of Seattle. Ballard is a great pocket of the city and a fun place to hangout and eat (it’s literally across the street from Bastille)
When I arrived, no one was at the front desk, and the door was locked. The receptionist had just stepped out for a second to help another guest. She apologies as the staff was not fully hired. No probs.
The décor of the place is kind of throwback modern. the building is old, but the furnishings are kind of classic in design, but more quirky in appearance. think faux zebra skin on a chair, for example. I think it works, given Ballard’s character.
Room I stayed in was a bigger room, on the second floor, with its own private bathroom, and a king sized bed. Flat panel screen, etc. Not a massive room, but not crowded. Everyihing was refinished, repainted, or new funiture. Still smelled like new paint actually.
I could see people might having issues with this room, since it faces Ballard Ave and it can get noisy in the evening weekends. Also, most of the rooms do not have their own bathroom. There are bathrooms that are shared (lockable though, single occupancy :-) throughout the hotel, and that may not fly with folks. I also don’t think this woudl be a good family hotel.
The location is killer, and that’s it’s biggest appeal. I almost wish there was a bar or bistro in the lobby, or nextdoor, but there are ample options in the area. Not sure what it would be like if it got very busy or crowded. there are no elevators as far as I can tell, and the rooms seem close together.
Overall, I really enjoyed my stay.