Inn at El Gaucho

The staff at this place is incredible. David and everyone are so friendly and helpful. They went above and beyond to accommodate our every indulgence. Great location too.

Such a great hotel with excellent customer service. The rooms are very nice and comfortable. The friendly staff is top notch. They answered every question we had and were very accommodating. When we asked for recommendations, they did some research and left a note in our room with details. Really impressed.

Loved it! The bed was really comfy and the sheets were clean and cozy. Pillows were also very nice. The bathroom and everything else was very clean, and to me that is very important. Had a mini fridge and free coffee in the room. Also the room had very large bath towels which was awesome! To me having a comfortable bed and a clean room are the top two priorities in a hotel. Front desk staff were also very friendly and helpful. Overall I was very satisfied with my experience.

A marvel. A masterpiece. A dream realized & manifested. This is the closest to hotel heaven I think I’ve ever been. Everything is a work of art. Classy. Elegant. Perfection. We received the BEST customer service you can imagine from Sandy. She even arranged for our unmentionables to be picked up, laundered & delivered back into our room! Sandy was such a doll. Every day she greeted us like she hadn’t seen us in a coon’s age — sincerely! Staying here felt like a second home. Plus, there are only 19 rooms! Room 19 has a view of the space needle, which is perfect for events that call for fireworks. I know this because Sandy shared this little gem with us in the event we’re back for the New Year. (Oh, & one of THE MOST EXCELLENT restaurants I’ve eaten at in my LIFE is downstairs. No joke. Ballin’.) This is seriously a fabulous boutique hotel. No elevator, but whatever. I ate like a bitchwolf so the stairs needed to happen.
Yes. Love yourself. At El Gaucho.

My stay here was wonderful! The ladies at the front desk were amazing, when I checked in I mentioned I was surprising my boyfriend for our anniversary and when we got to the room they had a bottle of champagne on ice for us! I bought the wine and dine package which includes valet parking and $ 50 for dinner in the restaurant. We will defiantly be back next time we want a staycation.

Loved everything about this place! Great room! The Restaurant is incredible and there is a theatre on lower level! Great place to walk from. Staff was great. Wine tasting in evening! Thankyou! We’ll be back for sure!

What a great find in Seattle. Room is so warm and comfortable. Fresh cookies in the room with a personal welcoming card. Wine reception in the lobby each day at 5pm. Highly recommend this place!

Great tiny hotel. I loved my stay and can’t wait to come back.

What great customer service! I called this evening to see if I could make a reservation in a specific room for next weekend for our son to celebrate his 40^th birthday and Sandy made it happen! I’m sure he will have a wonderful experience– thanks Sandy!

We stayed here for two nights after our wedding before our honeymoon and it was divine. It was cute and quaint and super comfortable. It was like being at home only cleaner and with maid-​service. The lady at the concierge was so friendly and wonderful and when she found out we had just been married, she brought us sparkling water to our room (she offered champagne and wine but we’re not big drinkers). We also saw a movie at the theater downstairs and they have artisan popcorn that is SO DELICIOUS. Get the truffle butter one. It’s one of those theater’s that people can order drinks from the bar in the lobby during the movie so a lot of people were hammered, which was annoying but not el gaucho’s fault. We would definitely recommend staying here to anyone coming to Seattle. It’s a short trip into down town and the area it’s in is beautiful, clean and safe to walk around in at night.

What a nice find. Booked last minute and we’re so happy with the accommodations. Hand-​written welcome note and fresh cookies to greet us. View of the sound. Really, really solid customer service. Spacious, retro stylish room. Inviting lobby. Minus one star for the somewhat confusing entrance and for the walk-​up without elevator to get to the lobby. Other than that, I give it 5 stars. We’d definitely stay here again!

wow! i’m reading these 1 star and 2 star reviews and i’m shocked. i stayed at the el gaucho in october when i was on a solo road trip and booked the place at random. i LOVED the décor, the bar, the lobby, the frank sinatra pictures all over… (i’m italian, we love frank always) ALSO the location is great and walking distance to pike place, the space needle, bars, anything you need…
i was given room 3 *I THINK*, and it was absolutely perfect. the room looked beautiful.
i was greeted with a handwritten notecard, cookies, and available local snacks at the mini bar to purchase. not to mention the inviting lobby with a fireplace and they have a wine reception every night, which is rad.
because of this, when i knew we had to return to seattle for a wedding, i brought my husband this time and said «WE HAVE TO STAY AT THIS HOTEL THAT I STAYED AT LAST TIME!»
before i wrote this i read recent reviews and there was a review about the smell… i have no idea what that reviewer was talking about. there was no smell whatsoever in the hotel. and IF there were to be a smell from the restaurant… wouldn’t you like the smell of steak wafting in? (i would)
this same review mentioned the wifi. wifi in hotels is always crappy. there are many, many people trying to use the internet at once. deal with it.
my shining star of the review was the staff… i met Sandi on my first trip and she was so amazing and actually remembered me on my second trip. she was so kind and accommodating and even was interested in seeing photos of the outfits we wore to the wedding we attend while we were visiting. we also met david, who was equally amazing. i was so impressed at their «above and beyond» service, i actually bought them a bouquet of flowers to say thank you, because they deserved it.
if anyone has less than a 5 star review of the inn at el gaucho, please message me, because i’m curious how you can have any other opinion.
xoxox
kristyn

This is a wonderful little inn. Located in Belltown it is close to everything. A delicious homemade cookie awaited me in the room! Yummy! We have reservations for dinner at the steakhouse tomorrow, can’t wait!

This is really as good as it gets. I was here much of a week to celebrate a milestone birthday. The location is easily walkable to Pike Market (15 minutes), Space Needle/​Seattle Center (15 minutes), Chinatown (30 minutes), & Elliot Bay Bookstore (30 minutes).
The service right from the jump was superb. Absolutely everything I asked for was easy to get. Including a wig shop and a trash bag. The ladies and the gentleman at the front desk during the day were simply fantastic.
The rooms was big, airy, comfortable, and clean.
Hate walking, or cannot walk, we used Über a few times in a rush. It was never more than the length of one song for the Über drive to appear.
Location, over a steakhouse, also a small charming one screen movie theater. Tons of coffee shops and restaurants within a 2 block radius.
I would also mention the walk to the Norwegian cruise terminal is about 5 minutes or so (and its downhill).
Would absolutely recommend to someone I care about. When I am back, I am sure we will stay here. Positive.
I feel like I need to add a con, so I am going to add this, its really being very picky, but I would have liked to have a lactose-​free creamer to go with the Mini-​Moos near the Keurig. But, really, who the hell goes to Seattle and relies on hotel room coffee.

We stayed here for Valentine’s Day after booking one of their special packages and really enjoyed our stay. I could care less that it was V-​Day, I was just excited for a kid-​free night! With the V-​day package, we got a $ 100 voucher for food at El Gaucho which is where we were planning to have dinner anyways so it was perfect.
The hotel is definitely at «boutique» hotel and only had 17 suites (I think) but that made the hotel even more special. You can tell right off the bat that the hotel is old but that gives it charm. The front desk gal was super friendly and helpful and even offered us wine to take back to our room. I loved the fireplace lounge area in the lobby as well. It was very inviting.
Our room was the perfect size and very quaint. Comfortable couch/​seating area, nice big comfy bed and a decent bathroom with an awesome shower. I loved the soaps, shampoos and even the free bottle of champagne that waited for us when we arrived.
The room was exactly what we were looking for and we had a great time, at a reasonable price. We will definitely be back again!

Negative: dated, 70’s fixtures, tiny shower stall, not really well-​maintained, and pretty brutal staircase makes this a non-​starter for people with any sort of physical challenge. No breakfast. Not cheap (paid $ 210/​nite via Expedia). A/​C did not work properly: made loud noise each time it switched off, waking us up.
Positive: great location, sweet service, spacious rooms, comfortable beds, good (Keurig) coffee maker.

On another night in Seattle, we decided to stay at the Inn at El Gaucho as the prices were reasonable and it was still located in part of the city. The pictures looked cool so I thought, why not?
After pulling up, I realized the valet was $ 35 a night. It’s the only type of parking, other than street parking, so probably the best way to go. Once you drop your car off, you’ll go up the stairs and see the front desk. The check in station is pretty small and the staff seem like family, so I knew the place would have more of an intimate feel. I then noticed that there was only a handful of rooms available. I would say no more than 20 rooms on one floor. Once I checked in, I opened the door and I was in heaven!
The rooms were spacious and super cute! Leather sofa area, separate from the bed area. The Bose speakers in the room were playing classical music when I entered. There was a table with a handwritten card welcoming me to the room accompanied with chocolate chip cookies. I was in awe. This was such a nice touch to the room and so appreciated! The bathroom was quaint and clean. They were also stocked with GliChrist and Soames products, a super elegant touch! The beds were comfy and had way too many pillows than I could handle but everything was airy.
I LOVED this place. It was full of personality and the staff really focused on the details of it all. I’m super happy I found this place and will be back to stay here again and again. The next time you’re in Seattle, you’ve gotta try this place out! It’s well worth the price and super cute!

Bait and switch operation. Came here at a locked price but once my party got to the front desk, they said they would only give us our room once we paid an extra $ 45.
Price isn’t a big deal, but the principal of it was. Didn’t have much of a choice at this point. Had I known I was about to get screwed I would’ve taken my business elsewhere.
So watch out! They might try to get you and your wallet.

I’ll preface this review by saying that we really wanted to like the Inn at El Gaucho. The price per night was competitive, and everyone was raving about its charm.
We are currently staying here right now. We reserved a Junior «Suite» for 4 nights, but we are checking out early and moving to a different hotel. We are that unsatisfied.
As the other reviews mentioned, what you’ll first notice at your stay is the smell. The restaurant below doesn’t seem to have good ventilation, so it lingers throughout the hotel. It’s a shame to have keep your windows shut, so the smell doesn’t permeate your room.
We initially checked into Room 7. The room wasn’t much bigger than a standard hotel room you would find elsewhere, so I’m confused as to why their rooms are classified as «suites.» We found a hair on the bed comforter (pics to come). Our bathroom door didn’t close, let alone lock. The volume on our TV didn’t work, so you couldn’t hear anything. We were in this room for only 15 minutes max before we asked to be moved.
Our current room isn’t much better. The room appears to not have had a thorough dusting in a few months. Try opening the wooden blinds or look at the glass counters and see for yourself. There are even cobwebs above the shower. Even after staying for 2 nights, this didn’t change. The bathroom is cramped, and lacks a bathroom fan. To prevent the bathroom from becoming a hot steam sauna, you have to open the small window which is positioned so that everyone on 1^st Avenue can see you shower. The window also needs some clever maneuvering or else it won’t stay open. The shoddy construction of the room was an ongoing theme during our stay. The toilet tissue holder, towel rack and door knob are all loose. The light switch at the front door is nearly falling off, so much so you can see into the wall. It looked like there once was a bath towel hook, but it was removed/​fell off and never replaced.
When we returned after our first day out, we were surprised that we didn’t get fresh towels. We had to ask the front desk on our way out. When we returned back to the hotel (a few hours later), the new towels were left on an end table, and the old ones were still gracing our bathroom.
The wifi is included, but is spotty at best. Many websites timed-​out depending where I sat in the room.
The only redeeming factors:
John, at the front desk, is friendly, hospitable and accommodating as can be.
The in-​room Keurig machine.
Wine reception in the evening.
For 4 nights, our total would’ve been $ 559, which is a hefty sum to pay when you’re not nearly satisfied, which is why we are checking out a day early. This Inn might be worth it to you if you’re dining/​drinking at the restaurant below and want a convenient place to crash. I wouldn’t stay here if you’re on vacation, on a romantic getaway or trying to have a relaxing time.
Management please take notice. We really want your Inn to improve!

The Inn was just ok. The bed was sub-​par — very squeaky and very squishy. I did like that I could walk away from the restaurant with my drinks, up to my room. But other than that, it was just an average room. I took several pictures.
It was walking distance to Pike’s Place Market though — about six blocks — which was nice.
What was above average, was customer service. Thank you for that!