30 May 2002
Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce

Real Estate Buzz: New U District hotel offers bikes and carts

By Joe Nabbefeld
Real Estate Editor

No two rooms are alike in Seattle's newest hotel, Malcolm Goodfellow's 100-studio Watertown, which opens this week in the University District.

Sure, each unit comes with a "nautical porthole" in the bathroom, to let in natural light. They each have a safe, too, in which to store laptop computers. The rooms, by the way, are called studios. And none have the same shape.

"This is not an ordinary hotel," admits general manager Patty Davis. "All our studios offer a fun, funky, yet intellectual atmosphere for every guest."

"It's unique but NOT boutique," said the Seattle architecture firm of Degen & Degen, which designed the Watertown.

The hotel provides a dozen bicycles for guests to take for a spin at no charge.

In its biggest innovation, the hotel also provides an array of "amenity carts" that wheel into the studios loaded with whatever items one wants. The carts wheel out whenever the space is needed.

"The computer cart transforms the studio into an office," according to Degen & Degen. "Other carts that will be available include the seasonal cart, art cart, Patty's party cart, game cart, library cart and the sleep-aid cart."

The seasonal cart carries gear for holidays like Halloween, Thanksgiving, 4th of July and such.

The Patty in Patty's Party Cart derives from the first name of general manager Davis. The game cart, meanwhile, is the kids' version of the party cart. The library cart carries books, of course. The sleep-aid cart, aka the spa cart, provides blindfolds and various relaxation aids.

"This is hotel a la carte," said Jeff Degen of Degen & Degen, back when planning began more than two years ago. "You pick and choose your amenities."

The studios range in size from 325 to 545 square feets.

"These rooms break the mold for hotel guest rooms," said Anita Degen of Degen & Degen. "We started with the idea of flexibility and fulfillment of the guest experience ... then built the rooms around that."

Goodfellow, operating as Nootka Hotels, owns and operates the University Inn a block south of the Watertown. He said in 1999 that he doesn't seek to create a chain but rather to enjoy operating two or possibly three hotels without loosing contact with the guests.

The six-story Watertown cost $11 million to build. It's located on the southwest corner of Roosevelt Way and Northeast 43rd Street, a site previously occupied by a University Ford showroom.

The hotel market has soured dramatically since planning and construction began for the Watertown.

Wolfgang Rood Hospitality of Bellevue reports occupancies and room rates have both been declining, hurt by the the dot-com meltdown, recession and the 9/11 attacks. High-end hotels are hit hardest; Watertown is more toward nice-yet-affordable.

"It's definitely a difficult time to open a hotel, for sure," said hotel consultant Andy Olsen of the Chambers Group in Seattle. "But there hasn't been a new hotel in that market for some time." Opening toward the tail end of a down market gives a new hotel time to break in while it's not too busy, he said.