GETAWAY A ticket to ride for Seattle T

HE hotel room was a bit out of the ordinary to start with.

When the billing says ‘sea-front,’ it doesn’t normally mean ocean waves lapping right up to your window. So near, you could use a fishing rod to chance your arm right out of your own bedroom suite.

Which is exactly what the Beatles did from Room 272 of the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle, on America’s West Coast.

That was back in the late summer of 1964, when the Fab Four kicked off their first tour of America, which took the country by storm.

During that late August and much of September, they played 32 concerts at 26 venues in 24 cities in 33 days.

It was ground-breaking and it changed everything.

With Beatlemania sweeping America, and with frenzied fans stopping at nothing to get near their new heroes, hotels refused to accommodate them.

They feared mass invasions, major disruption, and being wrecked.

However, in Seattle, Edgewater Hotel manager Don Wright saw his chance to do two things: to save his ailing hotel from being closed and demolished, and to put it on the map.

His high-risk plan worked on all fronts. The amazingly located hotel is still there today – it’s owned, maintained and carefully nurtured by the Noble House Group – and still sticking out on its pier-based structure into Elliott Bay in the Puget Sound.

For once, the word ‘unique’ might be appropriate. Noble House’s Edgewater Hotel has become a totemic icon of Seattle, every bit as much as the futuristic Space Needle, which towers over this spectacular sea-front city in Washington State.

What was built as temporary accommodation, an architectural ‘novelty’ designed to complement the Space Needle during the 1962 World Fair, defied the odds and survived. All thanks to Don Wright, The Beatles, and that famous fishing photo from their window.

You can still stay in Room 272, but it can set you back more than $1,000 a night, such is the demand, even today. Other rooms are much more modestly priced, and you can enjoy lunch or a drink in the restaurant and bar that have equally-commanding views over the bay.

The Edgewater is handy for all the other Downtown and sea-front attractions that bring in thousands of tourists to Seattle each year. More than three million come to this vibrant city to start their Alaska cruises, with Holland America Lines establishing themselves exactly 70 years ago at Port Seattle.

The city’s slogan of ‘Stay and Cruise’ means those on vacation have two experiences in one go.

It’s worth spending a few days in Seattle before you cruise off to see glaciers, whales and wildlife, and Pacific Coast Native American culture first-hand, while enjoying the luxurious conditions on board Holland America’s fleet of Alaskan-bound ships.

I would recommend spending a few days afterwards in Seattle. There’s so much to see and do.

A Seattle City Pass is the first thing to buy, the bargain $79 deal saving an adult 45% on entry to the city’s Big Five.

The Space Needle, was a statement that Seattle had arrived, an international symbol showing that a modern city had emerged from an old frontier port. It announced visually that Seattle was ‘an innovative city of technology’ and so it proved.

You can feel the vibe today, in a city that is HQ to Microsoft, Boeing, Amazon, Expedia, Cosco and, of course, Starbucks and all that ‘Frazier-style’ coffee culture. You can even go to the original Starbucks coffee shop and and get a taste of where it all started out.

Next to the Space Needle are two more City Pass attractions – the Chihuly Garden and Glass display, and the Museum of Pop Culture, which covers music, film, photography and literature. Both are visual treats. Glass blower extraordinaire Dale Chihuly makes the most imaginative and colourfully-explosive displays on a grand scale. His creations complement the plants outside, and are powerfully displayed with lighting inside.

Then there’s the Pop Culture Museum, housed in a state-of-the-art building which seems to defy architectural logic, being in the shape of a smashed-up ‘Who-style’ guitar.

Naturally, it includes Seattle’s favourite sons – Nirvana and Jimi Hendrix, who was born and brought up here, before his Foxy Lady days in London.

While we were there, a special David Bowie display was on show.

Then there’s the Aquarium, right on the waterfront. Huge, shop-front style glass panels give you incredible access, with an aqualung diver talking to you live from among the fish. But the highlight is watching the sea otters as they race round and then float on their backs.

You have to visit Pike’s Place Market, where every form of local food is available, with produce and characterful vendors galore. Finally, you can use your City Pass on a one-hour harbour tour aboard an Argosy Cruises vessel.

After the hectic time on land, it’s the perfect way to unwind and take in the sight of Seattle from the sea.