3 Best Hotels in Tacoma, Washington Cascade Mountains and Valleys

Opened in 2021 in the city's dynamic and newly developed waterfront neighborhood just south of Point Defiance Park, this upscale mid-rise with spacious contemporary rooms and an excellent restaurant offers seaside relaxation and views yet proximity to a large city. Rooms have floor-to-ceiling windows, wet bars, and large walk-in showers. Copper & Salt Northwest Kitchen serves well-crafted regional fare, and Spa Serein offers a full slate of soothing body treatments. Don't confuse this property with the older, but still quite nice, Silver Cloud Hotel Tacoma Waterfront, which is a couple of miles southeast, closer to downtown.

Tacoma's lone waterfront hotel juts out into the bay along picturesque Ruston Way and the historic Old Town. Contemporary rooms and even swankier suites with plush carpets, overstuffed chairs, cozy fireplaces, and corner hot tubs look out over Commencement Bay and the boardwalk marina area. Aside from glossy bay vistas, rooms have microwaves, refrigerators, 55-inch flat-screen TVs, and Aveda bath products.

Spread over 3 lushly landscaped acres along beautiful American Lake, this 27,000-square-foot property was built in 1908 from the pieces of a 16th-century Gothic- and Tudor-style castle shipped from England; it has hosted two American presidents (William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt). It's replete with medieval-style stained-glass windows, gleaming wood floors, large mirrors, antiques, fireplaces, and hot tubs. From the lakeside patio and sunken garden—designed by the Olmsted Brothers—you can meditate on the spectacular sunsets.