Skip to content

A New Seattle Hotel Sounds Off

The city’s new Sound Hotel offers impressive views and art that impresses

By Samantha Bushman February 28, 2019

Muralshot

Nestled in Belltown adjacent to the iconic Cinerama, the new Sound Hotel stands tall on a sleepy city block that’s been slow to change. The adaptive 42-story part-hotel, part-apartment tower—that bills itself as one of the “first for-rent mixed-use properties in the market”—incorporates unobstructed views of the Space Needle and South Lake Union into some of its 142 hotel rooms, which take up the first 11 floors.

Its name pays homage to the musical history of Belltown while playing up a Puget Sound forest vibe. Music motifs can be found everywhere, from the house restaurant “Currant” Bistro (get it?), to lamps made to look like brass instruments, and unique sound wave wallpaper in each guest room.

On the hotel’s quietest side are eight rooms that face Cinerama’s exterior brick façade. To compete with the sky-high views of the property’s other rooms, the developers commissioned local mural artist Weirdocult Jeff “Weirdo” Jacobson to fill Cinerama’s empty wall with a vibrant, music-themed mural.

Jacobson, who chronicles his installations live on Instagram, is known for what he calls “Post-Internet Hyperrealism,” creating art that combines elements of pop culture, modernism and abstract concepts. His Sound Hotel mural includes a brightly colored guitar and lush green trees streaming with light, offering guests who could have woken up to plain brick wall a window into Belltown’s backyard—a vision of Seattle inspired as much by yesterday as today.

Follow Us

Ferry Tales: Eight Indie Bookstores Worth the Ride

Ferry Tales: Eight Indie Bookstores Worth the Ride

Plan a summer day around these bookshops in Seattle, Bremerton, Bainbridge Island, Kingston, and Poulsbo.

Independent bookstores tend to be cornerstones of the communities in which they reside, and Seattle is no exception. In addition to helping customers discover their next read, these neighborhood hubs host weekly gatherings and events, like publication release parties, author talks, and book clubs. Many of them have cafés and reading tables that encourage lingering…

Rearview Mirror: Seattle Art Fair is Back, Nordstrom Throws a Block Party, and a Must-Try Ice Cream Sundae

Rearview Mirror: Seattle Art Fair is Back, Nordstrom Throws a Block Party, and a Must-Try Ice Cream Sundae

Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).

SEATTLE ART FAIR RETURNS  The buzziest event of the summer (well, aside from the World Cup), is returning next week. Now in its 10th edition, the Seattle Art Fair will once again take over the Lumen Field Event Center, packing it to the gills with art from 101 local, national, and international galleries. This year,…

Studio Sessions: Jennifer Leigh Harrison

Studio Sessions: Jennifer Leigh Harrison

Seattle artist Jennifer Leigh Harrison uses layers of paint and abstraction to explore what we carry beneath the surface.

Jennifer Leigh Harrison’s paintings are dense with movement. Color and texture gather into mosaic-like fields, as if they have been fractured and reformed. There are places in the work where a frenetic buzz seems trapped between the canvas and the first layer of paint. That energy runs through Patterns of Belonging, her current exhibition at…

ENHYPEN’s Jay Has K-Pop Stardom and a Seattle Heart

ENHYPEN’s Jay Has K-Pop Stardom and a Seattle Heart

The Federal Way-raised singer talks hometown memories, Ivar’s clam chowder, and how it feels to perform in the place he grew up.

Long before he was performing in sold-out arenas around the world and representing brands like Prada, ENHYPEN’s Jay called the Puget Sound region home. Born Jay Park (not to be confused with the other famous K-pop star of the same name, who is also from Seattle) in Seattle and raised in nearby Federal Way before…