Seattle’s 100-year-old landmark Hotel Sorrento is looking more beautiful than ever thanks to an extensive restoration. From its perch atop First Hill, the historic boutique hotel is Seattle’s oldest, with a proud legacy as the center of local culture and society.
After a half-century hiatus, the Sorrento’s original manicured garden returns in the form of a new outdoor dining and gathering place. The concrete-cast signage above the entrance portico has been brought back to life. The lobby’s original white marble floor — long hidden by carpet — has been exposed, and the famous Fireside Room, home to generations of afternoon teas, nighttime jazz performances, poetry readings, and general conviviality, has gained a cocktail bar and carefully curated art and furnishings.
Top of the Town, the Sorrento’s dramatic, seventh-floor event space, boasts a new look to match its expansive city-to-Sound views. The hotel’s 76 spacious and unique guest rooms have been recast in understated colors and an eclectic array of vintage furniture, unusual artwork and one-of-a-kind accents. This month the Sorrento launches its Designer Suite series, inviting three Seattle designers to each redesign a suite in his or her singular vision. With renewed emphasis on local talent and innovative design, the Sorrento remains a welcoming and intimate refuge for locals and travelers.
Executive Chef Seth Caswell is now overseeing the hotel’s new restaurant. Formerly known as the Hunt Club, it has been christened the Dunbar Room after the Sorrento’s circa 1960 restaurant. The menu highlights Contemporary American Cuisine made with locally sourced ingredients. Selections include playful small plates and elevated classics, focused on local seafood and dry-aged steaks. The adjacent lounge offers a cocktail list by restaurateur Jared Meisler. “Like the menu and indeed the hotel as a whole, the cocktail list is designed to be eclectic,” says Meisler. “The menu represents where the cocktail movement is now. The flavors are very robust, deep and complex with accents on bitter, smoky and spicy flavors.”
Since opening its doors during the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition of 1909, the Sorrento has been Seattle’s elegant, eclectic hub of hospitality, creativity and urban life. The current stewards, Barbara and Michael Malone, along with the team at Magnetic/ERV, honor the Sorrento’s landmark legacy aligned with the progressive character of the fastest growing city in America.
