guesthouse | The Goal List

Fremont Troll under the bridge – Photo Credit: Sue via Flickr, Used unmodified under CC BY 2.0 license

The self-proclaimed “Center of the Universe,” the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle is a great place to spend some time, whether you’re just visiting or exploring the city you live in. There’s enough going on that you could even make a weekend trip for this neighborhood alone.

Fremont is known for its eclectic, artsy feel and its many festivals and events. It’s located north of downtown, and is easily accessible by public transportation, car, or walking, so there’s no excuse not to stop by.

There’s a ton of interesting things to see and places to visit in this neighborhood, so I’m sure I overlooked something. Several people helped me with this list, and you can be one of them: if you think of something that I’ve left off and should include in the next round, leave a note in the comments!

Who and what’s included:
I came up with a list of places I recommend checking out (indicated by an asterisk). Then I contacted several of those places and asked anyone working there if they had additional recommendations (you’ll see their ideas in each category below). These are the businesses I talked with:

Jill at Ophelia’s Books
Danielle at Fainting Goat Gelato
Lauren at Portage Bay Goods
Nancy who owns Hotel Hotel Hostel
Hal who owns the Teeny Tiny Guesthouse
Josh at Uneeda Burger

Our recommendations include food and drink, services and shopping, activities and sightseeing, and accommodations. (Click to jump to your favorite section or read them all!)

Note: If I didn’t put an asterisk next to the recommendation, it doesn’t mean it’s bad, it’s probably just that I haven’t been there yet to personally recommend it. There’s so much to see and do that I haven’t been to all of these!

See the list!

What’s the smallest house you’ve stayed in? For two days, I stay in a 68 square foot house, and I don’t miss the extra space for one second.

There are many tiny houses popping up all around the world, all functional but with varying degrees of attractiveness. I find out about this one from its listing on AirBnB (read below if you want a discount). It’s cute, fun, and slightly quirky.

In person, the house seems much larger than in the video, and for the two of us it’s plenty of room (my friend C. is with me on this “staycation”).

We spend the first moments there talking with Hal, the owner and builder of this space, and he gives us the tour and welcomes us to the little house. Then he goes into his own (larger) house, saying he’s going to water the roof of guesthouse (to water, he sprays water from his house to the roof lawn of the guesthouse). We forget this by the time we go back inside and can’t help but explore the roof lawn, and we’re sitting on the roof lawn when Hal, very luckily, looks out before soaking us with water! We go back inside so he can give the lawn water without getting us wet.

The house is within walking distance of the main part of Fremont, a quirky neighborhood of Seattle, as well as near many bus routes, so C. and I take a bus to downtown and Pike Place Market, and then come back to Fremont to check out some shops and get dinner. At night, we walk back to the guesthouse, where the WiFi is strong, so we’re able to stream a movie to watch before going to bed. C. wants to sleep in the loft bed and I won’t mind either but have a preference for the rolling bed, so it works out perfectly (both beds are comfortable and we sleep well).

In the morning, we drink tea and eat some pastries Hal gave us, remembering not to microwave the pastries and run the tea kettle at the same time (to prevent tripping the circuit breaker). We spend a relaxing day walking around in Fremont and the nearby Wallingford neighborhood, returning to the guesthouse in the afternoon to get some quiet reading time and enjoy the good weather on the tiny lawn.

Sleeping the second night is as comfortable as the first. Hal has us take the sheets off the bed before we leave in the morning, and we sweep up (because even though we’re careful to remove our shoes we still manage to track in some nature, and I grew up with my mom telling me to leave things better than I found them – even though in this case it’s pretty hard to do, since the guesthouse is kept up really well). I also make sure to type a note on the typewriter guestbook (how often do you get to use one of those?!).

Overall, this is a great “staycation” in our own city. We both had a lot of fun, the guesthouse is comfortable, the living/sleeping areas and bathroom feels like they all have enough space, the front yard+roof lawn combo is great for sunny days, and the location is fantastic. I definitely recommend it!

Resource (discount!):
If you decide you want to stay in this or other AirBnB listings, you can use my referral link to get travel credit (discount), valid for new accounts only. It also gives me a travel credit at no extra cost to you. If you don’t want a discount, or if you don’t want to start a new account, you can just use the direct link to Hal’s Teeny Tiny Guesthouse.

Want a unique experience but this is just a little too teeny tiny? Try the Hotel Hotel Hostel in the same neighborhood!