Searching in Seattle - Citysearch Style

As a consumer, I normally use Google Maps when looking for local business information. I've been trying to switch that up lately. A week ago, I had a simple but nice user experience, and decided to give them some quick props on Yahoo Local.

This time, I'm searching for information. Citysearch has a newer facelift so it's time to put them to the test. It's been awhile since I've visited friends in Seattle and am planning to go there sometime this year, preferably during Bumbershoot.

I'm searching for a few things:

Hotel – preferably downtown close to sights/food/drink, and close to the Monorail that takes you right to Bumbershoot at the Seattle Center.

Theater – just in case

Nice Seafood Restaurant – hey, it's Seattle!

Chiropractor - (I don't expect to need one, but I didn’t think so during a San Jose trip last year either.)

One nice thing about Citysearch is the ability to search and pinpoint a neighborhood. In this case, downtown is the choice. Here's what I found in 17 minutes:

Hotel Max - I haven't heard of them before, but it looks fantastic. The rooms all have local art and flat screen ESPN (I mean TVs), and people seem to say nice things about them. It's also only a couple blocks from the Monorail.

Theater – somewhere in the hotel search, I came across a link to the Paramount Theater. I've never been, and it winds up they have free tours the first Saturday of each month. If my stay coincides with Bumbershoot, this is perfect. The 90-minute tours start at 10:00am, and it's close to the hotel and Monorail.

Nice Seafood Restaurant – my mind was already made up, but it was nice to see Ivar's high up in the search for "seafood restaurant". If you've been, you know what I mean. Yum!

Chiropractor – turns out there's a chiropractic office called Dynamic Chiropractic Clinic close by and people say great things about them. I'm sure that Dr. Carr won't take it personally that I hope to not have to see them during my visit.

Will I book the Hotel Max room right away? No, I'll probably check out some travel sites to see if there are any package deals. It's nice to already have this information in the memory bank though, and if a package comes up with Hotel Max, I'll be booking it.

The nice thing is finding all this information through Citysearch only took 17 minutes. Just writing this post took longer.