DoubleTree Arctic Club Hotel

The Arctic Club Seattle a DoubleTree by Hilton is a luxurious hotel located a block from Seattle’s Historic Pioneer Square.  Rich in history and beautifully restored to provide the best in contemporary Doubletree hospitality our hotel has recently been awarded, for the third year, the AAA 4-Diamond Award. Our modern luxury hotel is conveniently located just off of I-5 in the heart of Seattle’s financial district and close to Seattle's International District and professional sports fields.

The Arctic Club was originally a social institution for the men who returned from the Yukon gold rush after "striking it rich." Though most who headed north found no gold, a small percentage did return to Seattle with more than just memories. The Arctic Club provided an exclusive social community for those Seattleites who had returned from the Alaska Gold Rush with money in their pockets and a repertoire of stories to tell about their adventures in the Yukon.

The original entrance to the Arctic Club and its main lounge has been restored, and today when visitors enter, numerous portrait photographs of many former club members are there to greet them. Moldings and other original decorations have been restored, and one can almost guess where the original ladies’ tea room, card room, and other Arctic Club facilities might have been. The focal point of the building remains The Northern Lights Dome Room. Since the buildings inception it has had an extraordinary facelift and the glass dome ceiling simply glows.

The building dates back to 1916 when the club commissioned A. Warren Gould, one of the city's most prominent architects, to design the building. Gould created an eight-story building true to the club's origins: fine Alaskan marble covers its main corridors and terra cotta walrus head statues run around the third-floor exterior. The Arctic Club Building was one of the earliest to use terra cotta panels placed over a steel reinforced concrete frame; however, unlike other early users of this technique, The Arctic Club Building sported not just off-white panels, but also used submarine blue and orange-brown. The club's elegant interior once included a ladies' tea room, private dining rooms, billiard and card rooms, a bowling alley, barber shop and private roof garden. The formal dining room, The Northern Lights Dome Room, was always the focal point of the club, its stuccoed ceilings, the ornamented cornices, and beautiful chandeliers speak of the rich history and foundations of this building.

The Arctic Club disbanded in 1971; nearly 80 years after the Klondike Gold Rush began. By then Alaska had achieved statehood and transportation improvements had made Alaska less remote and less in need of promotion.  Many club members who had enjoyed the opportunity it afforded to meet with fellow Alaskans who had lived through the gold rush years, had passed away, diminishing the community the club served.