Moving up the building the mezzanine floor has not only function and meeting rooms but also a business lounge that shames many other business lounges with its sumptuous comfort. An effective working space this area can also be extended onto an adjacent rooftop area that is tented, providing protection against the Seattle drizzle – like Manchester in England or Bergen in Norway, Seattle is known for its rain.

The higher one goes in the hotel the better the views of Puget Sound towards the islands and Pacific beyond. Much of the computing into this seaboard town is by ferry, and the surges of pedestrian from early morning coincide with the arrival times of the ferry boats. It is noticeable that the working hours are longer in the US than Europe but design practices will be envious of the less than $2(£1) a square foot rent paid by Dawson for their stunning studio space – what a contrast with the current $50(£25) a square foot in London, where it can cost $12(£6) a week for the space occupied by a desk litter bin, double the daily income of some people in the world.

Bedrooms fall into the usual US pattern of generously sized double beds, double doubles with smaller beds, and then suites of differing sizes. All are treated to the same richness of colour and pattern, high quality materials and the maximising of window space (with very effective blackout too). Quality materials are used and there are some amusing designer touches such as the book by Ruskin at the bedside. There is a great desk for working at but by some quirk of mismanagement the gas list of the desk chair has been disabled to prevent the arms banging the underside of the desk (so I am advised). Wouldn’t it have been better if this is a problem (which I doubt) to have specified a chair without arms so that it is possible to sit at the ergonomically correct working height – that is why after all the chairs are adjustable, isn’t it?

"the bathroom is in itself a little theatrical event which brings a smile of pleasure"

The bathrooms have floor to ceiling windows in many cases. Some are a glass wall into the bedroom, others, disconcertingly, are full frontal to the office block across the road. Guests need not despair as a certain amount of hunting will reveal the electronic controls for the blinds which lower slowly enough that you could perform a strip tease for the office workers over the road if so inclined, whilst the blind descends like a theatre curtain.

Even more disconcerting than the window initially can be, is the bath filler itself. When the tap is turned on a column of water falls from the ceiling to fill the tub – a mini Niagara guaranteed to make the unsuspecting forget to lower the blind in their surprise...all in all the bathroom is in itself a little theatrical event which brings a smile of pleasure.

Cultural references help to lift the hotel into a different plane and thought has been given to every aspect of this, from pictures through ornamentation, including the Ruskin on the bedside table. As appropriate in a Pacific rim city there are Oriental cultural references throughout (bamboo arrangements for example) as well as Western references. The screensavers on the televisions are sophisticated talks on major international artworks, the artworks themselves being the screen savers. In fact the screen savers are more interesting than many a television programme...