(The Center Square) – The Silver Cloud Hotel-Stadium’s location within 500 feet of Lumen Field, home of the FIFA World Cup Games played in Seattle, helped the hotel transform empty rooms into a sell-out at the last minute.
“It wasn’t easy by any means, and it did not go in the traditional path,” said K.J. Roff, general manager of the hotel.
Roff said rosy projections after Seattle was one of the cities awarded the World Cup in 2022 were that the hotel would sell out every one of its 211 rooms two years before the 2026 games.
“It didn’t come to fruition,” he said.
A report by the American Hotel & Lodging Association in May said that FIFA was canceling room blocks at Seattle hotels and at lodging establishments in other U.S. cities scheduled to host the World Cup.
It said tougher visa rules and entry requirements for international travelers may have scared away some visitors.
But two weeks ago, the Silver Cloud Hotel started receiving last-minute room bookings, particularly for those attending the USA-Australia match on Friday, June 19.
Roff said he was not clear on why reservations suddenly started coming in, filling dozens of empty rooms.
“We don’t have experience with this,” he said. “If Taylor Swift announces a concert, we know the hotel will sell out. Seattle has never hosted the World Cup.”
Roff said so far it’s been all positive.
“On Friday, during the USA game, we had record revenue in both the rooms and the restaurant,” he said. “The vibe down here has been outstanding and spectacular.”
Roff said he expects sold-out rooms for the remaining three games.
But it’s not just about soccer; the hotel is across the street from T-Mobile Park, home of the Seattle Mariners.
“On Friday, we had the U.S. soccer team and the Boston Red Sox play in the evening,” he said.
He said visitors boarding Alaskan cruises from Seattle have also helped business.
But hotels still list rooms available for the three remaining World Cup Games, and data from the hotel analytics firm CoStar Group show a more mixed picture of World Cup occupancy in Seattle.
Hotel occupancy for the first World Cup game in Seattle on June 15, between Belgium and Egypt, was 74.8%, down 9.8% from the same date a year earlier.
However, the average room rate of $244.67 was up 15% from the same date a year earlier.
For the USA-Australia match on June 19, CoStar said hotel occupancy was at 84.1%, up only 3% from the same data a year earlier.
But room rates of $340.28 were 64.3% higher than those on June 19, 2025.
The World Cup has been a mixed bag for Seattle’s economy.
Retail stores near Luman Field and in tourist areas say business has been booming.
Sales increased seven to eight times normal on June 19, the date of the USA-Australia game, said Dani Cone, owner of the Cone & Steiner market by Lumen Field.
“It was wall-to-wall people,” she said of the crowd outside her store. “It was spectacular.”
Beer and hot dogs were popular sellers, she said.
Cone said that even on non-game days, business has been better than usual.
But it’s hard to say the whole city of Seattle is celebrating.
Two miles away from the stadium in downtown Seattle, another soccer hub has been established.
But you would barely notice it on Wednesday, June 24, at Soccer House.
Pacific Place, a mostly empty indoor mall, features Seattle Soccer House, which contains Seattle’s largest viewing screen (70-by-40 feet) spanning four stories, as well as pop-up stores.
All that was missing on Wednesday was the fans. The game between Bosnia-Herzegovina and Qatar was shown live from Lumen Field, but only around 150 people viewed the free event at the mall.
But it’s all about the teams playing.
When the USA played Australia, there was a long line to get into the FIFA pop-up merchandise shop at the mall, said the assistant manager, Karla Lugo. The shop sells team jerseys, t-shirts, hats and other FIFA merchandise.
She said more than 500 USA jerseys were sold at $375 each, selling out the entire store’s supply.
At the Pumrosa Candle Store, one of the few permanent stores in the mall, owner Vanessa Barrios said the small mall crowd on Wednesday meant there were few customers.
“It’s not very busy,” she said.
While the USA-Australia game drew a bigger crowd into her shop, she said very few people purchased products.
But Barrios, who also sells online, remained optimistic.
“It’s positive to talk to people from all over the world who are visiting,” she said.
Barrios said she hoped that people visiting her shop would lead to more internet sales.
A variety of factors have kept some tourists away, said Michael Stathokostopoulos, a senior director of hospitality analytics at CoStar Group.
He said some of the teams chosen to play in Seattle like Qatar, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Egypt, don’t have big fan bases.
Meanwhile, Stathokostopoulos said high airline ticket prices, driven by fuel surcharges from the war in Iran, have also scared away international visitors.
Market owner Cone said what has impressed her about the crowds is the positive energy. She said everyone who has visited her store has been respectful, and there have been no violent incidents in her neighborhood by the stadium.
A spokesman for the Seattle Police Department, Lieutenant Patrick Michaud, said he did not have a running tally of arrests.
“So far, everything has gone really well. Everyone going to the games has been wonderful. It has just been fantastic to show the world how beautiful this city is,” he said.
At least one Seattle business owner is waiting for the World Cup to be over.
He is hoping that business will get back to normal after the last game on July 6.
While the Anh Oi Bake Shop is only a half mile from Lumen Field in the Chinatown International District, owner Vince Ohanhoi said business is down 80% since the games started.
He said locals are shunning the area because they are worried about traffic, while World Cup visitors are not interested in his pan-Asian bakery, featuring treats from across Asia.
He said the two-month-old bakery was doing well until the World Cup began.
He said World Cup visitors seem interested in bars and restaurants rather than Asian delicacies.
“I can’t wait until things get back to normal,” he said.