Westlake Center Mall and Macy's, in downtown Seattle

Seattle enjoys a robust retail scene, particularly downtown along East Pine Street, where you'll find Macy's, Nordstrom, Pacific Place shopping center, and the immense Westlake Center Mall, which is also the downtown terminus for the Seattle Monorail (which you can take to the Seattle Center, and the famous Space Needle). Pictured here is Talbots, part of Westlake Center, which is also home to dozens of other mid-range shops and restaurants, including a very popular P.F. Chang's. Pacific Place is a bit hipper, with its 11-screen cinema, restaurants like Il Fornaio and Gordon Biersch Brewery, and shops that include Barneys New York, BCBGMAXAZRIA, Barnes & Noble, Cartier, Express, J. Jill, L'Occitane (which makes the lovely bath products provided in rooms at the Hotel Monaco Seattle and other Kimpton properties), Restoration Hardware, Tiffany, White House/Black Market, Williams-Sonoma. It's just a 10-minute walk east on Pine Street to reach Seattle's gayest 'hood, Capitol Hill, which is rife with cafes, shops, gay bars, and restaurants.