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Hello all.

 

Thank you in advance for your input:

 

We are down to three hotel. We are a group of 14 adults travelling next May and we will be staying 2 nights before our cruise. We are in a budget.

 

We looking for best location and near some activities/sights

 

Here are our choices:

 

Hotel Silvia

The Burrard

The Ramada Downton

 

What are you views ?

 

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Not knowing what your criteria are exactly it's very hard to compare pricing/availability - with 14 people is it 7 couples, do some folks need a single room, are there kids who need to share a room with adults etc? Basically what's the breakdown of the 14 into 'sleeping units'?

 

If you haven't actually compared every possibility yet - then do yourself a huge favour and check the YWCA Hotel. It's not only going to be even cheaper than any of the above, it's better-located than all of them too (and with full kitchens that enable further money-saving by eating brekkie, making packed lunches etc. if $ is a big factor). With rooms from solo to 5 people, with and without private bathrooms (and some rooms with 'Jack & Jill' shared bathroom concept so 2 semi-private doubles effectively become a 2-bedroom apartment), it's likely to be the most flexible way to accommodate a group that has a mix of singles, couples, and family units.

 

But assuming that you've already done due diligence and considered all the alternatives and only those three meet your needs - the Silvia is the best of these three by far.

 

Burrard is loud - it's opposite the largest ER in the province and ambulances come & go 24/7, and many patients (including those in the psychiatric wings) like to shop in the Seven Eleven under the motel. This is where my diabetes clinic is, and I have more than once seen a patient wander over with their IV stands, ass hanging out the back of their hospital gowns, to buy smokes or snacks (in-hospital gift shop is of course over-priced). It might be all hipsterified with trendier decor these days, but it was and remains fundamentally a very old motel in structure - soundproofing is minimal.

 

Ramada Downtown is another old building and right on the edge of the least salubrious parts of the city - unless all 14 of you are comfortable seeing homeless folks, beggars, drug-deals, hookers etc. it's not ideal. The block with the hotel itself is OK, a little scruffy, but even one block east and things get grittier. If you're all grown-ups from another urban environment then it might be fine for you.

 

Silvia is in the nice English Bay area, palm trees outside, beautiful sunset views from many of the rooms, lots of bars & restos close by. While it's further than the others to Gastown/Chinatown/Yaletown, it's the closest to Stanley Park, and they went through extensive renovations ~2 years ago IIRC. Whiole it's yet another old building, it's a standalone building of more substantial nature than either of the other two options. Hands-down this would be my pick from the three you mention, unless pricing was radically different.

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^Same downside as the Burrard re: noise - next door instead of across the street from the same ER...

 

If you're sound sleepers or bring earplugs, otherwise it's a pretty solid downtown location. You have a few restos within just a couple of blocks, and if you are happy to walk even half-a-mile you have dozens to choose from across various prices and types of food. Likes/dislikes & budget are required to offer good resto reccos for you as we have so many to choose from!

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May 23 2018 for 2 nights
Looking at booking.com in USD for your two nights in availability..... here are the popular options. Price is for TWO nights. Note, we may be too early as some hotels may not have set their rates yet.

  • $141 Barclay
  • $298 The Burrard
  • $315 Sylvia
  • $341 Time Square
  • $347 Century Plaza
  • $383 Ramada
  • $383 Days Inn
  • $437 Holiday Inn Downtown
  • $546 L'Hermitage
  • $584 Hotel BLU
  • $621 Auberge
  • $703 Westin Bayshore
  • $705 Shangri La
  • $725 Delta
  • $736 Marriott Pinnacle
  • $743 Hyatt Regency
  • $759 Pan Pacific
  • $759 Hampton Inn
  • $806 Pinnacle Harbourfront
  • $980 Fairmont Waterfront
  • $1186 Fairmont Pacific Rim

Thoughts....

  • I would be trying to scoop up that deal with Barclay. I like the neighborhood, but I hear they lack elevators.
  • Day's Inn is the same price is the Ramada, but check reviews for potential issues. The Day's Inn is 3 blocks from the cruise terminal
  • L'Hermitage may be another good option.
  • YWCA shows no availability on those dates on their website. I wonder if it's too early.

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Martincath - there hasn't been a 7-11 at that location for more than a year- there is a new burger joint called BURGOO which opened recently.

 

There are two Ramada's in downtown - one on Pender which is the old Niagara Hotel and the Ramada on Granville which is the old Austin Hotel so I assume you are describing the area around the Pender street location - not sure which one the poster is asking about.

 

Cheers!

 

Dennis

 

:):):):):)

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Thanks for all your input.

 

One more thing for The Silvia how much is the cab to port?

 

We are all adults in our 30 to 50's

So the hotel sounds a good option. I will look at the Y. Thank you all !!

 

 

 

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Hello.... what is your opinion on the century plaza on Burrard? already booked on August 14th. Whats to see? Any good restaurants? Planning on hop on hop off bus. Thanks

 

As the other poster mentioned Burrard is a busy street, however it is safe and is not that much noisier than other places in the middle of a city. It is about 3-4 blocks off of Robson Street which is a popular commercial area with restaurants, and about 2 blocks from Davie Street which is eclectic with smaller shops and diverse dining options. Hop on hop off is a great way to see a lot in a short amount of time.

 

To the OP - I may be bias because the Sylvia is in my neighbourhood, but it is a great quiet(er) area across from the beach with easy access to with world famous Stanley Park. Denman Street is nearby and has a variety of restaurants. A taxi from that neighborhood to the cruise terminal is in the $10-12 range depending on traffic. With the number in your group taxi is probably the best choice, but keep in mind most taxi's in the city only take 4 people even the vans. The city bus would likely cost the same or more but in case you are interested #5 bus is about 2 blocks from the hotel and will get you within about 2 blocks of the terminal $2.85/pp.

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Martincath - there hasn't been a 7-11 at that location for more than a year- there is a new burger joint called BURGOO which opened recently.

 

There are two Ramada's in downtown - one on Pender which is the old Niagara Hotel and the Ramada on Granville which is the old Austin Hotel so I assume you are describing the area around the Pender street location - not sure which one the poster is asking about.

 

Cheers!

 

Dennis

 

:):):):):)

Thanks for correcting me Dennis - I had indeed assumed the Pender location. Granville I'd modify my notes to not so many drug deals & hooker, but more noise and drunken buffoonery of an evening due to the concentration of nightclubs and late-opening bars in that area, the city's official 'party zone.'

 

 

I could have sworn that 7-11 was still there when I was last at the clinic in October, and Burgoo didn't open until May this year according to their own info so I feel less silly about that. BTW they're a 'comfort food bistro' chain rather than a burger joint. Somewhat over-hyped soups & stews, the name comes from an old Kentucky stew recipe. I peg them at about the Milestone's level of quality, pretty decent food and a broad menu.

 

 

Thanks for all your input.

 

One more thing for The Silvia how much is the cab to port?

 

We are all adults in our 30 to 50's

So the hotel sounds a good option. I will look at the Y. Thank you all !!

A cab to the port would be among the most expensive of any downtown hotels - but that just means a whopping 1.5miles/10mins drive! Without traffic, less than $10 on the meter. On a cruise day the biggest factor is traffic close to and actually entering the pier - there's only one way in and out so things move at a crawl. I'd assume a $15 fare per cab. If you get dropped off at the Pan Pacific door it might save a few bucks from the fare, and only adds a hundred yards or so of walking inside the building to the luggage drop.

 

 

With typical cruise luggage assume 3 people per taxi as most as Prius - even minivans only seat 4 with luggage as they are all modified for wheelchairs so there's no extra row of seats, just fold-down jumpseats in the trunk area.

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Closely following this thread.We need a hotel in the downtown area, however my wife is VERY allergic to animals, therefore we are after a "Pet Free" hotel. This is proving quite a task, so any assistance would be much appreciated.

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Closely following this thread.We need a hotel in the downtown area, however my wife is VERY allergic to animals, therefore we are after a "Pet Free" hotel. This is proving quite a task, so any assistance would be much appreciated.

No such thing - illegal. Anyone offering accommodations, food etc. to the public MUST allow service animals. This is the same in the US, your cruise vessel, and frankly just about anywhere else you travel in any developed country with a legislative framework to support people with disabilities.

 

I suffer allergic reaction to cats - fortunately mild in my case and handled with Claritin or similar. Still, I also prefer to be in rooms where I don't have to worry about how well the cleaners have dealt with animal hair so one of the things I look for is whether a hotel has 'pet friendly rooms' that they use for owners traveling with their animals. A hotel that does have these tends to only book animals into them - so, ironically, a specifically pet-friendly hotel may be the best bet for you!

 

 

Vancouver is a very pet-friendly city despite the heavy fines (rarely enforced) for off-leash dogs etc. It's impossible to walk along the Seawall for more than a few minutes without coming into contact with folks walking/running/cycling/rollerblading with their dogs (and occasionally cats, pigs or other less common pets). There are however many condos that have severe restrictions on animals - so I would keep an eye on developments with AirBnB (currently in the process of being legalized) as renting someone's pet-free apartment is a guarantee of not having to deal with animal hair etc. in your living quarters at least.

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^Wasn't aware YWCA banned pets - another good reason to recommend them IMO!

 

My point was poorly-expressed; I should have clarified that while avoiding pets just might be possible, no hotel is allowed to ban animals entirely as Service Animals disability access rules require them to accept patrons who use them. Since allergies make no distinction between a teacup-poodle-that-fur-baby-momma-cannot-leave-home and a working-service-animal-that-aids-with-a-genuine-condition I jumped straight to the 'you cannot guarantee any hotel is free of potential allergens' point.

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^Wasn't aware YWCA banned pets - another good reason to recommend them IMO!

 

My point was poorly-expressed; I should have clarified that while avoiding pets just might be possible, no hotel is allowed to ban animals entirely as Service Animals disability access rules require them to accept patrons who use them. Since allergies make no distinction between a teacup-poodle-that-fur-baby-momma-cannot-leave-home and a working-service-animal-that-aids-with-a-genuine-condition I jumped straight to the 'you cannot guarantee any hotel is free of potential allergens' point.

Agreed. Though they do not allow "pets" that may not include service animals so anyone interested would want to call and verify what they do or do not allow personally.

Edited by onlineangel
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We are arriving September 5 to the 8th. On the 8th, we go to the fairmont Hotel Vancouver.p for one night. We are looking at the Holiday Inn Vancouver (Broadway) for the first 3 nights (we have points). We also have 3 nights held at the hotel blu ($827). Any thoughts? We read lots of good reviews on the holiday inn, but still wondered if we would be too far for touring (hop on, hop off, etc).

 

 

 

 

Not knowing what your criteria are exactly it's very hard to compare pricing/availability - with 14 people is it 7 couples, do some folks need a single room, are there kids who need to share a room with adults etc? Basically what's the breakdown of the 14 into 'sleeping units'?

 

If you haven't actually compared every possibility yet - then do yourself a huge favour and check the YWCA Hotel. It's not only going to be even cheaper than any of the above, it's better-located than all of them too (and with full kitchens that enable further money-saving by eating brekkie, making packed lunches etc. if $ is a big factor). With rooms from solo to 5 people, with and without private bathrooms (and some rooms with 'Jack & Jill' shared bathroom concept so 2 semi-private doubles effectively become a 2-bedroom apartment), it's likely to be the most flexible way to accommodate a group that has a mix of singles, couples, and family units.

 

But assuming that you've already done due diligence and considered all the alternatives and only those three meet your needs - the Silvia is the best of these three by far.

 

Burrard is loud - it's opposite the largest ER in the province and ambulances come & go 24/7, and many patients (including those in the psychiatric wings) like to shop in the Seven Eleven under the motel. This is where my diabetes clinic is, and I have more than once seen a patient wander over with their IV stands, ass hanging out the back of their hospital gowns, to buy smokes or snacks (in-hospital gift shop is of course over-priced). It might be all hipsterified with trendier decor these days, but it was and remains fundamentally a very old motel in structure - soundproofing is minimal.

 

Ramada Downtown is another old building and right on the edge of the least salubrious parts of the city - unless all 14 of you are comfortable seeing homeless folks, beggars, drug-deals, hookers etc. it's not ideal. The block with the hotel itself is OK, a little scruffy, but even one block east and things get grittier. If you're all grown-ups from another urban environment then it might be fine for you.

 

Silvia is in the nice English Bay area, palm trees outside, beautiful sunset views from many of the rooms, lots of bars & restos close by. While it's further than the others to Gastown/Chinatown/Yaletown, it's the closest to Stanley Park, and they went through extensive renovations ~2 years ago IIRC. Whiole it's yet another old building, it's a standalone building of more substantial nature than either of the other two options. Hands-down this would be my pick from the three you mention, unless pricing was radically different.

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We are arriving September 5 to the 8th. On the 8th, we go to the fairmont Hotel Vancouver.p for one night. We are looking at the Holiday Inn Vancouver (Broadway) for the first 3 nights (we have points). We also have 3 nights held at the hotel blu ($827). Any thoughts? We read lots of good reviews on the holiday inn, but still wondered if we would be too far for touring (hop on, hop off, etc).

 

Any special reason you are moving hotels for the last night? Remember checking out in the morning and checking in later in the day will mess up your day plans (what you can do for the day, etc). Unless the price is much better or another good reason I'd skip having to pack up and move.

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Sorry.,my error.....I didn't think about service dogs, I completely understand why they must be allowed into hotels.

No worries - just wish I could have given some concrete suggestions to minimize animal presence for you. But now we both know the YWCA rocks even more than before!

 

We are arriving September 5 to the 8th. On the 8th, we go to the fairmont Hotel Vancouver.p for one night. We are looking at the Holiday Inn Vancouver (Broadway) for the first 3 nights (we have points). We also have 3 nights held at the hotel blu ($827). Any thoughts? We read lots of good reviews on the holiday inn, but still wondered if we would be too far for touring (hop on, hop off, etc).

That Holiday Inn is an inefficient location for touring the downtown core. It's between bridges and steeply uphill from the water so there's no really quick way to get across to downtown despite the frequent buses along Broadway and SkyTrain not too far away - at the very least when comparing value, factor in $5.60 for 2 transit tickets daily (unless you already planned to acquite transit day passes) and a half-hour of time. HOHOs don't really get near it - Granville Island is the closest stop - and a cab to the Fairmont with your stuff will likely run $15 even if you go at a quiet, non-rush-hour time of day (if you're not transit people, then budget $35 a day for a cab to and from downtown core as these could easily hit $20 on the meter depending exactly where you're going, and bridges = bottlenecks).

 

 

If you were a repeat visitor I'd have no hesitation recommending - the hotel has some superb views across to downtown, there's great dining very close, South Granville/Fairview/Mount Pleasant are nice 'hoods to explore, and if you're into touring local breweries it's pretty handy for that - but if this is your first time and you want to be riding HOHOs, walking around Gastown, Chinatown, Yaletown, West End, Stanley Park etc. then a downtown core hotel would work better for you.

 

 

There's another HI downtown - so if you want to burn your points you could stay there. This hotel was part of a really detailed review left recently by someone on NCL Sun - sounds like they really enjoyed their stay, and the location is quite good (just far enough from Granville to have some quiet, and while not right on top of any individual Big Hit item it's a short walk to anywhere around the downtown core as it's quite central).

 

I watched Blu getting built, but haven't stayed so can't comment re: quality of the rooms. It's very shiny and should be in great condition compared to just about any other hotel downtown (IIRC only Trump is newer). If it's this coming September I'd be inclined to check Expedia etc. to see what sort of non-refundable deals are starting to appear, since a midweek date will have somewhat fewer tourists (especially compared to the weekend immediately after as that's a holiday). Given the specific situation in Vancouver, it's also one of the safest possible blind bid cities - as long as you restrict your choices to downtown and 4* there are literally no bad hotels you could possibly get.

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Just returned from a stay at a new favorite hotel, the Loden, in a new favorite city, Vancouver. The Loden is not only well located (Coal Harbour area near Stanley Park) but the room are filled with light, comfortable and beautifully furnished. Best of all being a small boutique hotel the service was warm and helpful. Loved the old London cab they had that took us to dinner twice (delicious Hawksworth and L'Abbatoir). I would not even consider staying anywhere else in this lovely city. And in my new copy of Travel and Leisure Magazine it is listed as the second best hotel in Canada. A well deserved accolade IMHO.

 

 

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Looking at booking.com in USD for Sept 5 to 8th. I see it's $606USD.

 

Downtown options for the same dates...

  • $452 Empire Landmark
  • $601 Days Inn
  • $608 Holiday Inn Vancouver Downtown
  • $740 Blue Horizon
  • $1109 Fairmont Waterfront

For $1 more each day.... you can have downtown convenience. Otherwise Blue Horizon will have lots of shopping and restaurant choices for a 3 day stay.

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We have just booked the St Regis Hotel downtown. Vancouver tourist information were very helpful, they rang the hotel on our behalf to confirm they are pet free. I then received an E-Mail from the General manager saying they haven't had a service dog in 2 years. Thanks to everybody for your suggestions.

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