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if that's your only criteria then virtually any hotel except the YWCA has the option of a B&B rate (no resto in YWCA).

 

Personally I think that 'free' breakfasts, shuttles etc. are a very poor reason to select a hotel though, unless it comes down to choosing between equal quality and price hotels one of which includes an add-on like this you want and the other doesn't. Much better to look at LOTS of reviews to compare overall quality of stay, location (if you are in town for long enough to go sightseeing, you want to be downtown where you can walk to almost everything), and if you collect or have them to spend points from a particular chain.

 

TripAdvisor is a better place to research that sort of stuff than here - us locals and prior visitors are good for giving you nitty-gritty details about individual hotels, e.g. you want to choose between X, Y, Z that all meet your budget and other criteria. You can also rely on a string of replies to follow telling you that the Pan Pacific is the best hotel EVAAAAAR because it is right on the pier, Blue Horizon is TEH BESTEST because it has lovely views for a much lower price and is only a $10 cab ride away, probably another handful of reccos for various Fairmonts, Le Soleil, Four Seasons, and then in my book the best deal of all if you don't need fancy, the YWCA (at ~US$120 a night for an en suite double room, you save enough cash every day to go enjoy breakfast, lunch, AND dinner elsewhere compared to any remotely-fancy hotel in cruise season!!!!!!)

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Martincath

 

I have seen some very good information from you on these forums. Regarding hotels, you and others have made some good suggestions.

 

I was wondering about the Bayshore Inn (Westin) as that has not been mentioned. It is one of the hotels that Princess recommends if you book through the cruise line. I know that cruise hotels are more expensive for two people, however, I am travelling solo. Travelling in April 2019 on Emerald Princess.

 

Thank you for any comments that you may have about the hotel.

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Westin Bayshore is tucked in just outside Stanley Park, right on the Seawall, and probably would not be walkable for most folks with luggage (about a mile) to the pier. There was some debate about demolishing it three years back as it was rather tired and had been on the market for over a year with no offers - eventually it was sold to our biggest local condo developer but the current city regime shut them down hard on what they could build, so until/unless the rules change to allow more and taller towers near the park it lives on! It has had some renovation since (unfortunately this did not include reopening the iconic Trader Vic's tiki bar!) - the public areas especially, with two new restaurants.

 

Fortunately the god-awfully-named HJU:Z is now known as just H Tasting Lounge, but remains under the excellent chef Alex Mok (food is themed around the locations visited by Howard Hughes on his 'world tour' - Hughes lived in this hotel for many months). The other is a pretty generic 'big hotel grill' resto doing nothing innovative (H2).

 

Certainly for pre- or post-cruise wanders down to Gastown, Chinatown, Yaletown it's about the worst possible still-downtown location unless you need the exercise of a 3-4 mile walk, but of course it's one of the best-located hotels for Stanley Park and Denman Street dining - so depending what you want to see it can be among the best or worst hotels for sightseeing! It's even among the more convenient hotels for walking to English Bay at the opposite end of Denman, though almost a mile there are few closer hotels and none of those are fancy.

 

If you're getting a 'per person' price as a solo, then your rate will probably be very good for any of the cruiseline hotels (but no doubt they're screwing you on the solo cabin pricing, so take whatever savings you can get on the hotel!!!!)

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Thank you Martincath

 

I was last in Vancouver April 2015 when I completed my Hawaiian cruise on Celebrity. At that time my youngest granddaughter joined me as she had just completed her spring semester at university. We did the usual outings: Granville Island, Capilano Bridge, Grouse Mountain, ferry to Victoria & Butchard gardens, Robson Street, Yat Soo Yun Chinese gardens, Ho-Ho bus, Spaghetti Factory, etc. (I had previously visited Vancouver as a child and also my parents retired in Vancouver after my dad served in the military for many years).

 

This time I was just thinking of going to Granville Island, Stanley Park and taking the Ho-Ho bus to re-aquaint myself with the city. I fly in two days before my cruise. I will be hoping for nice weather rather than rain but unfortunately we cannot control the weather.

Yes -- I have to pay the solo rate for the cruise so the cruise hotels are o.k. for me price wise. They will pick me up at the airport and from the hotel to the cruise.

Ratings for Bayshore Inn have been both positive and negative. I always take some reviews with a grain of salt -- just like some cruise reviews which focus on the negative only and not how lucky we are to be able to cruise. I have looked up nearby restaurants and there seems to be a variety.

As I have a Starwood (Westin) hotel card -- will look at possible room overlooking the bay etc. and on a higher up floor rather the city view/lower floor.

 

Once again, thank you for your comments:) - they were very helpful, especially with regards to walking distances to some of the more popular places to visit.

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Thank you Martincath

<snip>

This time I was just thinking of going to Granville Island, Stanley Park and taking the Ho-Ho bus to re-aquaint myself with the city. I fly in two days before my cruise.

<snip>

Ratings for Bayshore Inn have been both positive and negative. I always take some reviews with a grain of salt -- just like some cruise reviews which focus on the negative only and not how lucky we are to be able to cruise. I have looked up nearby restaurants and there seems to be a variety.

You're welcome.

 

The Bayshore has had a HOHO stop outside for many years, so you can safely assume it will remain convenient next April for that, but NB: that there is now zero HOHO competition, with the last two companies amalgamating over last winter season - Trolley and WestCoast. Vehicles from both continue to run, but unlike in the past where the Trolley would run two loops summer and one in winter that went everywhere, they now sell both loops separately for the old price of the whole thing, and the combo loop has been jacked up about 20%. Discounts remain available here and there, but the frequency of vehicles does not seem to have improved much despite doubling the fleet - I'd read over reviews carefully before deciding whether to drop the hefty ticket price especially as a repeat visitor! Buying a nice new guidebook and a transit pass would be half the price;-)

 

As to reviews - Bayshore still seems to do generally-well, but I don't know how many rooms have been renovated and how much they've been improved. There may be 'new and old' rooms in any given category. In situations like this I tend to look at relatively recent reviews and ignore older ones - with the purchase having gone through in 2015 and the public room renos not finished until late 2017 I'd be inclined to focus on mostly the last year of reviews and see if there's frequent mention of room quality...

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Thanks once again Martincath:)

 

I had read the articles about the hotel being sold and Vancouver not wanting more and more high rises by the water etc. Was interesting to read about Howard Hughes (I had previously read a bio. on HH - towards the end of his life -- very strange man, if not mentally unstable.)

 

The new reviews regarding rooms tend to be more positive. Reviews about the older rooms not being renovated -- not as good. Quite a few from people who attended conferences; however, they said their rooms were nice. So I will request a room in one of the renovated rooms and hopefully with also get a room with a view other than the city.

 

Thanks for the tip about the HoHo buses/trolleys. My granddaughter and I used not only the HoHo buses but public transportation to get to Capilano etc. I had looked up some tours on Viator as I used them previously in Europe. A couple of the ones I was interested in were for a minimum of two people, so once again, would be paying twice the advertised rate. Will keep looking.

 

These days I am not much of a walker for long distances - so will use alternative methods to get to my destinations.

 

As I have six+ months to look at possibilities, will keep on looking. Our roll call is pretty dead so not hopeful that I can tag-a-log with others while in Vancouver.

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  • 1 month later...

Martincath

 

YWCA (at ~US$120 a night for an en suite double room, you save enough cash every day to go enjoy breakfast, lunch, AND dinner elsewhere compared to any remotely-fancy hotel in cruise season!!!!!!)

 

I have been looking for a reasonable price no frills hotel post cruise for a night.  I booked the Moda but then came across your comments about the YWCA.     YMCA  have rooms available for us ensuite double at 140 senior rate and twin at 157.50 senior rate.  Moda is about 20 per room more.

I can cancel Moda and so would appreciate your opinions.  

We are cruising to Vancouver, plans are to drop luggage at a hotel, do the hop on hop off bus which will take the rest of the day.  next morning check out but leaving luggage, spend half a day wandering then taking the ferry to Victoria for 2-3 nights.  We are a group of 6 in our 60s and 70s not great walkers but we manage.   

We travel together a lot and many times have found private shuttles from accommodation to airport/city etc more economical than public transport.  Are you able to suggest an easy way to get to the ferry port Tsawwassen?

Also  any suggestions for Victoria accommodation?   Would like something walking distance to the harbour area.  We have looked at Helms Inn, your opinin appreciated.

Thanks

 

 

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23 hours ago, Tara Jane said:

Martincath

 

...I booked the Moda but then came across your comments about the YWCA.     YMCA  have rooms available for us ensuite double at 140 senior rate and twin at 157.50 senior rate.  Moda is about 20 per room more.

I can cancel Moda and so would appreciate your opinions.

I've never stayed in the Moda so cannot compare room quality; but have eaten in the house resto & wine bar many times (and do recommend those for dining). Location is busier than the Y, busy intersection, and an old building that was renovated rather than a purpose-built high rise hotel like the Y, so Moda is almost certainly noisier in any room than the Y.

  

We are cruising to Vancouver, plans are to drop luggage at a hotel, do the hop on hop off bus which will take the rest of the day. 

 

Quote

next morning check out but leaving luggage, spend half a day wandering then taking the ferry to Victoria for 2-3 nights.  We are a group of 6 in our 60s and 70s not great walkers but we manage.   

We travel together a lot and many times have found private shuttles from accommodation to airport/city etc more economical than public transport.  Are you able to suggest an easy way to get to the ferry port Tsawwassen?

Transit is 100% the cheapest way to do it here - under $5 per person for Seniors on the Vancouver end (cost depends on when you travel) and under $3pp on the Victoria end. There really aren't many private shuttles around in Vancouver - the bread & butter trade for such is airport transfers, and the Canada Line skytrain line killed almost all of that trade dead when it opened. There is one shuttle firm to my knowledge that does hotel pickups around the airport area with pier drops, then takes folks from pier to airport, in cruise season - but the folks running it a couple of years ago seem to have gone bust and been replaced by another company, so I can't comment on quality/timeliness of service... but even then, those guys charge $17+pp just to the airport, and the ferry is a lot further.

 

Easy? Two cabs or a limo would get you all there - but also need another company to pickup on the Island. So the coach service that connects with the ferries is likely the sweet spot for easy and not too expensive - IIRC it's about $65pp all-in for downtown to downtown on the BCFConnector.

 

If someone is willing to drive, a rental car could be the cheapest non-transit option. A large SUV/Minivan is still just one vehicle to pay for over the per person ferry cost. I think it's only LOCAL seniors who get discounts, so assume ~$20pp on the actual ferry tickets. Car rental has a huge range of pricing, but if you're Costco members that's a great way to get the lowest rates on a refundable basis so you can keep checking for price drops.

 

Also  any suggestions for Victoria accommodation?   Would like something walking distance to the harbour area.  We have looked at Helms Inn, your opinion appreciated.

Thanks

We like the BW+ on Johnson Street - especially with family as they have some big suites with kitchens and beds for 4+. Never stayed in the Helm.

 

Hope the above is useful. Sorry for the weird formatting above and lack of direct links  - new site seems to be splitting into separate blocks of text when using line breaks; this is my first post back after an extended vacation so it's totally new to me, plus traveling for 23 hours today has made me woolly enough I don't want to try and figure out the subleties of posting on 'new CC' right now;-)

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