Location, Location, Location!

[melodi1963]

Here's the short of things!

I booked 5 rooms over the telephone at the Sandman Downtown back in March. I was told my group would have 5 rooms with king beds and a pull out couch (2 rooms have to sleep 3 people) at 169 CAD per room. (Too many people involved to go through priceline) I never received a written conformation of my rooms. When I e-mailed the hotel, I was informed that the rooms they had booked me were king beds only and no room for a cot. And the only rooms they would give me for the 3 people were in the north tower with 2 queens. ( I was too angry after that to e-mail them back yet.)

 

I then looked around, read reviews and what not and decided to book the rooms at the Blue Horizon. (same price, still 2 queens for the 3 people)

 

My Question is: Should I stay with the Blue Horizon and just cancel the Sandman Downtown? or Should I get ugly with someone higher up, and try to get the rooms that I was promised? If not at the Sandman Downtown, maybe the Sandman Suites on Davie? I really want to be in a good part of town, the Sandman Suites on Davie gets goood reviews, but is it too far away from what people consider "the place to be"?

 

Any help is greatly appreaciated!

[eritouma]

Dear melodi1963;

 

Here is what I think. Go for the Blue Horizon.... you will not get a better location. Right on Robson, with great shops and restaurants to your left and right. However the Sandman Suites on Davie was recently renovated, to what extent I am not sure, but I know it was closed down for a while and then re-opened. It has a Moxies on the first floor with some good food. That particular area (Davie street) can at times not be the most suitable for younger children. As well, some the shops along that stretch of Davie are very adult oriented will a definite no admittance to children. davie is a very colorful street and I do enjoy the atmosphere, but it is not Robson and it not the heart of the city.

 

All in all..... I would recommend the Blue Horizon :)

[grannynanny]

I have a question for you, since you live in Vancouver and I haven't seen a reply from you to my posts....

 

We are a family of 4 leaving Ballantyne Pier on 6/18. We arrive in Vancouver on 6/15 in the pm. I have booked the following hotels, and I'm still not sure which is our best choice, can you help me out with info regarding the condition of the hotel and the location?

1. Renaisannce Vancouver Downtown-West Hastings

2. Best Western Sands - Denman & Davie

3. Twin Towers Suites-Robson & Denman

4. Blue Horizon-Robson & Butte

 

We will not be renting a car and will be dependent on trolly, public transportation, etc. Another question, I've been told that air conditioning is not a necessity in June, that it cools down at night and leaving windows open is just fine. Is th is true?

 

Any advice and insight to these hotels and weather will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Nancy

[eritouma]

Sorry about Nancy... I guess I was not paying as much attention as I should have been....:)

 

As for your questions.

In regards to the condition and location:

 

1. Renaisannce Vancouver Downtown-West Hastings

Never been inside, but from the outside it looks alright.

As for location, the LEAST desireable of you 4 choices. It is not too far from many nice attractions, shopping, etc., but it is also very close to the "darker" side of town.

 

2. Best Western Sands - Denman & Davie

Have been in the lobby of this one, and was nice. Outside looks pretty good. The location is just off the ocean (English Bay), and Denman and Davie are both okay streets, and not too far from Robson.

 

3. Twin Towers Suites-Robson & Denman

This I have not been in, and from the outside looks good. It is at the "bottom" of Robson, about 5-6 blocks from the "heart" of Robson, but closer to the ocean than 1. or 4.

 

4. Blue Horizon-Robson & Butte

This is my personal choice. I have been in this hotel and did like it. I live at Butte and Melville, about 2 blocks away and love the area, so I may be a little bias. This is the most central location. It is in the heart of the shopping area, on the trolley routes and close to almost all bus possiblitilies and not too far from a sky train station.

 

As for cooling down in June, I would have to agree. Generally speaking it never get too hot here, and the nights often bring in a nice breeze. We do not have air cond. and do just fine.

 

If there are any more questions, I would ove to help and if I missed anything...sorry about that, just let me know...

 

eritouma

[fozzyfoz]

I have a question for you, since you live in Vancouver and I haven't seen a reply from you to my posts....

 

We are a family of 4 leaving Ballantyne Pier on 6/18. We arrive in Vancouver on 6/15 in the pm. I have booked the following hotels, and I'm still not sure which is our best choice, can you help me out with info regarding the condition of the hotel and the location?

1. Renaisannce Vancouver Downtown-West Hastings

2. Best Western Sands - Denman & Davie

3. Twin Towers Suites-Robson & Denman

4. Blue Horizon-Robson & Butte

 

We will not be renting a car and will be dependent on trolly, public transportation, etc. Another question, I've been told that air conditioning is not a necessity in June, that it cools down at night and leaving windows open is just fine. Is th is true?

 

Any advice and insight to these hotels and weather will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Nancy

 

We have stayed at Best Western Sands before and are staying again in 3 weeks after our repo cruise. We chose it for the location - 1 block to english bay and everything we want to do. The bike rental place is 3 blocks from the hotel and we will be renting bikes to bike around Stanley Park. 15 minute walk to the water taxi to take us over to Granville Island.

 

We have stayed in the downtown area and did Robson, etc but we are not big shopping people, would rather do more active things. We are also big walkers so we do not mind a long-ish walk along Robson to the shopping district.

 

The Sands is a decent hotel (not a luxury hotel but not a dump either). It's a good location for restaurants and people watching and outdoor stuff. A few blocks away has an active restaurant/bar scene without feeling like a party atmosphere (we walked one evening around 10pm and had a martini at an outdoor bar then walked back to the hotel. Didnt feel unsafe at all. We didnt need/use any of the hotel amenities other than the room itself to sleep and shower, we were too busy running around. They do have a restaurant onsite that does have live music or karoake on some nights (at least they did 2 years ago). There's a pub directly around the street that is popular but we didnt want to wait to go in.

[melodi1963]

Thank you for your help on being satisfied with my choice of location. Let me ask you this, I am so tired of people saying they got the Westin for $80 on priceline! (And I'm sure that's US dollars plus priceline's comission) Well, I'm not going through priceline. That said, do you think that $169 CAD for a room at the end of July in 2007 is an ok price based on your experience of the city? I'm not looking for cheap, but I don't want to pay an unnecessarily high price either.

:)

Thanks for your advice,

[eritouma]

Hi Melodi.... July is peak, peak period for Vancouver. Many or the Europeans are still here and along with the visitors from Asia and the USA, it can be very busy. That all being said, I would not consider CAD 169 unreasonable. Peak season, prime location, nice hotel, that is kind of what you would expect.

 

And who knows, if the Canadian Dollar crashes over the next year, and does the opposite of what is has been doing, maybe that room for CAD 169 will go back down to only $110-120 USD !!! We can only hope for that.....

[melodi1963]

you have made me feel better about my pick.

I'm just courious, why would you pay to stay in a hotel when you live only a few blocks away? :confused: (you don't have to answer that if you don't want to)

 

Thanks again,

[eritouma]

Actually..... never stayed there personally. I was in it quite frequently, but put the in-laws in there for a couple of weeks .....and my stays were not over night but rather for pick-ups, meals, etc. :)

[melodi1963]

Didn't mean to sound like a "smart eleck" :o By the way, how was the food in Inlets? I printed out a menu, looks good, but you never know.