Vancouver Info if needed

[Southern Bell]

I have two hotels I am considering in Vancouver for one night - the Hyatt Regency Vancouver at 655 Burrard St and the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel at 1133 West Hastings Street. Which would be better in terms of walking around to shops, restaurants, bars? We are staying on the end of our Alaska cruise so will take taxi to the hotel and to the airport the following day.

 

Thanks

[ell52]

I have two hotels I am considering in Vancouver for one night - the Hyatt Regency Vancouver at 655 Burrard St and the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel at 1133 West Hastings Street. Which would be better in terms of walking around to shops, restaurants, bars? We are staying on the end of our Alaska cruise so will take taxi to the hotel and to the airport the following day.

 

The Hyatt is more central to shops, restaurants, etc. Though not a great deal of difference if you're accustomed to walking around. Vancouver is a very walkable city.

 

 

 

.

Edited August 4, 2009 by ell52

[Putterdude]

No question in my mind, the Hyatt is the one that I would stay at. In my mind the Hyatt is about as close to center ice as you can be in Vancouver. I did stay at the Marriott Renaissance mid May, it has had a complete update in the past year and is a good hotel .... but given the choice I would still pick the Hyatt. Enjoy:)

[Southern Bell]

Thanks. I'm all confirmed for the Hyatt. I was able to use my company rate and have a king room for $117 CAD.

[Mary Ellen1]

Hi there,

 

Great thread. Can someone please recommend a casual & inexpensive dinner place near the Marriott Pinnacle?

 

Also, it looks like the hotel is about .5k from the pier (.3 miles). Would we be crazy to walk over there, with our rolling luggage? Seems like a really short distance for taking a cab, but is that the better option?

 

Thanks in advance for your help. :)

 

Mary Ellen

[cruising forever]

Marianne - here are some suggestions in response to your questions.

 

When booking on Price line or Hotwire - you want to use Vancouver Downtown.

 

As a solo female traveller have you thought about staying at the YWCA - they have a great hotel in a good location - here's a link to their web site:

 

http://www.ywcahotel.com/

 

As for transportation from the Airport - our new rapid transit line will be up and running - about 25 minutes from the Airport to downtown - the cars on this line were designed for travellers and have a fair amount of space for luggage. I viewed one of the new cars over the weekend and they are spacious and the luggage space is for real - your fare shouldn't be any more than $6.50 - trains will run every 6 minutes in peak hours. For more info check out:

 

www.translink.bc.ca

 

Hope this helps and have a good cruise.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

You have provided so much helpful information. I just took at a peek at the Translink website and it looks like the stop for Canada Place is actually about 2 blocks from the Pan Pacific. Is that accurate? I'd hate to schlep all our luggage for a couple of blocks so trying to figure if cab is the way we should go?

[Putterdude]

Mary Ellen;

It is a level walk and if you are mobile and can handle your luggage then it is pretty easy. If not take a cab but consider a larger tip than normal becuase of the short distance.

Two restaurants tht you may want to consider would be Steamworks Transcontinental in the Waterfront Tranist station which is the old Canadian Pacific Railway station just east of Canada Place. The other would be Cardero's which is a bit west of the Marriott but can be reached via the "Sea Wall".

http://www.steamworks.com/transcontinental/index.html

 

http://www.vancouverdine.com/carderos/home.html

[Putterdude]

You have provided so much helpful information. I just took at a peek at the Translink website and it looks like the stop for Canada Place is actually about 2 blocks from the Pan Pacific. Is that accurate? I'd hate to schlep all our luggage for a couple of blocks so trying to figure if cab is the way we should go?

 

Ut is away right now hiking in the Rockies....so the Pan Pacific would be less than two blocks more like one long one when all is considered. If you don't want to schlep your luggage than you may just want to consider the cab from YVR. It will cost you just under $35 and the drive time is about 35 mins. There is also the Airporter shuttle at about $13.50 pp but it stops at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel which is across the street from the Pan Pacific.

www.yvrairporter.com/

 

[scottbee]

You have provided so much helpful information. I just took at a peek at the Translink website and it looks like the stop for Canada Place is actually about 2 blocks from the Pan Pacific. Is that accurate? I'd hate to schlep all our luggage for a couple of blocks so trying to figure if cab is the way we should go?

 

It sort of depends on which exit you use out of the subway station. If you exit the platform toward Canada Place, the escalator puts you 200 ft from the entrance to the Pan Pacific. If you zoom right in on google maps, you'll see what I mean

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=100934763039761071004.000467645fcda21dd87b2&ll=49.287284,-123.112723&spn=0.00212,0.005681&t=h&z=18

[cruising forever]

Ut is away right now hiking in the Rockies....so the Pan Pacific would be less than two blocks more like one long one when all is considered. If you don't want to schlep your luggage than you may just want to consider the cab from YVR. It will cost you just under $35 and the drive time is about 35 mins. There is also the Airporter shuttle at about $13.50 pp but it stops at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel which is across the street from the Pan Pacific.

 

www.yvrairporter.com/

 

 

 

Thanks so much :) You two provide some really valuable information :)

[Mary Ellen1]

Hi there. That was just the info I needed. I'm pretty sure we can handle the luggage OK. I'm not trying to be cheap, but it's such a short distance, and cab drivers often don't like such a small fare (although we'll tip well if we do decide to take a cab, and not worry about the cab driver who can likely pick up another fair at the pier).

 

Thanks again!! :)

 

Mary Ellen

[chloe kitty]

I don't know if it is spelled correctly, but our YVR to LAX cruise stops both in Nanaimo and Victoria. What is there to do in Nanaimo?

 

Thank you.

chloe kitty

[Putterdude]

Nanaimo is located on Vancouver Island about 1.5 hrs north of Victoria. It tends to be kind of a sleepy town but here is link that may give you some ideas on what to do while there.

http://www.tourismnanaimo.com/

[swe9742]

We are staying at Sutton Place on September 10th prior to our September 11th cruise. Any suggestions on a close place for dinner that is good and affordable?

 

Thanks

[Putterdude]

Sandy;

Just a couple of ideas, there is a Red Robin and a Keg Steak House at Robson and Thurlow just a couple of blocks away. If you like Japanese there are a number of good sushi restaurants just north of the Sutton Place on Burrard, one of my faves is Shabusen at 755 Burrard. Red Robin I am sure you are familiar with so here are links to the others:

 

http://www.shabusen.com/

 

http://en.kegsteakhouse.com/locations/British_Columbia/Downtown_Vancouver/Thurlow_Keg

[newhips]

We are coming in on the 29th and staying in Richmond at La Quinta. I was thinking of taking their hotel shuttle back to the airport and picking up a Limo to our cruise leaving from Ballantyne Pier. Do you know if the Airport Limo will make a stop at a downtown hotel to pick up another person. My son and his girlfriend are cruising with us and are staying downtown at the Pacific Palisades. I was hoping we could pick them up on the way.

 

Would we be better off having the Limo pick us up at our hotel in Richmond and then picking them up, or is that a whole lot more expensive?

 

Or do you know if anyone has done this before?

 

"Inquiring Minds Want To Know!!!!!" - LOL

[Putterdude]

Bob;

What you are proposing is doable but once you vary from the YVR to downtown routing you are outside of the contracted amount that the limo company has with YVR and sometimes the revised fare can be big. I would be inclinded just to take a cab from the La Quinta to the pier at a cost of about $35 and have your son take a cab from Pacific Palisades to the pier at a cost of about $10....I think you will be money ahead.:)

[Urban trekker]

Lots of other restaurants near the Sutton Place - mostly on Robson - include Cactus Club, Milestones, Moxie's and Earls - Joey's Grill is across the street - haven't eaten there yet but they appear to be along the lines of the others that I mentioned.

 

Try http://www.robsonstreet.ca for more ideas

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

Edited August 11, 2009 by Urban trekker
corrected link

[MrSpit]

We disembark from our Alaska cruise on Sept 10th, but don't fly out until 7am on Sept 11th. We are staying at the Ramada at the airport because of the early morning flight.

 

I'm wondering what to do after getting off the ship. We'd like to store the luggage and take the HOHO around Stanley park. But the baggage storage at Canada Place closes at 4pm, and I hate to cut our day short and stress out about trying to get back to Canada Place by 4pm.

 

Will the Pan Pacific (or other hotel) store luggage if you are not staying there?

 

Or, now that the SkyTrain connects the the pier with the airport, maybe we should take the SkyTrain to the airport, get the Ramada shuttle, drop off our bags (maybe checkin), then go back to the airport, then back on the SkyTrain and then get the HOHO for the rest of the day (then take the SkyTrain *back* to the airport and shuttle to Ramada after dinner). I'd never do that with cabs, but maybe the SkyTrain is cheap enough and fast enough to make that a viable option?

 

Also, I understand you need to be at the airport 90min before a flight. Our flight the next morning is at 7am, so that means getting to the airport at 5:30am. But the Ramada airport shuttle only starts at 6am. So any idea how to get from the Ramada to the airport at 5:30am? Is a cab our only option?

 

Thanks for the help and advice!

[ranchette]

What time does the baggage storage place (CDS) close at the airport?

[Putterdude]

Hi Mr. Spit;

The Canada line would work but but you are goin to burn up the best part of a couple of hours doing what you propose. I would just go to the bell desk of the Pan Pacific or Fairmont's Waterfront Hotel and give them a nice tip to put your bags in their lockup.

The recommended time to be at the airport pre flight is 2 hrs...now with that early flight time you will probably wisk right thru....but the recommend time is 2 hrs. I am not familiar with transit between the Ramada and YVR but a cab fare with tip would be less then $10.

[Putterdude]

What time does the baggage storage place (CDS) close at the airport?

 

I didn't know so I phoned them.... at the Airport they are open from 5 am to 1 am.

[swe9742]

Sandy;

 

Just a couple of ideas, there is a Red Robin and a Keg Steak House at Robson and Thurlow just a couple of blocks away. If you like Japanese there are a number of good sushi restaurants just north of the Sutton Place on Burrard, one of my faves is Shabusen at 755 Burrard. Red Robin I am sure you are familiar with so here are links to the others:

 

http://www.shabusen.com/

 

http://en.kegsteakhouse.com/locations/British_Columbia/Downtown_Vancouver/Thurlow_Keg

thanks for the good info. We are familiar with Red Robin and not thrilled with it, but we love sushi so may try one of them. Thanks again.

[Putterdude]

You are most welcome, have a great time in our city.:)

[MrSpit]

Thanks for the advice. I'll give the Pan Pacific baggage storage a try...can't hurt. If they refuse, then I can always continue with the original airport plan.

 

Btw, we depart our cruise in Vancouver on Sept 2nd. The previous day we are driving back from Whistler in the morning, so we also have a full day downtown then (staying at the Quality Inn at False Creek). I read that the "Fair at PNE" will still be going on the 2nd. Is this Fair worth the time? Is it a cool "Canadian" thing?