Vancouver answers from a Vancouverite

[willysgrandma]

We actually will have a group of 14 people who need to go to the pier - it will probably be cheaper for us to get a couple of shuttle vans to take all of us.

 

 

 

If you calculated the cost of individual rides on the Canada Line from your hotel to pier versus a taxi it might be cheaper. The Canada Line fare is $2.50/person . If you have 3 or more it is probably cheaper to use a taxi.

Also you don't have to hoof yourself and luggage to/from the stations and up/down stairs.

[claypot_mdh]

Hi Vancouverites! I've gotten alot of great information off the previous 116pgs, although I must admit I skimmed the first 35pgs or so and then did a seach through the rest. I haven't quite found exactly what I'm looking for so I'm gonna go ahead and ask, please forgive if you've answered this before.

 

My mom and I are going on the Coral princess from Anchorage to Vancouver beginning Aug. 28th and ending Sept. 4th. We would really like to take the 5:45pm Amtrak train into seattle on the 4th and spend the day in Vancouver. I definitely want to see the following: Stanley Park, ChinaTown (I spent a year in NW China and would LOVE to once again eat actual Chinese food rather than American Chinese), Capillano Suspension bridge/ Park. Is there a way to fit all that in from 8am to 4:30pm??? I am looking at the hop on/ hop off trolley but it doesn't appear to go to Capillano and I noticed China Town is on the other side of town from Stanley Park. I figured we would leave our luggage at the Amtrak station. Do you know if that is possible? Thanks for any and all suggestions!!

[maryh307]

DH and I will be arriving mid September two days prior to our cruise. We will be getting in around 11:30 to the Sutton Place Hotel. I have noticed on line that there is a HOHO bus and a HOHO trolley. Which do you recommend? Does either go to the Capilano Suspension Bridge? If not, how would we get to the Suspension Bridge and will we have enought time to cover all in 2 days?

 

Mary

[scottbee]

DH and I will be arriving mid September two days prior to our cruise. We will be getting in around 11:30 to the Sutton Place Hotel. I have noticed on line that there is a HOHO bus and a HOHO trolley. Which do you recommend? Does either go to the Capilano Suspension Bridge? If not, how would we get to the Suspension Bridge and will we have enought time to cover all in 2 days?

 

Mary

 

You can get to the suspension bridge on the local transit system as well, and have the added benefit of taking the interesting Seabus (passenger ferry) across Burrard Inlet, rather than the bridge.

 

From Sutton Place, walk 3 blocks NW on Burrard to "Burrard Station" (buy a 2 zone $3.75 ticket) and take the Skytrain(subway) one stop to "Waterfront". There, you transfer (up the escalator, and turn left) to Seabus passenger ferry to cross Burrard Inlet; and then the #236 bus takes you Grouse Mountain (and right past the Cap suspension bridge) all on the $3.75 two-zone ticket.

 

map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=100934763039761071004.000467645fcda21dd87b2&ll=49.297703,-123.039665&spn=0.088661,0.264187&z=13

Edited August 15, 2010 by scottbee

[maryh307]

Hi Scottbee,

 

I'm a little confused. Can you get to Cap. Bridge from the HOHO or just by a regular bus servic or water taxi? Unrelated to the Cap. Bridge, is there much of a difference between the HOHO bus or trolley?

[ell52]

Hi Scottbee,

 

I'm a little confused. Can you get to Cap. Bridge from the HOHO or just by a regular bus servic or water taxi? Unrelated to the Cap. Bridge, is there much of a difference between the HOHO bus or trolley?

Neither of the HOHO tours go to Capilano Suspension Bridge. If you take public transit, it is a combination of the Seabus to Lonsdale Quay, then bus to Capilano Susp Bridge and/or Grouse Mountain.

 

As for the HOHO companies, people on CC seem to prefer the Trolley versus the Bus because of shorter wait times. Here are the tour maps for the 2 HOHO companies:

 

--> Vancouver Trolley Company tour map

 

--> Big Bus Vancouver tour map

[scottbee]

Hi Scottbee,

 

I'm a little confused. Can you get to Cap. Bridge from the HOHO or just by a regular bus servic or water taxi? Unrelated to the Cap. Bridge, is there much of a difference between the HOHO bus or trolley?

 

Just regular bus service; like us commuters take... As for the 'water taxi'; it's called 'Seabus' and part of our bus system; and included in your ticket. You can reach pretty much every nook and cranny from the local subway/seabus/bus system, and for a $9 day ticket gives you a lot more options in my mind than taking a HOHO and being trapped on a route. The Vancouver bus system is clean, quick, cheap and remarkably frequent; website: http://translink.ca/

 

 

As for the HOHO buses, I wouldn't know; the closest I get to them is I see them driving by my office.

[ridge4]

We are planning on taking the free shuttle offered by Capilano. One of the stops is the Blue Horizon Hotel, easy walking distance from Sutton Place. The one snag in this plan is that the published schedule is only through Sep. 6th. I called and was informed that the shuttle will continue to run, just on a reduced schedule. They said it would be published very shortly (that was six weeks ago :confused:).

 

I just emailed them today trying to get the schedule for Sep. 7th onward. If I don't get a straight answer, I guess I will just call them when we arrive in Vancouver.

[maryh307]

We are also staying at the Sutton Place. I would be interested in the revised fall schedule to the Cap.Bridge. We arrive in VC on 9/15/10 pre-cruise stay.

 

Thanks,

 

Mary

[maryh307]

On our first day in VC,after a long flight, not sure if we want to do anything more than a carriage ride in Stanely Park. We may want to wait to the first full day to get tickets to the HOHO. We would use the second day of the HOHO for activities in the morning of departure before going to the pier. Is Stanley Park within a 15-20 minute walk from the Sutton Place?

[ridge4]

We are also staying at the Sutton Place. I would be interested in the revised fall schedule to the Cap.Bridge. We arrive in VC on 9/15/10 pre-cruise stay.

 

Thanks,

 

Mary

Mary, here is the the gist of the response I received:

 

We still do not have the fall/winter shuttle schedule. At this time all I can tell you that it will only run 4 times a day and the pick up times will be approximately 0900; 1000; 1130 and 1245. The pickup locations will be Canada Place, Marriott Pinnacle, Hyatt Regency; Blue Horizon Hotel and Westin Bayshore. The times above are approximate departure times from Canada Place. I appreciate you are planning your visit, but this information will not be available for probably another week at the earliest. Our website will have the updated schedule up about two or three days prior to September 6th. Our shuttle schedule will also be available from the downtown hotels on your arrival.

I will already be traveling when they publish it, so I will just ask at the hotel or call them upon arrival.

[maryh307]

Hi Scottbee,

 

We don't think we will want to do a HOHO or reg. bus tour on our day of arrival. Coming from the east coast of US, DH and I will be up a good 11 to 12 hours when we arrive. We will drop off our luggage at the Sutton Place. We would love to stretch our legs and go for a short walk, if possible to Stanley Park and the carriage ride. Is it within walking distance of the Sutton Place or will we need to catch a bus to get there? Can you direct us.

 

Thanks

 

Mary

Edited August 17, 2010 by maryh307

[Putterdude]

A walk from the Sutton Place to Stanely Park is about 14 blocks each way, it is slightly downhill to the park and obviously sligthly uphill coming back. You could even do a little circle tour by walking north on Burrard St. to Canada Place then west on the SeaWalk to Stanley Park. When leaving the park walk a couple of blocks east on West. Georgia, turn right on Denman St and then in two blocks turn left on Robson St. to Burrard St. and you will be within a block of your hotel. link

[ell52]

On our first day in VC,after a long flight, not sure if we want to do anything more than a carriage ride in Stanely Park. We may want to wait to the first full day to get tickets to the HOHO. We would use the second day of the HOHO for activities in the morning of departure before going to the pier. Is Stanley Park within a 15-20 minute walk from the Sutton Place?

Stanley Park is probably closer to a 30-35 minute walk from Sutton Place.

 

If you don't want to walk that far, you have a couple of options: 1) Take a taxi (probably $10-ish); 2) Walk a few blocks down Burrard (where Sutton Place is) to W. Pender St and take the #19 bus to Stanley Park.

[maryh307]

Ellen,

DH and I will hop on the#19 bus if we are tired. Otherwise, sounds like a good way to see a little of the city before we take the carriage ride.

 

Thanks,

 

 

Mary

[scottbee]

Hi Scottbee,

 

We don't think we will want to do a HOHO or reg. bus tour on our day of arrival. Coming from the east coast of US, DH and I will be up a good 11 to 12 hours when we arrive. We will drop off our luggage at the Sutton Place. We would love to stretch our legs and go for a short walk, if possible to Stanley Park and the carriage ride. Is it within walking distance of the Sutton Place or will we need to catch a bus to get there? Can you direct us.

 

Thanks

 

Mary

 

You could walk (just over a mile), or catch the #19 bus, or a combination of the two. http://translink.ca/ and look up the #19 route for an idea of where to catch it/dropped off

[Poohx2]

Hi,

 

We will be taking an Alaskan cruise out of Vancouver next summer. We plan to arrive about 3 days early to enjoy Vancouver. On the day we disembark the ship our possible return flight will not leave to about 10:40pm. Does anyone know if any of the hotels offer a day rate? We will be traveling with several elderly people that normally take naps during the day but want to fly straight through and that is the only flight that flies straight through. Thanks so much for the help.

[Putterdude]

Hi,

 

We will be taking an Alaskan cruise out of Vancouver next summer. We plan to arrive about 3 days early to enjoy Vancouver. On the day we disembark the ship our possible return flight will not leave to about 10:40pm. Does anyone know if any of the hotels offer a day rate? We will be traveling with several elderly people that normally take naps during the day but want to fly straight through and that is the only flight that flies straight through. Thanks so much for the help.

 

Susan, this a question which we get asked several times each year and we have yet to come up with an answer except to try the larger hotels. Regrettably one report that we got this year was that the downtown hotels wanted the full nightly rate. So as far as I know the only hotel that offers a day rate is the Fairmont at the airport but if you accompany them out to YVR you are going to burn up about 2 hours going back and forth to downtown. If it were me, I would wait until after the new years and then bid a room on Priceline. In the downtown area close to Canada Place you should end up with a room in a nice hotel for under $125...it would just be a matter of requesting an early check in.

[Poohx2]

Susan, this a question which we get asked several times each year and we have yet to come up with an answer except to try the larger hotels. Regrettably one report that we got this year was that the downtown hotels wanted the full nightly rate. So as far as I know the only hotel that offers a day rate is the Fairmont at the airport but if you accompany them out to YVR you are going to burn up about 2 hours going back and forth to downtown. If it were me, I would wait until after the new years and then bid a room on Priceline. In the downtown area close to Canada Place you should end up with a room in a nice hotel for under $125...it would just be a matter of requesting an early check in.

 

Putterdude....thank you so much for answer. I am trying to plan this trip, we have the cruise booked, for 18 people who of course have all different opinons but all want to go straight through from NY to Vancouver and back. I like the Priceline idea but have never used it. Do you know if I can book more then 1 room through Priceline so we are all at the same hotel? Plus we have 4 families of more then 2, I thought priceline rooms only have 1 bed? Again , thank you so much for your help.

[Putterdude]

Yes you can book more than 1 room but I have forgotten how many, it is on their website though. As for beds per room, again it is on their site and I think it is 2 beds per room. To get a downtown room, and I only recommend downtown, once on the bidding screen select Vancouver-Downtown, then select 3*+ and then start bidding at about $75 but once you reach $125 stop and retry a week or so latter. This should get you a room in the Hyatt Regency, Sutton Place, one of the two Marriott's (one being the Renaissance), one of the Westins or once in a while even the Pan Pacific.

[maryh307]

Hi Scottbee,

Is there transportation from airport to area near Sutton Place then be used from hotel to Stanley Park and back all with the $9 day pass? Is the all day pass good for the rail line, bus and seabus as well?

Thanks,

Mary

[ell52]

[quote name='maryh307']Is there transportation from airport to area near Sutton Place then be used from hotel to Stanley Park and back all with the $9 day pass? Is the all day pass good for the rail line, bus and seabus as well?

Mary[/QUOTE]
Mary,

Yes. The day pass is good for all transit, through all zones for the entire day.

Here is a link to the Fare Pass page of Translink: --> [url]http://www.translink.ca/en/Fares-and-Passes/DayPass.aspx[/url]

p.s. You can buy transit passes at the 7-Eleven at the airport. Edited August 18, 2010 by ell52

[Putterdude]

[quote name='maryh307']Hi Scottbee,

Is there transportation from airport to area near Sutton Place then be used from hotel to Stanley Park and back all with the $9 day pass? Is the all day pass good for the rail line, bus and seabus as well?

Thanks,

Mary[/quote]

[SIZE=4]Yes the all-day pass can be used on all forms of puplic transportation be it bus, SeaBus, SkyTrain or the Canada Line. With regard to the Canada Line from YVR to the Sutton Place, your stop will be the Vancouver Centre station. Once out of the station walk 1 block south on Granville St., turn right on Robson St. and go 3 blocks west to Robson St., turn left on Burrard St. and the hotel is about a block south on the right hand side of the street. [/SIZE][URL="http://maps.google.ca/maps?rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7GGIH_en&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=sutton+place+hotel,vancouver&fb=1&gl=ca&hq=sutton+place+hotel&hnear=Vancouver,+BC&cid=0,0,7215374289492632326&ei=8OprTLizHYnAsAPFlMXnBw&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&resnum=2&ved=0CCoQnwIwAQ"][SIZE=4]map[/SIZE][/URL]

[maryh307]

[quote name='Putterdude'][SIZE=4]Yes the all-day pass can be used on all forms of puplic transportation be it bus, SeaBus, SkyTrain or the Canada Line. With regard to the Canada Line from YVR to the Sutton Place, your stop will be the Vancouver Centre station. Once out of the station walk 1 block south on Granville St., turn right on Robson St. and go 3 blocks west to Robson St., turn left on Burrard St. and the hotel is about a block south on the right hand side of the street. [/SIZE][URL="http://maps.google.ca/maps?rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7GGIH_en&redir_esc=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=sutton+place+hotel,vancouver&fb=1&gl=ca&hq=sutton+place+hotel&hnear=Vancouver,+BC&cid=0,0,7215374289492632326&ei=8OprTLizHYnAsAPFlMXnBw&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=image&resnum=2&ved=0CCoQnwIwAQ"][SIZE=4]map[/SIZE][/URL][/quote]

Thanks Putterdude,
Is the Canada Line your referring to the SkyTrain? From your directions, it appears that we have aprox.a 5 block walk from the Vancouver Centre Station to the Sutton Place. Is this correct? Are they walkable blocks or do we need to hail a cab?

I really appreciate all your help. It will be so nice to drop luggage off and visit your great city.:):D

Mary and Dave

[Poohx2]

[quote name='Putterdude'][SIZE=4]Yes you can book more than 1 room but I have forgotten how many, it is on their website though. As for beds per room, again it is on their site and I think it is 2 beds per room. To get a downtown room, and I only recommend downtown, once on the bidding screen select Vancouver-Downtown, then select 3*+ and then start bidding at about $75 but once you reach $125 stop and retry a week or so latter. This should get you a room in the Hyatt Regency, Sutton Place, one of the two Marriott's (one being the Renaissance), one of the Westins or once in a while even the Pan Pacific.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

Putterdude...again thank you so much for your reply and informatioon. I am off to the Priceline website now to investigate.

I have been reading this board for a couple of weeks now and I appreciate all of the advice and information from the people in Vancouver. It seems like such a nice city and I can not wait to explore it next year!