Other hotels in vancouver

[gottagoacruzn]

Hi guys, am wonderin if there are any other hotels near Canada place that are not so expensive? Got a budget ya know, an am tryin to keep it, not so expensive. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[majmaj4]

YWCA is the most reasonably priced hotel I found.  It  isn’t walking distance with luggage  but not too far from Canada place.  Their web site seems to have some cheaper rooms than the aggregators are showing.

[martincath]

The thing you have to realize @gottagoacruzn is just how teeny-tiny the downtown core is - every downtown hotel is convenient for Canada Place! Worst case in the core is the Sylvia at barely a mile-and-a-half, or about $12/10mins in a cab with light traffic. Even if you chose one of the vanishingly-few downtown hotels outside the core, e.g. the Holiday Inn on Broadway, it's maybe 2.5 miles drive.

 

I agree that the Y remains hands-down the lowest-priced 'good' hotel (tower built as a hotel, not a retro-fitted Ye Olde low rise with paper-thin new walls and a coat of paint slapped on old, creaky bones; mod cons like AC, elevators etc.; consistently decent reviews across all platforms) - personally I even find the almost-exactly-a-mile-on-foot easily walkable with luggage, considering that after most Vancouver disembarkations I've walked home pulling both my wifes and my own suitcases as she has gone straight to her office, and that's a kilometer further than the Y. We are among the worlds most walkable cities, with excellent sidewalks throughout downtown and very few steep streets.

 

The question is - why did you want to stay at Canada Place? Just for maximum cruise-embarking convenience? For the views across the harbour? For other sightseeing stuff or restaurants that you heard were conveniently close?

• if it's those specific views, you realistically have only the Blue Horizon as a modestly-priced tall tower with hotel rooms up top (all the shared condo-hotels stick the hotel rooms low down, so the long-term residents get the good views!);
• for views of the water in general then the Sylvia is in a great location on English Bay and the Granville Island Hotel has mostly water-view rooms for not cheap, but certainly cheaper than the Pan Pacific, Fairmonts etc. almost all the time;
• and if it was proximity to boarding/dining/sightseeing that enticed frankly book the cheapest downtown hotel you can find that offers the facilities you need - the longer your pre- or post-cruise time, the more any given hotels location will 'average out' (e.g. being closer to Chinatown means further from Stanley Park). Even if you ended up dining at all the fancy restos on Canada Place and cabbing both ways, you'd be adding maybe $20 to your $200+ meal (and possibly saving several hundred bucks a night on the hotel room!)
• lastly, a good trick if you can't bring yourself to 'stay at the Y' no matter how nice it is, if you use a blind bidding site and choose the downtown core and 4* or better hotels, it's literally impossible not be in somewhere great - the only remotely-dodgy hotels downtown are 3.5* or lower, and if you are sound sleepers or use earplugs then frankly anything 2.5* and up will be fine (we have a handful of hotels in the official party zones that have rowdy street noise in the wee small hours when clubs close, or are near ambulance bays - personally I would avoid them purely on noise grounds, otherwise they're perfectly fine).

[disneyochem]

We usually arrive the night before a cruise late in the evening (we take Amtrak) so I hate to spend the $$$ for a few hours before boarding.  I try to get a room for less than $200/night but that generally means we’re not staying close to Canada Place.  We don’t mind walking or taking public transportation to the port.  We like to stay downtown but at times we’ve stayed closer to the airport.

 

I also recommend the YWCA.  We stayed there twice last summer (both times with a private bath) and would stay again.  After seeing the accommodations, we would also consider staying in a room with a shared bath.  The bathrooms are similar to college dormitories—not the best but good for one night.  Nothing fancy but very clean, well run, and friendly and helpful staff.  The roof top terrace is a great place to sit and relax with a cup of coffee.  We took the sky train to Canada Place the first time and then walked the second stay.

 

We’ve also stayed at the Sylvia a number of times.  It is an older hotel so the room layouts are a bit funky but we love the location.  

Edited April 12, 2023 by disneyochem

[gottagoacruzn]

 Hey martincath, you got a point there!! Guess all I really need, is a nice hotel, in a nice area, not to far from the pier, plus a coffee shop. Been lookin at the Blue horizon & sutton place at the moment, will be goin to the auto club for some more info. Asked at work, would anyone stay at the westin for $$$ an right now, its a tie in the answers, some said yes, an others...

[martincath]

13 hours ago, gottagoacruzn said:

... Asked at work, would anyone stay at the westin for $$$ an right now, its a tie in the answers, some said yes, an others...

Make sure you're being specific with the questions to your workpeeps - while there's only one Westin in Vancouver right now (Bayshore), until 2021 the Westin Grand downtown was the shiniest of that chain locally (built 1999; since changed brand to Hilton). If they stayed at the Grand they might have thought the modern building in very central location was worth a big spend,  whereas the Bayshore is much older (the 'new' tower dates from 1971) so despite the views is not as shiny a building.

 

Even 'locals' who aren't actually from Vancouver tend to lump surrounding cities together; for visitors it's even less likely to be accurate info when multiple hotels in the same chain or just with similar names are in the mix (e.g. there are 3 Pinnacle Hotels, one of which is in North Vancouver - a very expensive cab ride or a trip on the Seabus away!).

 

TL;DR: asking about "The Westin" could get you a completely-true opinion about entirely the wrong hotel!

[gottagoacruzn]

Thanks martin, I'll have to remember that.

[gottagoacruzn]

Hey martincath, are there any motel 6's near Canada place? Thanks.

[martincath]

3 hours ago, gottagoacruzn said:

Hey martincath, are there any motel 6's near Canada place? Thanks.

Nope; nor the 33% fancier Motel 8s! Days Inn is the only 'cheap chain' downtown.

 

Nearest actual motels are well outside the core, e.g. the 2400 on Kingsway (architecturally and historically interesting  as it's one of very few remaining 'bungalow' style, but shabby and not in a chic way) which is the closest these days after the City Centre and the other Days Inn were sold. There's a 'hipster retro pretend motel' opposite St Pauls hospital downtown, the Burrard Motor Lodge, that I'd advise against due to frequent ambulance traffic, no soundproofing, and a Seven-Eleven underneath that sees a lot of shenanigans.

 

While right now Googling does bring up several now-closed hotels (the city bought up several during the Pandemic), Tripadvisor, Expedia, Hotel Dot Com etc. are simple to check for all licensed hotels in the city and surrounds, with actual prices on your dates and availability right at your fingertips - even though I'm incredibly smart, quick to respond, and phenomenally handsome you'll find such tools even more productive for questions like local hotel existence, pricing, and availability... 😉

[RedbirdFLCruiser]

The YWCA was already booked for the date we needed it, so we booked the Days Inn. It was the most "reasonably" priced hotel in the downtown/cruise port area at the time I checked and had pretty good reviews.

[gottagoacruzn]

6 hours ago, martincath said:

Nope; nor the 33% fancier Motel 8s! Days Inn is the only 'cheap chain' downtown.

 

Nearest actual motels are well outside the core, e.g. the 2400 on Kingsway (architecturally and historically interesting  as it's one of very few remaining 'bungalow' style, but shabby and not in a chic way) which is the closest these days after the City Centre and the other Days Inn were sold. There's a 'hipster retro pretend motel' opposite St Pauls hospital downtown, the Burrard Motor Lodge, that I'd advise against due to frequent ambulance traffic, no soundproofing, and a Seven-Eleven underneath that sees a lot of shenanigans.

 

While right now Googling does bring up several now-closed hotels (the city bought up several during the Pandemic), Tripadvisor, Expedia, Hotel Dot Com etc. are simple to check for all licensed hotels in the city and surrounds, with actual prices on your dates and availability right at your fingertips - even though I'm incredibly smart, quick to respond, and phenomenally handsome you'll find such tools even more productive for questions like local hotel existence, pricing, and availability... 😉

Thanks!!

[Urban trekker]

MartinCath - "and a Seven-Eleven underneath that sees a lot of shenanigans."

There hasn't been a 7 -11 there for several years - when they upgraded the hotel it became history - there is a coffee shop and a place called Burgoo there now. Haven't try it but it has been around for a few years so it must be doing something right.

[Urban trekker]

The Day's Inn was at one time called the Abbotsford Hotel - had a few cold adult beverages there back in my beer drinking days.

 

[martincath]

20 hours ago, Urban trekker said:

MartinCath - "and a Seven-Eleven underneath that sees a lot of shenanigans."

There hasn't been a 7 -11 there for several years - when they upgraded the hotel it became history - there is a coffee shop and a place called Burgoo there now. Haven't try it but it has been around for a few years so it must be doing something right.

Thanks for keeping me in check Dennis! Now that I think about it, you clued me in to the Burgoo change last year I think, and then I clean forgot again. With medical appointments online since the Pandemic started I haven't had to go to St Pauls physically in some time!

[Urban trekker]

While now living in Surrey I still have my dentist, hearing aid and heart doctor all downtown near St Paul's and I still visit my former employers place called the YMCA a few times a month so that has helped me keep up with the times.

Dennis

[gottagoacruzn]

Hey urban trekker, or martincath, if one was to wander over to Stanley park, from the Westin hotel, would it be possible to find the 9:00 cannon, the totem poles & etc? Knowing that the park is a huge place, thought about finding those places to poke around at. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[martincath]

4 hours ago, gottagoacruzn said:

Hey urban trekker, or martincath, if one was to wander over to Stanley park, from the Westin hotel, would it be possible to find the 9:00 cannon, the totem poles & etc? Knowing that the park is a huge place, thought about finding those places to poke around at. Any suggestions? Thanks.

The Westin is pretty much the perfect hotel to find the totem poles and cannon (although we've been having problems getting black powder supplies for it, don't know whether supply lines are restored permanently) as you literally just need to follow the Seawall toward the park. The totem poles are just off the path, if you reach the cannon you went a little too far (most are hard to see from the water's edge due to trees but there's a sign pointing you toward them and one pole is clearly visible in the open, e.g. see this viewpoint from Google).

 

There are actually multiple dates worth of Google Streetview around both the Seawall and the roads of the park; not all the interior trails were walked/biked with the big camera backpacks but quite a lot were. Since the free city WiFi network doesn't cover the entire park I'd suggest downloading local maps to your phone - but if you have free data you should get a phone signal everywhere if you get lost. Official park map is available on the website for printing too if you prefer tangible stuff, although we're enough post-Pandemic now that hotels, tourist offices etc. should definitely have paper maps available too.

 

If you don't want to walk the entire loop (about 8km/5miles), using some of those other trails enables returning to the entrance without getting in trouble (more karmic than enforced by fines!) for walking against the one-way system, which applies to bikes and people not just cars!

[Urban trekker]

I am trying to think of any place on the seawall that people have to walk one way - bikes and cars yes but can't think of any place with that restriction for walkers.

JUST A NOTE: If anyone is planning on walking the seawall early on May 7th that is the date of the Vancouver Marathon and the seawall will be heavy impacted as both the full and half marathon use the seawall for the race.

[martincath]

24 minutes ago, Urban trekker said:

I am trying to think of any place on the seawall that people have to walk one way - bikes and cars yes but can't think of any place with that restriction for walkers.

JUST A NOTE: If anyone is planning on walking the seawall early on May 7th that is the date of the Vancouver Marathon and the seawall will be heavy impacted as both the full and half marathon use the seawall for the race.

Good call on the marathon warning Dennis - another volunteer gig for you?

 

The park board changed the wording to include all traffic in Stanley Park's One Way part of the Seawall quite a while ago, but not sure exactly when - it's most easily seen on one of the maps, e.g. this one, where for both the little walking person and the cyclist the black line is one-way now compared to the two-way red lines.

 

Not sure of the date this changed, but I know it wasn't a Pandemic 'social distancing' change - I first became aware when we last hosted visitors, 2019, and we did what we had done for years with folks who wanted to see the totems but not walk the whole loop - just walked back past the yacht club etc. I got some attitude from someone about 'walking the wrong way' and blew them off as like you I had understood it to be only the 'wheeled pathway' that the one-way applied to... and then got very embarrassed when I saw that indeed there was now a one-way arrow on the pedestrian sign too!

 

Given the sheer volume of bodies on the Seawall on any nice day, it does help to keep all traffic going the same way - and frankly it's quicker to walk along the Stanley Park Drive sidewalk due to not having to dodge a sea of people, as well as cutting out some distance due to the Seawall following the water so tightly. I can't imagine there being any real enforcement other than grumpy 'right way' walkers, but I'm loathe to break rules once I know they exist unless they are entirely unjust - and this one does make sense so I follow it now.

[gottagoacruzn]

Hey urbantrekker & Martincath, must say you guys are excellent tour guides!!  The stanley park horse drawn tours, does it go around the park, see whatever, & etc, how long, how much & anything else I might have forgotten Thanks for all your help!!!😄

[martincath]

5 hours ago, gottagoacruzn said:

Hey urbantrekker & Martincath, must say you guys are excellent tour guides!!  The stanley park horse drawn tours, does it go around the park, see whatever, & etc, how long, how much & anything else I might have forgotten Thanks for all your help!!!😄

I'm actually going to point you at a video for the horsey trolley - a frequent CC poster, @misguy, and his wife make vids mostly focused on accessible travel and for your question about what you see on the tour loop. I'm not shilling for them, I'm sure there's some ad revenue/kickbacks from the whole influencer thing but none of it comes to me 😉 But this seems like the quickest way to see those highlights rather than me spend thousands of words describing the route to you in writing!

 

Personally I think the trolleys are a rip-off at $50 for an hour - middle seating on the benches suck worse than bus tours as you have the same 'multiple heads in the way' sightlines plus you're shoulder-to-shoulder with 2 people rather than having an aisle and you only see a quite limited loop, all on the east side. An outside seat, on the right, would be best for views across the Seawall e.g. at Girl In A Wetsuit statue. If you book a private carriage they'll take you wherever they can legally go, including other parts of the park the trolleys don't see, but you're looking at $900+!

 

The same funds could rent you an eBike (for 3-5 hours depending who you rent from) to see more, faster, and stop wherever you want to for as long as you want. If you plan to visit Prospect Point, then unless you are a keen cyclist you'll appreciate the motor assist going up the hill! Bikes basically let you go anywhere you can walk, so they greatly speed up getting around the park even if it's the old-school muscle-powered kind.

[xlxo]

On 4/15/2023 at 5:39 PM, RedbirdFLCruiser said:

so we booked the Days Inn. It was the most "reasonably" priced hotel in the downtown/cruise port area at the time I checked and had pretty good reviews.

Hopefully you are not staying a Friday or Saturday night when the bar next door is operating late into the night.  The music and bass travels through a lot of hotel rooms til like 2am.

[RedbirdFLCruiser]

On 4/19/2023 at 3:02 PM, xlxo said:

Hopefully you are not staying a Friday or Saturday night when the bar next door is operating late into the night.  The music and bass travels through a lot of hotel rooms til like 2am.

No, fortunately, our cruise leaves on a Wednesday, so we are staying on a Tuesday night.

[gottagoacruzn]

Yup, the cruise we're on leaves on Tues, would be there on Mon. Don't got awhole lot to worry bout then.

[Twinsmomct]

On 4/18/2023 at 1:30 AM, martincath said:

The Westin is pretty much the perfect hotel to find the totem poles and cannon (although we've been having problems getting black powder supplies for it, don't know whether supply lines are restored permanently) as you literally just need to follow the Seawall toward the park. The totem poles are just off the path, if you reach the cannon you went a little too far (most are hard to see from the water's edge due to trees but there's a sign pointing you toward them and one pole is clearly visible in the open, e.g. see this viewpoint from Google).

 

There are actually multiple dates worth of Google Streetview around both the Seawall and the roads of the park; not all the interior trails were walked/biked with the big camera backpacks but quite a lot were. Since the free city WiFi network doesn't cover the entire park I'd suggest downloading local maps to your phone - but if you have free data you should get a phone signal everywhere if you get lost. Official park map is available on the website for printing too if you prefer tangible stuff, although we're enough post-Pandemic now that hotels, tourist offices etc. should definitely have paper maps available too.

 

If you don't want to walk the entire loop (about 8km/5miles), using some of those other trails enables returning to the entrance without getting in trouble (more karmic than enforced by fines!) for walking against the one-way system, which applies to bikes and people not just cars!