Vancouver and Anchorage hotels

[YooperGale]

Has anyone stayed at the following hotels in Anchorage:

1. the Extended Stay Deluxe at 700 E 34th Avenue,

2. the Best Western Barrat Inn at 4616 Spenard Road,

3. the Microtel Inn at 5205 Northwood Drive

4. Howard Johnson Plaza at 239 West 4th Avenue?

 

How about the following in Vancouver

1. Ramada Inn and Suites Downtown (1221 Granville Avenue)

2. Quality Hotel Downtown at 1335 Howe Street?

 

If anyone has had experience with any of these, what did you think?

 

Also, in looking for a hotel in either Vancouver or Anchorage, how do I know what area to look in?

 

Thanks very much,

Gale

__________________

Gale

[mytime53]

When you ask what area to look for a hotel in, what are you wanting the room for? Just overnight to leave first thing in the morning, someplace downtown to walk around the city, or something else?

I was in charge of choosing a hotel room in Barcelona for my husband and me and another couple. I wanted an area within walking distance to at least some of the things we wanted to see, safe area to walk around in evening with plenty of places to eat (we like to walk around and choose where to eat, rather than have to tell a taxi to take us to unknown places), and not going to cost an arm and a leg to either get us from the airport or to the cruise ship. Not too noisy of an area, but not residential, either. Not a chain where it looked like we were any hotel in the U.S., either. Gee, I look at my list...no wonder I was stressed out about the choice!

I haven't stayed at any of the hotels on your list, but am familiar with the areas. Post what you are looking for, and maybe I can help.

[YooperGale]

Hi Mytime53,

I am looking for a hotel in Vancouver for at least two nights. We will not have a car. I would like to be someplace where we can easily get on to the shuttle for tours around Vancouver. We will be flying in and will leave on a Carnival Cruise ship, so I don't want to be too terribly far from either the airport or Canada Place. Am I asking for too much?

In Anchorage, we would like to be someplace where we can walk to a restaurant--not to far from the Alaskan Railroad station.

Thanks very much for any help you can give me.

Gale

I

[grouchy]

the airport is about 1/2 hour away from downtown.Of the 2 hotels you picked-the Quality Inn is the beter of the 2. Although neither is great or in a wonderful neighbourhood-close to shuttles etc..

You would be better off trying Priceline and getting a place like The Hyatt which is in the heart of Vancouver. I think people were getting it for about $80.00 per night this Summer.

Check out-www.betterbidding.com for help on how to use Priceline

[AkSusan]

Has anyone stayed at the following hotels in Anchorage:

1. the Extended Stay Deluxe at 700 E 34th Avenue,

2. the Best Western Barrat Inn at 4616 Spenard Road,

3. the Microtel Inn at 5205 Northwood Drive

4. Howard Johnson Plaza at 239 West 4th Avenue?

 

Also, in looking for a hotel in either Vancouver or Anchorage, how do I know what area to look in?

 

Thanks very much,

Gale

__________________

Gale

 

Being from here I haven't stayed at any of the places but I can tell you areas and what's around.

 

#1 is in our midtown section and you'd be able to walk to just a few places for dinner, like Moose's Tooth and a McDonalds or go over to New Sagaya (they have great put together meals you can buy. Nothing else around there).

 

#2 and #3 are out by the airport. Best Western is in easy walking distance to the Millenium hotel that has a great lounge and restaurant. There is also Gwennies, a Village Inn, McDonalds out there. The Microtel isn't near anything.

 

#4 - Howard Johnson's (it's the Old Holiday Inn) is within easy walking distance to all the restaurants and shops downtown and it's up a big hill from the Railroad Station.

 

Susan in Anchorage :)

[fti]

Not sure when you are going to Anchorage and which nights you might need, but there is an Extended Stay Deluxe in downtown Anchorage (not the one you mentioned, another one) that is closer to the railroad station. I used hotwire.com to get this hotel and paid between $37 and $50/night (the first time I booked I paid $50/night, then looked for a different night in July 2007 and the rate went down to $37/night).

 

The only thing with hotwire is that you don't know the exact name of the hotel until you pay. But if you enter your dates, and it comes up with a 2-1/2* hotel that is a suite, has airport shuttle, Pool, Hi-Speed Internet, Kitchenette, Business, Laundry icons then you are about 99% certain it is the Extended Stay Deluxe downtown.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

I booked pre and post cruise for Vancouver thru Priceline - paid $64 for the Westin bayshore and we loved the location, walked to the port at 4.30am in the morning and watched the Diamond Princess come in, walked back tot he hotel and met the rest of the group and had breakfast along the marina, the hotel was 5 minutes from the port and we enjoyed it.

There is a thread on here about booking thru priceline, I will try find it and post the link.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Hope this link helps, post 22 (my friend Jane) explains in detail how to bid to hopefully get a great hotel, of course there are no gaurentee's but we loved the Westin and I love booking thru priceline.

It is addictive!!!!

[sandikai]

itdjbw

 

We will be in Vancouver next August and will be trying Priceline for a Hotel. Do you think it is too soon to start the bidding?

[fti]

I booked pre and post cruise for Vancouver thru Priceline - paid $64 for the Westin bayshore and we loved the location, walked to the port at 4.30am in the morning and watched the Diamond Princess come in, walked back tot he hotel and met the rest of the group and had breakfast along the marina, the hotel was 5 minutes from the port and we enjoyed it.

There is a thread on here about booking thru priceline, I will try find it and post the link.

 

Just to clarify, when you use bid using priceline, you do not bid on a specific hotel. You may or may not get the Westin.

 

Two sites that give you detailed info on bidding on priceline are betterbidding.com and biddingfortravel.com. Biddingfortravel.com has Frequently Asked Questions toward the top. Click on the one for Hotels and take 15 minutes to read it. It will quickly make you an experienced priceline bidder.

 

We will be in Vancouver next August and will be trying Priceline for a Hotel. Do you think it is too soon to start the bidding?

 

If your dates are firm, it is never too early to start bidding. However, I always check conventional rates since priceline's rates are based on the conventional rates. I also book a cancellable backup in case I can't get a hotel through priceline or just to keep my sanity while I keep bidding. That way I know I have something to fall back on.

 

When bidding this early, I would not bid more than every week or two.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Just to clarify, when you use bid using priceline, you do not bid on a specific hotel. You may or may not get the Westin.

 

 

I did mention in my second post that there is no guarentee using Priceline but thanks for clarifying this.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

I forgot to post the thread link

Post 22 explains how we booked.

We needed hotel for September and I booked thru Priceline over the Thanksgiving weekend.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=261243

[SoccerMom#3]

Do you think it is too early to book Vancouver using Priceline? It looks like last year folks got the Westin Bayshore on Priceline for a great price. Has anyone booked a Vancouver hotel for summer 2007 using Priceline?

 

(I asked this on the West Coast Departures area but I think I will get more responses over here.)

[NancyIL]

Do you think it is too early to book Vancouver using Priceline? It looks like last year folks got the Westin Bayshore on Priceline for a great price. Has anyone booked a Vancouver hotel for summer 2007 using Priceline?

 

(I asked this on the West Coast Departures area but I think I will get more responses over here.)

 

Scroll up to posts #9 and #10. :)

 

The simple answer is - if it's too early, you won't be successful!

[SoccerMom#3]

Scroll up to posts #9 and #10. :)

 

The simple answer is - if it's too early, you won't be successful!

 

Oops - helps if I read the entire thread :)

[YooperGale]

I booked pre and post cruise for Vancouver thru Priceline - paid $64 for the Westin bayshore and we loved the location, walked to the port at 4.30am in the morning and watched the Diamond Princess come in, walked back tot he hotel and met the rest of the group and had breakfast along the marina, the hotel was 5 minutes from the port and we enjoyed it.

There is a thread on here about booking thru priceline, I will try find it and post the link.

 

Hi,

Can you tell me what specifications you gave (area, stars, price) to get such a great deal? I am worried I will use priceline and get someplace way out of the way.

Thanks for any infor you can give me.

[NancyIL]

Hi,

Can you tell me what specifications you gave (area, stars, price) to get such a great deal? I am worried I will use priceline and get someplace way out of the way.

Thanks for any infor you can give me.

 

That won't happen IF you read the Hotel FAQ before trying Priceline:

http://p070.ezboard.com/fpricelineandexpediabiddinghotels.showMessage?topicID=2.topic There is a definite strategy to using Priceline, and one person's successful bid for a specific date might not be available for the date(s) you need.

[YooperGale]

I booked pre and post cruise for Vancouver thru Priceline - paid $64 for the Westin bayshore and we loved the location, walked to the port at 4.30am in the morning and watched the Diamond Princess come in, walked back tot he hotel and met the rest of the group and had breakfast along the marina, the hotel was 5 minutes from the port and we enjoyed it.

There is a thread on here about booking thru priceline, I will try find it and post the link.

 

Were you able to book pre and post cruise at the same time--or did you have to do separate biddings?