Vancouver answers from a Vancouverite

[F19810]

I thought that I was done with my questions, but I came up with one more. Looking at a map, it doesn't look like Granville Island is far from the Sheraton. Is it walkable? Can you walk over the bridges or are they for cars only? Putterdude, I'll be waving to you from the Diamond in less than two weeks!

Judy

[Putterdude]

I thought that I was done with my questions, but I came up with one more. Looking at a map, it doesn't look like Granville Island is far from the Sheraton. Is it walkable? Can you walk over the bridges or are they for cars only? Putterdude, I'll be waving to you from the Diamond in less than two weeks!

Judy

 

Yes you can walk over the Granville St. bridge to the island, you will see signs directing you and people do it all the time. I will be watching for you.:)

[judynorth]

I thought that I was done with my questions, but I came up with one more. Looking at a map, it doesn't look like Granville Island is far from the Sheraton. Is it walkable? Can you walk over the bridges or are they for cars only? Putterdude, I'll be waving to you from the Diamond in less than two weeks!

Judy

 

If you want to walk, I would walk down to the end of Hornby St. and take the water taxi. Last year it was $2.50 or $1.25 for seniors. It was a beautiful ride and so much easier than battling the traffic and walking across the bridge. The water taxi lets you off right on the dock on Granville Island where all the action is. I have some pictures here:

http://travel.webshots.com/album/563939226gbnNQh

Plan to eat on Granville Island. The food selection is wonderful! Everything that you can imagine.

[wheelchair mama]

We are in Vancouver June 20th after our cruise. We want to go to Granville Island before DD & DSIL fly out at 6:30. We are staying at Best Western downtown. I am in a wheelchair and was told by the water taxi people that for accessibility the tides should at about 10 feet. My understanding is that they will only be 4 feet when we would need the water taxi. Are there any steps at either end of the bridge? If there isn't then we might walk.

 

Thankyou for any help you can give me.

Audrey

[Urban trekker]

I share Judy's response - you are adding a lot of additional walking if you are taking one of the bridges across to Granville Island. The actual distance from the foot of Hornby to Granville Island is less than a city block while going across the bridge is more than a mile.

 

The fare is now $3.00 one way or $5.00 return - there are doing some work on the dock on the Granville Island side and have moved the dock even closer to the market - like 50 feet instead of 100 feet.

 

Let me know when you will be walking down Hornby and I will stand out on my balcony and wave to you.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Urban trekker]

There are no steps at either end of the Burrard or Granville St bridges so that won't be a problem but the Granville St bridge which is right outside the door of your hotel isn't really a good bridge for walking or wheelchairing across - it has a couple of awkward on - off ramps that have to be navigated and is also the steepest of our three bridges crossing False Creek and the Burrard Bridge has far too much pedestrain and bike traffic for me to recommend taking a wheelchair across - another option might be to take a city bus - the #50 False Creek South comes the closest to the entrance to Granville Island but with all the construction and re-routing going on in downtown Vancouver I am not sure where to catch it but the #4 and #7 trolleys are a block away and will take you to within a couple of blocks of the entrance - all of our buses are now wheelchair accessible.

 

PS - I assume that the ferry company is referring to how steep the ramp will be at the time that you are going to be using it.

 

Hope this helps

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[judynorth]

Here is a picture of the ramp down to the loading area for the water taxi at the end of Hornby St. As you can see, it is quite steep.

 

[Tweedy]

Here is a picture of the ramp down to the loading area for the water taxi at the end of Hornby St. As you can see, it is quite steep.

 

 

The tide must have been out. If it's in, its not too steep.

[judynorth]

The tide must have been out. If it's in, its not too steep.

 

The problem is that if you stay a few hours the tide will change and the ramp could be steeper than when you left. It was difficult walking down the ramp when that picture was taken.

[wheelchair mama]

Thank you for the quick response. I think we will try the bus. Hopefully when we drop our baggage at the hotel they will be able to steer us in the right direction for the bus to get around the construction. The ferry was talking about the steepness of the ramp. It seems tides are very low during new moons.

 

The people on this board have been amazing. I've learned so much about what to do and where to go, even about the free shuttles in Stanley Park being stopped so that we could find an alternate way.

Thank you, thank you, thank you

Audrey

[maven2]

We are using our marriott points for 2 day pre-cruise in Vancouver. Which hotel would you recommend more highly- Marriott Pinnacle or Renaissance? Trip advisor has both good and not so good reviews for both. Thanks very much

[F19810]

I'll take your advice and walk down to Hornby st and take the water taxi to Granville. The taxi should be fun! Now I just have to wait to see what the weather is like to decide what day I am doing Stanley Park/Gastown and what day for Granville. A week and a half, but I'm not counting!

Judy

[NWWanderer]

I just stayed at the Renaissance and it was very much just ok. Rooms are nice and fresh since they just finished renovating but they didn't have the little touches that a nice hotel should IMO--no robes in the rooms for example. And the service was just ok also. Just not in any way a special or outstanding experience but certainly adequate.

 

I haven't stayed at the Pinnacle so can't compare. They are just across the street from each other so the location is a wash.

[songster2]

Thanks to all the Vancouverites (and Putterdude, Judynorth, Urban trekker) who have been so helpful over the last several months. I just came back to this thread to refresh my memory, and to see if any new info is available.

 

I was going over my papers getting ready to leave for Vancouver 6/4, and when confirming my BW Downtown reservations, I discovered a price drop. My B2B cruises had wonderful price drops and discounts, and now the hotel! I'm happy :D ! Just 10 more days til Vancouver! I'm looking forward to seeing your beautiful city.

Edited May 25, 2009 by songster2

[NoWhiners]

PD, UT, Judy or other locals

 

We are staying at Cascadia inn and suites pre-cruise. After reading the discussion about Granville Island, I am wondering if we should do this? We will be at the hotel by about 2 pm. Should we do this--we never went to Granville Island the last time. Are there good places to eat? We were thinking of the Boathouse or Steamworks for dinner but maybe the island has something better? We will be there on a friday night--is that an issue? And, do water taxi's run all nght and take credit cards or just cash?

 

thanks (as usual) for all the great advice and help

Mary Lynn

[judynorth]

We really enjoyed Granville Island. The food available there is varied and interesting but as far as I could tell, food is only served at walkup food stands. If you are looking for a nice sit-down restaurant then Granville Island is not the place to go. However, if you would like a variety of things to eat (entree one place, dessert another, beverage another) then you would enjoy GI. It is interesting to just walk the aisles of the market to see all the things for sale there. It is something like the market in Boston. The location is scenic and offers great views of the waterfront and English Bay especially if the weather is nice. The water taxi ride is also fun.

 

The water taxi only takes cash and exact change so be prepared for that.

[Putterdude]

We are using our marriott points for 2 day pre-cruise in Vancouver. Which hotel would you recommend more highly- Marriott Pinnacle or Renaissance? Trip advisor has both good and not so good reviews for both. Thanks very much

 

I stayed at the Renaissance 10 days ago and my reaction would be somewhat similar to NWWanderer's. The history of the hotel is that it was built on the mid-70's and was flagged for many years as a Holiday Inn. It has undergone a full reno this past year and will be the base hotel for the media for the 2010 Winter Olympics. I thought what they did was well done and very tasteful. Some of the final touches in the lobby still are be done but to my knowledge the rooms are done. I would place it at a high 3.5* and didn't miss the robes. If you can get a north facing room you will get some peek-a-poo views of the harbour. You may get just a tad better view at the Pinnacle but can't vouch for the state of the rooms there though. At the end of the day I suspect it is a pick'um.

[Putterdude]

PD, UT, Judy or other locals

 

We are staying at Cascadia inn and suites pre-cruise. After reading the discussion about Granville Island, I am wondering if we should do this? We will be at the hotel by about 2 pm. Should we do this--we never went to Granville Island the last time. Are there good places to eat? We were thinking of the Boathouse or Steamworks for dinner but maybe the island has something better? We will be there on a friday night--is that an issue? And, do water taxi's run all nght and take credit cards or just cash?

 

thanks (as usual) for all the great advice and help

Mary Lynn

 

The Granville Island hotel has a pretty decent restaurant with nice views, I will attach a link to the it as well as the ferries, this month they stop running just after 6pm but check back as I suspect they may operate latter as we move into the summer and if not you can either walk back to you hotel or take transit. In the market there is a food court which also has some lovely views.

http://flash.granvilleislandhotel.com/

 

http://www.granvilleislandferries.bc.ca/home.html

 

[Urban trekker]

There is also a Keg Restaurant and Sammy J Peppers as well.

 

Surprised to hear that the little ferries stop running early - always thought they ran until quite late - might just have to walk down and see what the signs say on the wharf.

 

There are two competing ferries services - the one at the foot of Hornby is Aquabus and it runs until 10PM - here's a link to its spring schedule:

 

http://www.theaquabus.com/images/Sch_Prnt_Mar_20_09.pdf

 

Here's a link to the many restaurants on Granville Island:

 

http://www.granvilleisland.com/en/taxonomy/term/50

 

Hope this helps

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

Edited May 25, 2009 by Urban trekker

[Tweedy]

Here is the schedule for the aquabus: click here As you can see the Granville Island to Hornby route runs to 10:00pm.

 

Here is the website: click there

[maven2]

Thanks for the quick responsed to my inquiry about the Renaissance. I canceled and booked the Marriott Pinnacle which seems to get better reviews.

[ell52]

PD, UT, Judy or other locals

 

We are staying at Cascadia inn and suites pre-cruise. After reading the discussion about Granville Island, I am wondering if we should do this? We will be at the hotel by about 2 pm. Should we do this--we never went to Granville Island the last time. Are there good places to eat? We were thinking of the Boathouse or Steamworks for dinner but maybe the island has something better? We will be there on a friday night--is that an issue? And, do water taxi's run all nght and take credit cards or just cash?

 

thanks (as usual) for all the great advice and help

Mary Lynn

 

NoWhiners:

Besides The Keg and Sammy J Peppers that Dennis mentioned, if you want a sit-down restaurant at Granville Island, we've also enjoyed:

 

The Sandbar: http://www.vancouverdine.com/sandbar/home.html

 

and

 

Bridges Restaurant: http://www.bridgesrestaurant.com/

[ell52]

Thanks for the quick responsed to my inquiry about the Renaissance. I canceled and booked the Marriott Pinnacle which seems to get better reviews.

maven2, we've stayed there a few times for downtown conferences and I think you'll be happy. Try to get one of the rooms ending with #19 (i.e. 2019, 2219, etc., the higher the better), for a nice corner view room.

[F19810]

Just a FYI,I just got the Pan Pacific on hotwire for $118.00. I have been checking for a week and this is the first time that I have seen the Pan Pacific. So, if you want a 5 star hotel right at Canada Place, run (don't walk!) to hotwire and look for amenities that DO NOT include golf or condo.

Judy

[gracecarmo]

What date? I just looked for Sept 17 and it is not listed.