AOL PICK from our Editors
Until recently, some nights in July and August brought “No Vacancy” signs for every single one of central Vancouver’s more than 13,000 hotel rooms. The recession and a spate of new construction have driven occupancies down, even at some of the best Vancouver hotels, and it’s now possible to book a room just a few weeks ahead of a summer visit, maybe. If you know you are visiting between June 15 and September 15, it’s best to book at least three months in advance. As a full-fledged international travel destination, Vancouver’s lodgings range from 5-star hotels of global heft (some of which are just a tad stuffy) with $1,000-per-night rooms, to quirky bargain options known mostly to insiders going for just $75 nightly. Like most such urban areas, there are very few B&Bs in the city center.
Loden Vancouver
Neighborhood: Downtown Price Range: Expensive One of the newer hotels in the Coal Harbour area, this 77-room boutique property spares no technological amenity nor sustainable measure in its effort to lure sophisticated young travelers. Each room has a doorbell and an electronic privacy indicator, for example; bathrooms feature sliding doors to allow some natural light; windows open to the breeze; plug-and-play full media facilities are in each room; and wireless and wired internet access is available everywhere for a fee. Sustainability and comfort are both boosted by windows that open, heated floors, reliance on natural light and natural materials.
Opus Hotel Vancouver
Neighborhood: Yaletown Price Range: Expensive Dark primary colors, a votive candle-lit lobby, spare furnishings, brushed metal-frame “four-poster” beds, a brick warehouse exterior define the Opus, Yaletown’s uber-hip hotel, and the province of film-makers, musicians, techie types and artists. The decor can be a bit over-the-top: Some rooms feature an excess of ebony-colored fittings, or carnelian-painted walls. Quiet-seekers need upper floor rooms above the Yaletown hubbub. If you book online, they’ll cover the cost of a round-trip on the Canada Line to and from the airport.
Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver
Neighborhood: Downtown Price Range: Expensive One of Vancouver’s glistening new tower hotels is the first North American outpost of this high-class Asian hotel chain. Dark, teak-like wood furnishings and trim, and coffee-tone bamboo print brocade bedspreads lend the rooms an exotic air. Technology rules here and you can expect to find gadgets like pause-and-record television, surround sound and espresso machines. You can even lie in bed and use the remote control to open and close the curtains and adjust the lighting. Walk-in showers feature three separate shower heads. Though it’s a 61-story building, only the first 15 floors are given over to the hotel’s 119 rooms, the rest, as with so many new hotels in Vancouver, are ultra-luxe (and ultra-pricey) condos.
Wedgewood Hotel & Spa
Neighborhood: Downtown Price Range: Expensive Ideally located in the middle of downtown across from the Law Courts Building, the Wedgewood is the premier boutique hotel in downtown Vancouver. Focused on service and comfort rather than technology and glitz, the Wedgewood was recently accepted into the Relais & Chateaux family. The very spacious rooms all have balconies, and the hotel features such distinctive decor touches as Murano glass, French chateaux furniture and in-room dry bars. The hotel’s Bacchus Restaurant & Lounge is one of the premier adult gathering spots in the city, with live jazz piano a frequent nightly feature. The Vancouver Art Gallery, Robson Square and Robson Street are just steps away.
The Westin Bayshore Resort & Marina
Neighborhood: West End Price Range: Expensive The only true waterfront hotel near Stanley Park occupies its own little peninsula at the west end of the Coal Harbour area, and is equally close to Canada Place, the park and the West End. The hotel’s sunny decor features lots of light wood (maple abounds), and the pool has a lovely setting overlooking the water and the park. Regular rooms are a bit cramped for the price, but the location is the main selling point. If you plan to explore Stanley Park and the Vancouver Aquarium at length, this is the hotel for you.
The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
Neighborhood: Downtown Price Range: Expensive Once a flagship of the famous Canadian Pacific Hotel chain, this historic hotel’s peaked green copper roofs are a Vancouver icon. The 556 rooms in the 1939 building have been updated numerous times, and tend to be more spacious than in modern lodgings; decor is an understated assemblage of Continental-style dark wood, pastel walls and muted brocades. Now part of the Fairmont chain, the “Hotel Van” focuses on first-class service, and Griffins offers the city’s most lavish breakfast buffet ($26), with dishes ranging from English bangers to salmon omelets to Chinese-style congee (rice).
Steve Li Photography / Listel HotelThistledown House
Neighborhood: North VancouverPrice Range: Moderate
This wonderfully restored 1920 Craftsman home on the North Shore has five deluxe, spacious rooms furnished in eclectic Edwardian style, with cheery colors and huge gardens outside. Lavish home-cooked breakfasts might include salmon crepes, field mushroom omelettes or ham-and-cheese polenta. Grouse Mountain is nearby, and the city’s buzz and bustle is far away, yet downtown is just 15 minutes by car.
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Thistledown House
The Listel Hotel
Neighborhood: West End Price Range: Moderate A stunning collection of regional art on loan from the Museum of Anthropology and Buschlen Mowatt Galleries distinguishes this boutique Robson Street lodging. The hotel’s comfortable rooms feature window seats, furniture that is handmade out of native woods and, on the Gallery and Museum floors, local art pieces. Robson can be noisy, so ask for rooms facing the alley to the south, rather than street-side. Stanley Park is just a five-minute walk from here.
St Regis Hotel
Neighborhood: Downtown Price Range: Moderate Newly refurbished to suit business travelers, this 1913 historic property is close to the downtown financial district and major shopping and entertainment venues, but it is moderately priced and offers a full, complimentary breakfast and free WiFi (both rarities in central Vancouver). Abstract modern art livens the public spaces, and although the rooms have a vaguely Edwardian air, with high ceilings, gray colors, and dark walnut furniture, they feature modern technological amenities.
Shaughnessy Village
Neighborhood: Broadway Price Range: Budget Advertising itself as “the world’s largest B&B,” this utterly unique lodging occupies a 240-room skyscraper south of False Creek in the far east end of the Broadway shopping district. To say the rooms are compact is putting it mildly, the most basic rooms have ship-style, wall-mounted fold-up bunk beds, with a small seating area and floor-to-ceiling cupboards: “pod-style” lodging, they call it. But everything’s tidy and clean, there’s a pool, garden, health club, sauna, even a tanning facility. And just try to find another room for around $75 in Vancouver in summer!
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Shaughnessy Village
YWCA Hotel
Neighborhood: Yaletown Price Range: Budget Operated like a hostel, only cleaner, newer, quieter and safer, the Vancouver Y has family-style rooms that emphasize comfort and affordability over amenities and glamour. The hotel’s key lodging is a “double double” (two beds for four guests, private bath) that can be had as economically as $143 in summer. No need for Y membership, the hotel is open to all. The location is near BC Place stadium, False Creek, Chinatown and Science World.
Sylvia Hotel
Neighborhood: West End Price Range: BudgetThe Sylvia has been the go-to resource for budget-traveling families for decades, and even if the rooms are a bit dated and fusty around the edges, the apartment-style configurations, kitchens and modest rates have created legions of loyal fans. The ivy-covered brick building was in fact built as apartments in 1912. The near-waterfront location just two blocks from Stanley Park is a huge bonus. Book far, far ahead during peak travel times.
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