Oh, sweet Canada!
The Seattle PI’s Getaways section this week is all about the city of Vancouver and its B.C. environs, and it’s totally worth your perusal if you’re planning a visit to this awesome, picturesque city anytime soon.
Getaways editor Greg Johnston kicks it off with a tribute to Vancouver’s Stanley Park, calling it the “queen of urban refuges.” Indeed, Stanley Park is like a big backyard for residents of Vancouver, and I think one of the reasons Vancouver’s intense density is so palatable.
Plus, Stanley Park’s chickadees will eat right out of your hand!
The PI also has a sudsy piece on Vancouver’s best brew pubs, a spotlight on the Northwest Coast, the ancestral region of Canada’s aboriginal tribes called First Nations, and a pretty lengthy and useful list of Vancouver B.C. festivals from now until the end of 2008. (My top picks would be the Vancouver International Jazz Festival June 20-29 or the Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival on Oct 21-26).
Vancouver isn’t the cheapest city for Americans to visit, especially with the continuing decline in value of the US dollar. Still, there are a few affordable places to stay, especially if you go outside of prime summer tourist season.
For the best value, book a small queen size room at the Sylvia Hotel, (1154 Gilford Street / 604.681.9321) about $80-90 a night during the low season (Oct – April) or $115 in the high season months. It’s chock full of old-fashioned charm, friendly folks, and plenty of character. Start your evening early with a cocktail in the piano bar downstairs to take it all in. Don’t worry about the small room – it’s not that small, and you’ll be spending most of your time anyway exploring the waterfront of English Bay (which is literally across the street) and biking around Stanley Park, just blocks away. Downtown is a five-minute walk. Book in advance as this hotel is popular and fills quickly, especially in tourist season.
On the funkier end, there are a number of hostels and backpacker hotels in Vancouver–far more than you’ll ever find in Seattle or Portland. You will meet travelers young and old from all over the world in these hostels. Hostelling International operates three great hostels in Vancouver – HI Vancouver Central, HI Downtown, and HI at Jericho Beach (May – Sept only). All have private rooms available — a private room for a couple or small family runs about $75. Some include breakfast.
Like the historic Gastown neighborhood? Check out the Columbia Hotel. The rooms feature fireplaces, cozy beds, kitchenettes and more starting at $39 per night. Then, write us and let us know how it is.
For more, check out the wikitravel page on Vancouver.
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Another Vancouver cheap sleep! My co-worker just booked 2 nights for his family of four at the Burrard Motor Inn downtown Vancouver (http://www.burrardinn.com/index.html). It’s a real bargain at $85 / night (that’s for four and includes 2 beds) and the location is very central, making it easy for his family to head up from Seattle on the train and take in all the sites, using their hotel as a base. Guest parking available for $13 / night.
Edit on 8.23.09: Sadly, I just received word from a Northwest Cheapsleeps reader that the Burrard Motor Inn has bed bugs.
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