We’re hoping to go to Vancouver in September, there will be some visiting of relatives, but I don’t want to impose on them [4 adults] or get stuck with them!
I have seen the YWCA on hostel world, which comes well rated but that is going to cost £2300 for acc. alone for 2 weeks.
Was hoping for some recommendations of guest houses anywhere in and around Vancouver/Vancouver island.
Also places to visit of interest.
Thanks
Matt.

holy shit thats expensive for a hostel, not sure where you’ll cheap accommodation though, most hotel rooms will be over a 100 per night and thats for 2 so more likely higher for 4 of you. Are you all fairly active in terms of the things you like to do?

Hi rs,
Yeah, 2x 50yr old adults and 2 kids 22yr and 19yrs.
My lad and myself may be up for a little riding, but I think shopping , eating and chillin will be high on the agenda for all of us. There may be a little bit of time between meals for some sight seeing!
We are very open at the moment as it is in the early stages of planning.
The hostel price was for 2 double rooms with en-suite facilities, it was less if you shared a bathroom. Just realized we could get away with 1 en-suite room and 1 shared to cut cost.
Matt.

you really need to take a 42 year old with you too 😉

Have a look at the Choice Hotels site. Prices vary according to facilities (Econolodge being the cheapest and Comfort Suites more upmarket) but most include ‘all you can eat’ 😀 self service breakfast. We stayed in a couple of different ones in Vancouver (can’t remember which as it was a few years ago, one pretty basic as a first overnight stop on the way to Kamloops, and another at the end of the holiday for a couple of nights) and iirc under 21’s are still charged kids rates (may have changed now though). Enjoy (you lucky folks!)

I have stayed in van by renting someones apartment for a week while they themselves take off on vacation. I.t seems quite common there, they must be a trusting people This could suit your needs. Check vancouvers craiglist, thats where i have always found accomodation before.

Was out in Van last summer.

Places to see –

Stanley park
Granville Island Market
Grouse Mountain – time your self to the top (or get the cable car)
Mountain Equipment Coop on East Broadway – loads of other outdoor and a few bike shops
Pub on the corner in gastown (cant remember the name ) next to the station on Cordova St
Gas Town
The north shore!

There is tons to do and see, i’ve been here a year and still got a lot of things to tick off the list.

The weather should still be good and pretty hot (compared to the UK) in September. There are the usual things like Stanley Park, Granville Island, Gastown, Chinatown, East Hastings Street (its a slum but you sort of have to see it, don’t stay there though), Canada Place.

If you feeling fit and want awesome views of the city do the grouse grind, basically a hike up grouse mountain which will take you around an hour or so if your reasonably fit, $5 to get the skyride back down, otherwise get the skyride up (around $35 each), you also have the option of doing the new zip lines up there and theres the captive grizzly bears which are cool to see up close. You can also get good views of the city from the road up cypress mountain

Another good hike would be the chief in squamish which is also next to shanon falls.

A night or two in whistler is a must even if you weren’t riding but as you may be interested in riding you might as well do it there. lots of little trails around lost lake if the bike park isn’t your thing and its just cool to hang about the village watch the bikers or go for a wander round the trails.

You could take the ferry over to victoria for a day or two.

for shopping, Robson Street is the main one downtown, if huge malls are your thing then metrotown in burnaby is worth a visit, its accessible by skytrain from downtown.

Maybe pushing it a bit but I did a four day road trip out to the rockies and back, it was almost all driving with the highlight being the icefields parkway, we covered about 2100k in the four days but it was so worth it. stayed in a few different places along the way which i could recommend if your interested. you’d obviously need to hire a car and fill it up quite often.

I’ve probably missed a ton of things of that list but its a start.

I stayed in a brilliant B&B on the North Shore – really friendly old Polish couple who stayed up til 11pm to let me in and even fed me. It was a few years ago so I could probably find it on Google if they’re still operating – will have a look. There was also a not-so-good B&B near the Capilano bridge to be avoided.
My other bargain tip is to check the University for accommodation – hostel-standard accommodation but cheaper. Most rooms are available in the holidays and sometimes in term time. There’s Simon Fraser Uni and Uni of BC. I stayed at a campus south of the city centre (again, can’t remember exactly which) – beachfront walks, nice neighbourhood, good transport.

Thanks one and all!
That is just what I’m looking for, liking the idea of a road trip, we are going to visit relatives in Vernon B.C
but I think that’s only a couple of hours out of Vancouver.
I’ll check out the craiglist and the home rent, both seem good avenues.
Keep it coming please.
Matt.
rs can you email me? applematATgmailDOTcom

I’d second a drive through the rockies, the roads are wide and light on traffic (I drove from Whistler to Banff, then Banff to Calgary late September), the views are just amazing – having a 4+ litre auto to cruise along in rocked as well.

I stayed in the Opus in Van, which might be nice for an initial stay but doesn’t really fit with the budget ideals over all, it’s right in Yaletown though.

Earls are a good place to eat in the evenings too, reasonably priced food, good beer and great looking waitresses, not that you’ll be on the look out for that I’m sure! In vacouver though I’m pretty sure there isn’t a single bad place to eat 🙂

Try out the Sylvia Hotel in English Bay (right next to the water, on the edge of Stanley Park – fantastic location). It’s one of the oldest hotels in Vancouver, slightly tired decor but the location makes up for that – and it’s always been a bit of a bargain in the past and they have some non-standard room types that might suit 4 adults…

(but yes – it’s an expensive city to stay in during the summer months)

Another great location is Kitsilano – just across the water from English Bay (not aware of any hotels but there should be a few B&Bs around there). It’s about 20 mins by bus into the city centre, but it’s also a nice place to hang out with the beach, plenty of cafes, restaurants and more independent type shops. A little further out (and at least worth a visit) is Deep Cove (as of Cove Bikes fame – the originall shop is there) on the North Shore. It’s only 30 mins from the city centre but feels like a world away. You can rent kayaks from there (it’s on an inlet) or you can ride to Mt Seymour to sample some of the North Shore’s delights (Ned’s Atomic Dustbin is a good fun trail to sample – it’s technical but mostly ride-able and fast).

Whistler is great too – would be a shame not to bike there (as mentioned above, the Lost Lake trails are a good starting point – but then there’s the bike park and lots more technical cross country trails around the valley). The lakes turn into beaches in the summer, with full timer sun bathers, xc mountain bikers, downhill mountain bikers and skiers/snowboarders all merging into one! Even if you didn’t want to do some biking there, you can sit with a beer on the patio at GLC and watch the people spitting out of the woods on the GLC drops….. If you don’t mind staying a couple of kms out of the main village, this is a good place to stay http://www.whistlerbb.com (Joern is also a keen mountain biker).

look up riding fool on the island.
awesome place to stay

Hey RS, are you working in Vancouver? Been a bit of a dream of mine for a while but been hearing some bad things recently! Gang wars, high unemployment, no jobs etc……how are you finding it and what do you do over there?

ooOOoo I live and work in Burnaby just a few miles east of vancouver, I live on the top of burnaby mountain (pic from saturday evening, thats downtown in the distance from burnaby mountain park)

I have bike trails on my doorstep 😀 and i’m a short ride to work which is awesome compared to back home, I’m a transport planner for a consulting firm and and seem to have enough work just now but like everywhere in the world some places are struggling, it doesn’t seem anywhere near as bad as in the uk. When I was back at xmas all I bloody heard was credit crunch this credit crunch that, thoroughly depressing. I love it here. There is a bit of a gang war going on but never experienced any of it myself although there has been a couple of shootings a few miles away, they generally shoot each other and i wouldn’t be worried about being out anywhere because of it.

mtbmaff, vernon will be about a 5 hour drive from Vancouver, that’ll be a nice drive in itself, you can stop in hope, see the rambo bridge and the othello tunnels, head out to the relatives for the night, then you would be as well making the trip to the rockies its only another 4 hours to the start of the icefields parkway, you need a day to see them, stay in jasper for the night then head back down the next day, Peto Lake just off the icefields parkway.

I’ll fire you an email if you have any more questions.

Personally, I’d spend as little time in Vancouver as possible and spend the rest of the time on a road trip to places already mentioned (the Icefields Parkway is a must). I live in Vancouver too, and as cities go it’s harmless enough, but it’s a soulless place with hardly any communal areas and what there is is being knocked down to make way for apartments.

If you want to go shopping and look at bearded fixie riders which is about all downtown Vancouver has to offer then you might as well go to London. A bit like Birmingham, the best part about Vancouver is it’s location / potential for escaping elsewhere.

Some shots of B.C. and western Alberta:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=9460&id=666307809&l=be7c87a8a6

a bit harsh walleater, but i think you could see most of the main attractions in 3-4 days, you could do a day-trip to whistler just to take it in then as your out in vernon spend a few days doing the icefields parkway. Sounds like the makings of a great trip.

Yeah, but other than the view OUT of Van, what does it have to offer than the likes of London or any other UK city doesn’t? The nightlife sucks, the beer is expensive, even cheese costs a fortune! Stanley Park is nice enough, but it’s just a wood and there’s not exactly a shortage of trees in BC.

Oh man and there was me planning a hard-drinking, hard-cheese eating, nightclub-hitting adventure! Gutted

I stayed there a few days about 12 years ago, always had a good memory of the place but as you say maybe that was more the view out of town…mountains, sea…Brum certainly ain’t got that!

Are you guys planning to check out the winter olympics? How is the build up for that?

yes nightlife, beer and cheese is a problem but apart from that it’s all good 😀

If your only used to UK cities I think Vancouver will blow anyone away and yes its what’s outside the downtown core that really makes it but so what. Downtown is nice enough, lots of tall glass buildings and stuff, you’ve got Stanley Park on the doorstep and when your out there or walking through the trails you could be anywhere, you’ve got big mountains a 10 minute drive away with easy access to pretty much the top, yes there’s more to see and do than just Vancouver but its still probably one of the nicest cities i’ve been to. To compare it with Birmingham or even London is so far off the mark its unreal.

A lot of people are talking about getting out of here for the olympics, i applied for tickets in the ballot for the locals but missed out, we’ll see what happens nearer the time.

I lived in Kitsilano for 5 months about 10 years ago – loved the place. Went back for a holiday a year or two ago and still loved it. I don’t agree about it being soulless at all, and comparing it to Birmingham- wtf!?

Vancouver is a fantastic City, the one I’m planning on retiring to (eventually).

If you want cheap and fancy something with a bit of character you could do a lot worse than the IHA hostel at Jericho Beach. It’s not right downtown but it’s a fantastic walk or ride along the sea front through lots of little parks, along the beach and through some really nice neighbourhoods.

Totally disagree about it having no soul and as for no communal areas?! It’s one of the nicest modern Cities I’ve ever spent time in.

Can’t believe the response, thanks very much for all this info.
We need to do some serious planning now.
I didn’t really think we’d end up in Vancouver for the 2 weeks,there is so much more to see and as you say a road trip is a must.
Matt.

Birmingham was a bit tongue in cheek. But much as I didn’t want to end up in London for two days on my honeymoon, I had forgotten how cool it was to be in a place with some culture. Sure Vancouver has plenty of glass buildings woo hoo!!! A couple of people have mentioned the word ‘nice’ and that sums it up for me. It’s nice. Nothing wrong with that.

So a (very) vibrant local, National & International arts scene doesn’t cut it for you as far as culture goes? 😉

If Vancouver is anything like calgary then I know what Walleater is saying about souless. no culture tick. thick canadians at every turn tick.

I really miss rain too

Canadia sucks eh!!!

Lots of love

Plum

If Vancouver is anything like calgary then I know what Walleater is saying about souless. no culture tick. thick canadians at every turn tick.

I really miss rain too

Canadia sucks eh!!!

Lots of love

Plum

Vancouver is nothing like Calgary – couldn’t believe how dull ‘Cowtown’ was. It also rains plenty in Vancouver if that’s your thing.

I’m amazed by talk of the lack of ‘culture’ in Vancouver – how about the ‘first nation’ and asian influences etc, loads of cool restaurants, shops, parks, galleries, concerts etc etc