overnight in Vancouver BC

January 30, 2006 9:12 AM

Vancouver BC - where to stay?

cheap but safe, clean and interesting. Optimally, a Green Tortise-style hostel with private room, steam bath, massage parlor and opium den. Close to next weekend's meetup. Nearby dim sum is an added bonus.

posted by warbaby to travel & transportation (18 comments total)

Isn't there a Green Tortoise in Vancouver? Or was that Seattle? It's been a while...
posted by jcruden at 9:15 AM on January 30, 2006

Green Tortise is in Seattle.
posted by warbaby at 9:18 AM on January 30, 2006

I've had great luck with the Blue Horizon hotel on Robson St. It's close to the park and there's plenty of restaurants around. The rates always seem to be very reasonable as well.
posted by photoslob at 9:42 AM on January 30, 2006

Did I say cheap? Yes, cheap. Like $30 CDN cheap. Did I mention cheap?
posted by warbaby at 9:45 AM on January 30, 2006

30 bucks is pretty hard. The Patricia Hotel on Hastings has pretty much everything you describe, and it's about $50. Friends and I have stayed there a few times and although the neighbourhood is one of the worst in the country, the hotel is ok.
posted by miles1972 at 9:56 AM on January 30, 2006

This place has rooms in the $50 range. I stayed there before I lived here and it was quite nice. It's my default place to recommend to people visiting Vancouver on a budget. It would be a long walk or a short bus ride from the meetup spot.
posted by sanitycheck at 10:21 AM on January 30, 2006

Other ideas in this thread and there's always the YWCA. They have student discounts - call them.
posted by fionab at 10:35 AM on January 30, 2006

HI Hostel Downtown. I have stayed here many times. Inexpensive, clean, and in a great neighbourhood, with one bus ride away from SkyTrain and the rest of Vancouver. The hostel itself has internet, a good kitchen, and is very clean and safe. Apparently, they also now serve breakfast, which is new. The staff is also knowledgeable about all things Vancouver.

Private rooms are around $52 CDN, but dorm rooms are around $20 CDN a bed, with a small surcharge if you're not a HI member. Plus, they're having discounts for the month of February!
posted by spinifex23 at 10:50 AM on January 30, 2006

How's the Jolly Taxpayer? It looks like a short crawl from the meetup. If the break point is $50 CDN this is a possibility and it has the advantage of not being far on my bum leg. (four blocks can be a difficult walk for me if the old arthritis is playing up.)
posted by warbaby at 10:58 AM on January 30, 2006

I thought it was closed? Maybe that's just the pub.

spinifex's hostel might be your best bet. It's about a mile from the meet-up. Of course the Blue Horizon is closer, if you can spring for it.

I wouldn't stay at the Patricia; it's a long and depressing bus ride from where you want to go.
posted by timeistight at 12:23 PM on January 30, 2006

Actually, the Patricia's not as far away as I thought. Still, you're couple of blocks past the corner of Smack and Crack there. Depends how adventurous you are, I guess.
posted by timeistight at 1:03 PM on January 30, 2006

Also, you can catch the #6 Davie bus two blocks from the hostel I suggested, and it'll drop you pretty close to the meet up location. (That is, if the Vancouver bus system didn't change routes.)
posted by spinifex23 at 2:03 PM on January 30, 2006

The Jolly TaxPayer is exactly what you want, if it's still open, as is this place, http://www.victorianhotel.ca.

You can catch the Skytrain across the stret from the train station and take it to the most convenient stop, depeending on where yous stay.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 4:10 PM on January 30, 2006

Taxpayer is boarded up, pending re-development into another steel & glass office tower.

There really aren't any cheap stays near Smiley's I'm afraid. It's in the frou frou business area of town. If you need $30-50 total and to be within 4 blocks, I don't really think you have many options. But if you stay on/near Granville st, you'll be able to take a bus within 3 blocks of the pub.
posted by Salmonberry at 5:08 PM on January 31, 2006

Well if the Taxpayer is closed, then it' looks like the Victorian Hotel is your best bet. A double bed with shared bath is $59.

At 514 Homer Street, it's 6 short blocks from the pub, just down Pender. After you get off the train, take the Skytrain to the Granville station, 3 blocks from the Hotel. I've been in it once, it's very tastefully and cozy done. You can catch the Skytrain back to train station.

This about the best you'll be able to do unless you want to stay in a Hostel.

The other two B&Bs in Fairview look nice, but they are a bit more expensive and, much further away.

I don't doubt that the Patricia's rooms are acceptable, but the neighbourhood isn't. The downtown Eastside has been described as the worst postal code in Canada. The pub there is infested with drug-dealers and thieves. I wouldn't go in there for a beer.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 6:38 PM on January 31, 2006

I have friends in Seattle who recommend the Patricia, but we tend to be comfortable with lowlifes and dangerous neighborhoods, having lived and worked in the rougher parts of town and not traveling alone. Alone is a different matter because the odds of getting thumped or jumped climb by about 70%. I'm not as tough as I used to be.

The Victorian looks good. The rate is reasonable and the differential cost and trouble of getting around makes it a good deal.
posted by warbaby at 7:03 PM on January 31, 2006

Doomed! This whole venture was doomed from the start. I should have known....

AMTRAK IS SHUT DOWN BY MUDSLIDES AND IF I BUY A TICKET AND THE RAIL LINE IS STILL CLOSED I WILL BE STUFFED INTO A BUS AND FORCED TO WAIT FOR HOURS AT THE BORDER IN A SWELTERING MIASMA OF WET GORTEX AND WOOL WHILE HOSTILE HEIMATSICHERHEITDIENST BORDER GUARDS PROD PILES OF CABBAGES WITH BAYONETS.

*calms down and stops yelling*

That's it. I ain't going. Curses foiled again.

The porky broad at the Amtrak counter in Bellingham sets new standards for surly: "We won't know if the line is open this weekend until Mother Nature does something and I decide."

Arrogant power-mad clerk with an overtight girdle. As if she decides when the trains run. Sheesh. I'd heard about her, but the rumor actually understated the experience. No wonder Amtrak is on the skids.
posted by warbaby at 4:20 PM on February 1, 2006

I have taken the bus from Vancouver to Seattle (and vice versa) before. It wasn't that bad. Have you had a bad experience in the past?
posted by sanitycheck at 8:49 PM on February 2, 2006