Housing and hotels in Vancouver, BC!
June 10, 2015 6:19 PM   Subscribe

I'm going to be in Vancouver for about 7-8 months, and I'm hoping to get recommendations for a short stay for the first month. I've checked out airbnb as well as some serviced apartments for the first few weeks but would love to hear any recommendations as those I've found are pretty pricey!

Also, for the longer term stay, I'm using padmapper as well as kijiji and craigslist - are there any more sites that may be more vancouver specific?

Finally, my workplace will be near the Vancouver City Center - are there any locales nearby you'd recommend to stay at/warn against staying?

Thanks!
posted by TrinsicWS to Home & Garden (8 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
How do you feel about hostels? The Jericho Beach HI hostel is a nice place. I used to live in that neighborhood and stayed in the hostel for two weeks when I first moved to Vancouver. I slept in the dorms, but they also have private rooms. There's a huge fully equipped kitchen downstairs with fridges and cubby spaces to store food. The grocery store is about a ten to fifteen minute walk away if I remember correctly. It's in Jericho park on the beach and about a half hour to forty five minute commute to downtown, a ten minute walk and a twenty minute bus ride, depending on where in downtown you are going. I think that's about as good as it gets. I would not consider living downtown. In addition to being expensive, there's the noise, and I haven't heard good things about the downtown hostels.
posted by wrabbit at 7:48 PM on June 10, 2015 [1 favorite]


What's your budget for the first month and then for the longer time?

Vancouver was an early adopter for Craigslist, so as far as I know, it's still your best bet.
posted by miles1972 at 8:26 PM on June 10, 2015


Best answer: Vancouver rentals are expensive, typically getting cheaper the further out from downtown you go. Its been a few years since I lived in Vancouver proper, but I am a strong supporter of renting from property management companies instead of one-off landlords. I had good experiences with these guys a few years back. There's probably others, I just don't know of them. Cheaper neighbourhoods might be Mount Pleasant and Commercial Drive neighbourhoods.

For apartments, I'd recommend just walking around neighbourhoods once you get here and looking for for-rent signs. A lot of places dont make it to Craigslist because given the low vacancy rate they don't need to even bother, they'll be snapped up quickly this way. Following that, craigslist's probably still your best bang for your buck.

The only place in Vancouver you really need to be cognisant of and probably stay clear of is the Downtown East Side (DTES).
posted by cgg at 8:35 PM on June 10, 2015


Best answer: Mount Pleasant/Main Street/Commercial area is great for commuting. It takes me about 15 minutes to get downtown during the day from the main hub at Broadway and Commercial. However, it's become a really popular area and is no longer inexpensive (gentrification, yo). You're looking at paying at least 1000 a month for a nice studio/one bedroom and you'll be hard pressed to find anything for much less. Hastings/Sunrise is a relatively affordable area, but the commute will take a little longer from there. It's well out of the DTES and has a lot of new pubs and restaurants. Conceivably, you could live in Burnaby, which is a little cheaper than VAncouver and not too long of a skytrain ride away from downtown, but if you could find something in Mount Pleasant or Commercial area, you're likely to really enjoy the neighborhood. I love it! Look for ads that mention East Vancouver (not to be confused with DTES). I personally really dislike Kitslano, but there are some nice suites in older homes there at times, be prepared to lay down 1400 or so a month, though.
posted by alltomorrowsparties at 9:10 PM on June 10, 2015


Response by poster: @miles1972: About 1.8k for the first month for a serviced apartment/hotel/airbnb, and around 1k-ish after.

Good to know the details about the DTES, first time I've read about it. Will defo read more shortly!
posted by TrinsicWS at 4:01 AM on June 11, 2015


If you're tempted to stay in the downtown peninsula, be aware that many of the neighbourhoods there — Yaletown, Gastown, Granville — have very active bar scenes. I've had friends who are pretty active party people throw in the towel because the noise was too much for them.

I'll nth the Jericho Beach hostel as a fun home base. It's very chill, and really helped me relax from the stress of the move. But it's also very much on the west side, and maybe not the most convenient location if you're hunting in East Van.

If you're not feeling the hostel, there's always people subletting their rooms for a month or three at a time. Especially in the summer.
posted by Banknote of the year at 7:55 AM on June 11, 2015


Yes, Craigslist. I have a friend who just moved into an 8-bedroom co-op house in
Shaughnessy, and can ask if you're interested.
posted by morspin at 8:33 AM on June 11, 2015


Response by poster: @morspin: Thanks for the offer but I want a studio :) Going through craigslist atm, pretty good!
posted by TrinsicWS at 6:46 PM on June 11, 2015


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