How long from YVR arrival to check-in downtown?

xlxo there are sketchy neighborhoods in Vancouver?!?

Sorry to hear that – there were some good reviews on that hotel. I'm on my way across town right now, but I will have to check out the Auberge and the Blue Horizon when I get home. Would both of these be good options for getting away from the stadium traffic?

Thanks again!

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Gastown IS a sketchy neighbourhood - a good chunk of it is in the DownTown EastSide (DTES) which is the poorest urban area in the country. Of course, sketchy is a very relative term. You'll see beggars, drug dealers, and hookers plying their trades quite openly around many parts of DTES - but crimes against persons are very rare compared to even 'safe' US towns and when you remove the 'local on local' issues even the worst part of Vancouver is probably safer than your own neighbourhood.

To be fair, you'll see even more beggars in the most touristy bits of downtown - they go where the money is after all - but the grittier stuff is more common once you head east of Carrall Street. Sticking to the busier pedestrian streets is the best idea if you're not familiar with Gastown - like Water St which runs from near Waterfront Station down to the Gassy Jack statue at Carrall, passing the Steam Clock, and is plenty full of tourists and locals shopping and eating at almost any hour.

Avoiding the East rather than West parts of any of the downtown streets is a reasonably accurate rule of thumb to avoid the sketchiest areas. Skwachays is just on the West side - since it's just across the street from a big mall you'll see lots of beggars, there are four prime spots on that block of Abbott. One block further West is actually worse on Pender - a couple of SROs and then Victory Square, which always has rough sleepers in the park. Head a block east and it actually stays very civilized - the first East Pender block encompasses Dr Sun Yat-Sen garden access and several busy little Chinatown stores, and you may have a view of the Chinatown Gate from your window.

If you're into Westcoast native art you may enjoy the cultural aspects of Skwachays enough to outweigh the practical downsides (old building, busy street, occasional drum circles). It's one of the few native businesses around so worthy of support - but you can do that by shopping in their gallery as well as staying in the hotel.

Since xlxo is a tourist like yourself, but one who has visited many times, they likely know more about hotel rooms than most of us locals despite mostly staying in Richmond. Locationally-speaking, moving hotels to Blue Horizon would be far enough west to likely avoid any significant traffic post-game (cab will come over Burrard or Granville bridge rather than Cambie which leads right into Yaletown where the stadium is). But you'll have further to walk to get to Gastown and your tour start point.

Personally-speaking you'd have to pay me to have dinner in the Old Spaghetti Factory - the airport has several preferable options in comparison! If you are a 'food is fuel' person it's undeniable value - AYCE and <$20 dinner options - but if enjoying a good meal is part of your holiday enjoyment I would recommend literally anywhere else in Gastown for dinner instead...

Additional thoughts....

• those coming from small towns will be less comfortable being around the less fortunate than those coming from big cities with similar issues.
  
• it's been mention some using hotels in around the Granville Entertainment district to be uncomfortable.
  
• As the Robson hotels are similar priced to the Hampton or cheaper, I felt suggestions along West Robson will be more appealing.
  
• OhJinkies is arriving on a Saturday evening.... I don't expect much activity on the streets around Skwachays, compared to Robson. Robson is more appeal to explore after dark, especially after the tours.
  

Well, I took the plunge -- I made a reservation at the Blue Horizon and cancelled the Hampton Inn.

I'm not sold on dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory, but probably don't have time to linger long over dinner, either. The tour starts at 7:30 PM in front of Waterfront Station (tickets haven't gone on sale yet for June). So I'm going to poke around Trip Advisor for dinner recommendations, but if you'd like to make any, fire away. I'm not much of a seafood eater, and a great burger or slice of pizza is perfectly fine by me. I can do a nicer dinner on Sunday night.

You are saving 50 US or $70 Canadian on the hotel swap.... you can afford a nice dinner.

The Blue Horizon to your meeting location is a 19 minute walk on Google Maps (1 mile). Just 3 blocks longer than the Hampton Inn. With the money you saved from the hotel swap... you can afford a cab if time is tight.

Robson offers lots of restaurant choices for all budgets. The neighborhood is much more welcoming in the evening.

<snip>The tour starts at 7:30 PM in front of Waterfront Station (tickets haven't gone on sale yet for June). So I'm going to poke around Trip Advisor for dinner recommendations, but if you'd like to make any, fire away. I'm not much of a seafood eater, and a great burger or slice of pizza is perfectly fine by me. I can do a nicer dinner on Sunday night.

Keep things as easy as possible then - pop into Rogue, literally inside Waterfront Station, for dinner before your tour. Good selection of PNW beers, a broad pub grub menu that is almost identical to, but consistently better-prepared than, Steamworks just down the block (same owners - brew their own beers here so that may be of interest despite the worse food).

If you're running late and just need something fast, there's an A&W franchise inside the station also (IMO the best of the fastfood burger chains), and you could easily walk past Meat & Bread on Pender for a superb sandwich.

Forage is just a block from your hotel for a nice dinner - a very Vancouvery option, pretty much everything on the menu is sourced locally.

Keep things as easy as possible then - pop into Rogue, literally inside Waterfront Station, for dinner before your tour. Good selection of PNW beers, a broad pub grub menu that is almost identical to, but consistently better-prepared than, Steamworks just down the block (same owners - brew their own beers here so that may be of interest despite the worse food).

 

If you're running late and just need something fast, there's an A&W franchise inside the station also (IMO the best of the fastfood burger chains), and you could easily walk past Meat & Bread on Pender for a superb sandwich.

 

Forage is just a block from your hotel for a nice dinner - a very Vancouvery option, pretty much everything on the menu is sourced locally.

Thanks, martincath, for the dinner recommendations!

You all have so much knowledge...Can you tell me anything about the Burrard Hotel on Burrard St? Coming in on May 16 for 1 night before a cruise. Is the area safe? Any recommendations on what to do...we are supposed to land at 12:30pm Any good places to eat that you can recommend?

Thank you

Rita

The Burrard shows $158 USD for May 16 for a double room. The location is great, but can be noisy with hospital sirens across the street.

Other considerations on booking.com in comparison....

• $75 YWCA with shared bathroom
  
• $90 Empire Landmark » it's a better neighborhood without the sirens
  
• $173 Blue Horizon » a forum fav for value travelers
  
• $180 Rosedale » suites!
  
• $384 Pan Pacific » you sleep above the cruise terminal
  

For a little bit more.... I think the Blue Horizon will be preferred.

thanks. I will have a look!

I'm very familiar with the area as that's where my diabetes clinic is - and as well as the siren caveat from xlxo, I'll add that the 7-eleven underneath and the pharmacy nextdoor also see a lot of patients wandering across, some wheeling IV stands and/or with butts hanging out of gowns to buy smokes & snacks (St Pauls is a large urban 'full service' hospital, including psych patients who are welcome to roam if they're not dangerous). Scary, no, but certainly a bit of a shock the first time you encounter it!

There are tons of eateries within a couple of blocks - that's true of almost any downtown hotel. Knowing your budget and likes/dislikes is the only way to put a narrowed-down list together for you.

Thank you...staying elsewhere...