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Where would you stay two nights post cruise in Vancouver?


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We are going to spend 2 nights in Vancouver after our Holland America cruise. We are a group of myself, dh and dd age 9, my parents ages 70 & 79 with walking problems and an uncle age 80. My parents and uncle do not want to do much walking, but they would enjoy the atmosphere of downtown Vancouver. We are taking 2 tours. Landsea Sea to Sky tour where they will pick us up at the terminal and drop off the baggage for day one. We are taking a Whale Watching tour to Victoria where the return boat departs from a dock at Butchart Gardens. I have reserved tea at the Empress at 1:00, and Prince of Whales said that that would be fine as long as we took the CVS shuttle at 3:00.

I have reserved

Pinnacle Harbourfront harbor view room for $788 USD for two nights including tax.

Best Western Chateau Granville for $617 US including tax for two nights.

Days Inn Vancouver Airport for $446.50 USD including tax for two nights.

I am leaning towards the Pinnacle because we probably will never come back to the Pacific Northwest again.

We will not get back from the tours until 6-7:30. Also, we have an 8:40 flight from Vancouver.

My parents might enjoy Italian food or even try dim sum. I see that there are some very good new Italian restaurants, but my parents enjoy a well made lasagna bolognese or spaghetti vongole (Mom was born and raised in Italy), and dd would enjoy pizza or chicken parm (dd has very selective taste in food). If they tried Chinese, which I have heard is excellent, they might not like what they are used to getting in the Philadelphia Chinatown, i.e. sweet and sour chicken or wonton soup or chicken and cashew nut. DH and I would be willing to try authentic Chinese, though. We probably will have one meal at Tamarind on board the Holland America.

I looked at Dynasty Seafood on Broadway. How much would a cab be from the Pinnacle to that restaurant.

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Well, personally I'd stay at home;-)

 

But of the three options listed, Pinnacle is the best choice IMO. The Chateau Granville is in the heart of party central, surrounded by bars & nightclubs with very late opening hours. It's about as loud a place as you can find downtown, and the street scene late at night is messy (Vancouver concentrates its late night clubs in this area so that policing is easier - most of the drunk idiots from the 'burbs end up here in the wee small hours). The airport - well, since you're not actually touring any of Vancouver if you stayed here you literally wouldn't see any of the city at all except while passing through!

 

Now you've clarified how many are in your party I'll also modify some earlier notes about your initially-planned stay at the airport - you'll need two taxis every time as there are virtually none that seat more than 5 pax, and even those are few and far-between. I've seen only a couple of 6-seaters ever, and ~80% of local cabs are Prius models which are fine for 4 people without luggage, but probably safer to say you'd only get three inside with your full luggage.

 

The best Italian food downtown is open to debate, but Ask For Luigi in Gastown is the one that most of the folks I know in the trade agree is the best. CinCin is very good and very pricey - it's a celebrity hangout - while my personal fave is Cinara (traditional Italian techniques but using locally-sourced ingredients). Campagnolo is a more reasonably-priced 'real' Italian who make their own salumi etc. More recently, Savio Volpe has racked up a ton of good press. It's very reminiscent of a real Osteria rather than the 'mostly pasta & pizza' style of North American Italian food.

 

Dynasty Seafood would likely cost $20-25 by cab from the Pinnacle (x2 cabs of course if you were all going - they do offer fairly 'normal' Cantonese food that will be familiar to you folks as well as more authentic stuff) and all of the other restos above would be in the $15 or less cab range except Savio Volpe, which could be as much as $30 in traffic. However the 19 bus runs right past, and also runs right through downtown to Stanley Park so could be taken conveniently for very low cost. Concession transit tickets cost $1.85 and would apply to everyone except you & hubs, who would cost $2.85pp ($13.10 total per trip - but NB buses only take cash and do not give change...)

 

Closer good Chinese - try Kirin downtown, walkable from Pinnacle and a similar high-end Cantonese resto to Dynasty. Not quite as many awards recently, but a long history of high quality food.

 

Edit - and for more cheap & cheerful Chinese, the downtown Hons branch is also perhaps walkable even for the oldies. Unfortunately the Chinatown branch will be no longer by your visit, but their Robson branch would have been more conveinet to visit anyway. ChongQing (Szechuan) and Dinesty (dumplings - other stuff too, but really it's all about the dumplings!) lso both have downtown branches.

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Where would you personally stay at in Vancouver?

Well, personally I'd stay at home;-)

 

But of the three options listed, Pinnacle is the best choice IMO. The Chateau Granville is in the heart of party central, surrounded by bars & nightclubs with very late opening hours. It's about as loud a place as you can find downtown, and the street scene late at night is messy (Vancouver concentrates its late night clubs in this area so that policing is easier - most of the drunk idiots from the 'burbs end up here in the wee small hours). The airport - well, since you're not actually touring any of Vancouver if you stayed here you literally wouldn't see any of the city at all except while passing through!

 

Now you've clarified how many are in your party I'll also modify some earlier notes about your initially-planned stay at the airport - you'll need two taxis every time as there are virtually none that seat more than 5 pax, and even those are few and far-between. I've seen only a couple of 6-seaters ever, and ~80% of local cabs are Prius models which are fine for 4 people without luggage, but probably safer to say you'd only get three inside with your full luggage.

 

The best Italian food downtown is open to debate, but Ask For Luigi in Gastown is the one that most of the folks I know in the trade agree is the best. CinCin is very good and very pricey - it's a celebrity hangout - while my personal fave is Cinara (traditional Italian techniques but using locally-sourced ingredients). Campagnolo is a more reasonably-priced 'real' Italian who make their own salumi etc. More recently, Savio Volpe has racked up a ton of good press. It's very reminiscent of a real Osteria rather than the 'mostly pasta & pizza' style of North American Italian food.

 

Dynasty Seafood would likely cost $20-25 by cab from the Pinnacle (x2 cabs of course if you were all going - they do offer fairly 'normal' Cantonese food that will be familiar to you folks as well as more authentic stuff) and all of the other restos above would be in the $15 or less cab range except Savio Volpe, which could be as much as $30 in traffic. However the 19 bus runs right past, and also runs right through downtown to Stanley Park so could be taken conveniently for very low cost. Concession transit tickets cost $1.85 and would apply to everyone except you & hubs, who would cost $2.85pp ($13.10 total per trip - but NB buses only take cash and do not give change...)

 

Closer good Chinese - try Kirin downtown, walkable from Pinnacle and a similar high-end Cantonese resto to Dynasty. Not quite as many awards recently, but a long history of high quality food.

 

Edit - and for more cheap & cheerful Chinese, the downtown Hons branch is also perhaps walkable even for the oldies. Unfortunately the Chinatown branch will be no longer by your visit, but their Robson branch would have been more conveinet to visit anyway. ChongQing (Szechuan) and Dinesty (dumplings - other stuff too, but really it's all about the dumplings!) lso both have downtown branches.

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Where would you personally stay at in Vancouver?

The only one we've ever actually stayed in was the YWCA Hotel - no regrets and it remains the best value in the city and surrounds. All mod cons, good location, and helps support a charitable organization. For a large group like yours with couples, a single and a kid there are also a variety of rooms from single to quintuple. If you simply can't imagine 'staying at the Y' then I can only comment first-hand on locations and in-house restos rather than comfort/convenience of rooms...

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Why would you reserve an airport hotel? Your flight is not really all that early and with planning, you can get to the airport from any hotel in plenty of time.

 

And as locals, we have stayed at the Blue Horizon and the Fairmont Waterfront, both excellent. The Blue Horizon is downtown and is within walking distance of many restaurants and shopping. Pay extra for a higher floor - it is so worth it. :)

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