Pre and post cruise hotel recommendations Vancouver.

[Beth and Bailey]

Flying mid Sept for Alaska cruise.  Flights are so much less (and better times to get back home on Monday)... so we thought we'd come in 1 day early and stay Sunday evening.

Are there hotels that can provide shuttle service to/from the airport and cruise port?

Or Uber?  Happy for any suggestions.  Thanks much.

[martincath]

7 hours ago, Beth and Bailey said:

Are there hotels that can provide shuttle service to/from the airport and cruise port?

No - there's never been a hotel that does both, but since the distances involved from literally ANY downtown hotel to the pier are tiny, a cab or Uber is almost certainly going to be less than US$10 (including an appropriate tip from most of them too). There are a handful of hotels with shuttles or towncars - many of the really swank hotels offer the latter, but I think the Hampton Inn is the only moderate hotel with a shuttle bus downtown (I like Hamptons myself, but the shuttle isn't a logical thing to hang a decision on alone - compare the price to a similar hotel and see how much extra the 'free' shuttle costs you in room rate!)

 

All airport hotels will shuttle you to and from YVR - but except for one right at the southern edge of Vancouver they're all in Richmond where the airport lives, so even if you pay a relative premium to get a hotel right by a SkyTrain station you're adding 75-90mins travel every day to go and See Stuff... and if you're not the kind of folks who want to take public transit you're also adding $75-90 in cab or Uber fees daily. Adding that onto your hotel budget makes many downtown hotels better value than airport ones!

 

With time on both ends to sightsee, you do want to be downtown - not only did we build the cruise terminal slap bang in the core, but we also have the vast majority of hotels and popular tourist sites there too! Unless you're mobility-challenged you will be able to walk to multiple restaurant, at least a few Things To See, shopping, pharmacy, supermarket etc. from any downtown hotel - and even if you only wanted to walk say 3 blocks with your suitcases, you have a choice of several hotels that close to the pier too.

 

I'd say you should get a booking in ASAP, as even in September if it's a pre/post cruise night many hotels will be close to fully-booked. Depending on how much your hotel budget runs on this vacation, you may have to get a bit further away from the pier - there are a few smaller, older hotels with big drops in price compared to the Fairmonts, Pan Pacific, Shangri-La etc. and if you don't mind humphing suitcases upstairs some of these smaller spots can be real bargains. If you're a group, a couple of 'condo hotels' can also be a relative steal - proper kitchen, separate bedrooms, maybe even in-suite laundry machines can both cheaper and better than 2+ regular hotel rooms so if this is you, check Sunset Inn & Suites and Rosedale on Robson.

 

But if you're a couple who a purpose-built hotel rather than a Ye Olde building converted to one, elevators, a great location, and a decent price the YWCA is the only game in town really; it almost always sells out in cruise season so jump on it right now if you're interested (go check reviews - it's not just good for a bargain hotel, it's consistently rated in the top 20 or so hotels at any price point).

[CruiserBruce]

Take a look on the Canada (Pacific) board, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/23-canada-alaskapacific-coastal/

 

and the West Coast Departures board, here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/315-west-coast-departures/

 

That is where there is tons of info on Vancouver.

[Beth and Bailey]

14 hours ago, martincath said:

No - there's never been a hotel that does both, but since the distances involved from literally ANY downtown hotel to the pier are tiny, a cab or Uber is almost certainly going to be less than US$10 (including an appropriate tip from most of them too). There are a handful of hotels with shuttles or towncars - many of the really swank hotels offer the latter, but I think the Hampton Inn is the only moderate hotel with a shuttle bus downtown (I like Hamptons myself, but the shuttle isn't a logical thing to hang a decision on alone - compare the price to a similar hotel and see how much extra the 'free' shuttle costs you in room rate!)

 

All airport hotels will shuttle you to and from YVR - but except for one right at the southern edge of Vancouver they're all in Richmond where the airport lives, so even if you pay a relative premium to get a hotel right by a SkyTrain station you're adding 75-90mins travel every day to go and See Stuff... and if you're not the kind of folks who want to take public transit you're also adding $75-90 in cab or Uber fees daily. Adding that onto your hotel budget makes many downtown hotels better value than airport ones!

 

With time on both ends to sightsee, you do want to be downtown - not only did we build the cruise terminal slap bang in the core, but we also have the vast majority of hotels and popular tourist sites there too! Unless you're mobility-challenged you will be able to walk to multiple restaurant, at least a few Things To See, shopping, pharmacy, supermarket etc. from any downtown hotel - and even if you only wanted to walk say 3 blocks with your suitcases, you have a choice of several hotels that close to the pier too.

 

I'd say you should get a booking in ASAP, as even in September if it's a pre/post cruise night many hotels will be close to fully-booked. Depending on how much your hotel budget runs on this vacation, you may have to get a bit further away from the pier - there are a few smaller, older hotels with big drops in price compared to the Fairmonts, Pan Pacific, Shangri-La etc. and if you don't mind humphing suitcases upstairs some of these smaller spots can be real bargains. If you're a group, a couple of 'condo hotels' can also be a relative steal - proper kitchen, separate bedrooms, maybe even in-suite laundry machines can both cheaper and better than 2+ regular hotel rooms so if this is you, check Sunset Inn & Suites and Rosedale on Robson.

 

But if you're a couple who a purpose-built hotel rather than a Ye Olde building converted to one, elevators, a great location, and a decent price the YWCA is the only game in town really; it almost always sells out in cruise season so jump on it right now if you're interested (go check reviews - it's not just good for a bargain hotel, it's consistently rated in the top 20 or so hotels at any price point).

 

[Beth and Bailey]

Thanks so much for the great info.  We've been to Vancouver a couple of times ages ago, so sightseeing is not a necessity this trip.  Getting a bit older and hubby frustrates a bit quicker nowadays..  lol.  So looking for simplicity.  Don't mind a smaller, older hotel but dragging luggage up more than a flight might be challenging.  

Don't mind grabbing a taxi or Uber to get to/from places, but really hate to spend $350 per night for such a quick stay in a hotel.  Understand the nature of the beast now tho..  I did check the Holiday Inn Express and it's 260CAN but then it's at the airport and you'd suggest not?   If you are allowed to make recommendations I would so appreciate it.  

[martincath]

1 hour ago, Beth and Bailey said:

...I did check the Holiday Inn Express and it's 260CAN but then it's at the airport and you'd suggest not?   If you are allowed to make recommendations I would so appreciate it.  

There are plenty of great Chinese restos within a short cab/Uber from the HI Express, it's right next to the local Costco, walkable to the casino and SkyTrain, but otherwise there's a lot of warehouses and highway. If you don't plan to go see/do stuff, and look at this purely as a money saving exercise by delaying the extra day, you could do a lot worse - but if you just want cheap, clean, and simple I'd be booking the YWCA Hotel as pricing is basically the same for a vastly superior location.

 

I checked for Sunday Sep 17 since you said mid-Sep, and the Ys private rooms run $269-299 depending on bed size - 1 double, 1 queen or 2 doubles - and that is close enough to HI Express pricing that you would be saving money if you took a cab just to a resto and back from HI. And downtown at least you have the option of walking around some, it doesn't cost anything but time to wander the Seawall!

 

Your arrival night, if you don't have time to go anywhere then by all means take the cheapest airport hotel you can lay your hands on - there is a generic shuttle service that does a milk run around multiple hotels on cruise days, but pricing per person means that's it's pretty much the same price to take a cab or Uber direct from your hotel instead and much faster. Or take the hotel shuttle back to YVR, jump in a fixed price cab (CAD$38) to the pier to pay even less and know exactly what it will cost up-front.

 

Personally I can't imagine being in any city, even one I've visited many times before, and not taking the chance to see at least a few old favourites/something new - even if that means abandoning a grumpy hubster! Just leave him sitting in the hotel all day watching sportsball and go do some stuff yourself;-) We're still a very safe city compared to anywhere of remotely comparable size in the US, and there are free walking tours if you want to hang out with a group of folks without spending money (check out Stroll Buddy for your own custom tour with no tips expected, or Toonie Tours do regular 'tip what you feel like' group walks with more availability). You can keep in touch with any messaging app on the free citywide WiFi network even if you don't have free data on your phones.