Vancouver Transportation and Hotels

[Thomas 123]

We are going on Holland America out of Vancouver in early May.  We have never cruised with Holland America before and would like to know the best Hotel for the money and the best transportation from the Airport to the hotel if there is any hotel that includes transportation

[LHT28]

Also check the West Coast  forum

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

[Heidi13]

On 12/13/2023 at 10:10 AM, Thomas 123 said:

We are going on Holland America out of Vancouver in early May.  We have never cruised with Holland America before and would like to know the best Hotel for the money and the best transportation from the Airport to the hotel if there is any hotel that includes transportation

 

Hotels in downtown Vancouver are extremely expensive, so without knowing your budget, it is impossible to suggest a hotel, as if downtown is out of your price range, cheaper options are available around the airport and in Richmond.

 

Assuming, you opt for a downtown hotel, transportation options are Skytrain, fixed price cab, UBER and limos. Skytrain is the cheapest, but not the easiest with cruise luggage.

[everbeentoseabilly]

Taking the sky train from the airport to downtown worked well for us.  We have stayed at the fairmont waterfront, the paradox and the auberge hotels. All were very nice and we walked to the port from all

of them

[martincath]

Best hotel for the money is actually fairly straightforward - the YWCA Hotel! While there are better hotels, with more fancy stuff, they cost SHEDLOADS more - nothing remotely comparable in price comes close to the quality, location etc. of the Y. Don't accidentally book a YMCA hostel though - I think we still have one of those too - the hotel is purpose-built as such, and while there are some big family rooms with 5 beds there are no dorms. Book soon though - it sells out long in advance, especially the 'normal hotel room' format with 2 doubles/a queen and an en suite bathroom.

 

Transport - if mobile, can handle own bags, SkyTrain is usually both cheapest and fastest, although with cabs being fixed price into town sometimes a small group can find that cab fare is almost as cheap (each ticket leaving YVR gets an extra $5 fee added, to pay for building that line back in the day, so in USD it's ballpark $6-8pp depending on time and day of travel, while the per-cab price to most downtown hotels is ~$29 plus tip)

 

Only hotels with shuttles are out near the airport, and they will only shuttle you back & forth not to downtown (although since there's a SkyTrain station pretty much en route from all of them, asking the hotel shuttle to drop you at SkyTrain should work - waving a few bucks as a 'preemptive tip' should ensure it does!)

 

Do some pricing, then check what Holland are selling pre-cruise hotels for - if you're a solo then their per-person pricing might make for a big win, but sometimes they get some really good rates booking blocks of rooms too, so if you did insist on a swanky hotel like Pan Pacific, Fairmont, etc. you might get a better rate through the line. Given the distances involved, weak CAD, English spoken everywhere though it's almost always cheaper to book hotel and transpo yourself here in Vancouver and frankly often faster too, no waiting for a bus to fill with other folks!

[patlarry1976]

Residence Jnn on Hirnsby st. A few blocks from skytrain. Indoor pool, beautiful modern clean. Amazing buffet breakfast. Took Uber from there to part. $11 plus tip. Nice and easy. Going now for about $250 a night in May

[1982CruzStart]

18 hours ago, patlarry1976 said:

Residence Jnn on Hirnsby st.

Just for clarity it is Residence Inn on Hornsby St.  Typing slip-ups happen all the time to me.  

[SoloAlaska]

Vancouver hotels can be very expensive. Last time I was there I paid over 350 a night  near the airport. Skytrain is my go to from airport to cruise.

[pink845]

Gosh, depends on your budget and what you really want to do prior to your cruise while in Vancouver. Having stayed in numerous downtown Vancouver hotels and also out by the airport, again, what is your goal.  Downtown hotels are in the range of $400 CDN per night on a good day.  Airport hotels half that price.  We always rent a car upon arrival and there is always something that peaks our interest in the few days prior to cruising.  We like the IHG across from the Costco in Richmond. Great chicken at Costco.   We drop off car at  airport and take that very efficient Skytrain downtown and walk the 10 minutes to the ship.    Easy Peasy.  Now, a night in downtown Vancouver at the Fairmont is always a treat as well.  

[TryinCruisin]

I am heading out for an early May cruise from Vancouver. I have never cruised before but I am from BC. As such I decided to book a nice hotel in Richmond which is about 20 min South of the port. There is an independent company (Ace Charter) that I plan to try. Looks like they pick you up from the hotel and drop you off at the port. Reasonable price. The cost of a downtown hotel right now is running between 500 -750. That's a bit to much for me. I will take the 250 - 350 range in Richmond.  There's lots of hotels down there, because that's where the airport is.  Also lots of shuttle services from the airports to many hotels in that area if you are flying in.