# Vaoouver in August



## linpat (May 3, 2008)

Hi All, I am so glad that I found the Canada forum because I trust TUGgers first hand advice and experience!
We (daughter and I) will be driving to Vancouver probably 3rd week in August - she will start graduate school at UBC and has to be there Aug 26. It will be a long trip but neither of have been west or north of Denver and it will probably be our last real Mother/Daughter trip. We aren't even thinking about gas prices.

Can anyone give me some ideas on where to stay in Vancouver including B&Bs or hotels? the I'd love to get one of the Intrawest places and will contact DAE about them but am not very optimistic. UBC is on the very west end of Vancouver and  the whole area looks gorgeous but it also appears to be some distance from hotels and restaurants. Is this true?  

I will be there for 3 or 4 nights and then will start back so there won't be much time to explore the area. Any advice and/or comments will be much appreciated. Thanks so much. Linpat


----------



## Liz Wolf-Spada (May 3, 2008)

I've only been in Vancouver once and got a great deal, under $100 for a 4 star hotel, the Marriott downtown with an indoor pool.
Liz


----------



## ricoba (May 3, 2008)

linpat said:


> Hi All, I am so glad that I found the Canada forum because I trust TUGgers first hand advice and experience!
> We (daughter and I) will be driving to Vancouver probably 3rd week in August - she will start graduate school at UBC and has to be there Aug 26. It will be a long trip but neither of have been west or north of Denver and it will probably be our last real Mother/Daughter trip. We aren't even thinking about gas prices.
> 
> Can anyone give me some ideas on where to stay in Vancouver including B&Bs or hotels? the I'd love to get one of the Intrawest places and will contact DAE about them but am not very optimistic. UBC is on the very west end of Vancouver and  the whole area looks gorgeous but it also appears to be some distance from hotels and restaurants. Is this true?
> ...



You are right, UBC is south and west of downtown.

The area is known as Point Grey, Kitsilano.  

I don't remember hotels out that way, but there are thriving shops and restaurants along Broadway/West 10th and West 4th Avenues.  I bet there are B&B's out there, but I just don't know.  I would normally recommend people to stay downtown when they visit Vancouver, but since your destination is UBC, I would recommend staying in that area, since it can be a slow drive from downtown to the university.

It's a fairly upscale, hip and urban area.  

Jericho Beach has some great views of downtown and the north shore mountains.

I just did a quick search and found this website about Kits & West 4th.

I lived in Vancouver for over a decade and still have family & friends there.  I think you will find it to be a great city to visit, and the weather in August should be wonderful.


----------



## herindoors911 (May 3, 2008)

http://www.easyrez.com/accommodations/Vancouver/Bed_and_Breakfast_Inn


Here is a link to a B&B site that you might find useful.

Avoid areas like White Rock, Richmond, North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Surrey, Burnaby, Coquitlam, New Westminster, as they are too far away.

Look for accom. in Dunbar, Kitsilano, Kerrisdale, Arbutus, Point Grey.    These areas are on the West *Side* of Vancouver  (Not to be confused with W. Vancouver!!), are nearer to UBC, and will give you easier access.   You can also get local transit to UBC from most of these areas.



ANything you see on lower W. xxxx Ave, Vancouver should be fine.   West Broadway is a busy street, and that is where most of the buses run along. West 4th is also a busy road, but has lots of life and character.   

UBC is out on a great peninsula, and that makes it is more remote.   It is a beautiful area, with lovely vistas.

Downtown is OK too.   Buses come through the downtown core to UBC.  It would take approx. 45 mins. to travel from downtown to UBC on the express bus.

Please ask if you have any more questions, and I'll try to help.


http://www.ubc.ca/about/directions.html

This will let you see how to get to UBC once you have made your decision.


----------



## herindoors911 (May 3, 2008)

One more answer - yes - UBC is more remote, as the Univeristy Endowment Lands come between it and civilization.  There is a big golf course there too.
But, there are lots restaurants not too far away.


----------



## Canuck (May 4, 2008)

The Granville Island Hotel is in an awesome area, right on Granville Island, close to Kits area, on a great bus route (if you didn't want to drive)...traffic in Vancouver in the summer is awful....actually, it's always awful.  The bus system in Vancouver is extremely easy and safe to use.  I lived there for 10 years and rarely drove my car.

http://www.granvilleislandhotel.com/

Anyhow, staying on Granville Island will give you the best of both worlds, close to downtown (mini ferry away) and a 10 min bus ride to Kits area.  Either way Granville Island is a great place.  Great shops, places to eat, people watch, strolling etc etc.....

Have a great trip!

Lisa


----------



## BevL (May 5, 2008)

Also, there is an extremely bad area of town, the Downtown East Side.  There really aren't any "tourist" hotels there but are some "hotels" that I would not stay in for any kind of money.  I actually saw one available on travelocity.  So check tripadvisor if it's a non name-brand hotel that seems like too good a price.


----------



## ricoba (May 5, 2008)

BevL said:


> Also, there is an extremely bad area of town, the Downtown East Side.  There really aren't any "tourist" hotels there but are some "hotels" that I would not stay in for any kind of money.  I actually saw one available on travelocity.  So check tripadvisor if it's a non name-brand hotel that seems like too good a price.



I remember during EXPO 86, this was the big scam.  The Downtown Eastside hotels were trying to make a killing since they literally were the closest hotels to EXPO main gate on Main Street.  The Cobalt, was one I specifically remember.  Can you imagine showing up there after a long trip and checking in to a roach infested rat trap?


----------



## BevL (May 6, 2008)

ricoba said:


> I remember during EXPO 86, this was the big scam.  The Downtown Eastside hotels were trying to make a killing since they literally were the closest hotels to EXPO main gate on Main Street.  The Cobalt, was one I specifically remember.  Can you imagine showing up there after a long trip and checking in to a roach infested rat trap?



The rats are not what I would worry about.  The drug users, dealers and those that are battling mental illness that live down there are what scare me.


----------



## Bill4728 (May 6, 2008)

We've stayed in both the Sheraton (Club Intrawest suites) and on Granville Island.  Both are great!  

Grandville Island is a busy place but the hotel there is nice.  Even if you don't stay there it is worth an afternoon of visiting the island. They have a huge farmers market, several waterfront restaurants and 2-3 theators/play houses.


----------



## linpat (May 6, 2008)

*Thanks for the help!*

I will definitely keep your messages and suggestions. August is still 3 months away but will probably go very quickly so I'm going to start keeping an eye on hotel/b&b prices and locations. 
Thanks again.


----------



## BevL (May 6, 2008)

Bill4728 said:


> We've stayed in both the Sheraton (Club Intrawest suites) and on Granville.  Both are great!
> 
> Grandville is a busy place but the hotel there is nice.  Even if you don't stay there it is worth an afternoon of visiting the island. They have a huge farmers market, several waterfront restaurants and 2-3 theators/play houses.



Granville Island is nice, but I wouldn't want to stay on Granville Street hotels.  It's the party area and can be very noisy, especially on warm summer nights.  

Vancouver is a beautiful city so I hope I'm not scaring everybody with the "Don't stay in this area" posts.


----------



## asp (May 7, 2008)

Last two weeks of August is the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) which, combined with the usual summer cruise ship passengers, could make accomodation in short supply.  If you want a certain location I suggest booking now.

We once stayed at UBC in dormitory accomodation to attend a seminar - I think it may be available to you, but it is out of the way for everything except UBC


----------



## sfwilshire (May 7, 2008)

Canuck said:


> The Granville Island Hotel is in an awesome area, right on Granville Island, close to Kits area, on a great bus route (if you didn't want to drive)...traffic in Vancouver in the summer is awful....actually, it's always awful.  The bus system in Vancouver is extremely easy and safe to use.




We are staying in Richmond for our last two nights. A Tuger warned me about the traffice going into Vancouver, but I wanted to be near the airport for the last night and thought this might be easier than changing hotels.

Should we drive all the way into Vancouver? If so, any recommendations on parking?

I found all the transit info but haven't figured out how long they take to get from Richmond to downtown.

Thanks for all your help.

Sheila


----------



## randyz (May 7, 2008)

sfwilshire said:


> We are staying in Richmond for our last two nights. A Tuger warned me about the traffice going into Vancouver, but I wanted to be near the airport for the last night and thought this might be easier than changing hotels.
> 
> Should we drive all the way into Vancouver? If so, any recommendations on parking?
> 
> ...




Sheila, Which hotel are you staying at. Once I know that I can give you pretty exact commute times since I do the commute daily. Generally its a 30-35 minute drive to downtown Vancouver from most of the hotels. On a Saturday/Sunday morning I have done it in 25 minutes and that is into the heart of downtown. You can generally add 15 minutes to that during rush hour. Coming into Vancouver heavier times are 07:30 to 9:15 after that not usually and issue. Coming back to Richmond 04:00 to 6:15 can be heavy, though usually as a tourist you are going to be well past that time. 

Now if you are planning to use transit there a number of bus lines that run express service into Vancouver, especially the 99B Line. Again let me know where you are staying and I can give you a better idea.

Randy


----------



## sfwilshire (May 7, 2008)

Hi Randy,

We're staying at the Hampton Inn at the Airport. It seems that the daypass would be a good transportation option for us. Even though we'd spend nearly $40 for the family, we wouldn't have to pay to park and can roam around at will. I assume parking is expensive in the city.

If we can get a ride from Richmond that won't take forever, that's probably the way we'll go. We might even be able to turn in our rental van a day early if we are convenient to the transport system. We're going to be on extra days (past three weeks), so that would save us some money.

Sheila


----------



## linpat (May 17, 2008)

I've been away from the computer for a few days and just catching up. Thanks for the heads-up about the Pacific Northwest Exhibition - I think we'll look into the UBC dormitory but it might be too late. Since UBC is our ultimate destination it would be most convenient and 3 months are going to pass very quickly.  Patricia


----------



## plgallagher (May 21, 2008)

*Vancouver in August*

Great City. My family and I have vacationed in Vancouver three times in the last few years. All three visits occured at the end of trips to Alaska on cruises or visits to the Puget Sound islands. Each trip ends with a desire to have spent more time in this city. Other than my home town of San Diego, I think it is the nicest city on the west coast.

We usually stay in the area near Stanley Park. I have rented efficiency hotel rooms since we have kids. We spend lots of time riding bikes and hiking in Stanley Park. We also go to the Municipal pool on the west side of Stanley Park. The restaurants in this area are family friendly and it is easy to get around town on the public transit system.

UBC is on the other side of town from the tourist areas of Vancouver. We went to the great Natural History museum at UBC. We took two buses to get there and it took an hour but I suspect driving is about 20-25 minutes.


----------

