# VancouverBC Trip



## tiger1210 (Oct 17, 2005)

I am planning a trip for  4 days, 3 nights to Vancouver. Need help on what area to stay. Also, any ideas on bed and breakfasts in that area. Or would a hotel be just as good for the money?


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## krisj (Oct 17, 2005)

I'd strongly suggest bidding for a 4* downtown hotel on PriceLine.  You can usually get a great hotel for under $85 US/ night.  

You can go to the biddingfortravel website to see which hotels people have been getting on Priceline recently.  We've always had great success using PriceLine in downtown Vancouver.

Kris


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## Bill4728 (Oct 17, 2005)

You can use priceline, but I like Hotwire more. You get the same rooms at a price a couple dollars more than the lowest Priceline will accept, but you don't have to worry about bidding way too much. Another way to bid is, get the price from Hotwire and bid on priceline for $5 less per night. The only problem is that the areas and the star levels don't always match up.

Also I just did a search for Vancouver on Hotwire for late Oct.  A 4* in Downtown -west was $74 /night. It was either the Sheraton(likely), Hyatt or Marriott.

Good Luck

PS the downtown-west is the nicest part of town.

PPS  Granville Island has a great hotel with suites right on the water(pricey). You then can take a water taxi across to the main downtown area.


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## krisj (Oct 18, 2005)

Bill4728 said:
			
		

> Another way to bid is, get the price from Hotwire and bid on priceline for $5 less per night.




Actually, what I do is check Hotwire (and other hotel sites), then start Priceline bidding $25 less than the best 4* deal you find.  If your first "downtown Vancouver 4*" bid is rejected, you can get "free" rebids using Langley, Delta and Surrey and raising your bid each time by $5, since none of those areas have 4* hotels.  Then, if I didn't get anything I'd book through another site.  So far I've always gotten a better deal (and usually a MUCH better deal) on Priceline, but things do change.

Kris

p.s.  I just got the Marriott Pinnacle (a very nice hotel) in downtown Vancouver in early Nov for $75 per night.  The lowest rate on Hotwire 4* for the same time period was $111.


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## falmouth3 (Oct 18, 2005)

*Vancouver in May*

I'm very interested in this discussion because I've never used these types of sites before.  The dates I'm looking at are in May 2006.  The prices seem to be higher than what you're stating.  I assume it's because the season is different.  How long before my stay should I be looking?  Do prices go down as you get closer to the dates?

Can you get your frequent stay points by using these travel sites?

Thanks,
Sue


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## krisj (Oct 18, 2005)

Sue -

With PriceLine you bid for your rooms, so you will almost never see published rates as low as you can find there.  With Hotwire, they name the price but don't tell you specifically which hotel you're in until after you've purchased the room.  These reservations are strictly non-refundable, so if you decide to book a room plan to use it or lose it 

I know with PriceLine you don't get frequent stay credit for the room (which is pre-paid through PriceLine) but you usually can get credit for any additional expenses (parking, room service, etc.).

You can start bidding any time, but sometimes new inventory comes available so if your bids fail, just keep trying periodically.  Yes, different seasons will have different rates, but May (pre-cruise-season) shouldn't be bad in Vancouver.

Kris


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## RonaldCol (Dec 1, 2005)

*What About a Timeshare in Vancouver?*

First of all, I hate Priceline. That said, what about a timeshare in Vancouver? We just spent 127,000 RCI Points to get two weeks in a one bedroom unit in downtown Vancouver for mid July 2006. Through all the deposits and all, my net cost for those points plus the $79 cost from RCI was about $290 US. This is less than $21 a day for a one bedroom unit. Less I forget, the RCI points timeshare in Vancouver is the Aviawest on Robson.


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## bilbran (Dec 5, 2005)

RonaldCol said:
			
		

> First of all, I hate Priceline. That said, what about a timeshare in Vancouver? We just spent 127,000 RCI Points to get two weeks in a one bedroom unit in downtown Vancouver for mid July 2006. Through all the deposits and all, my net cost for those points plus the $79 cost from RCI was about $290 US. This is less than $21 a day for a one bedroom unit. Less I forget, the RCI points timeshare in Vancouver is the Aviawest on Robson.



The two timeshares that I know of in downtown are Worldmark's and Intrawest's.  They are located next to each other about 5 or so blocks south of the downtown financial district so you can walk to anywhere in downtown if you're reasonably fit.  
I have stayed at Intrawest's a few years ago. It's on three floors of the Sheraton Wall Centre (27th, 28th and 29th floors or thereabout) and the rooms are fantastic with the full-wall views of the city and all, but are a little on the small side.  There's alot of places to eat downtown, so having a kitchen is not as important as in other timeshares that are in more rustic settings as you can get something to eat closeby at any time of the day.

Vancouver BC is my favorite big city in the world, if you haven't been there you will not believe how nice it is.  You can feel safe walking around in the downtown area after dark - tell me an American big city that can make that claim!  You will also not believe the number of skyscrapers in that city.  They are literally all over the place.   And people live in them too, not just work in them like in the US.   A week is almost too short to do and see all that's there to be seen in Vancouver.

I have used Priceline a few times to go there for less than a week and have gotten the Marriot  and Hyatt (both downtown 4*) for about $60 to $70 a nite.  They were both nice but did not compare with Intrawest's units.  They are a whole step up from what Priceline calls 4 stars.


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## RonaldCol (Dec 18, 2005)

bilbran said:
			
		

> The two timeshares that I know of in downtown are Worldmark's and Intrawest's.  They are located next to each other about 5 or so blocks south of the downtown financial district so you can walk to anywhere in downtown if you're reasonably fit.
> I have stayed at Intrawest's a few years ago. It's on three floors of the Sheraton Wall Centre (27th, 28th and 29th floors or thereabout) and the rooms are fantastic with the full-wall views of the city and all, but are a little on the small side.



I didn't know Intrawest and Trendwest have timeshare units in Vancouver. I found Trendwest has the Canadian in Vancouver but I couldn't find anything for the Intrawest resorts. The Avaiawest is a 1-in-4 resort so with these other two timeshares, it will help to get back into Vancouver within a four year period.


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## JoeWilly (Dec 22, 2005)

Around July 7, 2005 I got the Marriott Pinnacle downtown for $85.00 a night by bidding on Priceline.  Parking is extra, around $25.00.  I called the hotel after I got my successful bid to ask about parking and they said it was included.  Much to my surprise, when we checked out they had two nights parking on the bill.  I explained I had called and was told parking was included.  We split the difference and I paid for one night.

It was my mother's birthday and they gave us a room with a partial view.  Also, they signed a birthday card and delivered a plate of fresh fruit and a bud rose to our room immediately upon arrival.  My mother was very touched!


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## asp (Dec 28, 2005)

RonaldCol said:
			
		

> The Aviawest is a 1-in-4 resort so with these other two timeshares, it will help to get back into Vancouver within a four year period.



If you are using Points at a Points resort, there is no 1 /4 rule.   Only if you are using  the Weeks system, or using Points at a Weeks resort.


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## hvsteve1 (Dec 29, 2005)

The timeshare is in Rosedale on Robson Hotel,located across from the incredible public library. It is an all-suite hotel with several floors given over to the timeshare. Vancouver is a very difficult city to grab a timeshare week and,while the timeshare units are supposed to be nicer than the hotel suites,this is a hotel that appears to come up on bargain web sites. If you are looking for the location,you don't necessarily need to go through the hassel of trying for a timeshare week. Also,this tends to not be the most central location,though you can walk (uphill) to the main shopping district.


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## RonaldCol (Jan 4, 2006)

asp said:
			
		

> If you are using Points at a Points resort, there is no 1 /4 rule.   Only if you are using  the Weeks system, or using Points at a Weeks resort.



Thanks for pointing out that fine point. I most likely found the 1-in-4 rule under the weeks description of the resort. I'm going to have to recheck the description under the points section.


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## TravelOrDie (Jan 4, 2006)

*Wow - you must have low maintenance fees!!*



			
				RonaldCol said:
			
		

> First of all, I hate Priceline. That said, what about a timeshare in Vancouver? We just spent 127,000 RCI Points to get two weeks in a one bedroom unit in downtown Vancouver for mid July 2006. Through all the deposits and all, my net cost for those points plus the $79 cost from RCI was about $290 US. This is less than $21 a day for a one bedroom unit. Less I forget, the RCI points timeshare in Vancouver is the Aviawest on Robson.


Based on this information you pay only .17 cents per point in annual maintenance fees!!  Usually a good deal is just under 1 cent per point!  Where is your timeshare(s) and how do I sign up!


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## asp (Jan 8, 2006)

hvsteve1 said:
			
		

> . (Referring to the Rosedale on Robson) this tends to not be the most central location,though you can walk (uphill) to the main shopping district.


  It really isn't much of a hill in this area!   a few feet for maybe three blocks.  If you really want to shop central Robson, every day, then it is out of the way.

In the area of the library, Westin Grand, and Rosedale on Robson, you have lots of restaurants and a large variety of fast foods within one block.  

Going east (more or less), you are two blocks to BC Place (football, boat shows, variety of trade shows, concerts, seats 60,000), four blocks to GM Place (concerts and other special events, hockey, seats 18,000), six blocks to Chinatown.  A new Costco is being built adjacent GM Place.  

Going north you are about six blocks to Gastown, a little further, and you are at the cruise terminal.  Liquor store in the same building as the Harbour Centre revolving restaurant.

Going south, two or three blocks to the Yaletown restaurants, four to the liquor store, four or five to two different large groceries and the tiny ferries to Granville island (large market, more restaurants, comedy "theatre arts".   A bit further, and English Bay has a great beach, and just a little further along the seawall, an entrance to Stanley Park.

The Robson shopping area starts around three blocks west and somewhat up Robson from the Rosedale, with Pacific Centre mall another block.


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## Keitht (Jan 11, 2006)

We have found www.bbcanada.com to be a great source of information about bed & breakfast accommodation throughout Canada.  We have used them a number of times and never been disappointed with the accommodation.


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