Banense
Couples · October 202510/10
Great stay for our first visit to Vancouver! First of all the location is fantastic, right in the heart of Downtown within easy walking distance to the CF Pacific Centre Mall, Robson Street, Canada Pl...Great stay for our first visit to Vancouver! First of all the location is fantastic, right in the heart of Downtown within easy walking distance to the CF Pacific Centre Mall, Robson Street, Canada Place, and Gastown all less than a 20 minute walk away. Right across the side street (Melville) is the Burrard Skytrain station on the Expo line. Across Burrard Street is a lovely historic Anglican Church (Christ Church Cathedral), the oldest church in Vancouver. Melville Street next to the hotel is also a pickup location for the free Capilano Suspension Bridge bus and another paid bus service to Whistler. The parking is $46 for self-parking or $70-something for valet, per night.
Tons of food options around, starting with a Starbucks right in the lobby and a McDonalds and Tim Hortons steps away. There is also a Shawarma food truck always parked on the side street (Melville). The hotel itself also has a restaurant and a lounge, which we didn't visit. There was a helpful water refill station in the lobby and on a couple other lower floors which we found really hand to refill our water bottles everyday.
We got a King room (#1516) and it was really nice with large windows (no balcony). The bed was very plush and comfortable, four pillows. The TV was huge, maybe 75 inches. The room also had a closet with a large umbrella, a safe, plenty of hangers, a safe, and an extra pillow and blanket. There is also a mini fridge, a desk with chair, a side chair, coffeemaker, ice bucket, and two nightstands with deep drawers.
The bathroom was my only complaint. It was clean and modern - one sink, plenty of towels, full-size toiletries such as shampoo, body wash, conditioner, and lotion (bolted to wall), a shower cap, tissues, Q-tips, and hair dryer - all fine. My minor issues with the bathroom were this: No exhaust fan; the faucet water stream was quite weak even at full blast and the water often came out really hot even when set to what's usually warm or even towards the cold side was still hot; no handrails in bathtub (however they did provide a non-slip bathmat).
There is always visible security in the hotel lobby, I often saw up to 3 security guards. The area outside is very busy and yes there are often homeless and/or drug addicts around outside, as they there are throughout the city very visibly. So it felt safe to go into the hotel and know there's security there.
Finally, a tip about the elevators. There are five elevators to the guest floors so you don't have to wait long. To get to the guest floors, you first have to scan your key card and select your floor on a screen outside the elevators, otherwise the access is locked to the guest floors. Then the screen displays which elevator you are assigned to, often you will be the only one on it when going up so it feels like your own private elevator. From the guest floors to the lobby just press the lobby button, without scanning your card, to get your elevator assignment. You will see people who just checked in trying to get into any elevator without knowing about the key card security system (we did the first time), so I would suggest the front desk inform people about it when they check in to avoid confusion.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this hotel due to its excellent location and comfortable rooms.show more
