Hotel Reviews – Residence Inn Vancouver Downtown

I recently completed a 2-night award stay at the Residence Inn Vancouver Downtown, and wanted to share a mini-review with you. The hotel is standard Residence Inn stock (city high-rise version), clean, comfortable, and just happened to be convenient to family we were visiting. Staff were friendly, breakfast was good, and it even had a little bar called Cavino attached – coffee by day, wine by night. 🙂

Getting There

We arrived in Vancouver by Amtrak rail and then took Vancouver’s SkyTrain. We boarded at Main Street-Science World, which is just out of the main train station’s doors and to the left, and took the train to the Granville station. We then walked several blocks to the hotel. We could have changed to the Canada line at Granville (actually – walk out of Granville and over to City Center Station) and taken the Canada line south to Yaletown-Roadhouse, but after a 4+ hour train ride, we needed the walk.

Checking In

There were two gentlemen working the front desk attempting to assist some of my fellow countrymen in finding their way somewhere. This resulted in at least a 5 minute wait to check in, but beyond that, we were pleasantly assisted, and on our way to our 8th floor room in short order.

The Room

Our room was clean, comfortable, and typical of most Residence Inn’s. There was a kitchenette, a little seating/bar area, big closet, and nice bath. The work area was equipped with power outlets, and the wireless internet worked well in the room. I snapped a few photos for your review.

I don’t recall ever seeing a robe in the closet at a Residence Inn. Perhaps I just didn’t notice. But MrsMJ appreciates them. Bottom line, the room and hotel were perfect for our stay. We didn’t need luxury, we needed practical, and this was a 20 minute walk or $8 CAD cab ride from family.

Around the Hotel

As our focus during the weekend was family, we did not do a great deal of exploring….something I’ll correct on our next visit to Vancouver. The hotel is located near Granville Island, a pretty popular tourist district. We walked around but found ourselves under the bridge to the island and not where we could walk across. There’s an easy solution – The Aqua Bus, a water taxi which can take you from Hornby Street to the island. We didn’t do a lot of “eating out” this trip, but did manage to make it to the island the evening before we left. I can recommend one restaurant and one beer. We enjoyed our dinner on the patio by the water at Whet. And Granville Island Brewing makes great beer. 🙂

The Bottom Line

I’ve often heard Vancouver, BC called the most beautiful city in North America, and I can’t say I’ve seen anything that would lead me to disagree. I did not get to explore Vancouver a great deal on this trip, but I’ve seen enough to know that I want to go back. The Residence Inn Vancouver Downtown was a perfect hotel solution for our stay. Staff were friendly, accommodations were comfortable. I’d stay again.

-MJ, July 12, 2014