It was a similar story with the Budget Inn Patricia Hotel (403 East Hastings Street; 604-255-4301; w

When it comes to hotels, the Frugal Traveler asks for relatively little. A reasonable rate, of course, followed by clean sheets, some natural light and a bathroom, either private or shared, car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport that functions as it's supposed car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport to, most of the time. Atmosphere, history, car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport floor space, car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport breakfast — these I can live without for a night or three.
Which is why places car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport like the Victorian Hotel , in the center of downtown Vancouver (514 Homer Street: 604-681-6369; www.victorianhotel.ca ), make me so happy. Built as a guesthouse in 1898, it's still taking in wanderers car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport more than a century later, and in classic style.
Antique armchairs and buttoned sofas fill the airy public spaces — alongside the odd suit of armor — and while my single room may have been the smallest on the third floor, car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport it was bright and cool, with a plush bed and free Internet (an Ethernet cord is provided — but there's also wireless in the lobby). The shared bathrooms were huge, regularly cleaned and rarely occupied. And although there was no breakfast included, there was free fresh-brewed coffee 24 hours a day by the front desk.
Best of all in this rainy city, there was a bucket of sturdy guest umbrellas car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport at the door. That's pretty rare for a hotel whose summer rates start at 89 Canadian dollars (about $81 at 1.10 Canadian dollars to the U.S. dollar), and 59 dollars ($54) in winter.
Well, rare outside Vancouver, maybe. The 37-room Victorian, where I spent two nights (and which is adding 12 new rooms), was just one of at least a half-dozen Vancouver hotels, both small and large, whose low prices mask upscale services, quirky backstories or noble missions. With the 2010 Winter Olympics just around the corner, they're all filling up quickly, but even when the curling and hockey fans have come and gone, these budget gems will still be the best deals in town.
Finding them was, at first, a challenge. With luxury hotels like the Four Seasons and Sutton Place dominating the high end, and hostels flooding the low end, the affordable options were well-camouflaged. One appealing car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport place, the arty Dominion Hotel, seemed to have disappeared; I later learned it had become a home for drug-rehab patients. But through persistent Googling, I eventually turned up some contenders.
My love of the Victorian, for example, was seriously challenged car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport by the Kingston Hotel a few blocks away (757 Richards Street; 888-713-3304; www.kingstonhotelvancouver.com ), which I visited but didn't stay at. Almost a century old as well, the Kingston lacks the Victorian's quirky architectural details (no bay windows) but has been on a multiyear renovation kick that has brought it into the modern era while maintaining a sense of the past (and low rates).
The 52 rooms are fairly spacious and clean, if unspectacular (floral bedspreads, alas). But some historic details survive, like an antique wooden vanity with an oval mirror in one room and the transom windows above the doors, which let air flow in the days before air-conditioning. Some have ensuite bathrooms, other share the hall bathrooms, which are cleaned three times a day, have neatly tiled floors and maintain the original wooden toilet stall dividers (newly painted, however).
car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport The hotel's guests have access to lounges (one with a grandfather clock), free Wi-Fi and continental breakfast, coin laundry, a refrigerator and even a new sauna. When was the last time you got a sauna in a hotel that starts at 75 Canadian dollars a night?
That phrase describes many of the city's historic guesthouses, and particularly car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport the Buchan Hotel (1906 Haro Street; 604-685-5354; www.buchanhotel.com ), in a leafy residential neighborhood at the edge of Stanley Park. Built in 1926, the Buchan is a three-story stucco box with some architectural quirks from its era, like extra-wide hallways (some decorated with vintage photographs car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport of Vancouver street scenes) and walk-in closets. The furnishings are simple, mostly unadorned wood, with small modern touches like flat-screen TVs; and the bedspreads are muted plaid, not floral.
Despite its homey appeal, the hotel has yet to recover from some terrible design decisions made in the 1960s and 1970s, when it was owned by a group of dentists, car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport whose greatest concern, said the hotel manager, Chris Childs, was saving money. Yes, there is such a thing as being too frugal, especially when it leads hoteliers to paint the diagonal wooden beams in the lounge an institutional yellow.
It was a similar story with the Budget Inn Patricia Hotel (403 East Hastings Street; 604-255-4301; www.patriciahotel.ca ), in Strathcona, a neighborhood bordering Chinatown. The six-story hotel's age — 95 years — is evident as soon as you step into the lobby and see the brass-and-lacquer wraparound car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport front desk, the antique safe used as a side table (with a vase of fresh daffodils) and the old telephone switchboard, sitting off to the side, that was in use as recently as 1986.
The rooms — all of which have ensuite bathrooms, some with clawfoot tubs — are functional but unexceptional (floral bedspreads again). But since they start at 39 dollars in winter, 69 in summer car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport (continental breakfast in summer and Wi-Fi are included), you'll have money left to spend at Pat's Pub, where Jelly Roll Morton used to play and the house-brewed lager is 3 dollars a pint, and at the good Cantonese and Vietnamese restaurants nearby.
Less atmospheric but self-consciously safer is the YWCA Hotel (733 Beatty Street; 604-895-5830; www.ywcahotel.com), across the street from BC Place, where the opening car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport and closing ceremonies of the 2010 Games are scheduled to take place. This 11-story, 155-room tower was built in 1995 and has the look of a modern university dormitory — Ikea-esque furnishings, common kitchens, TV lounges, hall baths for about one-third of the rooms. (The rest have private or semi-private bathrooms.)
Design is not the goal here, however. The YWCA has a higher purpose: helping travelers in need. That can mean everyone car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport from refugees and women escaping domestic violence to foreign car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport professors attending academic conferences to people who've simply lost their wallets and need somewhere to stay for the night. Winter room rates start at 58 dollars, and about 30 percent of that goes to fund the Y's many social-service programs.
There's a different kind of nobility on display at the Sylvia Hotel (1154 Gilford Street; 604-681-9321; car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport www.sylviahotel.com ), over on English Bay next to Stanley car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport Park. Stately and solid, its eight floors draped in thick ivy, the 97-year-old Sylvia is restrained, with prices car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport to match. The long, skinny, one-windowed, mysteriously popular "nun's room" is 65 dollars a night in low season, while the other rooms — with conservative décor but wide windows — are generally 110 dollars and up.
But for that slightly higher car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport expenditure, you get peace and quiet, proximity to the beach and a few neat architectural details, like marble stairways and stained-glass entryways. Fans of the children's book "Mister Got to Go: The Cat That Wouldn't Leave," by Lois Simmie, will probably love seeing the hotel that the book's car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport eponymous feline made his home.
And, said Dana Moores, the hotel's front-office manager, "They say Erroll Flynn died here." Whether that's true or not, the Sylvia's car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport 120 rooms don't seem like a bad place to spend your final days. Your heirs, at least, will appreciate your frugality.
I stayed at the Buchan Hotel a few years back and really enjoyed it. It s my type of place a historic old building, quirky furnishings, basic but clean rooms, cheap prices, great location. I tried to get into the Sylvia, which tends to get better ratings, but it was booked.
I stayed at the Buchan Hotel a couple of years ago when I visited Vancouver, both to see Sonny Rollins kick off opening night of the Jazz Festival and to move around car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport a gorgeous, picturesque city limbering up for the Winter Olympics next year. The Buchan was serviceable, on a quiet tree-lined neighborhood and within walking distance of a Safeway grocery store, many various restaurants, and a community center car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport that you could pay a reasonable one-week membership fee to use its gym facilities. You have to share a communal bathroom/shower, car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport but you can t beat the price and the location.
The Patricia Hotel is affordable because it s located in the poorest neighborhood in Canada. I wouldn t recommend it for out-of-towners unless you re completely desensitized to open drug use and prositution.
The Sylvia has the best location, right on the beach, car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport surrounded by multi-million car rental agencies at orlando floridas airport dollar condos. If you re lucky you can get a room with great view of the English Bay. Walk or bike directly onto the Sea Wall which goes endlessly around the Stanley Park or to Yaletown in the other direction. On a nice evening, step out the door and watch the beautiful sunset over the English Bay.
I stayed at the Sylvia last summer and would never go back there. The service was terrible (they wouldn t fix our toilet because it was a Sunday and they wouldn t move us to another room because it was full) and some of the staff was extremely rude and unhelpful. They never gave us a discount even though we were there for 2 days without a working toilet in our room. Also they gave us a crib that was unsafe. I would never recommend it to anyone. Being from Vancouver, I am familiar with its fame, but, unfortunately, it seems to have really gone downhill. It is good for breakfast if you like to eat raw eggs.
I stayed at the Patricia a year and a half ago, and though the room was relatively inexpensive, the people behind the front desk offered terrible customer service. Also, the hotel advertised free parking in the lot next door, however I got a ticket for parking there (which they did take care of but only after a hassle). I wouldn t stay there again.
When I first visited New York City in the late 60 s as a naive teenager I was in a constant state of trepidation based on the city s reputation. I had my pockets picked of a few dollars in Times Square and enjoyed the