bettyk

We arrived in Vancouver last week on May 9. We spent 3 nts at the Sylvia Hotel at C$135 per night plus taxes plus parking (C$10). Really liked this hotel. Clean, charming, fabulous location on English Bay within walking distance of Stanley Park. The staff was very nice and breakfast was yummy.

Unfortunately arriving in Vancouver turned into a big hassle. After a 5 hour flight, there must have been several thousand -- yes thousand -- people winding their way thru 2 lines to get their passport stamped. That took around 30 minutes then we had to go to baggage claim and wait for our luggage. Another 10 minutes or so and then we were off to get our rental car. Due to airport construction, we had to walk forever to get to the car rental kiosks and then we waited in a line of about 8 people to get our Hertz rental car -- and that was for gold members. Anyway, about 1-1/2 hrs after we landed, we were on our way. Just a word of warning...

We had been sick the week before our trip with bronchitis but felt much better a few days before we left after some antiobiotics. Unfortunately, after being in that sea of humanity at the airport, we both got sick again the day after we arrived.

We perservered and visited Stanley Park, several times on foot and once by car, Gastown, Chinatown and Queen Elizabeth Garden. We enjoyed Stanley Park and the QE Garden the best. Unfortunately, there is a big panhandler problem in Vancouver. When we went to Gastown, we were hit up at least half a dozen times for money in just a couple of hours. We saw some very unsavory characters, including one homeless woman who was totally whacked out on drugs. I don't know that I would have felt safe walking alone there at night if my husband wasn't with me.

Anyway, we then went on to spend one night in Whistler and one night in Clinton before arriving in Harrison Hot Springs where we are now.

The weather has been amazingly gorgeous. I don't think we could have picked a better time for our visit. I will certainly answer any questions you might have but plan to write a more in depth trip report after we return home on the 16th.

icithecat

Bummer about getting sick again on the flight, but unfortunately that happens all too often. Many travellers leave home with an 'extra' seven day prescription of a mild antibiotic for that reason. Many doctors understand this phenomenon.

Glad you enjoyed Vancouver despite the setback.
Good choice of hotel/location.

lmlweb

re panhandlers. I was in Paris last fall, and only encountered maybe 2 beggars in the week I was there - and they weren't in your face at all. The first day upon returning home - was hit on by 3 in your face panhandlers in just 1 hour.

KathyNZ

Your report is very interesting. Firstly it appears the major airports in Canada are having problems dealing with large numbers of passengers to process at one time, is this because of the new passport rules? Last year in Toronto it was diabolical trying to get processed in the early morning for the US and many people almost missed their flights. And this was before this new law.
As for Gaslight area, well, I was there in 1995 and it was the one area in Vancouver that was sleazy then and I felt very uncomfortable, what is wrong with the city authorities, why don't they move them on?

Vorkuta

KathyNZ -

I don't mean this post to sound sarcastic or critical - I'm just intrigued by your comments about Vancouver's Gastown (not Gaslight) area, and your question "Why don't they [presumably the police] move them [presumably pandhandlers] on?"

In your view, what is the humanitarian way to deal with panhandlers? Where should they be moved on to? How does the city or town in which you live deal with this?

bettyk

It seems that the problem with Vancouver's airport has to do with the number of cruise ship passengers. There was a very long line thru Customs and Immigration when we were leaving Vancouver on the 16th. I happened to ask the man behind me, who was a local, if this was normal. He told me that it was always this way on "cruise ship days". So I guess you need to know what those particular days are in order to avoid the hordes of people.

Vorkuta, I don't know what the answer is either. I just know that in areas that rely on tourists for a large chunk of their revenue, it is not smart to allow visitors to be harassed by panhandlers, especially those who seem to have drug and/or mental problems. In Las Vegas, for instance, they have police on bicycles patroling the Fremont Street area to prevent just this sort of thing from happening. If people don't feel safe, they won't go -- period. Maybe Vancouver needs to do more to try to encourage these people to get into programs and/or shelters.

Anyway, hopefully I will feel better next week and can get my full trip report posted. If anyone is interested, you can see some of my husband's amazing photos on webshots:

http://community.webshots.com/album/...host=community

Orcas

I think you hit some of the more marginal areas of Vancouver. It is my understanding (and observation) that Gastown is within a marginal, druggy area. Ditto Chinatown.

There are far healthier areas of Vancouver that are fun to visit, like Granville Island.

As for the drug addicts, it's a big problem in a lot more places than Vancouver. I'd guess the southwest of Canada would have a particular problem because the weather is warmer in the winter than the rest of Canada.

bettyk

Orcas, I agree with your assessment of Gastown and Chinatown. However, these areas are heavily promoted to tourists. Still, we really enjoyed visiting Vancouver. It is a beautiful city and everybody was very nice and friendly.

Carmanah

What most tourists don't know is that Gastown was only resurrected as a tourist destination back in the 70s, but since Vancouver's creation as a city in 1886, that whole area has always been the rought and tumble down-and-out area. In a way, it's always been there - it's the tourists that have only come into the area in the last bit.

camelbak

Bettyk

The weather here HAS been wonderful! We have been lucky the past few weeks, and I am glad that the tourists and cruise ship passengers have been able to see a Vancouver in sunny May (which is not always a sure thing).

Regarding the Vancouver panhandling - I have to agree that it is out of control and the local government and the provincial government have been somewhat "slow" in dealing with it, through drug programs, social housing, by-laws, etc. In the meantime it definitely is a major "blotch" on Vancouver's reputation.

I am glad that you were able to see past it and enjoy the rest of your visit.

As someone who is in the downtown (Robson & Granville) core every day, it does bother me (though I have learned to just say No and keep walking). I can definitely see how it would really bother a tourist who isn't expecting to get "hit up" every block or so.

I agree about the "cruise ship days". We flew out of Vancouver to Phoenix one Wednesday (mid summer) and arrived at the airport within the 2 hour limit. The airport was PACKED! I had never seen it so busy - it was a cruise ship day - doh! I will be sure to check next time I fly out.

Looking forward to reading your report when you return!