North Van or Downtown Van
 

I've posted this before, but am still in quandry and desperately seeking advice. As part of 3 week trip to BC and Rockies, we are staying in Vancouver for 5 nights. Have option of either Delta Suites Downtown, or Holiday in North Vancouver. We intend to hire car. Which would be better for family of 4 with 2 teens, city dwellers already so big city not particularly thrilling. Are there transport problems staying in North Vancouver? Will we get tired of being hemmed in by tower blocks? I know everyone's taste is different, but I have decision overload.......
Thank you

Sorry, should have typed 'Holiday Inn', not 'Holiday in' (big difference I think)

I'd stay at the Delta downtown myself.

From the Delta, you have the excitement of a tourist city with a great harb our, and you can always go to the outskirts.

From the Holiday Inn, you start off on the wrong side of the water from most of the places you'll want to visit.

Seems to me that from the Delta, you'll go to the area of the Holiday Inn once or twice.

But if you choose the Holiday Inn, you'd be travelling to the Delta's neighborhood four or five times over the course of your visit.

About traffic, etc. Vancouver is a big city, and all the inlets and bridges slow things down a lot. From the Delta, you'll do a lot of walking. From the Holiday Inn, you'll almost always drive.

That said, the Holiday Inn loks very nice on the web site, and if I was running a convention in Vancouver, I would consider it. But then, I'd want my delegates captive.
BAK

There is no question - stay in North Van. Delta can be a nightmare with traffic etc. I am from North Van and know what I am talking about. North Van is central and easy to get anywhere - Delta is a way out of the city and public transportation is a nightmare and so is traffic. Trust me on this one!!!!

You say you’ll have a car. I assume that means you’ll have a car regardless of which hotel you’ll stay in. In your previous thread you said you’d have a car if you stayed in North Vancouver, but you would not have a car if you stayed downtown. That apparently was dictated by the $500 price difference between the two hotels.

If things have changed since your previous thread and you will have a car regardless of where you stay, I agree with BAK. It would be better to stay downtown. I would not worry about feeling hemmed in by tower blocks in the downtown core. We were in downtown Vancouver a couple of weeks ago. We spent so little of our waking time in our hotel that it did not matter.

If the car issue remains unchanged since your previous thread, I would choose the arrangement that includes the car, that is, North Vancouver.

In looking at the map, I see that, while the Delta Suites is located in the “mainstream” section of downtown that still is respectable, it’s a block or so from Gastown, which gets scuzzy at night. I do not believe you are in personal danger in Gastown. It’s just that it is not an inspiring place at night. It is the haunt of hookers, drug addicts and homeless people. If you are out and about at night, walking down the street to find a restaurant and that sort of thing, you’ll want to walk westwards and not eastwards from the Delta Suites.

I am mystified by wrldtrvlr05’s remarks concerning the Delta. In saying that the Delta is way out, perhaps wrldtrvlr05 is referring to the Delta that is by the airport?

Yes, we'll either hire a car from day 1, when we arrive, if staying in North Van, or towards the end of our 5 day stay, in preparation for onward journey to Vancouver Island and round trip to Rockies. Quite right Judy, we would be staying in Delta Suites downtown, which looked pretty central to me. So does this influence your advice? Does the Delta still seem a better bet?

>>>>>>Yes, we'll either hire a car from day 1, when we arrive, if staying in North Van, or towards the end of our 5 day stay, in preparation for onward journey to Vancouver Island and round trip to Rockies.<<<<<<

So, klar, if I understand your clarification correctly, the North Vancouver option would allow you to have a car, and the downtown option would not allow you to have a car.

As I said in your previous thread on this topic, I would choose the option that gave me the use of a car. As I said, downtown Vancouver is compact and walkable. It can keep you occupied for a couple of days. But, once the 4 of you started venturing out to the North Shore landmarks and beyond, it would be useful to have car.

klar, ignore this info from a posting above: >Delta is a way out of the city and public transportation is a nightmare and so is traffic. Trust me on this one!!!! <

It was written by a careless reader who failed to pay attention.

You are interested in a hotel run by the Delta hotel company. That particular hotel is in the heart of downtown.

The careless poster is writing about a community called Delta, which is a long way from downtown.

About a car; if you pick the Holiday Inn, you need a car the whole time.

If you pick the Delta, you only NEED a car part of the time. That said, with the four of you, it's easy to get around by car, parking costs less than four bus tickets most of the time, and Vancouver's one of those cities where lots of interesting things are spread out.

i.e. -- Manhatten, everything is pretty close. Same for San Francisco. Don't need a car. But Los Angeles is spread, Seattle is spread, and so on. As is Vancouver.

BAK

Thanks for reply. Would the best solution be Delta Suites + car for 3 of the 5 days, rather than North Vancouver and car for whole 5 days?

>>>>>>Would the best solution be Delta Suites + car for 3 of the 5 days, rather than North Vancouver and car for whole 5 days?<<<<<<

I believe that would, indeed, be the ideal solution.

Thank you, I will take your advice. This holiday booking is so stressful...Is it always women who do the planning? Interesting to know percentage of posters here who are female.......

I just wanted to vote for staying downtown along with most others.

For kids, especially, the downtown locale lets them have more freedoms in a city that is pretty darn safe when matched up against other cities on the continent of similar or larger size.

Regular people have been known to be walking the streets of Vancouver at all hours without much concern for safety. (now, there are some 'other' people out at that hour too, but you can still walk around really late and not be bothered)

Downtown is it.