Where to Stay Before Ferry to Nanaimo?
 

Hello,

As part of a larger trip this August, we'll drive from Portland, Oregon to catch the Tsawwassen ferry to Nanaimo. Rather than do the drive and ferry in one day, we are now thinking of staying overnight near the ferry. Our schedule is fairly flexible. We will be leaving Portland on Sunday, and have reservations in Tofino beginning on Monday.

This evening happens to be our anniversary, so I was hoping for something a little nicer than a road motel. Would our best bet be a hotel in Vancouver? We have been there on several other trips and always enjoy it. I remember the drive to the ferry taking about 40 minutes. I expect we could wait out any commute traffic by taking a late morning or early afternoon ferry to Nanaimo. I would rather not

Thanks for your help.

There are very nice hotels in Richmond, which is not that far from the ferry, but might involve commuter traffic.

I have seen Coast Hotel signs near the Tsawwassen ferry terminal, so I think there is one nearby. I think Coast Hotel is a nice 3* chain.

You could check into the very nice Semiahmoo resort in Blaine WA, right on the US side of the border. The next day you'd have a 20 minute drive to the ferry terminal, plus a wait to cross the border into Canada - hard to predict how long that'd be, though.

There's a Hilton in Richmond that is fairly nice, and also the Richmond Inn is a big hotel complex... although Richmond isn't someplace I'd really recommend for a tourist, its Steveston area is quite charming (no place to stay there, though) if you have some extra time.
Driving Richmond to Tsawwassen ferries takes about 25 minutes. You'd still have to get through the Deas Island Tunnel, though, so make sure you to do the drive after 9:30 am and you'd miss the counterflow lane holdups during the morning rush hour.

You could opt for the Coast Inn in Tsawwassen.
http://www.coasthotels.com/home/site...assen/home.cfm
Pretty basic hotel on the main drag in Tsawwassen.

If you knwo Vancouver and Like it, it might just be best to stay there, especially if you aren't arriving too late in the day. 45 minutes should be OK to get you to the terminal, as long as you aren't leaving downtown until about 8:45.
Make sure you reserve a spot on the ferry trip you want - can do this through the BC Ferries website for a charge, but it guarantees you a time. Otherwise you might have to wait for a sailing or two.

The other thing you might want to consider is taking the ferry to Nanaimo from the Horseshoe Bay terminal. Then for sure you'd want to stay in either Vancouver, or North or West Vancouver, before going to the terminal. If you satayed downtown you'd have to get over the Lion's Gate Bridge if going to Horseshoe Bay which can take some time - avoid during rush hour.
The Park Royal Hotel in West Vancouver is said to be very nice - ask for a room facing the garden, not the street.
www.parkroyalhotel.com
This option would put you in a great location for getting to the Horseshoe Bay terminal within 15 minutes.
I think that's what I would do.

That's "stayed" not "satayed"... although you might want to eat some satay for dinner.

Be aware:
The Park Royal is "pet friendly"....not that there is anything wrong with that...but...we stayed at the Meridian 910 Beach Hotel ( a GREAT location!) which is "pet friendly" and I could pick up animal smells in both of our rooms on 2 separate wk ends.

Thanks for the responses. I think we'd rather get the border crossing over with on Sunday, instead of on Monday morning before our ferry, so will likely stay in BC. Leaving from Horseshoe Bay sounds like a good suggestion, since the ferry crossing is a little shorter than Tsawwassen.

... and make a reservation with B.C. Ferries once you've determined your route and ferry time to avoid potentially spending hours in a line-up.
Cheers,
Linda