Ask Guinness

Dear Guinness,

Kieran and Cheyenne listed a whole bunch of ho(s)tels, but do you know of any affordable B&B's in Vancouver?

Signed, "Vagabond in Vancouver"

Well VIV,

The Douglas and Windsor B&B Guest Houses own three places you could try. Though I have never stayed there, they seem nice from the pictures, I have heard good things about them and they are relatively affordable. They are all a short walk the reception hall (although in my opinion, a long walk is always better than a short walk). I sent them an email and they said the following:

"We have three houses all located within a block of City Hall, overlooking downtown. Our beautiful heritage neighbourhood has many fine restaurants and great shopping and is a 5 minute drive or 10 minutes by trolley bus from downtown Vancouver.

The rate per night for a small room with double bed and shared bath is $75 plus tax per night. A larger room with queen bed and shared bath is $85 plus tax per night. A small room with queen bed and private bath is $105 plus tax per night . A larger rooms with queen bed and private bath are $115 - $145 plus tax per night, single occupancy. Double occupancy is plus $10. All of our rooms come with alarm clock, colour cable TV, wireless high speed internet, daily maid service and a full cooked breakfast served between 8-10 am in our spacious kitchen/dining room. We also provide free off road parking."

I have also looked at fodors.com and tripadvisor.com which suggest some of the following B&B's:

Three Gables (Very close to the Reception)

Victorian Hotel (Cheap and Downtown/West End)

Corkscrew Inn (In Kitsilano near Cheyenne and Kieran's house, more expensive)

Have fun in Vancouver,
Guinness

Out of Towners - Ho(s)tel Suggestions

For those of you coming from out of town and who haven't figured out where you're going to stay, here you go:

Please note that the last night of our annual fireworks competition is August 2nd, the same day as our wedding (clearly a good choice). This means that there are hotels that we might otherwise suggest that we won't now because certain parts of downtown will be crazy busy. All of downtown will be busy that night, so we suggest leaving yourselves lots of time to get to the ceremony if you plan to stay downtown (which we generally suggest). Note as well that our wedding is not downtown, and will involve a cab ride of about 15 minutes or so (the ceremony begins at 5).

If you wish to book a hotel other than the ones listed below (and there are many others), as you may get a good deal on Travelocity or some similar internet site, please feel free to contact us before you book.

Note also that August 2nd falls on a holiday weekend for us, so if you're coming BOOK EARLY.

If you book on a website like Travelocity or Priceline, you may very well get a better rate than the ones listed below.

That said:

Best Deal - Suggested

Listel Hotel - they have given me a special rate. We've heard people really enjoy this hotel and that it's clean. It is definitely in a good location and has a jazz restaurant on the main floor. They have offered a rate of $199 (Museum Floor) and $219 (Gallery Floor). If you wish to book this hotel at these rates, you must do so by June 1st (again, sooner is better). You can get the rate by giving them Cheyenne's name - email reservations@thelistelhotel.com or phone 604-684-8461 or 1-800-663-5491.

High End

Sutton Place Hotel - lovely hotel - $288 and up, but a discount for staying more nights (you'd probably have to book early)

Fairmont Vancouver - $400+ (which is outrageous, but if you have Fairmont points or something)

Westin Bayshore - $260+ (right on the water, about a 15 minute leisurely walk to the middle of downtown)

Wedgewood Hotel - $388+ (also outrageous, but lovely)

Marriott Pinnacle - $289+ - 20% off with a wedding invitation (code W14 online)

Mid Range

Pacific Palisades - $200-250 - people like this place and you can probably lower the price on a website.

Sandman Hotel Vancouver City Centre - $189+

Reasonable

Best Western Uptown (nearest to the venues, but not downtown - if you want to come just for the wedding or if you don't mind travelling around a bit and not hanging out around your hotel, this is ideal) - $150-200

Hostels

HI-Vancouver Jericho Beach

YWCA Hotel

I hope this list helps. Please feel free to contact us with names of other hotels (and bed and breakfasts if you find one recommended). We recommend staying downtown if you're in a hotel, but do check with us if you aren't sure if it's a good location.

If you come for more than 2 or 3 days we would also suggest visiting Whistler (or, if you like ferries, Victoria). If you're interested in that, let me know and we can make some suggestions.

Invitations are out!

So we haven't exactly updated this blog particularly frequently but now that our wedding invitations have been sent out and this website address was given to all of you, we've decided to post something (anything).

You now know that our wedding date is August 2nd, 2008. The wedding itself is at 5:00 p.m. at Celebration Pavilion in Queen Elizabeth Park - and the reception (food, drinks, music, dancing) is at Heritage Hall.

We're looking forward to seeing you all and hearing from you at cheyenneandkieran@gmail.com