When I looked at the $75 USD rate for Choice Hotels Comfort Inn Downtown Vancouver compared to the $200+ USD rates for Hyatt, Marriott and Starwood Hotels, I figured the TripAdvisor reviews for the Comfort Inn looked good enough to give the hotel a stay, or two.
Comfort Inn Downtown Vancouver
This has been the most comfortable hotel room I have had at a Choice Hotel outside of Norway and the location is good for Vancouver. Hotel price increases as you move north, west and sky high in Vancouver hotels.
Comfort Inn Downtown Vancouver is on the corner of Granville Street and Nelson Street. Granville Street is one of the major downtown cross-city roads of Vancouver and lined with bars, theaters, cheap eateries and several recently opened medical marijuana dispensaries. Two backpackers hostels are near the hotel. Granville Street is an entertainment district of Vancouver.
The waterfront is about a 20-minute walk to the north and the Public Market of Granville Island is about 15 minutes walk to the south. Yaletown, one of the most happening downtown residential neighborhoods is directly to the east.
I arrived at the hotel before noon and checked my luggage, since I was told I would not be able to check in before 3pm. And they meant 3pm. I returned at 2:30pm and still could not check-in.
At 4pm I returned and was told I had been upgraded, one of my favorite travel words to hear, to a room with a fireplace and spa tub.
The corner room on the top 5th floor of the hotel had plenty of light with three large windows and three chairs, including the desk chair. The top level portion of windows opened.
The bed had two soft pillows and three firm pillows against the headboard. My only complaint about the bedroom is the i-Home clock on the nightstand was not visible in the dark. There may be a light function that is turned off?
Wi-Fi worked well and is password coded.
The room even has soft robes.
Connected to the hotel is an Irish pub, where for $9.00 + tax single, $17 for two, you can buy buffet breakfast in the morning. You can also get a 20% discount on meals during the rest of the day by showing your hotel key card.
The bathroom featured a large spa tub.
The shower water pressure was great and kind of a blast.
After walking around Vancouver downtown four hours before getting into my room, I was able to crash out on the bed and refresh with a nap. When I woke up, I lay in bed staring out the window at Vancouver city.
At home in Monterey my view is oaks and pines and ocean blue. I enjoy the change to urban city life and street sounds for a day or two.
One of the hotel’s assets is Nesters Market on the next block, a British Columbia grocery store chain. The Nesters Yaletown store stays open until 11pm, even on Sunday.
Of all the stays I have had in Vancouver hotels, the Comfort Inn Downtown Vancouver is the closet proximity I have been to a grocery store, plus dozens of restaurants and bars are within two blocks of the hotel on Granville, Seymour and Nelson Streets.
Comfort Inn Downtown Vancouver seen from Nesters Market Yaletown. My room 514 is the top floor two windows on right corner of the 7-story light colored building.
I was perfectly comfortable at the Comfort Inn Downtown Vancouver for the night on a $76.50 CAD room rate, or $75 USD after tax.
A good choice even if usually not my first choice.
The way I go on about the value of Choice Privileges points in Scandinavia might have readers thinking I stay at Choice Hotels regularly. I earned this year’s Choice Privileges Gold elite status entirely through reward nights in Norway on a two week trip last September.
Choice Privileges regularly runs the promotion for two stays earns 8,000 points. Prior to this week, I have earned those 8,000 points through two paid stays only once, several years ago.
The 500,000 or so Choice Privileges points I acquired in the past few years were nearly all purchased points through the annual Daily Getaways sales from U.S. Travel Association.
In the past few years, my Choice Hotels stays on free nights through best rate guarantee claims outnumber my paid stays.
More stays like this one at Comfort Inn Downtown Vancouver might have me considering more lower cost paid stays as an alternative to the higher priced upper upscale hotels I typically try to book when staying in major cities.
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