Hotel Review: Days Inn Vancouver Downtown

Vancouver (Alaska Pre Cruise) . 2012 . September 14

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

Vancouver is the boarding place for our cruise to Alaska.  For convenience sake, we scouted around for a budget hotel located near to the Canada Place Cruise Ship Terminal where our cruise ship departs for Alaska.

Room rates will sky rocket during the cruising season starting from May – September due to the sheer number of tourists waiting to board their cruise at the Canada Cruise Ship Terminal.   On busy port days, as many as 4 cruise ships can depart from the terminal, each carrying thousands of cruisers, so you can imagine how difficult it would be to secure a room at Vancouver Downtown.

Our stay in Vancouver in mid September was at the end of the cruising season, but we still considered ourselves lucky to be able to get a room at the Days Inn Vancouver Downtown at a fairly reasonable rate of CAD $170  per night. If budget is not an issue, you may want to stay at Pan Pacific Vancouver, which is directly linked  to the Canada Place Cruise Terminal. Other nearby options include Fairmont Waterfront and Fairmont Pacific Rim.

The Location

The Days Inn Vancouver Downtown is a small outfit centrally located at the heart of Vancouver Downtown.   It is within walking distance from the Convention Centre and the Canada Place Cruise Ship Terminal.  As such, meals were never an issue as we had plenty of options at these places.   It is also near the Waterfront Skytrain Station which means easy access from the Airport and to other places of interest such as Chinatown and Gastown.

Waterfront Sky Train Station Entrance (Credits: http://www.barraclou.com/stations/britishcolumbia/vancouver/)

Check In

The check-in area is perpetually busy with many cruising tourists coming and going.  However, service was still fast and efficient, and we got our room keys within a matter of minutes, even though we arrived earlier than the check-in time.

The Surroundings

There’s a small business centre next to the reception area.

The corridors had a strange musky smell as we made our way to our room.

The Room

As the name suggests, this is just an inn and not a luxury hotel.  The room tends to be small with very little walking space around its essential furniture.   However, everything in the room worked fine and the furnishings were all kept clean.  We also enjoyed free wifi connection in the room.  In a nutshell, we were relatively comfortable even within a small space.

 

The Bathroom

The bathroom is reasonably clean and spacious with amenities such as soap, shampoo and conditioner.  There’s only a shower area and no bath tub.

The Service

Our one night stay at the Days Inn Vancouver Downtown went without a hitch.  The room was kept clean and comfortable, and service staff was generally helpful and polite.

 

Days Inn provides a shuttle service to the Canada Cruise Ship Terminal, but as it is very popular, you will have to reserve a seat with the front desk in advance.  We tried our luck during check-out and were told that the shuttle was full.  It didn't matter much anyway, for the cruise terminal was right behind the hotel and an approximate 5 mins easy walk away.  Very manageable even with heavy luggage.

Final Verdict

The Days Inn Vancouver Downtown is perfect for a short stay on a budget.  It occupies an excellent location, especially for cruising tourists.  It is also strategically located near the Waterfront train station and offers a convenient way of getting to other parts of the city.   Although its facilities are a little old and worn, it is generally clean and comfortable and comes with reasonable rates.  We would certainly stay here again if we come back to Vancouver!

How to Get There

From Vancouver Ineternational Airport (YVR), take the Skytrain to Waterfront Station on the Canada Line, Vancouver’s new rapid transit rail link connecting the airport to downtown Vancouver in 26 minutes. You can conveniently access trains from both the International and Domestic Terminals.

Canada Line (Credits: http://www.thecanadaline.com/index.tsp)

Buy a 2-zone ticket.  It cost $9 per ticket one way at the time of writing.

Days Inn Vancouver Downtown
921 West Pender Street, 
Vancouver, 
BC V6C 1M2 CA 

This post is part of our Alaska Pre and Post Cruise Report and follow-up of our popular Alaska cruise series. Do check out our Alaska Cruise story too if this is your first time here! :)

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