Posts Tagged ‘Big Bus’

Coming to Vancouver on a cruise?…Here are some helpful tips to organize your visit.

Wednesday, April 10th, 2013

For many Vancouverites in the city April is the last quiet month before the Summer tourist season begins, we are sure that many of you are busy planning your trips and it is likely that you maybe visiting us as via a stopover on your Alaskan Cruise.

The majority of the Cruise ships dock into Vancouver very early in the morning (usually docking at Canada Place around 7am) this means that the majority of the Cruise Ship guests have quite some time to kill due to Checking in time being 4pm. So what can you do to utilize your time until your room is ready? Below we will have some helpful tips and advice on how to organize your day efficiently.

There is no doubt that many of you will be lugging some heavy luggage with you, well worry not, after we have completed the Check In procedure – we will happily place your bags in secure and safe storage, if the room happens to be ready before you return to the hotel, we will do our very best to have your luggage in your room ready and waiting for you on your return.

Below we have some excellent suggestions on what you can do in the time between arrival and checking in to your room.

BREAKFAST!
Its early, way to early for many, but here you are checking in at 7am – you are maybe tired and highly likely that you will be hungry too….so why not find yourself somewhere to go to satisfy your hunger…here are our recommendations for an excellent Breakfast.

THE ELBOW ROOM
The Elbow Room is quite an experience, not only does it have a huge Breakfast but you will be greeted with some Sassy Staff! What makes the Elbow Room a hit eatery in Vancouver, it isn’t just the yummy food, it is its reputation for some very funny and very rude staff – and please do not be alarmed, this is exactly what it is known for. If you have a reputation for quick wit, humour and Sarcasm and love a good old fashioned cooked breakfast – then this IS the place for you. Get fed and enjoy the ride, its a very amusing experience – Good Luck!
www.theelbowroomcafe.com
JOES GRILL
With locations on Davie St and Denman Street – this breakfast joint is a huge hit in the city, with great food and great staff it has been delighting hungry patrons for many years, but get there early, it can be a very very busy restaurant and for good reason as it is an excellent well known institution of the West End.
www.joesgrill.ca
HAMBURGER MARYS DINER
A cute 1950s Diner on Bute and Davie, open from 8am till the early hours of the morning, it has an extensive Breakfast Menu, excellent comfort Canadiana style foods such as a variety of tasty Burgers, Sandwiches and good old fashioned meals such as Meatloaf, Fish and Chips and more…!
www.hamburgermarys.ca

SIGHTSEEING AND MORE…
BIG BUS SIGHTSEEING TOUR AROUND THE CITY OF VANCOUVER
Big Bus is an excellent way of utilizing your time while you are waiting on the room. You can purchase your tickets at the Front Desk and better still, the stop is just a 30 second walk away around the corner on Thurlow St, where the next stop on the Tour is Granville Island.
Helpful Tip We recommend that you purchase a 2 DAY HOP ON HOP OFF pass as it will save you money, and we advise that you do a full round trip tour of the city in one trip and then on the second loop, use the HOP ON HOP OFF service that the ticket provides so you can see some major attractions such as Granville Island, Gastown and Chinatown.

http://bigbus.ca/home/

http://granvilleisland.com/

TOUR AROUND FALSE CREEK/VISIT GRANVILLE ISLAND
If you are heading down to Granville Island, you can get there by taking the FALSE CREEK FERRIES, these are cute little boats that will transport you to the island and also to various destinations along False Creek such as The Maritime Museum, Science World and the Olympic Village.

False Creek Ferries also offer full sightseeing tours all along False Creek, we feel that this is a trip well worth doing so check it out!

http://www.granvilleislandferries.bc.ca/

SEAWALL, ENGLISH BAY & STANLEY PARK.
If you have the energy and you are in the need to stretch the old legs, well just head South down the hill on Thurlow St and head down to the Sea Wall and Sunset Beach – head West towards English Bay, along the way you will experience stunning views of the ocean and Bowen Island in the distance and the Iconic Inukshuk!

Here you will be at the famous downtown Beach that is English Bay, you should reach this area in around 15 mintues or so, if you still want to carry on further – another 10 minutes farther along you will reach the beginnings of Stanley Park (nearby are the Tennis Courts and above them are the Nesting Herons) – stunning to see!
http://www.tourismvancouver.com/do/explore/stanley-park-complete-guide/

For further reading on Vancouver http://www.venturevancouver.com/

And Tourism Vancouver http://www.tourismvancouver.com/

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Bike, Bus and other Tour Operators…

Monday, March 4th, 2013

One of the regular questions we receive at the hotel is “What is the best way to get around Vancouver?” We have decided to explain how it all works and what are the best options are for you to see the city with the least amount of effort while being informative and as fun as possible.

Using the vehicle may not be the best option within the downtown core, however, we do recommend using the vehicle to go further afield if you are feeling adventurous and will like to go your own way, please make sure that you ask us at the Front Desk for advice and pointers on how to get from A to B.

We will like to introduce you to Tour Operators that will do the hard work for you and really make a day trip work, so you don’t have to get lost and figure it for yourself.

Vancouver has multiple options for you to get around the city, the most obvious being the Public Transportation of either Bus, Skytrain and of course Taxis. The bus and the Skytrain are run by Translink (who also run the Seabus from Vancouver to the city of North Vancouver at Lonsdale Quay). Taxis are everywhere, so when ordering they are usually at the hotel in under 5 minutes.

http://www.translink.ca/

What is so good about the Translink company running the bulk of the public transport is its efficiency, one ticket will last you 90 mins which means you are able to transfer on any mode of transport they offer within that hour and a half, and with Vancouver being a smaller city in consideration, that ticket will get you quite far at a very small cost.

TOUR OPERATORS

BIG BUS SIGHTSEEING TOURS.
As for sightseeing and a tour that will be fun and engaging, you will need to look no further than Big Bus. We have been recommending Big Bus for many many years, we strongly feel that they are one of the best ways to get yourself around Vancouver, they have great knowledge of the city, they are fun, engaging and above all very experienced within this industry. Their routes pretty much hit every major attraction within the city, such as Granville Island, Gastown and Stanley Park.

http://bigbus.ca/home/

There are various tours that they have on offer, the most popular being their Hop on Hop off excursions, you have an option of 1 day or 2 day passes, the best thing about Big Bus is that you can Purchase your ticket directly with us at the Front Desk as the stop is literally just around the corner from us, no more than a 30 second stroll on Thurlow Street. Perfect!

LANDSEA TOURS AND ADVENTURES.
For travelling further afield such as Whistler and Victoria, we will recommend Landsea Tours & Adventures. Landsea Tours are perfect if you have a limited amount of time, and are looking for a day trip to Whistler or Victoria or even the North Shore of Vancouver. The tours will come directly to the Hotel and from here, they will whisk you away to your destination where they will set the agenda that you get to see the major hotspots and have time to sight-see and explore the destination for a few hours.

The Victoria trip also includes the Famous Butchart Botanical Gardens, we highly recommend that if you need to visit Victoria and the Gardens, please consider this tour option, as it will be more productive to let Landsea tours set up your trip, whisk you away from your doorstep with less fuss and more to see!

http://www.vancouvertours.com/

ENGLISH BAY BIKE RENTALS
Located close to English bay on Davie St (a wee 10 minute walk down the hill) You will find these guys! They have a large stock of different bikes to suit your needs that you can use to get around the city, ask the Front Desk so you can get a discount voucher.

http://www.englishbaybikerentals.com/

Just remember, you can purchase your Big Bus and Landsea Tours at the front desk, we can also point you in the right direction for Limo Services if there are 5 or more that would like to travel together…

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Two novelty ways to explore Vancouver city and beyond…

Wednesday, July 4th, 2012

We believe that Vancouver is one of the most stunning cities in the world and how could you not. So what are the best ways to see the city and its surroundings? We feel we have a few novelty ideas that will make your trip that extra bit special.

As always, we will always recommended the regular city tours such as the cool Big Bus and Trolley tours, but Vancouver has a few more options up its sleeve – these are the famous walking tours of the city and Seaplane tours of Vancouver, Vancouver Island, ocean and mountains.

For those of you who like to explore the city on foot, Vancouver is indeed spoiled for choice with a great number of walking tours around the city – our pick will be ‘The Tour Guys’.

The Tour Guys offer free tours and more specialized walking tours at an offerdable price around our town, these guys are an absolute pleasure to be chaperoned around the city, they are energetic, fun and are pretty much street performers in their own right, but they belong to you, we think this is pretty awesome.
The tours focus on three areas of the city, which includes the well known area of Gastown which is the oldest area of Vancouver and certainly has quite some character and many many stories behind the scenes of Gastown, these stories you will be sure to hear from these great guys.

The tours which you will have to spend a little cash on include – Murder, mystery and mayhem, Eat your cart out (a delightful tour of the now famous Foodcarts of Vancouver), and a Craft beer tour called Beer makes history better – a tour that involves craft beers, sounds pretty cool eh!

If there is a tour that does not fit your schedule, you can also contact them and build a tour that fits you and your budget too…

The next option is a really really cool one, this could be a real treat for a loved one or an idea to have an epic view of the city, let us introduce to you the Harbour air seaplane tours.
Boasting a a large fleet of 39 aircraft, Harbour Air are proud to boast that they are the largest all Seaplane fleet in the entire world. Whenever you come to Vancouver, one of the most noticeable objects in the skies above you are these float planes buzzing all over the area.

The tours are great, they include anything from a short 10 to 20 minute tour of the City, to more extensive tours that travel farther afield such as Victoria, Seattle, Whistler, the great north shore mountains and Glaciers – we cannot think of anything more spectacular than buzzing around in a seaplane over Cypress, Grouse or Seymour mountains with the city falling behind.

http://www.harbour-air.com/

http://www.tourguys.ca/

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The best 3 tour operators to see Vancouver, Victoria and Whistler right at your Doorstep.

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

As the official start of the Tourist Summer season is right around
the corner, we will like to help you see the best of Vancouver,
Victoria and Whistler. We want to show you how you can maximize your
time at a an excellent cost that will not damage your budget, all of
this right from the doorstep of the Sunset Inn and Suites hotel.

There are 3 major tour operators in the area that we feel confident
will show you the best of Vancouver and the surrounding areas
including the North Shore Mountains, the Suspension Bridges and
further afield to Whistler and Victoria. All of this in just one
day!!!!

Not only should you spend time in Vancouver, but you must see the
wonderful capital of BC, Victoria. This tour – like Vancouver, gets you
around the city and also the world renowned Butchart Gardens. Then
there is Whistler, where you will head north along the stunning sea to
sky highway that takes you directly to Whistler and its alpine
village, along the way you will see spectacular water falls, looming
mountains, popular hiking trails and have time to peruse the village
at leisure.

For the City of Vancouver, try either Vancouver Living Earth Tours
(and Big Bus city tour – which we will explain a little further down),
where you will visit the most popular and famous sights all in just
over 4 hours. You can also do a “snapshot” tour of Vancouver in 2
hours with Landsea Tours, an ideal tour if you have time to kill in
between checking out and your next destination to St Elsewhere…..

For the sights of Victoria and the gloriously beautiful Butchart
Gardens, again, you can choose Landsea Tours. They will pick you up and drop you
off at the hotel, where you will get to see Victoria without having to
worry about the how to get from A to B as they will have the whole day
planned out for you. We try our best to discourage you from getting there by yourself, it takes roughly 4 hours to get to Victoria itself, and after trying to orientate yourself around Victoria, we feel through experience that may lose
out on the best sights, these tours are designed to do all the hard work for you so you don’t have, you ARE on holiday!

And finally, good old Big Bus, they offer a fantastic One Day or Two
Day city pass, where you can use their Hop on and Hop off tour at your pleasure> The
bonus of this is that the pick up stop is literally a 30 second walk
around the corner from the hotel, if you decide to take the tour all
at once it is roughly a couple of hours to get around the city.

We highly recommend that you use these tours which you can book with
us at the front desk, we will help with advice and make sure that this will
be the perfect trip to Vancouver and the surrounding area.

http://www.vancouvertours.com/

http://bigbus.ca/home/

http://www.livingearthtours.com

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How to get around Vancouver?

Wednesday, January 18th, 2012

Big Bus, Land Sea Tours, Translink, Butchart Botanical Gardens

One of the regular questions we receive at the hotel is “What is the best way to get around Vancouver?”, and “Where can we park our vehicle?”. We have decided to explain how it all works and what the best options are for you to see the city with the least amount of effort, and something that will also be informative and as fun as possible.

Using the vehicle may not be the best option within the downtown core, however, we do recommend using the vehicle to go further afield if you are feeling adventurous and will like to go your own way, please make sure that you ask us at the Front Desk for advice and pointers on how to get from A to B. A day trip on your own clock to Whistler or Victoria can be achieved, however, we will like to introduce you to Tour Operators that will do the hard work and really make a day trip work, so you don’t have to get lost and figure it for yourself.

Vancouver has multiple options for you to get around the city, the most obvious being the Public Transportation of either Bus, Skytrain and of course Taxis. The bus and the Skytrain are run by Translink (who also run the Seabus from Vancouver to the city of North Vancouver at Lonsdale Quay). Taxis are everywhere, so when ordering they will literally be at the hotel in minutes.

What is so good about the Translink company running the bulk of the public transport is its efficiency, one ticket will last you 90 mins which means you are able to transfer on any mode of transport they offer within that hour and a half, and with Vancouver being a smaller city in consideration, that ticket will get you quite far at a very small cost. For further details on the pricing and zoning areas, we will be more than happy for you to come to the front desk for directions and pointers…we will also happily provide you with change as paying on the bus you will need coins. The Number 6 Bus is available right around the corner, this will take you to English Bay heading out West, or Eastbound through the heart of the downtown core and Granville Street.

Big Bus Sightseeing Tours.
As for sightseeing and a tour that will be fun and engaging, you will need to look no further than Big Bus. We have been recommending Big Bus for many many years, we strongly feel that they are one of the best ways to get yourself around Vancouver, we are confident that you will come away from their tours with great knowledge of the city, and above all an unforgettable experience, they are fun, engaging and above all very experienced within this industry. Their routes pretty much hit every major attraction within the city, such as Granville Island, Gastown and Stanley Park.

There are various tours that they have on offer, the most popular being their Hop on Hop off excursions, you have an option of 1 day or 2 day passes, the best thing about Big Bus is that you can Purchase your ticket directly with us at the Front Desk (we will need your credit card) and the pick up stop is literally just around the corner from us, no more than a 30 second stroll on Thurlow Street. Perfect!

Landsea Tours and Adventures.
For travelling further afield such as Whistler and Victoria, we will recommend Landsea Tours & Adventures. Landsea Tours are perfect if you have a limited amount of time, and are looking for a day trip to Whistler or Victoria or even the North Shore of Vancouver. The tours will come directly to the Hotel and from here, they will whisk you away to your destination where they will set the agenda that you get to see the major hotspots and have time to sight-see and explore the destination for a few hours.

The Victoria trip also includes the Famous Butchart Botanical Gardens, we highly recommend that if you need to visit Victoria and the Gardens, please consider this tour option, as it will be more productive to let Landsea tours set up your trip, whisk you away from your doorstep with less fuss and more to see!

There are a few more options, but for now, we feel that these options will be sufficient and enable you to sightsee and explore with the least amount of fuss.

We look forward to hearing about your experiences, please feel free to write in and explain what the tours had to offer and why you would use them again.

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