There are more than 72 hotels in downtown Vancouver ranging from funky hostels to the five star luxury of the Four Seasons, the Sutton Place and three Fairmonts: the new Fairmont Pacific Rim, the Fairmont Waterfront and the classic Fairmont Hotel Vancouver right downtown. There is also a Fairmont at the airport, or, more accurately, in the airport.

There are several new hotels other than the Fairmont Pacific Rim to consider: the Shangri-la, L'Hermitage and the Loden.

Hotels in Vancouver aren't particularly inexpensive, so if you find a great deal, you will probably end up staying 10 or 15 minutes from the downtown core.

Hotels on Kingsway, for example, are less expensive than other hotels, but they are also ten minutes from downtown by car or taxi.

Airport hotels also tend to be less expensive but they are thirty minutes from downtown. Metrotown and Burnaby hotels are about thirty minutes from downtown as well, and hotels in Surrey or New West are an hour from downtown Vancouver.

Hotels in North Vancouver are about 15 minutes from downtown Vancouver.

Some of our favourite "bargain" hotels are the Blue Horizon, the Hampton Inn & Suites, Georgian Court, and the St Regis.

If you're main priority is price and convenience, then try the Victorian Hotel or the Moda Hotel on Seymour, Days Inn, right downtown near Canada Place Cruise Ship terminal, the Ramada Ltd on Pender Street or the Howard Johnson on Granville.

For more upscale downtown Vancouver hotels, try The Metropolitan, Le Soleil, the Wedgewood or the Hyatt Regency.

If you're staying for more than a night or two, we definitely recommend one of the apartment buildings that have been turned into a hotel. We like the Residences at the Sutton Place, Rosellen Suites, the Meridian and Carmana Plaza. All three offer apartment size suites with full kitchen, bath, living room and bedroom. And all three are conveniently located and about the same price as a regular hotel room.