Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver, Vancouver

...gratuities.

PRICE: Shop around, because while the rack rates for the Metropolitan tend to be quite high (in the $300/night range), my husband and I recently stayed in a deluxe king room for $169/night, and felt like we got the bargain of the century.
  ... more

The Metropolitan, located on Howe St., very central in Vancouver's bustling West End, is a wonderful place to stay when traveling on business or pleasure.

ROOMS: Guest rooms are spacious and gracious--linens and matresses are top-notch, creating an extremely comfortable sleep environment. Bathrooms are large and well-appointed with marble counter-tops and wonderfully aromatic soaps and shampoos. (They weren't so good that I wanted to steal extras, though!)

EXERCISE FACILITIES: The spa/swimming pool/workout room are combined in an open, inviting environment. Huge windows open onto Vancouver's downtown core, inviting the sun to shine or the rain clouds to loom, as Vancouver weather tends to change dramatically from one minute to the next. Although they don't have an elliptical machine, they have bicycles, StairMasters, treadmills, weights, and a rowing machine. The pool is small but clean, and the whirlpool is the same. There is a steamroom for men only, and both men's and women's saunas.

BUSINESS FACILITIES: There is a computer with free Internet access for hotel guests, as well as several printers and a fax machine that hotel guests are welcome to use as their own. High speed cable Internet access is available for purchase in guest rooms, and the first three floors of the hotel are set up as a free wireless network for all guests who have their own wireless network cards.

FOOD: Diva, the hotel's restaurant and bar, is certainly a cut above your average overpriced hotel fare. While it is pricy, the quality of the food and the imaginativeness of the dishes render it worth every penny. My favorite time in the lounge is for before-dinner cocktails, sitting in the high-backed, ultra-comfortable armchairs, sipping on a martini or a champagne cocktail munching bar nuts or maybe their moule frites (mussels and french fries) appetizer.

Room service I found limited. We ended up ordering from a local pizza joint the one night we missed the dining room (because they closed half an hour ahead of schedule). It was the only blip in what was other wise a week of fabulous service.

PARKING: Valet only, for $25/day plus taxes and gratuities.

PRICE: Shop around, because while the rack rates for the Metropolitan tend to be quite high (in the $300/night range), my husband and I recently stayed in a deluxe king room for $169/night, and felt like we got the bargain of the century.
 

...less