All you Vancouver peeps - I’m planning a birthday trip for myself and some girlfriends to Vancouver in November (using miles, so I must plan ahead!). It will be my big 4-0.
Any recommendations for great places to stay, must-go restaurants, etc?
Thanks!
Have you ever been to Vancouver before? Be forewarned that rainy season starts right around then and doesn’t let up 'til April. You might get lucky and have beautiful weather but a safer bet would be to go early - say Sept…
Having said that, what’s your plan? Rent a car and cruise around? Walk everywhere and shop like everything’s on sale? (with the ~30% exchange rate, it kind of is…) Are you planning to do any running or swimming? Do you have a preference to the type of area?
There have been several threads on where to stay in Vancouver but if you let us know what you and your friends are into, we might be able to pinpoint a more ideal location for you.
Budget would be good to know as well.
The only place I’ve stayed in Vancouver is the Four Seasons. It was OK.
(Really it was probably one of the nicest hotels I’ve ever stayed in.)
It was on my friend’s corporate account, I’m sure the room-rates are $$$$.
Yay for all the womens turning 40 this year 
Yay! 40 is the new 20!
Erin- I will keep the 4 Seasons in mind. Alternatively, I can use points for the Westin.
Khai- We would be there mostly to do city stuff - museums, shopping, dining, DRINKING, maybe a spa, etc. No heavy workouts (maybe a treadmill to burn of a few calories so we can eat and drink more). The end of November isn’t really great weather in many cities, so we will have to contend with that. I could also choose San Francisco - which may be the same. Chicago would be sweet, but is basically already sold out! (I need to use miles).
Other location recommendations would be welcome as well.
I love San Francisco! Nov will likely be chilly, but not rainy like the PNW. A better weather option would be San Diego.
In Vancouver:
Hotels:
Opus (Yaletown - one of the originals in the new wave of boutique hotels. My sister LOVES this hotel)
Wedgewood (Downtown - sponsors a local cycling team, very nice I’m told)
Hotel Vancouver (Downtown - now a Fairmont property, one of the classic “famous luxury hotels” in Vancouver)
Granville Island (Granville Island - I always recommend this option to customers from out of town coming in for business meetings/training)
All of the above are located in interesting parts of town with lots of cool stuff to do and dining options within easy walking distance. Note that if you stay at the Granville Island hotel you won’t be downtown (Yaletown is right next to Downtown) but there is a water taxi that will take you across False Creek to downtown.
Do you have Starwood points? You should consider the St. Regis as well as the Westin Bayshore. It all depends on what you want to do when you’re in Vancouver. A great website for considering the pros and cons of various Starwood properties is http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starwood-preferred-guest-429/
Thanks! I’ve visited FlyerTalk before - it scares me because its almost as addictive as Slowtwitch!
I realize that a November trip to the PNW is setting ourselves up for some rainy weather, but this far out my other two big city options are already not available with miles. I think it will be just fine - we’ll spend most of our time inside anyway.
Thanks for all of the input SAMOK, Khai, and Erin!