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The Listel Hotel.Start off your weekend by checking into the super comfortable and ultra sustainable Listel Hotel on downtown Vancouver’s popular Robson street. Beyond the great location, The Listel offers affordable digs, a fitness center, two on-site restaurants, excellent daily coffee service, and a daily wine happy hour, all while somehow managing to be a zero-waste property.
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Skwachays Lodge.In Gastown, this Aboriginal themed arts hotel offers 18 beautifully designed suites among the top 3 floors. Below, is the Urban Aboriginal Fair Trade Gallery and “24 shelter rate apartments for Aboriginal people at risk of homelessness.” It’s truly a unique and socially responsible experience for travelers in Downtown Vancouver.
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Guest Room @ Skwachays (Photo Courtesy of Skwachays Lodge)
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Explore Stanley Park.On the northwest border of Downtown Vancouver, this 1,000 acre park is completely surrounded by the English Bay and Vancouver Harbour. Made up almost entirely of forest, it’s home to Beaver Lake, the Lost Lagoon, and the Vancouver Aquarium, however the pedestrian path that stretches along the Vancouver Seawall is quite possibly the best way to experience this incredible place.
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Beach chairs, Stanley Park
The Capilano Suspension Bridge.Less than 30 minutes from The Listel, past Stanley Park and across the Lions Gate Bridge, the Capilano Suspension Bridge ($37.95 CA) straddles the line between North and West Vancouver. The bridge, originally built in 1889, stretches just 137 meters (450 feet) across and 70 meters (230 feet) above the Capilano River.
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Grouse Mountain.Just down the road, past the Capilano Suspension Bridge, is the gondola to Grouse Mountain. Take the Skyride to the beautiful Observatory for a drink and one of the best views of the city or, if visiting between May and October, challenge yourself to the Grouse Grind, a grueling 2.9 kilometer hike up the face of the mountain.
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Forage.
As part of The Listel, Forage demonstrates that hotel restaurants can achieve great things. Executive Chef Chris Whittaker “grows his own vegetables, catches his own fish, makes his own preserves, composts all food waste, keeps mason bees to pollinate plants, hunts for the purpose of conserving our land and feeding his family, and forages as a reminder of where our food comes from.”
Photo Courtesy of Forage
Day Two.
East Van Roasters.East Van Roasters has some of the best “bean-to-bar” coffee and chocolate we’ve ever had. Their organic, house made chocolate and espresso drinks are reason enough to visit, but the cafe’s story only deepens the experience. Working with the Rainier Hotel, East Van Roasters is a social enterprise, providing employment and training to marginalized women in East Vancouver.
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The heart of Gastown
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Gastown.Named after the seaman “Gassy” Jack Deighton who opened the city’s first saloon in 1867, Gastown is Vancouver’s oldest neighborhood, a National Historic Site, and widely considered the epicenter of the city. True to “Gassy” Jack’s legacy, it’s also where you’ll find some of the city’s best drinking establishments, like L'Abattoir, Pourhouse, and The Charles Bar.
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Tuc Craft Kitchen.As the name implies, Tuc serves up carefully crafted eats and delicious cocktails in the Gastown area. More impressively, the restaurant has donated more meals (16,000) to the Vancouver Mealshare Program (for every order of a certain dish, the restaurant provides another meal to someone in need) than any other participating restaurant.
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The Aquabus to Granville Island.With eight different stops around Vancouver, you can pick up the Aquabus almost anywhere and make the short trip to the Granville Island Public Market where hundreds of vendors offer everything from blueberries to coffee, to homemade crafts. There’s even a new local distillery!
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Bloedel Conservatory.
Located at the top of Queen Elizabeth Park, the Bloedel Conservatory has three habitats - tropical rainforest, subtropical rainforest, and desert - as well as 200 species of birds (that fly free throughout the conservatory) and 500 species of plants. The perfect place to explore on the all too often rainy Vancouver days.
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Getting around.
Honorable mention (the best of the rest).
The Naam, for a great, all-night vegetarian restaurant, Chau Veggie Express with their array of Asian vegetarian noodles and soups, Tera V Burger for veggie burgers and sandwiches near Main Street, and Shiro Sushi for tasty, inexpensive sushi outside of downtown.
