This Victoria Day long weekend, the hubs and I decided to do something a little out of the ordinary for us… we stayed pretty close to home and had our very first Vancouver staycation! Ever since I read about The Burrard Hotel over on the Creative Wife & Joyful Worker Blog I knew that I was meant to stay here some day. Having just been to a creative conference in Palm Springs in February, I was over the moon excited to check out a place that resembled a tropical oasis even a little bit!
The hotel is like a dream for anyone interested in mid-century modern design – but it’s all of the small (and sometimes cheeky) touches that will make you fall in love with the place and most likely coming back again and again. As a designer, I geeked out on the incredible use of their logo + branding throughout the whole property, right down to the font engraved into the elevator panel. That’s true dedication, The Burrard, and I noticed.
Since we’ve never really done a 2-day stay in Vancity before (other than staying after a concert or a hockey game), we’ve never had the time to truly explore. To be honest, most of my downtown Vancouver exploring experience revolves around Robson St, Granville St and Pacific Centre. Well, and happy hour hopping but we all know that can get a little fuzzy at times!
One of the major highlights of our staycation was asking for recommendations for many of the things we did. We always do this when we are vacationing in other destinations, but never think to ask when we are visiting somewhere local. We skipped a lot of our regular go-to places to try new ones instead, and we weren’t disappointed!
One of the first recommendations we took was from their Stay Local recommendation sheet. It didn’t take long for the hubby and I to eye the description under Score on Davie – and we both knew the night couldn’t possibly end without seeing what that $60 caesar was all about. Spoiler Alert: It was amazing and magical and you can see a picture of it over on our Travel Instagram Story Highlights. Also this pub is guaranteed to bring you back to your skateboard loving 16 year old self, in case you need a reminder of how old you are…
Another highlight of our Vancouver staycation was that The Burrard has complimentary cruiser bikes for all guests to use during their stay. I quickly added biking the Vancouver Seawall to our list of things to do, as a true tourist would. I’m not a big bicycler, and was a little concerned about how we would get from The Burrard to the Seawall with all the city traffic, but Nidhi at the front desk made me feel super comfortable with the bike lane directions he provided (it’s practically just one straight bike lane to the waterfront area) and it didn’t take us very long at all to get to the start of the Seawall.
We stopped at Mink (a delicious chocolate cafe) for fresh fruit and chocolate parfaits before our scenic bike adventure. We meant to get back for their chocolate fondue as well, but ran out of time. It will be on our list for next time, for sure!
The trip around the Seawall itself took just over an hour and it was honestly even prettier than I expected it to be. There were many sections that I had never seen before, since I’ve only ever visited Stanley Park by car. I wished I had stopped to take a few more photos, but we were too busy enjoying the view! We took a few snacks with us from the room, and they came in really handy once we got to the beach area where we stopped for a rest. Once we got to Beach Ave (where the photo above was taken) we also stopped for a hot dog – those fried onions smelled too good to pass up!
After our morning of bike riding, we spent a few hours relaxing in our room until it was time for dinner (well, happy hour!). We chose to stay in our room because we knew napping would happen, but the hotel also has a great patio-like area with a fire pit, ping pong table and music! We definitely recommend carving out some time to spend in the patio space if you get the chance.
We split our time up on our second night between a few different places, but our favourite by far was Joe Fortes. If you can get there between 4:00 – 6:00pm, order as many lobster rolls as you can eat, because they are to die for. Their steamed clams, oyster rockefeller, and jumbo prawn cocktail are a few more of our top picks.
On our last morning, I was up super early so I spent some time lounging in the fire pit area while tending to a few emails. Once my husband woke up, we walked down to The Twisted Fork Bistro on Granville (another great recommendation by Nidhi) and had an amazing breakfast. I think I must have walked by this place plenty of times in the past and never went inside. All this time, I’ve been missing out!
Over all we had so much fun during our mini Vancouver Staycation and while we experienced a ton of new things, we left with an even longer list of things to experience next time. A good problem to have, especially when you feel like you got to experience the town like a local. I’m already looking forward to my next weekend away in the city so I can show a few of my goddess gang ladies what a great getaway spot this is.
Photo Credit for Above Photos: Martin Tessler
Oh yeah, and in case all of that wasn’t enough, here are some more great touches that stole my heart during our stay at The Burrard:
- complimentary Nespresso coffee in every room (and they even had decaf pods for me too!)
- they leave candy on your pillow (sour keys for the win!)
- daily lyric sheets posted in the elevator (Sara Bareillis and Ed Shereen were stealing the show this weekend)
- brightly coloured doors that make for adorable backdrops
- they are pet friendly, so your four legged friends can visit with you!
Til next time The Burrard, it’s been a slice!
The Burrard Hotel
1100 Burrard St | Vancouver
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(and one more bonus picture because, well, cuteness)
