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Howard Johnson Plaza Hotel Vancouver Hotel Review

Chris Stenberg — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 08:45:33 +0000

Overall Impression
Every now and again you get saddled with a limited work travel budget, and while it might sound like I’m whining, I really tried to make the best of this one.

On my recent business trip to Vancouver I had limited funds for hotels and needed a place to stay. I’ve seen the HoJo on Kingsway near Main Street on Travelocity before and it’s always extremely affordable. I like the neighbourhood around 12th and Main (also known as South Main, Mount Pleasant, or SoMa), and have always wanted to stay there, but the accommodation choices are limited to fairly low-rent motels and the HoJo, so for this trip it was the perfect excuse.

I’ll say that compared to a typical business hotel like a Delta or Sheraton the HoJo doesn’t really stand a chance. The beds aren’t particularly comfortable, the rooms are dingy, and the decor severely outdated, but what I did like about the HoJo was the local colour.

The hotel was formerly The Biltmore, and is now home to a couple of different bars, one of which is the namesake of the old hotel. The Biltmore Cabaret is a favourite watering hole of the Main Street hipster crowd and is a fun place to spend a night out and on some nights (Sunday I believe) even catch a classic burlesque show. The noise on Friday and Saturday night could keep you up all night if you enjoy silence, but I didn’t mind the rowdies out on the street below my hotel room.

While I hope to never stay at this particular HoJo again, I would have to say it was an adequate place to stay and I enjoyed the odd mix of people I kept running into in the lobby and the hallways. In that sense it was certainly more interesting than staying at a higher end business hotel where everyone is kind of drab and boring. So if you have the chance stay at the HoJo for the culture, not for the beds.

My Rating: 2 stars

How much would I pay: <$100 USD per night

My Recommendation: On the fence. Not bad as long as you know what you’re getting into.

Location
While there is very little immediately around the hotel other than the Biltmore Cabaret, there are plenty of great coffee shops, lounges, and eateries over on Main Street which is a few minutes away on foot. Downtown Vancouver is a short bus or cab ride away, and about 20-30 minutes on foot. The airport is about 20-25 minutes by car depending on traffic.

Amenities
Not much, but there was an ice machine at the end of the 4th floor hallway.

Service
Not bad for this level of hotel. It was neither here nor there for me.

Elevator Speed
Painfully slow old elevator, but it had those old school huge buttons which I like.

Atmosphere
Low-rent hotel with casino carpets

Bed Comfort
The bed was adequate, but nothing great. They had the crappy coverlet/fleece blanket combo which I loathe.

Internet
Free wireless internet. That is a bonus.

Room Cleanliness
Average.

Toiletries
Suave. No high end stuff here!

Family Friendly
Sort of. This isn’t really the best neighbourhood in which to entertain your kids, but there are interesting family activities close by. Also, the bar-centric nature of this hotel may not be great for all families.

Rates
I wouldn’t pay more than $110 US for this place and that would have to be in peak season.

Other Notes
It wasn’t that bad, but know what you’re getting into beforehand. Website pictures can be deceiving.

Number of Stays
1

When
Spring 2010

Frequent Flyer Miles / Hotel Points
Wyndham Rewards

Turks Coffee Exchange

Chris Stenberg — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:50:49 +0000

Vancouver is such a great coffee city and Commercial Drive is a particularly awesome place to go for a coffee. When on the Drive I seem to have two favourites these days, both at opposite ends. On the South End I prefer Prado Cafe, and on the North End I seem to frequent Turks.

Turks just seems like one of those places you go to write a great novel or something like that. I like the vibe, and there’s always people sitting around chatting or pounding out text on their laptop, or making notes in their Moleskine notebook. The crowd’s a little arty, but hey, it’s Commercial Drive. As is par for the course on The Drive, some great ethically sourced espresso can be found at Turks.

Burgoo Lunch

Chris Stenberg — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 05:44:42 +0000

I’ve been to Burgoo many times for dinner and love the hearty homestyle concept of stews and tagine dishes. I’m a big fan of the Lamb Tagine with couscous. I’d never really given Burgoo much thought for lunch, but after a morning of biking in North Van I was starving and the line-up at the other joints on Lower Lonsdale was a little much.

Thankfully Burgoo saved the day and I had a great open face clubhouse sandwich which was well into the gourmet range. All around the lunch was excellent and fit into the $12-$20 kind of range you might expect at a restaurant.

Burgoo has three locations: Lower Lonsdale, Kits, and Main Street in Vancouver.

Prado Cafe Vancouver

Chris Stenberg — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 20:20:41 +0000

Prado Cafe on Commercial Drive is one of my new favourite coffee shops in Vancouver. In fact, maybe it’s because it feels more like the Lower East Side in Manhattan than it does like Vancouver. The cafe is set in an old brick building that probably used to be a pharmacy or other type of shop. Original wood floors that have scene some heavy use are bordered by big picture windows and distressed doors and window frames. It’s a modern cafe plunked into an older world setting. The atmosphere is great, the 49th Parallel coffee is top notch, and the gloss white El Marzocco espresso machine shows that they mean business. The baked goods are decent, but I would come here more for the coffee and the atmosphere than the food. The crowd is a mix of hipsters and people struggling to write their first novel, which is typical of Commercial Drive in general.

Prado Cafe (4th and Commercial Drive)

Hours: 7am-8pm everyday.

Fairmont Vancouver Airport Hotel – YVR – Review

Chris Stenberg — Thu, 20 May 2010 07:36:43 +0000

Overall Impression
The Fairmont YVR is a place to stop over in between flights and rest up. It can be pricey considering, and there is more reasonably priced accomodation off-site, but if you can get a good rate, and have the chance to treat yourself, the Fairmont YVR is a little bit of luxury.

My Rating: 5 stars

Value Range: $175-250 USD per night

My recommendation: Recommended

Location
No need to leave the airport. This hotel has everything at hand.

Amenities
Bar, lounge, fitness centre

Service
Customer service was great.

Elevator Speed
No elevator issues

Atmosphere
Classic airport classy.

Bed Comfort
The bed was great.

Internet
Free internet for Fairmont President’s Club members. It’s free to join, so why not?

Room Cleanliness
No issues here.

Toiletries
Miller Harris from London. Nice stuff. Body wash foams even in washcloth!

Family Friendly
Yes.

Rates
A typical rate here would be in the $200-$300 per night range.

Other Notes
Not much to add here. It’s a great hotel.

Number of Stays
1

When
Winter 2009

Frequent Flyer Miles / Hotel Points
Fairmont points convertible to most airline programs.

The Drake Hotel Toronto Review

Chris Stenberg — Wed, 19 May 2010 07:35:16 +0000

Overall Impression
The Drake Hotel in Toronto is one of those rare finds in the world of business travel. Although I wouldn’t really classify The Drake as a business hotel, I like to stay here on business because it’s a nice departure from the usual Sheraton and Delta mass predictability. Queen Street West is not likely going to be a favourite spot for many people, but if you like a bit of grunge ala The Plateau in Montreal, or the Lower East Side in Manhattan, Haight Ashbury in San Francisco, and Gastown in Vancouver, than you might like The Drake.

The hotel itself has has a great bar for live bands in the basement, a nice lounge and coffee shop on the main floor, and a great roof top patio for those summer nights. The restaurant is top notch and the place has a nice youthful vibe. The only cons to me are the small rooms and the limited number (22) of rooms available. I have stayed most times in suite 202 which is listed as the XL room on the Drake website. The XL suite is plenty big enough for me, but the other rooms like the Crash Pad are quite small. When I think boutique hotels I think The Drake.

My Rating: 4 stars

Value Range: $175-300 USD per night

Recommended!

Location
The Drake is situated quite far west on Queen Street West, so it is a bit of a hoof from Bay Street or the Bloor and Yonge business area, but it’s nothing a quick cab ride won’t solve. The area surrounding the Drake is filled with hip bars and boutique clothing shops. Particular bar favourites of mine are The Cadillac Lounge and the Beaconsfield. If you are a hipster you might like the Social down the street. There are also a bunch of eateries, coffee shops, and even a laundromat nearby.

Amenities
Restaurant, lounge, coffee shop

Service
I have always had great service at The Drake.

Elevator Speed
The stairs were reasonably quick! It’s a small hotel.

Atmosphere
Hipster boutique.

Bed Comfort
The bed was awesome.

Internet
Free internet!

Room Cleanliness
The room was squeaky clean.

Toiletries
Kiehl’s. Yep. The good stuff.

Family Friendly
Not really. The rooms aren’t really geared for family stays.

Rates
Rates are posted in the $200-$300USD range. Don’t go here for more than $200 per night. Actually make that $175.

Other Notes
This is one of my favourite hotels. Hands down.

Number of Stays
3

When
Spring 2008, Fall 2008

Frequent Flyer Miles / Hotel Points
No.

Pullman Wine Bar Montréal

Chris Stenberg — Fri, 14 May 2010 07:27:08 +0000

I’m wandering the streets of Montréal on a cold and wet fall night when I stumble on a place just off Rue Sherbrooke called Pullman. It’s not a name that strikes me as a wine-snob type place, but one glance at the chandelier makes me love it.

Montréal is an amazing place to eat, and Pullman wine bar is no exception. The night I was there I had a nice selection of international and Canadian wines paired with a few appetizers including a killer Kobe beef mini-burger with hand cut slim fries.

The place is happening and you may want to get their a bit early if you want a seat on a busy Friday or Saturday night, or just sit at the bar like I do and talk wine with the sommeliers.

There are so many great places to drink wine in Montréal, but if you’re in the Plateau neighbourhood definitely give Pullman the look-up. It’s well worth the visit.

Pullman
3424 avenue Du Parc
Montreal, QC H2X 2H5
(514) 288-7779
http://www.pullman-mtl.com/

Township 7 Merlot 2006

Chris Stenberg — Fri, 07 May 2010 23:00:34 +0000

Recently the media savvy winemaker Bradley Cooper at Township 7 Winery and the underground winery Black Cloud Wine called me out on my blog for not adding Township 7 to my list of wineries to see at the 2010 Spring Wine Fest here in the Okanagan.

Admittedly I felt a bit sheepish about it, and then I had to ask myself why I hadn’t thought about including T7. Is the wine bad? Did I have a bad tasting room experience there as a child? Is it because it’s the first winery I see when I drive to Naramata, or do I not like Bradley because he is the mayor of Burger 55 on Foursquare? All of these things come to mind, but none of them are true. Although I will say I am a bit jealous of the Burger 55 mayorship, but that is social media geekery for another time.

The real reason I overlooked Township 7 was probably because I actually drink the T7 Cab Sauv quite often — possibly too often! My local haunt in Penticton, The Hooded Merganser, has a decent by the glass wine list, but it rarely changes. When they recently added the Township Cab to the list I was on it like a fat kid on cake. Something new and delicious, and I am someone that typically orders the same thing over and over again. I’m also friendly with the local T7 sales rep, so I have been privy to a few off-the-grid tastings.

So inadvertently those factors probably lead me to seek out other wines on my wine touring adventures, but today in honour of the Spring Wine Fest, I decided to stop in for a secret rainy day lunch time tasting at the Township 7 Winery to try and dig myself out of the whole that I have dug, but also to venture beyond the familar-to-me Cabernet Sauvignon.

The wine shop is attached to the winery and is a neat place to visit because there are a bunch of barrels in the shop, I know this sounds obvious, but it’s not as common as you might think, and there really are horses just over the fence at the ranch next door. This is a real working winery. A forklift is buzzing around moving barrels. The winery is humbly nice and very Naramata Bench — a good thing I believe. Thankfully I beat the drove of people that came in behind me to avoid the rain and I managed to enjoy the wine tasting without being rushed.

On the list for my tasting today were:

Semillon
Oaked Chardonnay
Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon
Merlot
Syrah

All of them were very good, and the prices were reasonable, but noteworthy of the bunch were: the Oaked Chardonnay, for its only lightly oaky fresh citrus influenced taste; the Merlot/Cabernet Sauvignon, for its great taste to value ratio (this one makes my great Okanagan Reds for $20 or less list); and the 2006 Merlot just because it was bombastic. What makes a wine bombastic you might ask? I can’t really put my finger on what exactly, but it certainly will put a smile on your face. Apparently the 2006 Merlot won some gold medals somewhere, but those details don’t overly concern me, this Merlot is simply a great Okanagan Red and I would drink it with or without food quite easily. Kudos Brad and watch your back over that Burger 55 mayorship.

Township 7 Winery
1450 McMillan Avenue, Penticton, BC V2A 8T4
[t] 250-770-1743

First Visit to Road 13 Vineyards

Chris Stenberg — Sun, 02 May 2010 07:57:39 +0000

Road 13 Winery, formerly Golden Mile Cellars, has been on the tip of my to-do list for quite a while, but for some reason I had never made it there. I’ve tried the Road 13 Honest John’s Red before at restaurants around the Okanagan based on hearsay, good word-of-mouth, and the price. In an area where wine prices seem to be going up into the next stratosphere, it can be a bit tough to find that diamond in the rough that blends great value and quality — particularly in a red wine. Road 13 has delivered on this for me, and with visitors coming up the last couple of weekends for pre and during Spring Wine Fest it was time to make the pilgrimage out to the castle that is the Road 13 Vineyards tasting room.

While I like pretty much all of the wines I tasted for their bright and unadulterated quality, the most notable trait across all of the reds in particular was a very distinct signature — a through-line that is the mark of a winemaker with distinct style.

The winery overall has a very unpretentious feel. Many of the bottles have descriptions that focus on the story rather than the specific details. I’m paraphrasing here, but a Road 13 label might read: This wine contains X, Y, and Z, but mostly X, not that it really matters anyway. It makes me step back and think about whether I could tell the difference between 65% Cab Sauv, or 85% Cab Sauv, and to be honest, I’m not sure that I can.

Road 13 feels like a real celebration of wine. The winemaker Michael Bartier has put his own stamp on a bunch of fun, unpretentious, and tasty wines that should bring enjoyment for rookies and aficionados alike. At the end of my two different days of tasting I seemed to have ended up with some Honest John’s Red, Jackpot Syrah, Rockpile, and Pinot Noir. Not a bad haul for a couple of tastings, but I’m sure it won’t last long.

This isn’t wine I want to put away in a cellar, this is wine that I want to drink now with some fun loving hedonists.

Best Crêpes in Montréal?

Chris Stenberg — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 06:41:57 +0000

Crêpes are one of the great things about Montréal. They’re everywhere. A walk down St. Catherines Street (Rue Sainte Catherines) will turn up a wide array of Crêpes from those at small coffee shops and second floor eateries, to chain restaurant crêpes. All are good, but finding the best is a journey unto itself.

A quick local poll turns up one consistent answer for the best crêpes in Montréal and that is Crêperie Chez Suzette‎ in Old Montreal. There you will find an assortment of savoury and sweet crêpes for both snack and meal. Old Montréal has some other great sights too, so why not go for a crêpe and take a gander at the old Notre Dame Basilica. I’m not one for tourist attractions, but I don’t mind gawking at cathedrals for some reason. I’m always amazed at how intricate, but solid the buildings are considering how little technology was available at the time. It really makes you wonder about our mass-produced society.

Anyway, the crêpes. Seek out Crêperie Chez Suzette at the address below:

Crêperie Chez Suzette‎
3 Rue Saint-Paul Est
Montreal, QC H2Y 1E9
Tel: (514) 874-1984‎
Click for map