Windsor Guest House — Hotel in Vancouver

I expected the Windsor Guest House to be good. And that's how I felt the first few hours. Many reviewers have given it four stars. It grew on us, and we left with a 5-star feeling.||||What changed? The room seemed okay, but I felt like I was in a basement (the Richard Room). Acceptable, but not thrilled. Well, the room was never damp. It seemed to have radiant heat in the floor, never felt too warm, too cool, too humid, even with the window open to the rainy air. The mattress was good. We slept well. The house was so quiet at night we imagined there were no other guests (until breakfast). It was indeed a garden room, as advertised -- full windows in the room and in the bathroom. The bathroom was excellent, and spacious, and the sink outside the bathroom meant we never had to wait to use it.||||The host who met us explained breakfast -- basically don't you dare go in the kitchen between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. Sounded a little draconian to me, and I like to eat at 7 a.m., don't need anything fixed for me. So I was not a fully happy camper.||||8:00 our first morning changed that impression. A chef greeted us (we were first -- I'd warned my fellow guests the Yank would be first, getting all the good food). Sergio explained he'd make these choices for us (any or all), just tell him: eggs, pancakes, or french toast (he didn't mention oatmeal, but they made that for me the next day when I requested it). ||||There were fresh croissants, and I mean like made at 7:30, in abundant quantity; coffee, tea, juices, fruit, milks, cold cereal, bread and a toaster, etc. Felt like I was in Montreal with those croissants. Perfect set up. I wish every B&B imitated it, instead of their elaborate breakfasts. On the table for my french toast were maple syrup (not pure maple syrup, disappointingly) and excellent local jams. I then ordered eggs. He did not look as though this was a gluttonous request. I was in heaven. Getting exactly what I wanted, exact quantity I wanted, no fancy oatmeal followed by a towering fruit cup, and then eggs flambe, etc.||||Different chef the next day, same story. Best part of breakfast was the guests. They have a table for six in the kitchen, one for six on the adjoining enclosed porch, and one in the parlor for four or six. That kitchen table was a great place to talk with guests. Still remember all the faces, and not only the country but the town they were from.||||I thought I had found a pretty good location, not too far from downtown and the real action, sacrificed some location to get a better price. Well, the real action is everywhere in Vancouver. This location in Mt. Pleasant, a neighborhood built between 1893 and 1915, puts you in an area with gorgeous gardens (we walked each morning before that late 8 a.m. breakfast). It lets you feel how Vancouver commuters approach life (in a rush, as though it's New York City, whether they're walking to the subway, cycling, or driving (it is not an especially safe city with respect to motorists yielding to pedestrians in the crosswalk as they make right turns, etc.)). But also very approachable and glad to help. If you say "hello" they invariably answer. So in a rush, but the pedestrians are very human (the cyclists look like they'll die if they don't get to work before everyone else).||||It was three blocks walk to the subway station, and we never waited more than two minutes for a train anywhere in the city, even though we didn't know the schedules. We put a bunch of money on a fare card and just rode wherever we wanted to go, bus or train. Buses were extremely easy, very frequent, and seemed to go up every street with businesses. The express buses were popular at rush hour and jammed, but again, it was easy to ask people questions and strike up conversations about being fellow sardines. That I've never experienced in big cities. So we actually liked that sardine experience.||||We'd find a restaurant that sounded good, and they were always in local neighborhoods, not part of the tourist scene. Getting to them by bus was a piece of cake. Even if we had to take two buses, we'd do the four or five miles in fifteen minutes or so. You get off one bus, and here comes the next one to finish the trip.||||If it's downtown you want you can walk there in thirty minutes, or take the train in 12 minutes, including the walk to the station, the 30 second wait, and the train ride itself. City Hall is a block away, making it impossible not to be able to ask directions to return home in the evening. "Where are you staying?" "We're on 11th Avenue, a block from City Hall." "Oh, take the V-95 bus, which is coming in one minute probably."||||The city is teeming with people on the sidewalks, but rarely are the sidewalks crowded. You don't get jostled. There are probably over a thousand good restaurants, many of them Asian, most probably unknown to tourists. We went to a Burmese place a few miles east of Chinatown. And an Ethiopian place that was basically a three-mile bus ride across Broadway (which is a few blocks below Windsor House).||||In short, the location really lets you be in Vancouver. Vancouverites can be counted on to help many times during a day, for instance to get off at the right stop for that Burmese restaurant. (I'm blanking on the name, but it's a fantastic decor -- homestyle cooking in a U.S. 50s retro diner decor. Hip decor, but they only take Canadian cash or Canadian debit cards, no other form of money. Tables around us with young adults, talking to each other, no one on the phone.)||||Hard to articulate, but Windsor House is part of all that. It's part of Vancouver, not a high-profit endeavor feasting off tourists. We were happy and healthy. That's what counts, not whether the room is downstairs or has 6000 thread sheets. And in my view, nobody beats their breakfast. Because instead of trying too hard, they get what meals are about -- both the food and the people aspect.||||I would not expect to find better lodging,...

We needed to get to the airport at 7am for an early departure on our last day. But we also wanted to be near the center of Vancouver. And since we had no car we needed to rely on public transportation. The location of the Windsor Guest House was therefore a no-brainer: on the Canada Line that runs between Vancouver airport and the Waterfront, right by the City Hall station, yet five minutes’ walk away from it so there was no traffic noise.||It was a large Craftsman-style house, so it had a big porch that was great for sitting out under. The downside was that there was no elevator so we had to manhandle our bags up some stairs. The house was so quiet at night that we thought we were the only people staying, but at breakfast the next day we saw at least 12 people. How do they make sure they only have considerate people as their guests? A noisy guest would really be a problem. As in a private house the bathrooms were shared, but we never had problems getting into one.||Breakfast is rather limited, and is the same every day: continental plus eggs cooked to order.||It did not seem particularly cheap, but hotels in Vancouver are quite expensive, so I suppose it was a bargain. Certainly it seems to sell out quite often.||The bedroom was comfortable but small, so you won’t be unpacking much. Coming from the Eastern US the climate is very different: only single glazing on the windows, and no screens or a/c necessary – just open the windows wide for ventilation and cooling.||Since Vancouver is hemmed in by the ocean, mountains, and the United States, it is busy expanding in place, usually by pulling down houses like this one and replacing them with a small block of apartments. This guest house has not followed that route; they are building a house of equal size in their back yard instead. But we did not notice any construction noise when...

We are an elderly couple who flew into Vancouver to catch a cruise ship, so needed a place to stay for one night. We chose Windsor because it was quite close to the Skytrain line - the guest house is about a 10 minute walk from Broadway/City Hall station. However, we found that to be quite difficult for older people because about half of the walk is up-hill, which is not easy with heavy suitcases on rollers. Next time we would take a cab from the station. Incidentally, Skytrain is very easy to use. You don't need to find Canadian money to buy a ticket - you just tap your credit card at the turnstile, upon entering and again when leaving. Brilliant !! ||We stayed in the Richard Room, the advantage being this room has its own bathroom attached. But the disadvantage of Richard is the steep and narrow flight of stairs (12 steps) that you have to negotiate (with your heavy suitcase) to get to the room. No lift. No porter.||The staff were discrete and helpful with their local knowledge. ||Others have commented on the breakfast which we found to be more than adequate.||Would we stay again? Probably, now that we know...