Seattle-Vancouver-Banff-Jasper-Seattle

"CD" wrote in message
...
Hi
We are flying from the UK to Seattle in may for 2 weeks. The plan was a
holiday completely in Canada, but more favourable prices to fly into the
US
& an AA 2 for 1 offer, means we land in Seattle. The plan is 2 full days
in
Seattle staying downtown, pick up the rental car & head on up to
Vancouver,
where we can stay with a friend. Will not spend long in Vancouver as we
have
already been there. From there it will be on to Banff, with an overnight
stop en route. The bulk of the holiday will be spent in the Banff/Lake
Louise/Jasper area, before heading back to Seattle for the flight home
(overnight stop again en route). A lot of driving I know, which is why
we'll
be overnighting on the long drives.

So, what I'm after is:

Recommendations for a cheapish downtown Seattle Hotel. Does anyone have
experience of the Best Western Loyal Inn? All I've found of any interest
about it is that 2 people were found dead in a room a few years back, & a
terrorist arrested with bomb making material had a reservation there!

We have never stayed here, but Sunset Magazine (a west coast travel and
living magazine) recommended the Ace Hotel (www.acehotel.com). $65 per
night, shared baths.

Also make damn sure your rental car company knows and approves your driving
to Canada. You can be hit with very exorbitant prices if they have
restrictions.



Good places for overnight stops Vancouver - Banff & Jasper - Seattle. We
stayed in Kamloops when doing the Rocky Mountaineer a few years back,
which
we found a bit suspect, but in fairness we only saw a small part very
briefly.

Recommendations for lodging in Banff/Jasper/Lake Louise. Is prebooking
recommended late May early June or could we find somewhere when we get
there? Or can you pick up voucher books in Denny's? I am tempted to treat
myself to a stay at the Banff Springs....

TIA

CD

"CD" wrote in message
...
Recommendations for a cheapish downtown Seattle Hotel. Does anyone have
experience of the Best Western Loyal Inn? All I've found of any interest
about it is that 2 people were found dead in a room a few years back, & a
terrorist arrested with bomb making material had a reservation there!

Since I live in Seattle, I'm kind of weak on hotels here, but I'd stay at
the Inn at the Market, which is moderate and right downtown.

Marianne

"CD" wrote in message ...
Hi
We are flying from the UK to Seattle in may for 2 weeks. The plan was a
holiday completely in Canada, but more favourable prices to fly into the US
& an AA 2 for 1 offer, means we land in Seattle. The plan is 2 full days in
Seattle staying downtown, pick up the rental car & head on up to Vancouver,
where we can stay with a friend. Will not spend long in Vancouver as we have
already been there. From there it will be on to Banff, with an overnight
stop en route. The bulk of the holiday will be spent in the Banff/Lake
Louise/Jasper area, before heading back to Seattle for the flight home
(overnight stop again en route). A lot of driving I know, which is why we'll
be overnighting on the long drives.

So, what I'm after is:

Recommendations for a cheapish downtown Seattle Hotel. Does anyone have
experience of the Best Western Loyal Inn? All I've found of any interest
about it is that 2 people were found dead in a room a few years back, & a
terrorist arrested with bomb making material had a reservation there!

Good places for overnight stops Vancouver - Banff & Jasper - Seattle. We
stayed in Kamloops when doing the Rocky Mountaineer a few years back, which
we found a bit suspect, but in fairness we only saw a small part very
briefly.

Recommendations for lodging in Banff/Jasper/Lake Louise. Is prebooking
recommended late May early June or could we find somewhere when we get
there? Or can you pick up voucher books in Denny's? I am tempted to treat
myself to a stay at the Banff Springs....

TIA

CD

You seem to have got a lot of doom and gloom and muttering about doing
it the wrong way but not much in the way of a positive reply.

I can recommend the Best Western Pioneer Square in Seattle - not sure
if it meets your definition of moderate but it's not wildly expensive
and has a bit of character.

For car hire you shouldn't have any problems in taking it into Canada,
but make sure the rental company knows when you book, don't leave it
until you pick it up. An inclusive deal booked in the UK through
someone like Holiday Autos can make sense - things like CDW and TPW
and unlimited mileage are included and they usually provide cover for
your excess in case of a claim.

I can recommend the Seattle underground tour - starts a few blocks
from the Pioneer Square hotel.

If you have time (and it sounds as though you don't) an interesting
route from Seattle to Vancouver is via the Anacortes - Sydney car
ferry to Vancouver Island and then by one of several routes to
Vancouver itself. You can book it all online. For an international car
ferry it's very basic but passes through excellent scenery.

dtren
(e-mail is spam trap only and is not monitored)

"CD" wrote in message
...
Hi
We are flying from the UK to Seattle in may for 2 weeks. The plan was a
holiday completely in Canada, but more favourable prices to fly into the
US
& an AA 2 for 1 offer, means we land in Seattle. The plan is 2 full days
in
Seattle staying downtown, pick up the rental car & head on up to
Vancouver,
where we can stay with a friend. Will not spend long in Vancouver as we
have
already been there. From there it will be on to Banff, with an overnight
stop en route. The bulk of the holiday will be spent in the Banff/Lake
Louise/Jasper area, before heading back to Seattle for the flight home
(overnight stop again en route). A lot of driving I know, which is why
we'll
be overnighting on the long drives.

So, what I'm after is:

Recommendations for a cheapish downtown Seattle Hotel. Does anyone have
experience of the Best Western Loyal Inn? All I've found of any interest
about it is that 2 people were found dead in a room a few years back, & a
terrorist arrested with bomb making material had a reservation there!

Good places for overnight stops Vancouver - Banff & Jasper - Seattle. We
stayed in Kamloops when doing the Rocky Mountaineer a few years back,
which
we found a bit suspect, but in fairness we only saw a small part very
briefly.

Recommendations for lodging in Banff/Jasper/Lake Louise. Is prebooking
recommended late May early June or could we find somewhere when we get
there? Or can you pick up voucher books in Denny's? I am tempted to treat
myself to a stay at the Banff Springs....

TIA

CD

________________

Be sure to tell the Car Rental agent that you are going to take the car into
Canada. The wrong or incomplete paper work will leave you stranded at the
Canadian Border 125 miles North of the Car Rental Office.

Check out the insurance coverage as compulsory minimums are mandatory in BC.
Any savings you made in Air Fare will soon vanish if you have to drive an
extra 250 miles or get into a dust up in Canada.

CD wrote:

Recommendations for lodging in Banff/Jasper/Lake Louise. Is prebooking
recommended late May early June or could we find somewhere when we get
there? Or can you pick up voucher books in Denny's? I am tempted to treat
myself to a stay at the Banff Springs....


Hadn't heard of the Denny's coupon-book thing. Is there a Denny's in
Banff? I don't think so.

Late May/early June *should* be OK for finding something, although I
would keep an eye out on the Net somehow for specials. Some let you
reserve without having to use your credit card so you can have something
kind of reserved but able to switch to something else once you get there.

Also keep in mind that Canmore is only about 10 minutes further east of
Banff, just outside the national park gates, and that opens up lots more
options for accomodations, not to mention restaurants & such. I'd say
there are more quaint little restaurants, delis, and cafes in Canmore,
but Banff does have a special charm.

Banff Springs? Sure, that would be awesome if you can afford it. So
far we've only visited there to walk around a bit, but we'd love to stay
there some day!

And don't forget that you'll need to pay for a national park pass to do
things in Banff and the surrounding area. If you're there for more than
a couple of days, it might be cheaper in the end to buy the annual pass
and then resell it afterwards. Heck, *I* might even buy it from you! ;-)

Feel free to e-mail with other questions - I don't check this newsgroup
very often.

Bart
Edmonton

"Bart Oleksy" wrote in message
...
CD wrote:

Hadn't heard of the Denny's coupon-book thing. Is there a Denny's in
Banff? I don't think so.

Something I've used with partial success in Florida, the book is not
affiliated with Denny's, they just have stacks of them inside the door. I
think this is their site & it doesn't cover Canada

www.roomsaver.com

All the coupons have the caveat of subject to availability. Valentines
weekend last year in Miami was a non-starter for "coupon rooms".

CD

CD wrote:

"Bart Oleksy" wrote in message
...

CD wrote:


Hadn't heard of the Denny's coupon-book thing. Is there a Denny's in
Banff? I don't think so.


Something I've used with partial success in Florida, the book is not
affiliated with Denny's, they just have stacks of them inside the door. I
think this is their site & it doesn't cover Canada

www.roomsaver.com

All the coupons have the caveat of subject to availability. Valentines
weekend last year in Miami was a non-starter for "coupon rooms".

CD


Gotcha - thanks for clearing that up.

I've been asked to help set up the ends of a similar trip- my G/F's
mom is taking the Vancouver-Jasper train. Wondering if it's worth
flying into SeaTac (~$100 cheaper than Vancouver) and renting a car to
drive up to B.C., which they've expressed some interest in doing.
This would require two 1-way rentals, probably (they'd not need a car
during their week on the train.) I know this will eat up the $100
savings- what's the typical drop-off fee for that part of the world?

Thanks,
Duncan

Dave Smith wrote in message ...
CD wrote:

" How much cheaper is the flight to Seattle than Vancouver? Most prices in
Canada
are about the same as in Canada, but paying in Canadian dollars instead of
US
makes it 25-30% cheaper. Between the car rental, hotel and meals, you
might
find it cheaper on the long run to fly directly to Vancouver and save the
extra
driving time to spend in your ultimate destination.

It was about GBP100 cheaper per ticket, at the time of booking. Due to the
weak USD I think. I've just done a quick check now on Expedia.co.uk for my
dates. Cheapest fares:

LHR-YVR = GBP461 each, Air Canada
LHR-SEA = GBP391 each, Air Canada connecting in YVR!?! Why is that? Must be
a tax thing.
I've been looking at doing this trip for the last couple of years & SEA has
always been cheaper than YVR, from the UK.

In article ,
(Duncan Elkins) wrote:

I've been asked to help set up the ends of a similar trip- my G/F's
mom is taking the Vancouver-Jasper train. Wondering if it's worth
flying into SeaTac (~$100 cheaper than Vancouver) and renting a car to
drive up to B.C., which they've expressed some interest in doing.
This would require two 1-way rentals, probably (they'd not need a car
during their week on the train.) I know this will eat up the $100
savings- what's the typical drop-off fee for that part of the world?

Depends on rental agency. Some may do you a OW rental if you drop off
at YVR airport. Some will do you a OW rental with drop off BUT with
high daily rate and mileage charges (no free miles). SEA does have a
very high car rental tax/fee tariff. Some 30% of the base rental rate.

In article ,
(Duncan Elkins) wrote:

I've been asked to help set up the ends of a similar trip- my G/F's
mom is taking the Vancouver-Jasper train. Wondering if it's worth
flying into SeaTac (~$100 cheaper than Vancouver) and renting a car to
drive up to B.C., which they've expressed some interest in doing.
This would require two 1-way rentals, probably (they'd not need a car
during their week on the train.) I know this will eat up the $100
savings- what's the typical drop-off fee for that part of the world?

Better to take "Quick Shuttle" from SeaTac to Vancouver. Check their
website:

http://www.quickcoach.com/

Bruce