| Tip of the Month: Free Amenities & Services By Mr X. Concierge |
| Featured Topic: City Summer Fun By Rezvia Hotel Specialist |
| Hotel Packages |
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If you’re like me, being charged for every little thing at a hotel can drive you nuts especially when I have to shell out for local phone calls and Internet. A hotel earns bonus points—and my loyalty—if parking is included. Ditto breakfast, which always gets me out the door with a smile on my face.
When you book, ask if these are included; if they’re not (at the very least internet and local calls should be), check bed and breakfast packages which offer more savings over paying for a room and breakfast separately especially if there are two of you.
If you are staying at a holiday Inn - kids under 12 eat free (accompanied by a dining parent) next time you are in North vancouver, stay at the North Vancouver Holiday Inn and Suites. Ask about other packages too: many include extras plus parking and breakfast. Do remember to ask—don’t ask, you don’t get.
Name your particular pleasure — golf, hiking, boating, mountain biking, or leisurely seawall walks. It’s all here in B.C.’s and we’ve got our finger on the pulse.
Our region is awash in sporting activities and outdoor adventures of all kinds. Want to see salmon in their natural habitat? Goldstream Provincial Park (www.vancouverislandaccommodations.com/parks/goldstream/river.html) just outside of Victoria is a great spot to do that and for forest hikes. North Vancouver’s Capilano Salmon Hatchery (http://www-heb.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/facilities/capilano/capilano_e.htm) is a stone’s throw from our North Vancouver properties, the Holiday Inn and Suites and the Grouse Inn. Both are perfect jumping off spots for North Shore hiking, golfing, and boating. Check out www.vancouversnorthshore.com for all of these and more.
Don’t miss zip-lining, and challenging hikes on nearby Grouse Mountain (www.grousemountain.com).
If golf’s your bag, you’ll find dozens of public courses in and around Vancouver, Victoria and Nanaimo. Check out Golf Link at http://www.golflink.com/golf-courses/state.asp?state=BC for options.
Renting boats—kayaks, sailboats and yachts—is as easy as checking B.C. Tourism at www.hellobc.com/en-CA/SightsActivitiesEvents/BritishColumbia.htm. More? Cut to the chase and ask our enthusiastic hotel staff. They live here, and the great outdoors is huge part of why we all choose to make this beautiful part of the world our home.
Take a stroll or bike around city harbours. Vancouver’s seawall wall loops Stanley Park and takes you past the 2010 Olympics athletes’ village near Science World. Victoria’s Inner Harbour is full of summery sights and sounds, and there are plenty of en-route spots to taste some fab microbrews (www.tourismvictoria.com). Nanaimo’s accessible harbour has undergone a dramatic, lively revitalization and is home to festivals, live music, and cultural celebrations (www.tourismnanaimo.com).
Vancouver’s not-to-be-missed Celebration of Light fireworks festival lights up English Bay skies July23, 26, 30 and August 2; magical Cirque de Soleil is in town until July 20; Bard on the Beach Shakespeare festival goes well into September, and Playland attracts fun loving crowds (www.tourismvancouver.com). Victoria’s Shakespeare Summer Festival runs July 10 to mid-August; catch daily free noon hour concerts in Centennial Square until August 27, and ballroom dancing from 7 p.m. to August 12. Nanaimo’s Green Mountain Music Festival is July 19, and the weirdly wonderful Nanaimo Marine Festival and Bathtub Race is July 27.