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I’ve been to Vancouver half a dozen times– an easy 2 hour drive from Seattle or a short flight up from Portland, SF, or LA. My favorite experience was hiking Grouse Mountain with Brad Twohig, before he become a big-time venture capitalist and before I became 70 pounds in the obese category.
This is Canada’s San Francisco, in my opinion– clean, high tech, and very outdoorsy. There are tons of tourists (Asians, like me) and much to do downtown. When I was there a few days ago, I saw a movie and caught a bunch of Pokemon. I’m at Level 29 now.
For those trying to save money, I’d recommend you fly into Seattle and then drive or take the super scenic Amtrak up. When I bought Brad’s ticket, which was for our trip to see our buddy Markus Frind, it was under $250 round-trip from New York to Seattle, even last minute. Had I bought a ticket from New York to Vancouver it would have been almost triple that.
The folks at corporatestays.com reached out to me as an influencer, offering me a free stay at one of their locations in exchange for an honest write-up.
So I chose their downtown Vancouver location (Vancouver, BC– not Vancouver, WA), among the many they have in North America, South America, and Europe.
It was on the 20th floor, right next to the stadium and the SkyTrain—high enough that you can actually look into the stadium and see the scoreboard.
I was there on business, so there wasn’t time for going to any of the games.
But I did manage to go to a restaurant that is now my favorite one in Canada—Chambar.
Chambar
It was so good, I went there twice. Unbelievable lamb shank and desserts. And with the Canadian dollar worth only 76 cents against the US dollar— everything is on sale!
I’m a frequent business traveler, doing over 300,000 miles per year, so convenience and simple luxury is key. Being right in the middle of downtown is great.
The condo itself was what you’d expect from a 3-star hotel. Having a kitchen was nice, if you’re staying somewhere for a long time and wants some comforts of home. I was on the road for the last two weeks in San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC, Miami, Salt Lake City, Phoenix, and other places.
The washer/dryer was nice—and they included the soap packets, too. Saved me the effort of going to a fluff and fold, which is what I typically do on the road. I won’t pay $100 to do laundry, normally preferring to pay $10 to drop off my luggage of clothes and pick it up 4 hours later.
The condo has some standard features like a doorman, small gym, and outdoor pool/jacuzzi. It was snowing outside, so I wasn’t “that” badly interested in going in the jacuzzi..
The whole check-in and check-out process was fast and efficient. Better than what you’d typically get through some other services.
The condo I got was well priced as well– way cheaper than a hotel. The bed was comfy, too. No pics of the bathroom, since I feel weird taking pictures there.
Dennis Yu
Dennis Yu is co-author of the #1 best-selling book on Amazon in social media, The Definitive Guide to TikTok Ads. He has spent a billion dollars on Facebook ads across his agencies and agencies he advises. Mr. Yu is the "million jobs" guy-- on a mission to create one million jobs via hands-on social media training, partnering with universities and professional organizations.You can find him quoted in major publications and on television such as CNN, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR, and LA Times. Clients have included Nike, Red Bull, the Golden State Warriors, Ashley Furniture, Quiznos-- down to local service businesses like real estate agents and dentists. He's spoken at over 750 conferences in 20 countries, having flown over 6 million miles in the last 30 years to train up young adults and business owners. He speaks for free as long as the organization believes in the job-creation mission and covers business class travel.You can find him hiking tall mountains, eating chicken wings, and taking Kaqun oxygen baths-- likely in a city near you.