Skwachays Lodge

I really wanted to like this hotel. Here are the good things: The staff is so kind and welcoming, the room was decorated with amazing art and it was well appointed with a small fridge, small microwave, coffee maker, and a hot water kettle. The air conditioner was working well. There was coffee and croissants in the morning. The breakfast room was cute. It's right next to a Tim Horton's where you can order ahead and go pick up food too. Gastown is only about three blocks away and there are great restaurants and stores within walking distance. Here are the things that are NOT good and, sadly, why I would never stay here again: The neighborhood is full of drug addicts shooting up and smoking crack - like right on the sidewalk. I figured, because I was from a big city, that it wouldn't be shocking - but it was horrible. As bad, if not worse, than Skid Row in LA. They weren't just unhoused, they were doing drugs in the open. LOTS of them. It was like night of the living dead. There was a balcony on our room, but the view was the grossest, dirties, balconies from the building behind us - including a weirdo with a confederate flag. For this reason, I feel the price of this hotel is WAY too high. It charges way too much for the neighborhood. I paid over $400 a night. If I had paid $250 - I wouldn't have felt so ripped off, but there were so many security measures due to the unsafe neighborhood. No one was available to answer the phone in the lobby when we got home late one night. There are some great things about this hotel, but the price - for the neighborhood is too crazy high. I feel sorry for the hotel!

Terrible part of town. The “gallery” looked like it had been raided by the Feds. The front desk was run by an outsourced security company (presumably due to the sketchy location). We walked in, saw our room, and left and stayed somewhere else.

We do not write bad reviews. We have stayed all over the world and our very understanding of different places. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES STAY AT THIS HOTEL. IT IS OLD RUNDOWN, AND IN A TERRIBLE PART OF TOWN. THERE’S NOTHING GOOD TO SAY ABOUT THIS PLACE. THEIR WEBSITE IS ABSOLUTELY NOT ACCURATE AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE TRIPADVISOR REVIEWS ARE ABOUT. WE TOOK AN UBER THERE, CHECKED IT OUT AND LEFT. We are spending five days in Vancouver having had our cruise ship breakdown. It is a wonderful town and are now staying at the Fairmont Pacific Rim, which we would highly recommend. Get your bearings, and you will love Vancouver, but do not stay at this hotel.