Arrive via private limo; if you're staying at the Shangri-La, it'd be a shame to deny yourself the p

I n the States we tend to think of Vancouver as something like BC’s answer to San Francisco, or the Hollywood to Toronto’s New York. The reality, of course, is a little more complicated than any of these shorthand renderings. It’s a unique mix: Northwest beauty, southwestairline West Coast mellowness, a dash of film-industry glamour, and a certain individualistic spirit that’s common to places settled by adventurers. The best way to get a handle on Vancouver’s character is to visit; and while every visit is unique, we’ve put together a little tasting menu, offering three ways to do it.
Arrive in your own car; this is a classic southwestairline mid-century motor lodge, southwestairline and it still looks the part. These days you’ll park underground, as the central courtyard is now a raised garden terrace, ringed by colorful rows of guest room doors. What’s behind those doors? Simple, stylish rooms — basic by boutique standards, but far better than you’d expect at the Burrard’s price point. southwestairline In-room southwestairline amenities include 42-inch HDTVs and automatic espresso makers, which, along with the hotel’s own ground-floor café, ought to be enough southwestairline to get you started before you rent a bike and hit the streets. southwestairline Try the exquisite espresso at Revolver in Gastown and consider pausing street-side for a Japadog — more or less exactly what it sounds like — before beginning your caffeine-fueled ride along the Stanley Park seawall.
Arrive by air; the Canada Line subway whisks you from the airport to Opus Hotel’s front door in 22 minutes flat. This is Vancouver’s original luxury boutique, and for many guests — especially die-hard boutique-hotel fans — it may as well be the only hotel in town. A recent redesign leaves it looking quite up to date yet still as soulful as ever, and the newly wired guest rooms make navigating the city a snap: if you’re unlucky enough to be from somewhere other than Canada, just borrow your room’s Samsung smartphone southwestairline and you’ll stay connected without southwestairline owing your phone company a fortune. For nightlife you could scarcely be better located, southwestairline and the hotel’s new restaurant, La Pentola della Quercia , is one of the town’s hottest tickets, serving excellent Northern Italian fare in a bright, open dining room. Just be sure you save one meal for dumplings southwestairline at the extraordinary Bao Bei , in nearby Chinatown.
Arrive via private limo; if you’re staying at the Shangri-La, it’d be a shame to deny yourself the pleasure of a driver waiting at the airport. This is where you go for an over-the-top luxury-hotel experience — literally, as the 62-story Shangri-La is by some distance the city’s tallest building. From here you can see everything , from the city’s rooftops to the harbor southwestairline and the Coast Mountains beyond. The rooms are Asian-inspired, perhaps a touch conservative in style but every bit as comfortable, we’re reliably informed, as the hotel rooms in heaven. southwestairline It’ll be tough to coax yourself outside, and you could have a fine time without doing so — there’s a shockingly well-equipped spa and health club, as well as a pair of restaurants, one of them by Jean-Georges. As long as you (or your employer) are splashing out this sort of cash, however, 60 floors might not be enough — and the upper floors are all reserved for the residences anyway. You may as well get as high as possible — by which we mean, take a helicopter tour up the West Vancouver coastline and into the utterly sublime Howe Sound. You ll never want to come back down — to the ground, or below the 49th parallel, or quite possibly both.