I can probably count how many times I’ve been to Vancouver, and I love the city. Three years ago, I visited one of its suburbs, Surrey, and discovered its culinary diversity. It’s a lot like San Francisco and Seattle, two of my favorite places in the world, mostly because it has mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. And even though its urban growth seems never-ending, it somehow doesn’t look like the uncontrolled sprawl you find in American cities. Vancouver just seems more orderly, but that’s just my opinion.

RAS and I stayed one night here last week because we were taking the Celebrity Summit on a West Coast cruise to Victoria, San Francisco and Los Angeles. It was our compromise of not going on our Australia/Great Barrier Reef itinerary because of family care issues. We just didn’t think it was right to be away for two-plus weeks while his parents are struggling with health problems, so we’re now just traveling for one week-plus. Plus, it’s a lot easier to go home from California than it would be from Sydney, if we had to.

It will be interesting to experience such familiar places from a cruise ship, and I’m trying to develop an article around that idea. But before we boarded, we stayed just a few blocks from the cruise port in Vancouver, at the Loden Boutique Hotel. It’s probably one of the best-located hotels in the city, and for that alone, I would recommend it. But it's more than that.

Accommodations

As a boutique property, the Loden has just over six dozen rooms, which immediately gives it an intimate feel. We stayed in a Park Vista, a corner room with a king bed, generous storage, a marble four-piece bathroom (including a deep soaking tub), and an integrated sound system. The namesake views overlooked part of Stanley Park, Vancouver’s most famous green space, the downtown and Coal Harbour. Even though we were just on the fourth floor of eleven, we had a fantastic landscape to enjoy.

There are five other types of rooms: the Loden Signature (with king, two queens, two doubles and accessible options), the Signature Corner, the Garden Terrace, the One Bedroom Suite and the Halo Penthouse, which occupies 1600 square feet on the entire eleventh floor and has two bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms. Varying in size and floor plan, all of them have the same features as our room.

Amenities

Despite its smaller size, the Loden has plenty of features that guests will appreciate. While there isn’t a swimming pool, there is a well-equipped fitness center and spa services. You wouldn’t know they exist because they are behind an ordinary door – no special entry or reception area. The staff is very welcoming and friendly. Before we even approached the reception desk, a woman took our luggage, which we later saw in our room. After we settled in, another staff member brought us chocolates and a vase of water. We also discovered another bottle of water and more chocolates on our desk.

I should mention that I stayed here through the American Express Platinum Card’s Fine Hotels and Resorts program. This allowed RAS and me to take advantage of a $100 hotel credit (which we used for dinner and drinks at their in-house restaurant – more about that later), daily breakfast, a room upgrade (if available, which it wasn’t for us), an early check-in and late checkout. These benefits were especially welcome because we didn’t want to go anywhere to eat because of the inclement weather.

Food/Drink

Because of our American Express credit, we had dinner and the next day’s breakfast at Tableau, Loden’s restaurant and bar. We might not have eaten here if we didn’t have it, because we normally don’t go to a hotel’s eatery. But since the weather in Vancouver was rainy, we decided to stay put and dry. As it turned out, the food and beverages here were quite good.

For dinner, RAS had a burger, fries and beer, while I kept it simple and had French onion soup and white wine. Later, we shared a profiterole for dessert and a small serving of Cognac. The next day, we had a plate of eggs, bacon, layered fried potatoes and toast, as well as a quinoa bowl. Almost everything was above average (the profiterole was outstanding, especially paired with the French Cognac our bartender recommended). The only disappointing thing was my quinoa bowl, which I expected to be hot but was cold. Still, this was a great end to our stay at the Loden, and I would recommend this hotel for your Vancouver stay.