Dayrooms lets you find hotel rooms you can rent for the day or part of a day

Hotel rooms aren’t just a place to sleep, they can also be booked for day use, but it’s not always easy to reserve a room for use during daylight hours.

Maybe you’re in a foreign town for a single day and need a temporary office or place to hold a meeting. Renting a hotel room for a few hours might be the easiest answer. Day Rooms is a site that helps you find a hotel that will rent you a room for daytime use.

Other ideas for a daytime hotel room is as an alternative to a stay in an airport lounge. While they may be comfy for a few hours, having your own hotel room for a long layover can be even better as you will get some peace and quiet and access to the gym, pool and other amenties.

https://www.dayrooms.com/en/

You won’t soon forget your stay at these 10 memorable Canadian hotels

Algonquin Resort, St. Andrews, New Brunswick

Most hotels are forgettable, mostly just places to spend the night while we travel and rarely the focal point for our journeys.

I’ve had the good fortune to stay in many hotels across this country and around the world, some were flea-pits while others were, literally, palaces.

With the outlook for international travel looks uncertain for Canadians in the coming months, I’m wagering that many of us will stick within our borders and discover what this great nation has to offer. That’s not necessarily a bad thing because we sometimes forget what an amazing place Canada is to explore.

For your consideration t his summer, I’ve come up with a list of 10 memorable hotels from across Canada, one from each province and a bonus territory. I’ve personally stayed in eache of these properties and found to be exceptional. As a compiled the list, I noticed several historic hotels. It makes sense that they’d be exceptional because if a hotel has been in business for more than a century, chances are they’ve figured out how to be good at what they do. From east to west, here are hotels where I’ve had exceptional experiences:

Newfoundland & Labrador

JAG Boutique Hotel, St. John’s

Close to the harbour’s edge in St. John’s, you’ll find a unique boutique hotel that you’d expect to find in a buzzy metropolis like New York or Los Angeles. JAG pays homage to classic rock with photos of famous musicians at every turn and themed rooms honouring different musical acts. I spent the night in the Black Keys room and loved my view of the waterfront. The best touch is that the music in the elevators is not “elevator music,” but rock hits from across the years.

Nova Scotia

The Westin Nova Scotian, Halifax
The Grande Dame of Halifax is one of this nation’s historic railway hotels. It has gone through a few ownership and name changes since it first opened in 1930, but it’s as elegant today as it was then. On the west side, the comfortable rooms have views of Cornwallis Park, but I stayed on the east side which looks out on the harbour. It meant I got to see a new cruise ship docked outside my window every day I was there. If this hotel was good enough for Queen Elizabeth’s multiple visits to the city, then it’s probably going to be good enough for you.

Prince Edward Island

Dundee Arms Inn, Charlottetown
In a leafy downtown section of Charlotteown sits the Dundee Arms Inn, a four-star Queen Anne Revival mansion that was built in 1903 for a wealthy businessman. Since the 1970s, it has served as an inn with comfortably furnished rooms that will make you feel like you’ve travelled back in time. I enjoyed my night’s stay in the Parker Carvell room with its charming furnishings and its comfy queen-sized four poster bed.

New Brunswick

The Algonquin Resort, St. Andrews-by-the-Sea
Looking out on the Bay of Fundy from the historic Algonquin Resort in the charming town of St. Andrews-by-the-Sea, it’s easy to see why this spot has been drawing people since the gilded age. Soak in the sun in Canada’s oldest seaside resort and all of your cares are sure to slip away. I never did get to see the hotel’s resident ghost, but hope to meet him one day.

Quebec

Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, Quebec City
Yet another historic hotel on my list. I’m sensing a pattern here. This magnificent building with its castle spires is iconic and said to be the world’s most photographed hotel. While the room I stayed in was small and had a view of one of its turrets, you could feel the history that pervades this storied hotel at every turn. My oddest experience was when I returned to my room and had to pass a tour group in the hallway, all of their eyes upon me as if I was an artifact on display.

Ontario

Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Toronto
Another Fairmont property and former railway hotel is the fabled Royal York in Toronto, just steps away from Union Station in downtown Toronto. An incredible luxury experience awaits in this world-class hotel. Be sure to visit the ballroom and the concert hall to get a deeper appreciation for the incredible architecture and craftsmanship that defines this landmark hotel.

Manitoba

Inn at the Forks, Winnipeg
I’ve stayed here a number of times and always appreciative of the bright, airy rooms and the great views of The Forks, the traditional meeting place of Winnipeg where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet. It’s a hard place to beat if you’re looking for a top-notch place to stay in the Peg.

Saskatchewan

Delta Bessborough Hotel, Saskatoon
Here’s one more grand historic railway hotel on my list of memorable places to stay in Canada. I have fond memories of the bar and restaurant and found the service throughout the property to be top-notch. The brass railway clock in the lobby is an iconic feature of the hotel and I remember admiring it with bleary eyes when I had to leave at the crack of dawn to catch a morning flight home.

Alberta

Fairmont Hotel Macdonald, Edmonton
Okay, this is the last Fairmont railway hotel on my list. The ‘Mac’ is an Edmonton landmark and a beautiful hotel inside and out. Enjoy views of the North Saskatchewan River that cuts through the city and relax in the nearby green spaces that will whisk you away from the bustle of the downtown.

British Columbia

Magnolia Hotel & Spa, Victoria
I never did get to use the spa at the Magnolia, but I do remember a lunch that lasted all afternoon in their in-house restaurant. It’s possibly Victoria’s finest boutique hotel and I’d recommend the Magnolia in a heartbeat.

Yukon

Coast High Country Inn, Whitehorse
I’ve only been to Whitehorse twice, once in the summer and once in the winter. The city and territory show different faces during the different seasons, but the High Country Inn was as comfortable as welcoming no matter what time of the year. And who could resist the giant wooden Mountie that stands guard outside the entrance?

Most expensive cities in Canada for hotels? It’s not the ones you think

If you were to ask me which cities were the most expensive for hotels in Canada in the summer, I’d probably pick the most popular resort destinations followed by the country’s three biggest cities, but I’d only be half right.

Online hotel booking site Cheaphotels.org surveyed prices in 30 Canadian destinations for August 2018 to find out which were the most expensive places to book a centrally-located hotel, rated 3 stars or higher.

Tops on the list was a resort destination, Banff at $336 CAD, followed by Vancouver at $324, but Montreal and Toronto didn’t even crack the top 10.

I would have expected Whistler, B.C. to be in the top 10, but it was other resort destinations like Canmore and Niagara-on-the-Lake that made the cut.

The least expensive destinations among the ones surveyed were Edmonton and Saskatoon where travelers can find rooms for around $100 per night which is a great deal because both cities are fantastic places to visit in the summer.

Here’s the top 30 list:

1. Banff $336
2. Vancouver $324
3. Canmore $316
4. Richmond $236
5. Niagara on the Lake $235
6. Halifax $234
7. Kingston $234
8. Kelowna $221
9. Quebec City $187
10. Victoria $184

If you want to read the full results of the company’s survey, visit:
https://www.cheaphotels.org/press/canada18.html

Canada set to get its first pod hotel

10. The Living Room - North.jpg

Ever since I heard about pod hotels in Japan, I’ve been fascinated by the concept, but have never gotten around to actually staying in one. I came close earlier this year when I had a quick overnight layover in Mexico City with an early morning flight and tried to book a pod in the MEX airport, but there were none available.

That’s why I was interested by a press release issued by the Pangea Pod Hotel , which will be the first of its kind in Canada. Set to open this month in Whistler, British Columbia, Pangea’s rooms will, at most, cost half the price of a conventional hotel room, and usually far less. The big advantage is that the low price will make the resort more accessible to solo and budget travellers.

The hotel is a labour of love for the husband-and-wife team Russell and Jelena Kling who spent years traversing the globe, garnering first-hand experience about what makes for a comfortable and satisfying stay. The hotel is result of three years of planning and prototype development.

“Pangea combines the affordability of a hostel with the perks of a boutique hotel,” says co-founder Russell. “We wanted to cater to the type of traveller who enjoys the conviviality of shared spaces but prefers their own personal space at the end of the day.”

The hotel will feature 88 independent sleeping pods that will be divided among eight separate “suites”. One suite is dedicated to female-only guests. Bathroom facilities are divided into individual components (more than 60 in total) to offer privacy and limit line-ups. These individual components include washrooms with vanities, showers with changing space, stand-alone vanities, and changing rooms.

03. Pod - Front-entry.jpg

Each wood-lined pod contains artwork and mirrors, as well as a comfortable double memory-foam mattress, individually controlled LED lights, a built-in fan that provides both air circulation and white noise, a lockable cabinet for valuables like iPads and phones, hanging space for clothes, and a storage area for luggage.

Pangea aims to offers superb shared spaces, too. The Living Room, a stylish combo of lounge, bar, café, and espresso bar, boasts floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the bustle of Whistler’s Village Stroll, giving the space the feeling of an outdoor patio. The Rooftop Patio is Whistler’s only true rooftop bar, providing a bird’s eye view of Mountain Square. And The Toy Box, an open-plan secure storage area for skis, snowboards, mountain bikes, and other gear, was custom created to address the needs of equipment-laden outdoor enthusiasts.

08. The Toy Box - Bike (Summer setup).jpg

In some ways, staying in a tiny room, no matter how luxuriously appointed, will force you to get out into those shared spaces and out of the hotel to explore your surroundings.

Pangea is slated to open in time for Crankworx, a world-famous mountain-bike competition and one of Whistler’s biggest summer events, which kicks off on August 10.

Pods are now available for booking at pangeapod.com/bookings.

 

Skip the hotel marketing hype and select one described with a haiku.

One of my favourite hotel booking sites dumps the usual marketing speak favoured by other websites and replaces descriptions instead with simple haikus of each property.

http://www.hotelhaiku.com