TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I’ve stayed at the Blue Horizon many times over the years, but it’s been at least four or five since my last visit. I came back hoping for that familiar comfort, but what I got instead was a hotel in steep decline. The staff barely even pretend to care. No warmth, no professionalism—just an overall sense that they want you gone as soon as possible. They crack a smile now and then, but it feels hollow. There’s no engagement, no effort, no pride in the place anymore. The restaurant used to be wonderful. I still remember their amazing pancakes with organic maple syrup—an actual highlight of the stay. That memory feels almost surreal now. What I got this time were freezer-burnt waffles that could’ve come from a drugstore next door. The food was bad, the energy worse. During breakfast, a homeless woman—visibly unclean and clearly unwell—wandered in and stared at me for an extended period while picking her nose. She was asked to leave twice by the manager but never actually did. She loitered in the lobby for nearly 45 minutes while staff just ignored her. The whole thing ruined my breakfast. Eventually I got up—taking all of my belongings with me, because I don’t trust leaving anything unattended in downtown Vancouver, especially when this hotel allows loiterers to hang around unchecked. I went to speak with the front desk about the situation. Within two minutes, the waitress came sprinting at me with the payment terminal as if I were trying to skip out on the bill. It was humiliating, accusatory, and completely unnecessary. I hadn’t said I was leaving. I had every intention of paying. Her body language made it clear she thought otherwise. It was a slap in the face. The homeless woman got treated with more courtesy than I did. Sadly, this hotel will probably meet the fate of many other older buildings in downtown Vancouver and face the wrecking ball. You simply can’t charge exorbitant rates and deliver this level of neglect and poor service. It’s over.

This hotel ticks the boxes and has some extras, too. This experience is what I hope/want all of my hotel experiences to be: clean, well-suppoied, attractive, great location, very functional. The extra is that it looks like all upper story rooms have great views from two walls. It was really pretty and a great 'night before the flight out' stay. Our room had a very comfortable king bed, comfortable loveseat, coffee table/ottoman, desk and chair, dry bar with coffee and tea service, glasses for water, coffee, wine, and mini fridge. As I said, it ticked all the boxes and then some.

We recently stayed at the Blue Horizon Hotel after a cruise. Everything was perfect. I’ll include both a review of the hotel and what is nearby. The hotel is about a 20 minute walk from the pier but we opted to take a taxi since we have large luggage (@16 CAD). It is located on the main road in the city with plenty of stores. The hotel stored our luggage until a room was ready. Each room has a corner view and small balcony. We opted for a standard room and was able to be on the 12th floor. Lower floors may have more road noise. The room was very spacious with a large desk, plenty of closet and storage space, electric sockets next to the bed and safe large enough to fit a laptop. We loved how the curtains could be opened on two sides giving plenty of light and nice view. The bathroom was modern with a large walk-in shower (no tub). Shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lotion were supplied along with a hair dryer. Beds were very comfortable and temperature of the room was easy to adjust. The elevators were modern and there was always one accessible within a few minutes. There is a fitness center and pool with hot tub and steam room. Taxi price to the airport is set at $37 CAD. We took Lyft to the airport in the afternoon. We got a price of $28 CAD but later in the night (8-9ish) our son paid $18 CAD by opting for the 10-15 minute wait. Note: the wait usually ends up being a few minutes instead of 10-15 so be ready to go. For breakfast we walked 4 minutes to the Paris Baguette – a pastry shop with locations throughout the world. They offer a wide variety of fresh pastries at a reasonable price. Definitely recommend it. There is a hop on hop off bus which stops in front of the hotel but we opted to walk or Uber to most locations. To get to Granville Island we walked to the ferry (Aqua Center Dock). It was a very nice walk thru a lovely neighborhood and 90% was downhill (phew). The ferry leaves every 5 minutes and takes 3 minutes to get to Granville Island. Cost $5 adults and $3 for seniors one way. We opted to take an Uber/Lyft back to the hotel (@$10) to avoid having to walk uphill on the return. We also walked to Stanley Park. It is a beautiful park but it’s a park. Lots of people walking or jogging. Be careful when crossing the bike paths due to the amount of bikes and their speed. There is a free shuttle to the Capilano Suspension Bridge from the hotel. We walked to the Burgoo Restaurant which had the best grilled cheese sandwich ever. (I’ll do a review separately). For a quick casual meal near the hotel we went to the Red Robin. Great prices during happy hour. Overall – loved the Blue Horizon for the beautiful rooms, helpful staff and location. Would recommend.

This was a great hotel, huge corner room. Super clean and friemdly reception staff. We stayed there for one night before boarding an Alaskan Inside Passage cruise the next day. We would like to have seen more of Vancouver and enquired about booking another night or two when we returned from the cruise. Sadly it was not to be as the price nearly tripled for the dates we required. We were part of the problem as when we asked why such a massive price hike we were told it due to the arrival of a cruise ship (ours) . We decided to keep moving and flew on to Toronto instead.

Perfect location and clean and beautiful place our room was huge and the view was amazing could walk everywhere and the area is very clean and safe great restaurants and shopping the staff here is very friendly the beds were very comfortable