Rosellen Suites at Stanley Park

Rooms and decor

Picture being handed the keys to a whole apartment in a quiet building at the far end of Robson Street in Vancouver, just one road's width from Stanley Park — that is Rosellen Suites at Stanley Park. Open the door and it is not a small hotel room but a proper suite: a wide living room with a sofa, a dining table, separate bedrooms and a full kitchen at the far end. Suites run from a roughly 600 sq ft one-bedroom that suits couples or small families up to a 1,900 sq ft three-bedroom penthouse that easily sleeps 12. The look leans warm and lived-in rather than flashy boutique — thick carpet, long curtains, framed art and solid wood furniture built to last. Some units have a small balcony where you wake to the tall cedar tops of Stanley Park and the sky over English Bay. Lots of reviews say it feels more like a second home in Vancouver than a hotel check-in, especially for guests staying 5 to 7 nights or more, who come back from a day out to a place with room for the kids to run, a sofa corner for the grandparents, and a table to gather around for a home-cooked dinner.

Food and amenities

The heart of a Rosellen stay is not a fancy lobby or an in-house restaurant, because there are none of those. It is the full in-room kitchen, which comes properly stocked. There is an oven, microwave, big fridge, dishwasher and counter space wide enough to chop on, plus pots, pans, dishes, wine glasses, a spatula, a kitchen knife, a bottle opener, and even a coffee maker and a toaster. If you like cooking on a trip, this is the place. A few blocks along Robson Street there are supermarkets and specialty shops, so you can pick up fresh Alaskan salmon, organic vegetables, sourdough, Canadian cheese and BC wine and cook dinner in, which is cheaper and more fun than eating out every meal. For families with small kids, being able to make breakfast in the room at 7am without getting dressed to go out is a big deal. Each unit also has its own washer-dryer, ideal for long trips where you would rather not haul dirty laundry home. There is free Wi-Fi that runs smoothly enough, paid underground parking for anyone with a rental car, and front-desk staff that reviewers consistently call warm — they remember your name, point you to the spots locals actually go, and help with the small things like a host welcoming you in.

Location and getting there

The trump card here is the "at Stanley Park" in the name, and it is no exaggeration — the building sits at the far end of Robson Street in the quiet, residential West End, only 150 metres from the main entrance to Stanley Park. Step out and cross the road and you are in Vancouver's biggest downtown park. Walk the Seawall, the seaside path that loops 9 kilometres around the peninsula, with cool Pacific air through century-old cedars, eagles overhead and the North Shore mountains so pretty you stop to photograph them every hundred metres. Kids have the Vancouver Aquarium a few minutes' walk away, plus the Lumberman's Arch playground and the little train in the park. Beyond the park, the West End is very walkable: Denman and Davie streets line up restaurants, cafes and supermarkets, and it is about a 10-minute walk to English Bay to watch the sunset from the sand. For the core of downtown and the Yaletown and Gastown districts, bus routes 5 or 6 stop outside and take about 15-20 minutes. If you drive in from the airport, YVR is a 30-40 minute trip. It all suits a family that wants mornings and evenings in the park, with day trips into the city when you feel like it.

Things to know before booking

To be straight with you, the first thing to be clear on is that this is not a hotel with a big lobby, bar, restaurant or pool in the building — it is a home-away-from-home apartment-hotel. Anyone expecting the full kit of a 4-or-5-star hotel may feel short-changed: there is no room service, no breakfast buffet and no full 24-hour concierge. If you like a hotel bar in the evening or a morning swim, this is not your answer. Second, the building and furniture are fairly old, with interiors built around real use rather than designer luxury, so some rooms look plain and a little dated, with carpet and curtains that feel more like a relative's place than a modern boutique. Third, getting in and out of downtown: it is close to Stanley Park but a fair way from the main SkyTrain station, so you are on a bus or a long walk, which can feel inconvenient if you head into the city every day. And finally, price — it starts in the low hundreds, but a three-bedroom suite in high season can climb to nearly $570 a night. That only really pays off when you come as a group and split it. A big family of 6-10 on a long stay gets great value; if it is just two of you in a one-bedroom suite, there are luxury hotels downtown in the same budget that may deliver more of the "hotel" feel.

Our take

After our team read through hundreds of real guest reviews, Rosellen Suites at Stanley Park clearly delivers on one idea: "your own apartment next to Stanley Park, with a full kitchen and a suite big enough for three generations." It suits big families, three-generation trips, and groups staying 5 nights or more who want to do Vancouver like a local — up early for the Seawall, breakfast in the room, the kids off to the Aquarium, an afternoon shopping Robson, then back to gather around a home-cooked dinner. For that kind of trip it is hard to match. Real guest scores of 9.0 on Agoda and 9.0 on Booking confirm that people who come for the right reasons leave happy. But if you are travelling as a couple and want a 4-or-5-star hotel feel with a pool, a bar and an eye-catching lobby, this may not fit — look at a hotel in the core of downtown instead. Overall we give it 9.0/10, best for big families and anyone who wants a true home-away-from-home next to Stanley Park.