Vancouver, BC Canada - June 2024 (hotels near UBC and safety in general)

I don’t think there are any hotels near UBC at all as it’s way out on the western edge of town.
You will be better staying nearer to town.
Buses are easy for where you want to go.
Here’s the link to the website:

https://www.translink.ca/

The best thing would be to buy a Compass card, our transit stored value card.
The ticket machines sell them at SkyTrain stations and the drugstore London Drugs does too.
You just tap in as you enter a bus.
No need to tap out.
You do tap in and out if you take the SkyTrain, our version of a Metro/subway train.
You’d be getting buses out to UBC as the SkyTrain doesn’t go anywhere near there.

Also get the CityMapper and Moovit apps for real time transport journeys and maps.

The Sylvia is well within your price range. We loved the Sylvia, and Vancouver in general, when we visited in July 2023. We don't borrow trouble, we and go to bed early, but we felt perfectly safe in Vancouver.

https://sylviahotel.com/

There really isn’t much in the way of hotels out there as the University is not close to downtown and the regular tourist spots. That side of town is also the more affluent neighborhood of Vancouver so even the B&Bs you find will likely be in the higher price range. You may want to contact the university directly and ask what they have available as when students leave at the end of spring term they may have rentals available in the empty student housing. Vancouver is an expensive city, but I did a quick google search and found many rooms for $200-250 a night. The main downtown core would be around Granville and Georgia/Robson. Don’t go too far east of that. You will be able to catch a bus to UBC, I think the #44 will be quickest https://www.translink.ca/schedules-and-maps/route/44/direction/1/map, but there are other routes. Vancouver is a pretty safe city, but has the usual problems any city has. The area near Main and Hastings is generally the problem area, and that’s not far from Chinatown if you were thinking of visiting there. The entertainment district, a short stretch of Granville St. where a lot of nightclubs are, can get a little rowdy at times, usually Friday and Saturday nights. If you are going to be riding transit just be aware that pickpockets sometimes work the Robson and Davie St buses as they are popular with the tourists.

I found that busses out to UBC are a very, very long (if affordable, and easy tap-to-pay touchless credit credit card) ride. Of course you want to look out the windows. Be careful of sub-routes that don't go all the way. We stayed near the Brentwood area, in my (first time) AirBnb, quite far from town. I suggest you stay downtown. Be careful of sub-routes that don't go all the way.

As a native of Manhattan, I may sound crazy to you, but learning how relatively safe big cities are, especially in Canada, is essential to the two of you begin accepting the idea of college in Vancouver. Anyplace you have a large population, you have more (statistical) crime, because more people live there. That's even before you confront the issue that poor people can live more easily in cities than (where you live???) really rural areas, or wealthy suburbs with exclusionary zoning (like where I live.)

You also have to confront the issue of appearance/Social Media "facts" versus reality. New York City is one of the safest large cities in the USA, but unless you drill down on impartial news sites, that fact is invisible to most of the US, and to the rest of the world. In fact, Vancouver has the worst looking "Skid Row" I've ever seen, and acknowledges its problem with substance abuse and homelessness in that constrained, non-downtown, area. But as Lonely Planet Vancouver told me, you are more likely to be asked for a handout downtown, rather than on that skid row. (I forget the name of the neigborhood. But our bus to downtown went throught it almost every day we set out for an excursion. If this boggles your eyes, you need to think more critically about leaving your home environment.)

The skid row is near Chinatown, but I'd point out that Asian food touches everything today. You certainly don't need to stay in ANY major city's Chinatown to get superb Asian and Asian Fusion food!

My extended family really enjoyed our 2023 reunion in Vancouver, and did not fee "scared" at any time. But as I said, we all grew up in Manhattan (upper West Side), before cell phones, and with bus passes that let us go places between school and dinnertime at home - UNSUPERVISED.

UBC used to have guest rooms in one of the Student Housing buildings. The may have openings in June since the campus may be on Break. They were not elegant and had few amenites but may be good enough for a night or two when you are checking out the Campus. You can take a bus from the Airport. Plus the World Class "Anthropology" Museum which features First Peoples Art and Heritage is on Campus. I've stayed at the Silvia and it is in a Great Location near Stanley Park and English Beach. It is a Boutique shopping area. You can take a bus to and around Downtown. The only tacky neighborhood to avoid is between the train station, (the Sky Train stop is across the street), and before you get to Gas Town. We walked thru there from the station, and it has the social services for those with life challenges. So a lot of same hang out there. Nothing to be afraid of in the Day Time; just some sadness. We took the Sky Train, which requires your ticket pass card (Ticket tap card Kiosk just outside) to enter, most of the other times. Downtown caters to tourists from the Cruise Ships. The Art Museum is excelllent. There are tons of places to eat. It is mostly flat in this area and you can walk as far as you are able.

Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. For obvious reasons, the idea of asking the school to stay in student housing is of particular interest.

Thanks to those who addressed the safety concern. The question was brought on by a comment on another user's post from a local stating that crime was an issue. As someone living in Washington, D.C., and who frequents NYC, I think we have a higher tolerance than most Americans, but since the comment came from a local, I thought it needed addressing—it seems not. Thanks to those who replied to this.

My budget for nightly accommodations is high enough to get us in a 4-star hotel at the very least, so I'm happy to see that option if the student housing option doesn't pan out. Walkability to eating establishments and other entertainment may outweigh the need for an in-person experience of staying on campus, where these things may not exist.

All helpful replies - thanks again!

Stay at UBC:

https://suitesatubc.com/contact-us/

https://vst.edu/students/accommodations/

Vancouver is a spectacular city in a stunning setting. Yes, UBC is a ways out of downtown, but it looks like responders are helping you with some possibilities. I love walking all over downtown and Stanley Park. Take the water taxi from downtown over to Granville Island to walk around the public market. Lots to eat there. Also take the foot passenger ferry over to North Vancouver to walk around that area. Brewpubs and great views. Not into seafood?--oh too bad. But yes many Asian restaurants. I tend to stay out of Gastown and the Eastside areas, but the same societal/economic/medical/mental health issues exist in Seattle.

Last September I spent the weekend at the Listel hotel on Robson st, https://www.thelistelhotel.com/. Very nice and convenient. In the middle of the shopping district, lots of restaurants too. I was there for the Laver Cup tennis tournament occurring at Rogers arena. Cold Play was playing next door at BC Place.Two women walking back the 2 or so kilometers to the hotel at midnight was fine. Festive even. Obviously the number of people flooding out of the two stadiums at roughly the same time contributed to the atmosphere.

For context, in the 1980’s I lived on upper 16th St., NW on the edge of Adams Morgan before it got gentrified. You will not find Vancouver to be the least bit “rough”. Just use normal city awareness.

@Trotter We used to live right in that area! We were on Seaton Street (the one that dead ends into the police station)... oh yes, pre-gentrification... fun times! LOL Thanks for the insight. I think we're going to be fine. :)

Unfortunately, the Museum of Anthropology is currently closed for renovations, and they are not saying when it will be open again. The #44 bus from downtown will take about half an hour or so to get to UBC. It’s more of an express route than the trolley bus that stops every two blocks. There is also an express bus that runs on Broadway, the #99, and an express bus on 41st, #42. The area that Tim was talking about seeing from the bus he took from Brentwood is the downtown east side, the Main and Hastings area I mentioned earlier. This area has been largely cleaned up, but not completely, and some problems can spill over into Gastown, a popular tourist spot. But, the last time I was wandering around downtown a couple weeks ago, I was not once approached by anyone asking for money. When it comes to bus fares, it might be a good idea to purchase a day pass as individual tickets have an hour and a half time limit. It will really depend how many times you plan to ride the bus that day.

UBC is a beautiful setting for a university and I hope he enjoys his time there (I spent many years out there for school)! As others have said, the bulk of ‘downtown’ Vancouver is exceedingly safe and vibrant with lots of people out in the evenings and lots of restaurants. The challenging area can easily be avoided during a visit as even the small Chinatown area has been (mostly) replaced for good food by the suburb of Richmond (and you could go there via Canada Line, our ‘metro’ for a change of scenery). You will be visiting during cruise ship season so hotels and popular destinations will be busy. The bus routes from downtown to UBC travel along quite pleasant neighbourhoods close to some of the beach areas. One of the routes is along 4th Avenue and there are several nice eating spots west of Burrard if you want to break up the bus ride. Maenam is a highly regarded Thai restaurant. The other bus route to UBC is Broadway and west of MacDonald has various eating spots. Banana Leaf is a great restaurant for Malaysian food with 3 locations that could work for you. Enjoy your visit! It will be light out until 9:30 in the evening when you visit so you will hopefully feel comfortable.

Im a mom of a current UBC undergrad. I would suggest staying on campus so that you and son can both get a feel for what campus is like and although UBC is the size of a small city, it truly has a campus feel. It’s easy to walk around the buildings, libraries, Japanese garden and to the beach. You can see a lot more than what the tour can show you in a short time period and I would suggest having time to explore after your tour so you have a better idea where things are located.Unless your visit overlaps with grad ceremonies you should be able to book a place on campus. A large number of hotel and apt style rooms have been added. If you google stay at ubc or ubc conference services you should be able to find information. The campus is beautiful and there are still a number of restaurants open during the summer, many located near the transit exchange. I rent a car when visiting my daughter, I find transit slow to campus and we usually have lots we want to do/see. Driving in Vancouver is not difficult and parking is easy and inexpensive on campus . There are also a lot of great restaurants in Kitslano, Dunbar and Point Grey the closest neighborhoods to campus, sushi is one of my daughters fav to order.. if you do decide to stay off campus I would also suggest the Sylvia. Visit Stanley Park, Spanish Banks, Steveston, Lynn Valley and head to Squamish for the afternoon and take the cable car.. I have always felt safe in Vancouver, it is like many other cities (it really isn’t tha large) but East Vancouver/east Hastings has a large homeless encampment and the worst of all 21st century social issues and problems (not sure how else to phrase)! UBc has a huge international student population including many American students, your son is likely to love his visit and you may find yourself in Vancouver often!