Guercifgal

I got a room at the Pan Pacific. I learned my lesson from the last time this conference was in Vancouver in 1996r. We waited too long to book a room and my colleagues and I got stuck at a hotel a mile away, uphill, that was under renovation. Wehad the bad luck of getting unrenovated rooms that still used skeleton keys just down the hall from all the renovation noise.

Book at one of the hotels near the convention center. Take it from someone who is a 20+ year veteran of this conference - it's always nice to be able to slip away to your room during one of the breaks to relax, use the bathroom, or just skip a session to unwind from 9,000 international educators at the conference. You can't do this if you're any distance from the convention center.

Braindrain

All 3 of those are closer to the 'action' although the Westin Grand is a long hike from the convention center. I'd guess between 20-30 min. I'd advise against this one.

A hotel 'in the middle' of the convention center and shopping would be the Hyatt Vancouver, although I don't know of any colleagues who recently stayed here. The Soleil is also in the middle.

The Four Seasons is also a good choice.

Myself, I do take the advice of choosing a hotel as close to the convention center as possible as there are always sessions which I can't find anyting interesting.

aktchi

Google is showing WG at 1.4km and 18 minutes walking, which is acceptable though approaching the border of acceptability. Fairmont Hotel Vancouver is about 10 min, Soleil a little closer.

At FHV and Soleil we don't have any special angle and can probably get an ordinary room for C$250. The attraction of WG is that through SPG certs we can get a really good suite (corner, 23-29 floor, balcony, etc) for about the same price (50% off rack rate).

In terms of proximity to the conference, we too have been going for many years, tried everything from living at ground zero to various distances near and far, and have evolved a slightly different perspective. This is not a cozy FT DO. With 9000 attendees, everything is always crowded near the center with long lines and slow service. Also, we want to be able to say good bye to professional acquaintances for the day, without running into them over and over. That has to be balanced against the convenience of walking back and forth. We are in good health, enjoy walking enough to have skipped complementary conference shuttles in the past, and 10-15 minutes works out to be a good compromise. If FHV or Soleil took SPG50 certificates, they would have been ideal.

In the end we can brood over how much we can spend or walk. However, we really do appreciate help with local info that only experience can provide: how a hotel is outside its web page, how the neighborhood is, etc.