BJfly

Quebec City is a great 3 day destination. Feels like going Europe but without the time zone. Great food, scenery, always something interesting going on. Not sure about Marriott footprint.

platbrownguy

Agree with this, and the 3 Bonvoy properties in the city would give you 3 slightly different neighborhoods (the Marriott has the best location conventionally, but the Tribute is in the middle of some action too). Of course the Frontenac is also worth a night (we really enjoyed the gold floor though maybe it's gone to trash with covid) and the Auberge St-Antoine is excellent.

DELee

Fundamentally, the Canadians want you to go so you can see their country (and spend money).

We on FlyerTalk just want you to go so a) you actually find out if they're really pulling 90% of inbound passengers on arriving flights and testing them, b) so you can stay at the Canadian Marriott hotels and then c) report back here with assessments on bed quality for sleeping and available water pressure from the showers. Oh, and some photos as well.

David

ElevatorEnthusiast

David, you know me too well. Bed quality and water pressure are just too important to leave out of trip reports.

Frankly, I'm getting closer and closer to pulling the trigger as I can test at home the night before. I'm thinking about taking some more time off and splitting a week between Vancouver and Toronto.

DELee

Sounds like lots of fun and exploration! Go for it!

David

platbrownguy

I assumed you were finagling some work into these trips. If pure leisure, it would be a shame to go to Vancouver and not (1) check out Victoria, as mentioned upthread (you can take the ferry, it's easy), and (2) drive to Whistler! The drive from Vancouver to Whistler is truly one of the prettiest around, and it's easy, and the Westin Whistler is pretty good to boot. (It's still ski season but even if you're not a skier you could take the gondola to go sightseeing.)

ElevatorEnthusiast

I have been successfully convinced and will be heading up North to spend:

• 1 night at the Vancouver Marriott Pinnacle
• 1 night at the Sheraton Wall Centre
• 2 nights at The Douglas (points rates were getting about 1.1 cpp)
• 2 nights at the Sheraton Centre Toronto
• 1 night at the St. Regis Toronto
• 1 night at the Ritz-Carlton Toronto
• 1 night at the Westin Harbour Castle

I'll monitor rates as time gets closer as I was disappointed I couldn't fit in the JW Parc on the Vancouver side (136K vs. 87K for the Douglas) and the Delta in Downtown Toronto (rates seemed a bit high).

One thing that was surprising - hotels in Canada seem to be much more limited in their number of standard rooms for points and base rates. Interesting phenomenon, or demand is just really high right now for June.

Oh, well, regardless, I'm excited! I'm already shooting out positive thoughts that nothing COVID-related affects my trip :-)

atsak

Demand is high in Canada right now; Canadians have not really taken to international travel quite as quickly as much of the rest of the world IMO (and so says Air Canada in some press I've read here), but travel locally is quite extensive and there's a major backlog of weddings to get through this year.

Enjoy your trip. It sounds like it will be a great time. I will tell you if you get selected for screening I wouldn't worry - it's very quick these days, not overly invasive like it was at the start, and you don't need to quarantine or anything waiting for results you can just carry on. Don't forget to use the ArriveCAN app if it's still in use by the time you come to input your vaccine details a couple days before you come.

smilee

I disagree with atsak. Demand has been exceptionally low in Canada partly because it is winter, and partly because people are not travelling much with Covid. Several hotels have been closed as there was no demand. I believe that will change as we move into the summer. In fact I have really enjoyed many Category 5 & 6 hotels in Canada this fall and winter with super low rates at Cat 5/6 hotels at about $60-$100 USD a night (or 35-60k points so obviously choose cash rates) But those low rates will melt away soon and instead will be triple that or more. I expect prices to be at pre-covid rates by July in many locations.

In July of course places like Victoria, Kelowna, Whistler (all year round), Vancouver, Calgary (visit the rockies) could be a great west coast adventure. with some nice hotels in those areas.
The other area I would encourage you to check out is the province of Quebec. It is like going to Europe without the long trek over the Atlantic and may give you a chance to practice your French language or at least experience the French culture.

Some of my favourite Marriott brand hotels in the west coast would include
Victoria - Delta Ocean Pointe, Westin Resort Bear Moutnain
Kelowna - Delta Grand Okanagan
Whistler - Westin Resort, Delta Whistler Suites
Vancouver - Sheraton Wall Center (downtown on Burrard), JW Parq
Calgary - Kananaskis (outside of Calgary near the Rocky Mountains)

ElevatorEnthusiast

I definitely want to do Quebec and Montreal in a future trip! Couldn't fit them all in and was also trying to optimize for non-stop flights to and from my US origin.

atsak

Demand this winter is very low. The summer is another matter. Every hotel every weekend I've looked at has been close to sold out - I've had to use my Diamond guarantee twice with Hilton - once this weekend in the Niagara region and once this summer as well. I may have misinterpreted though I thought the OP was travelling this summer. Maybe not.

ElevatorEnthusiast

I'm traveling in June, and the lowest rate I could find for one of my properties was around $290 USD. Most were between $300 and $400 USD with the Ritz coming in at $479 USD with XML and the Douglas (around $500) and the St. Regis (around $600 something) being done on points.

flyme2

If you ever make it to Montréal, shoot me a PM.

I'm happy to hear you overcame your qualms. Well done, EE!

ElevatorEnthusiast

As a ridiculously ironic update, I am now having to travel for work to Toronto about 3 weeks before my scheduled trip I mentioned upthread. So, I guess Canada was in the cards for me regardless :-)

I thought about switching my Toronto leg of my vacation, but I'm not sure I'll have much time to see the city on my work trip, and frankly, I don't want to deal with increased air fare if I make changes and head to Quebec instead. At least, my work trip will be at a different hotel than I had booked for my vacation, so I'll still get to experience new properties.

Harv62

No Saskatoon on the list? But there are...some things to do. And stuff. Maybe. If it isn't still winter. Hopefully. Might even be a Marriott somewhere in the province if you look hard enough (might have to squint a little though).

Maybe I'm biased, but ditch the east and stick to BC as mentioned. Victoria for at least 5 days, Whistler for no less than 4. And then there's Banff, Shuswap, Okanagan Valley, Osoyoos, and more. Nothing against our eastern overlords (much), there is just no reason to go there until you've fully and thoroughly experienced the Rockies and points west.