Recently had 3 individual stays at this hotel travelling between the Rockies & Vancouver Island. The staff were very nice and helpful - as all Canadians are.

Going into the lift was a timewarp back to the 70's.
Room was clean, but bathroom badly needed refurbishing. Good venue if you don't spend much time in your room and want to be near beach and Stanley park.

The restaurants around the corner facing the sea were tops fro eating!

We stayed here in August, around the time of the Festival of Light. The hotel itself is in a brilliant position, practically overlooking English Bay and the room we stayed in was large, comfortable and not too noisy for one facing a road (Davie Street). However, a couple of things spoilt it for us. A few times during our stay I woke up in the morning with small red bite marks on my legs which itched constantly and took the rest of the holiday to go away. Also, when we went to check out after a week, the guy on the desk tried to overcharge us by over $100. Luckily I'd booked online and had printed out the confirmation page which I showed him. After lots of discussion and excuses the bill was changed to what I was expecting to pay. This hotel has its good points but I'm not sure I'd stay there again - and I'd definitely advise anyone who does to make sure they know exactly what their bill should come to!

The Sands is great. It's 1 block from the beach, liquor store and a drug store plus there are lots of other shops and restaurants within walking distance. They were renovating and I got a new room. I am a police officer and go to the hotel frequently for police functions. The food is always 1st class and the parking lot has free parking and its secure so I never have to worry about my car being broken into.

I recently stayed at this property and when I got out of the shower in the AM, I noticed red bites all over my legs and ankles. When I pulled the sheets back, there were many black "bugs". Since this is an animal friendly hotel, I can only assume. The manager Jeff was very nice and first told me he would HAVE TO move me to another room, and asked that I take my belongings out and once they had another room, he would move my things. When I brought the bag downstairs, he then told me he could have the room sprayed and that would take care of the problem. He was trying to be very helpful, but there was no way I was staying in the same room. So I moved to another hotel. Two days later, I stopped by this hotel to see if they had found my sunglasses. When I drove in there were two policemen outside and another inside. Not quite sure what the problem was, but I didn't hang around to find out. Unfortunately this hotel is in a WONDERFUL location. Too bad I won't ever stay there again!