We went to Vancouver because my 6 year old son required hip surgery. Once we got the okay from his doctor, his fondest wish was to stay at a nice hotel downtown and go swimming in a hotel pool. So, being a travel professional I knew Holiday Inn has a reputation as being kid-friendly. Vancouver is VERY expensive, particularly downtown. I was advised by the reservation clerk that this particular hotel on Howe Street had a pool and kiddie centre and the rate was around $200 a night.

When we got there, the first thing that put me off was that it cost hotel guests $11.95 a day to park in the parkade, but the sign out front for other customers was $7.95! It was also nearly impossible to access our room, this place is like an intricate maze, with two elevators and stairs at the end of each hallway, so we actually had to take both elevators and backtrack somehow to get to the room. IF you are in a wheelchair or dragging a luggage cart its a major inconvenience!

We were told the pool was on our floor, which is ridiculous. I had to carry my son, who was on crutches, down 3 flights of stairs to get to what I can only describe as the crappiest Holiday Inn pool I have ever seen! To some, (not me!) it may appear esthetically pleasing, its all glass enclosed, and really except for a very small deck with two chairs and a table, there is nowhere to stand let alone sit. Its two stories high sort of remeniscent of a dolphin tank at an aquarium or something, all tiled. 80% of the pool, which is small and round, is 9 feet deep. The rope partitioning the shallow end allowed for minimal frolicing in the shallow end and unless your kids are good swimmers you don't want to send them in 3 meter water with no pool side to grab onto if they get tired.

The "Kid's Centre" is unsupervised, and consists of a little tykes play structure and some craft materials, not all that impressive either, but it would have sufficed if we could get into the room! Complaints that our key would not open the door fell on deaf ears. Even now, two weeks after our stay there, the Hotel failed to provide any kind of true customer service. The manager phoned me today because she read the negative comments on my survey card, and all she offered to do was take the cost of our dinner off the bill. Additionally she does not see the bigger issue of inaccesibility in the hotel as a problem and that is my real beef.

Speaking of dinner in the Hotel restaurant, our service was poor and when we asked about the cakes in the display case we were told they were "over a week old" and really gross. Nice!

If you are travelling to Vancouver with or without kids, stay away from this place! We ended up at the Ramada Inn at the airport in Richmond and it was superb, for a fraction of the price. The fact it is about 25 minutes from Downtown should not deter you, its definetly a far better place to stay!