Checking In: Fairmont YVR

Editor’s Note: This is the latest instalment in our Checking In series, which profiles hotels from both staycation and weekend getaway perspectives. Despite global travel turnstiles now fully opened to Vancouverites, many are still choosing to spend a night or two locally, and in the process rediscovering parts of the region they haven’t visited in some time.

I travel for work. A lot. In the coming month I will be on assignment in San Francisco, Lisbon and Munich. North American trips tend to be two nights, while Europe jaunts are usually three, one of those aboard a transcontinental flight. As such, I spend a lot of time in airplanes, airports and hotels.

And I enjoy them all. Sure, there are disruptions. A recent assignment to the Faroe Islands was derailed after an 11-hour flight from Vancouver to Montreal caused me to miss my connection through Copenhagen, and a couple of weeks ago I spent an unplanned five hours in the Denver airport, both due to summer thunderstorms. But there is an exciting energy in airports and hotels, a buzz created by families on the move and a burst from businesspeople on the march. They are truly where the world meets, albeit it in passing, and for me I find the experience of walking through an airport or hotel lounge exhilarating. Even with jet lag.

So, imagine my delight in a hotel stay in an airport. I’m not talking about a short shuttle hop away or 10-minute train ride, but literally in the terminal. That’s what the Fairmont YVR at the Vancouver Airport offers, with its main lobby less than 100 metres from the U.S. security gate, and just a short five-minute walk to International and Canadian gates.