Where to stay in Squamish?

[xmisstrinh]

Wheres a good place to stay in Squamish? I booked a room then looked at some reviews and I'm having second thoughts. Theres a lot of mixed reviews on every place I look up in Squamish. Does anyone have some positive experiences to share at where you stayed? Thanks!!

[Amaru]

Dates you're looking at? Per-night budget? Specific hotel requirements (ie. pool/restaurant/minimum star rating)? There's a brand new Holiday Inn at the north end of Squamish that would probably be perfectly fine in terms of quality, location, and amenities. Not sure if it's within your price range, though.

Keep in mind that most online hotel reviews are submitted by people who had a very bad experience (or, less commonly, a very good experience) at that establishment. These reviews represent a very small portion of the overall guests who have stayed there, and they may have standards that are much higher than your own. Or, just as often, they ran into a staff member who was having a bad day and/or got stuck in the hotel's worst room.

Consider how many times you've reviewed a hotel online........ probably not very often (if at all). Most people - probably at least 95% of all guests - come to the hotel, stay a few nights, pay the bill, and leave without ever thinking about the place again. Those who had a very bad or very good experience might remember to write a review when they return home, but only if the hotel left a very big impact on them and they want to share their love or hate for the place.

I always look up hotel reviews on TripAdvisor, but only to get a very general idea of the hotel's overall quality. If I see multiple reviewers complaining about the exact same issues (ie. 4 separate reviewers commenting on how noisy the hotel was) or a huge portion of horrible reviews then I'll have second thoughts. But if there's one positive review for every negative one - or at least a reasonable balance between negative and neutral/positive reviews - I'll book it anyway.

I've stayed at places that had dozens of terrible reviews on Yahoo Travel and TripAdvisor... only to end up loving the hotel, and wondering what the hell the reviewers were talking about. The only time I *really* pay close attention to hotel reviews on TripAdvisor, Yahoo Travel, and similar sites is when I see a huge number of very positive reviews. If tons of people come home and take the time to write about how great a place is, then you know for certain it's probably really really good.

Anyway, sorry for the rant - just don't want you to cancel your reservation at a perfectly adequate hotel just because a few whiners on TripAdvisor didn't like it.

[xmisstrinh]

Ahaha thanks =] I'm just second guessing my choice a little cus I always learn towards the more luxurious ends of things, especially staying somewhere overnight. Trip Advisor is my bible when I travel. I looked up the Garibaldi Resorts and they're booked full. That definitely would have been my first choice.

Anyways, I'm only staying for one night but I want the place to be nice anyways since its like a birthday weekend getaway thing for me.

But anyways, I'll look up the Holiday Inn. Thanks!

[Amaru]

The Mountain Retreat Hotel & Suites looks pretty solid.

The Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites is the one I was referring to, and because it's brand new it's probably pretty nice. Then again, Holiday Inn Express locations tend to cater more to business travelers so I wouldn't expect a resort-style experience.