What's New: An Online Update for Frommer's Vancouver & Victoria

In the summer of 2003, Vancouver was awarded hosting rights to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Still 6 years away, preparations are already visible, and the excitement in the city is palpable. Prices on real estate, restaurants, and hotels are sure to go up. Fortunately, at present, fabulous restaurants and accommodations are still a steal in Vancouver and Victoria, compared to Toronto or Montreal.

Vancouver

The Gallery Floor at the Listel Vancouver, 1300 Robson St. (tel. 800/663-5491 or 604/684-8461; www.listel-vancouver.com) proved such a hit with guests that a museum floor was the next logical step. For the past several years, guests on the penultimate Gallery floor have been able to enjoy original works of art from Vancouver's Buschlen Mowatt Gallery (www.buschlenmowatt.com), temporarily displayed in the Listel's ever-so-tasteful rooms. Guests on the top floor now have the same artistic privilege, but the objets d'art on display in the rooms come from the vast collection of the UBC Museum of Anthropology (www.vec.ca/English/4/moa.cfm). As with the Gallery rooms, Museum rooms contain detailed information on the artist whose works are on display.

The Sunset Inn Travel Apartments, 1111 Burnaby St. (tel. 800/786-1997 or 604/688-2474; www.sunsetinn.com) has always been a steal, just a couple of blocks from English Bay on the edge of the residential West End and offering apartment-size accommodations (with full kitchens, dining tables, and balconies) at a more-than-reasonable price. For years the only drawback was a kind of pastel '80s decor, but the furnishings in the top two floors have been fully renovated. The owner intends to continue renovating until the entire inn is fully updated.

The newest, nicest B&B in Kitsilano recently opened on a green and leafy street just 10 minutes from the beach. The Camelot Inn, 2212 Larch St. (tel. 604/739-6941; www.camelotinnvancouver.com) features rooms lovingly restored to their early 1900s condition, improved only with the addition of jacuzzi tubs, the perfect prelude to the softest of sleigh beds.

Vancouver's dining scene continues to churn, especially in Yaletown. Elixir, 350 Davie St. (tel. 604/642-0577) is a traditional French brasserie that serves classic, even simple, brasserie food prepared with excellent local Vancouver ingredients. Enjoying an appetizer at Elixir's long round brass bar has become the way to begin an evening downtown. Just a cobblestone or two up the street lies Glowbal Grill and Satay Bar, 1079 Mainland St. (tel. 604/602-0835), a beautiful room with beautiful people, and a cuisine that unashamedly cruises the world for tastes and flavors that get fused together into small-plate meals.

Over on Robson Street, the latest thing in Japanese food is Hapa Izakaya, 1479 Robson St. (tel. 604/689-4272), where the cuisine features inventive, nontraditional dishes such as bacon-wrapped asparagus or negitori, fresh tuna belly chopped with spring onions served with munch-size bits of garlic bread. It's more bar and grill than fussy sushi palace, and the atmosphere is high-decibel quasi-chaos wonderful.

On Granville Street, near the gallery district, meat has made a comeback. Memphis Blues Barbeque House, 1465 W. Broadway (tel. 604/738-6806) serves up real southern barbecue -- meat smoked for hours over a low-heat hardwood fire. The ribs come out tender enough to pull apart with your fingers (which is how food is eaten here -- the cutlery is mostly only for show.

Lounges are back with an oh-so-laid-back vengeance. Two new Yaletown sit and schmooze spots lead the pack. Afterglow, 350 Davie St. (tel. 604/642-0577) features intimate couches and a soft soundtrack that makes either for candlelit foreplay to a satay meal at next-door Glowbal or a prelude to a long evening's cuddle in the low-slung loveseats. At Elixir, 50 Davie St. (tel. 604/642-0577), the crowd stands upright and is more uptight (just a tad), unless you catch them late in the evening, after a full night of nursing cocktails.

Victoria

The owner of Spinnaker's Pub has gone into the B&B business, opening Spinnaker's Guest House, 308 Catherine St. (tel. 877/838-2739 or 250/384-2739; www.bctravel.com/spinnakers/guesthouse.html) in a heritage house just up the street from his long-running brewpub. Rooms here feature queen beds, lovely furnishings, in-room jacuzzis, fireplaces, high ceilings, and lots of natural light -- all for an excellent price.

The other big news in Victoria accommodations is the ongoing upgrade of Dashwood Manor, 1 Cook St. (tel. 800/667-5517 or 250/385-5517; www.bctravel.com/dashwood.html). Once more than a little past its prime, this lovely old mock-Tudor manor now features new mattresses on the beds and new tile in place of the old linoleum in the kitchenettes. Stodgy old British bathrooms have been updated with new tile and fixtures, including deep-jetted tubs. Several of the rooms now also have large luxurious Jacuzzis.

The best new Victoria dining option is, without doubt, Brasserie L'Ecole, 1715 Government St. (tel. 250/475-6262), the brainchild of long-time Victoria chef Sean Brenner. Top-end French in the middle of Chinatown may seem a bit of a stretch, but it all seems to make sense when you step inside this small and pleasantly French room and realize that what's on offer is not high-end Parisian but simple country French cooking.

The best nightspot to arrive in Victoria in a few years is The Upstairs Lounge, 15 Bastion Square (tel. 250/385-5483). Victoria's new hotspot for live music has space and good sightlines and a selection of pretty Victoria people who come for touring bands.

Whistler

Open under a year, the Alpine Chalet Whistler, 3012 Alpine Crescent (tel. 800/736-9967 or 604/935-3003; www.alpinechaletwhistler.com) was built to the exacting specifications of a Czech couple who have taken up a second career as innkeepers. The common room is a dream, with comfy chairs and a big fireplace. The adjoining dining area is flooded with natural light from the skylights. Breakfasts are top-quality feasts.

Ucluelet, Tofino & Pacific Rim National Park

Out on the Pacific Coast, the The Wickaninnish Inn, Osprey Lane at Chesterman Beach (tel. 800/333-4604; www.bcadventure.com/wickaninnish) has had such success with its combination of summer beach walks and winter storm watching that it's virtually doubling in size. Careful attention is being paid, however, to ensure the new complex blends in as seamlessly with the wild west coast as the old.