Very accomadating

initially, my room was very small, behind an elevator, and had a door that would not completely close. after reporting this, i was immediately up graded to a very nice room in a different section of the hotel. i found the service to be very good and the management very accomadating. if my stay would have occured in my original room, i would probably not say this due to a below average room and very poor elevator service (people waiting for long periods frequently).

Great location and on-site entertainment

I stayed at the Sandman for 5 nights, whilst attending a conference in Vancouver.

The room was large, and had all that was expected. It was very comfortable, and room service was prompt and friendly.

The Hotel is 5 mins walk from the centre of the city and so perfect for visiting the sights.

A great bonus is that within the confines of the Hotel is Moxies bar and grill (which does a great steak) and has great atmosphere. Similarly, for even better atmosphere there is the Shark Club sports bar. Pretty much always full, with lots going on - great fun.

I would happily stay here again.

The Sandman- Good place for single travellers

The place was neat and clean and my room was of regular size. The maid paid attention to detail. While others have complained about the slow elevators I did not find that to be the case. The security features were good and helped me feel safe as a single traveller. The employees were nice and those at the front desk answered my questions about public transportation. The hotel was near every thing. It was a short walk to places. The area near the hotel is safe. I had a clock and TV remote control in my room, unlike what a previous traveller found. I recommend this place.

Central for everything

Good location for everything. Spent 10 nights here with another couple and our only problem was the slow lift which serves both rooms and restaurent in the main building. Rooms very clean, vary in size but big enough, food and staff in Moxie's first class. Hotel close to transport links and in quieter end of town. Would highly recomend staying here as refurbishments that are ongoing can only improve.

Loved the Sandman, Great stay, will definitely be back.

Spent a night at the Sandman when we went to the Theatre which was just a walk from the hotel. Our room was great, the view was great and we did receive exceptional service. The hotel had a choice of three restaurants and bars. We ate at Moxies and had drinks in the evening at Sharks club. It was nice having all the choices under one roof. Enjoyed ourselves in the pool and jacuzzi. I would definitely recommend this hotel as a clean and convenient place to stay.

Could use some work...

The restaurant (Moxie's) in the hotel had very good food and the people that worked there and in the hotel were all nice. It was just the building that needed a lot of work! An example, the window was always open in our room because the single pane window was ready to fall out!

As other reviewers mentioned this is far from the best property to stay at in Vancouver. Our room was free, so no great loss to us, but I wouldn't advise anyone to pay to stay here unless you just want to be close to BC Place and don't care about your room. I would return to the restaurant however.

I'd recommend other hotels

I had a room reserved for two nights and ended up leaving after the first night. I will say that the staff was very friendly and helpful.

However, what the reviewer above said about the elevators is true. They are extremely slow and overused and you usually are jammed in with other people. To make matters worse, it was a hockey night in Vancouver the night I stayed and the hotel was packed with hockey fans since it is the closest hotel to the stadium GM Place. I would HIGHLY recommend NOT staying here on a hockey night. Not only did this make the elevator wait even longer since the place was full, but I found the other guests on my floor to be loud, slamming their doors visiting each other's rooms, drinking and talking loud with doors open before the game. The door slamming is a BIG problem in this hotel. In my room there was a small shudder each time another door on the floor closed. It was truly that loud. I wore earplugs and turned on the room fan to drown out the noise when I slept. My room was clean, although small. However, there was no remote control for the TV and no clock, which I found to be substandard. I called the front desk about the missing remote and the guy who came up was very nice, but said they didn't have any extra and had me use the joystick for video games instead for chaning channels!

That was annoying to me. Not every floor has an ice or vending machine (mine did not) so you have to go to another floor using the slower-than-molasses elevator. Finally, the water that came out of the pipes in my bathroom was rusty and it was like that each time you turned on the faucets. The hotel really needs to be updated. For your money, stay at the YWCA Hotel next door, which is cheaper, has better elevators and has much quieter doors and guests (I stayed there on a hockey night too).

Decent, but not amazing

I'm from vancouver and needed to spend a night downtown. this hotel is in a decent area (not the slums) and the staff was fine. The rooms could use some renos, but they're clean...just old. I wouldn't suggest this to someone looking for higher end, but it's good enough for basics.

Best Hotel for the Price In Vancouver

We are from Vancouver but live in Tokyo. Every year when we go home we stay at the Sandman. It gives us the best value for the money. We can afford to stay at more expensive places, but we The rooms are very clean, the restaurant is decent, the location to shopping and ease of parking is great. It is not a luxury hotel, but you are not paying luxury prices. If you are looking for a very clean hotel, with decent service and decent amenities in a good location, I can't recommend it more highly.

Needs updating

I stayed here in late Sept., 2003. The doubled bedded rooms were very small and the air conditioner did nothing (we did have beautiful weather that weekend). The worst problem was the elevator. It was so slow and small that at busy times there was a long line to go upstairs.

It wasn't a huge problem for me, but for older folks it must have been terrible. Seriously, there was probably a 15 minute wait to get into the elevator. Next time I will stay elsewhere.