TripAdvisor has a rating system for, well, everything. So here are the extremes for “Downtown Vancouver,” taking excerpts from just the best and the worst.
For perspective, the distribution:
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From Excellent, here are three of the most recent:
We stayed downtown Vancouver and walked our legs off. We wanted to see as much as possible. The various neighbourhoods were so interesting ! We loved it !
In Vancouver you feel like most of the people actually live here, instead of commuting from suburbs. That makes the city feel save and comfortable. So many different kinds of people, all enjoying the culture and commerce. Food and art are impressive features of down town. If you like to walk, this is the ideal city so explore on foot.
Vancouver downtown is the best I have ever seen so far (besides NY) but this still beats others. Wonderful place to walk along side amazing VC skyline. In my weeklong stay I made sure I walk back from office through the downtown. Like somebody here in the review said the city is walker friendly and safe. One doesnt get lost in the bylanes and its worth exploring every one of them. Tons of shops and libraries eateries all along.
Do you detect a theme here?
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From Terrible (there were only 15):
If You like HUNDREDS of destitute homeless people and lots of beggars mixed with tourists from cruise ships You’ll love this place. Canadian socialism at work. We planed to stay 4 days and left after one.
We learned the hard way about the thriving Vancouver business of stealing bikes. If you come with an expensive bike, no mater what kind of lock you have, do not leave your bike unattended, EVER. Professional thieves roam the city with vans and bolt cutters, happy to help themselves. We heard (who knows if it is true) that they wait at the border and follow cars with bikes, hoping to score.
The parking is so atrocious – and expensive – walk it or take the Canada Line (subway) or walk it. The Orpheum and some rip off Cineplex new rip off theatres add to the negative … some is good – but find a place to park …..it goes late at night … Granville Mall can be a homeless dangerous type area – there are some positives … I stay away.
People compare Robson street to Bloor in Toronto or similar shopping streets – the piddly art gallery is hardly worth the time … the shopping of Robinsstrasse (original) is a downfall of true Vancouver.
These results are interesting in two ways. First — the positive comments you chose all mention walkability, and this is certainly a big and unusual positive for dear old Soggyville. And second — such ratings and comment sections are magnets for the unhappy. Usually, an unhappy person is motivated to warn others and share their pain, at posting rates up to tens of times higher than happy people. So the low number of negatives is in fact a very positive sign.
Not to be picky, but the ratings are from Tripadvisor, not Travelocity.