My girlfriend and I just returned from Vancouver where she ran the half-marathon ((2:05), Melanie got ninth in her age group and broke two hours, Peggy almost broke two hours) and we stayed with a group of friends at the Hotel Moda.

It was pretty nice, very utilitarian rooms, white walls (not good) with one red accent wall that needed some good original artwork, good comfortable bed, due to mix up (or should I say miscommunication) didn't get key to the minibar, can't tell you what was inside.

We stayed on the courtyard side and got a good view of a dumpster, our friends stayed on the street side and got a good view of Staples. (By the way, Staples opens later on Sunday than you might think). But the views weren't such a bad thing cuz the place was pretty nice, as I said.

All in all it was very handy and really well located and really pretty good EXCEPT the front desk told us to not leave anything in our cars in the parking garage and we didn't until we had checked out and were just going to eat dim sum for a couple of hours.

Well, that was enough to get our car broken into and our bags stolen. Forgetting the fact that my girlfriend was pretty happy certain clothing items of mine were stolen, it was not a nice experience. And then, as we were cleaning up the glass, the guy they called with the broom to clean up told us that last weekend two cars had been broken into, both with Washington plates.

So watch out for that parking garage especially if you're from Seattle. And why the front desk didn't warn people from Washington State specifically stuck a little in our craw.

The dim sum was awesome, however, but maybe not worth the price.

We stayed one night at the Moda Hotel during our trip to Vancouver for the marathon on May 4. We had a very good experience- we plan on staying here the next time we travel to Vancouver.
The desk folks were very kind, allowed us a late check-out (noon) for no fee. Parking was only $10/day with in & out privilage. We booked our room at their website with no problems.
We had a 2nd floor room that had windows overlooking Smithe. The room was very clean & very simple. Very clean bathroom as well. We didn't use the AC or heaters, but did feel quite a draft coming from the bank of single pane windows- don't know what the temperature situation would be like on a hot or cold day. There was an electronic safe in the room & a big tv with lots of channels. The walls were a bit thin- could easily hear our neigbhors thumping down the hall, opening & closing doors, etc. The car horns, people noise & sirens didn't stop until about 1am- so keep that in mind if you plan on turning in early on a Saturday night in a 2nd or 3rd floor room.
The location was perfect for us- just a few blocks to Robson, Yaletown, GM place- about a mile to Stanely Park. Safe enough neigborhood as well- coffee and snacks stores just a few doors down.
This is not a high-rise luxury hotel overlooking the water- suited us just fine. We plan on staying here again.

We loved the Moda Hotel because:

- Chris at the front desk was very helpful and friendly.
- The rooms were very clean and ultra modern.
- The hotel is in the heart of the downtown Robson street area.
- The rates were cheap! I booked on their web site and since I'm an AMA/CAA member, I was given a discount. It ended up being around $92 per night in April. Normally I believe you get what you pay for...but that's not the case at the Moda.
- I loved how the floors were hardwood...and not that yucky dirty carpet you normally get in hotels.
- The rooms are not huge...but the perfect size for what we needed.
- Try not to get a room by the stairwell because I found it very noisy at night. (People chose to take the stairs most of the time because the elevator was slow.)

The Moda is in a renovated building. The room was a little small (1 queen bed) but clean. The bed was comfortable and the linens crisp. The room was a little noisy with single pane windows (mine didn't seal fully) but well worth the price. It is on the same block as a Starbucks and a great grocery store so well located.