Where to stay in Vancouver: the best neighbourhoods and hotels

This is Vancouver's front window. Canada Place, with its white sails, juts into the harbour as the cruise ship terminal, seaplanes take off and land beside the Convention Centre, and the views across the water to the North Shore mountains are glorious. The seawall runs west from here past the marinas to Stanley Park, and the cobbled streets and steam clock of Gastown, the city's oldest quarter, are a few minutes' walk east.

The hotels have the best views in the city. The Pan Pacific towers over Canada Place itself, with a saltwater rooftop pool; the Fairmont Waterfront is a few metres from the cruise terminal, with a heated rooftop pool overlooking the bay; the sleek Fairmont Pacific Rim has a full-service spa; and the Pinnacle Harbourfront is a few blocks back, handy for the seawall.

The heart of downtown is a grid of towers around Georgia Street and Robson Street, Vancouver's busiest shopping strip. The Vancouver Art Gallery sits in a grand old courthouse, the Pacific Centre mall runs underground, and the West End's leafy streets, English Bay beach and Stanley Park are all within walking distance.

The grande dame is the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, the copper-roofed 'Castle in the City' that has welcomed guests since 1939. The Rosewood Hotel Georgia is downtown's most stylish address, the Hyatt on Alberni occupies the city's tallest building, with an outdoor pool, and the EXchange is a boutique hotel in the old Exchange Tower in the business district. Everything is walkable, and SkyTrain stations are close.

Yaletown's old brick warehouses, built for the railway, now hold restaurants, cocktail bars and boutiques, their loading docks turned into terraces. It sits on the shore of False Creek, where the seawall continues and tiny ferries and the Aquabus hop across the water to Granville Island, a former industrial island with a superb public market, artists' studios and brewpubs. BC Place and Rogers Arena, for football, hockey and big concerts, are close by.

Stay at OPUS, a flamboyant boutique hotel in the heart of Yaletown, or the Parker, a wine-themed hotel beside False Creek. Hotel Blu on Robson Street is close to the stadiums and the SkyTrain, and the Granville Island Hotel puts you on the island itself, right on the water. Expect lively evenings.

Across Burrard Inlet, North Vancouver climbs from the water straight into the mountains. Lonsdale Quay has a waterfront market and the SeaBus terminal for the short crossing to downtown. Inland lie the swaying Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain, which has skiing in winter and hiking trails, wildlife and views in summer.

Hotels here are smaller and more relaxed: a small hotel of individually decorated rooms with a full-service spa, a Holiday Inn with an indoor pool about 10 km from downtown, and a bed and breakfast in Upper Lonsdale with a garden terrace, about five minutes' drive from both the suspension bridge and the quay. Ideal if the outdoors is the point of your trip.

Richmond, south of the city on the Fraser River delta, is home to Vancouver International Airport and some of the best Chinese food outside Asia. In summer its night market is a feast of street-food stalls, and the Canada Line metro runs straight from the airport to downtown.

The ultimate airport stay is the Fairmont inside the terminal, with soundproofed rooms looking onto the runways and the mountains. Nearby, choose the Westin Wall Centre by the night market, Versante, a colourful luxury boutique hotel, or River Rock Casino Resort, about five minutes from the airport.

Burnaby, just east of Vancouver, won't win any beauty contests, but it's practical and good value. Metropolis at Metrotown is the largest shopping and entertainment complex in British Columbia, and the Metrotown SkyTrain station takes you downtown in under 20 minutes, so you can save money without feeling cut off from the sights.

The pick is a Hilton steps from the mall and the SkyTrain, and there's a Holiday Inn Express directly across from the station and an Element with an indoor pool and kitchens in the rooms, which families appreciate on longer stays. The SkyTrain also connects with the line to the airport, which is handy on arrival day.

Reached only by ferry from Horseshoe Bay, north-west of the city, the Sunshine Coast feels a world away: a ragged shoreline of forested coves, fishing harbours and arty little towns. Gibsons, near the ferry terminal, is a waterfront village with a boutique inn by the harbour. Further up the coast, Rockwater Secret Cove Resort sits high above the Pacific, with a spa and ocean views from its dining room. Come for a couple of nights of total calm.