The BIG 50th Vancouver Vacation Sept/Oct 2021 - Travel Day - LHR-YVR & The Sutton Place Hotel

[smithlane]

Travel day - Wednesday 29th Sept 2021

Today was the day!

Even though our flight wasn’t until 5 o’clock this afternoon I still had my alarm set for 6.30am.
I didn’t finish work until 9pm the night before so I still had quite a bit left to do like clean the house, do my nails and finish packing.

Thankfully Bill and Sylvia, Jim’s parents came to pick Boris up from us last night so we didn’t have to make the trip around the M25 to Hertfordshire. Good job really as we both had less than a quarter of a tank in each of the cars and thanks to the mass panic buying there was zero petrol in any of the stations near us!

I was finally done by about 12.30pm after making sure the house was sparkling for the burglars! I’m not even sure why I was bothering as Hope is coming home at the weekend from Uni as she has work so I’m fairly sure it won’t stay clean….🤦

Helen and Nick turned up on time at around 1pm so we booked 2 Ubers to T5 for about 1.30.

15 minutes later we arrive, one bonus of living so close! As an aside I used to occasionally moan about the air traffic noise but now I love hearing it knowing the world is getting back to some normality 😍

Checking in and bag drop has all changed at Heathrow, you have to now scan your passports at a machine which in turn prints individual slips that look like boarding passes, then bag drop is done with an actual agent as they need to confirm you have all the right documentation.

We only waited 10 minutes to be seen then it was very straightforward to drop all suitcases and take the 2 sets of golf clubs to oversized baggage.
The agent didn’t even need to check our documents, I assume they can see we have loaded it all onto the VeriFLY app on their systems?
We asked about upgrading but at £289pp for World Traveller Plus one way I don’t think it’s worth it.
Security wasn’t too busy either, although I did have to go through the body scanner. No frisking today though!

We were soon all done and dusted and finding a table at the Wetherspoons downstairs in no time. This is when the holiday really starts for me. All the stress and worries about getting to the airport, checking in and making sure your luggage is dropped off are behind you and you have the rest of your holiday to look forward to ☺️

There are no physical menus in Spoons anymore, you just scan the QR code to bring up the food and drink options.
As it is now an acceptable time of the day, I went with a double rhubarb and ginger gin and lemonade and Jim went with a Guinness.

For food I fancied a few picky bits so I ordered the nachos with cheese and chicken bites with a bowl of chips.
Jim had a bacon cheeseburger and fries.
It didn’t take too long to come out and was piping hot which is always a good sign.
Only one photo, we were too busy tucking in!
It was all really tasty though.

Once eaten we all split up to browse the shops. I started with Boots as I needed some body lotion then headed to Duty Free to pick up some Lancôme Genefique serum.

They had a gift set that came with a miniature eye cream and moisturiser included so went with that one. She also threw in a gift bag with some more miniature goodies in. The more that can help me look the right side of 40 the better 😂

Our gate had now opened so on the way I grabbed 3 big bars of Toblerone for £12, it’s like airport law to buy these isn’t it?

We were gate B36 which was in one of the satellite terminals so had to take the monorail over.

Shortly after getting to the gate they were calling boarding by groups. As we were Group 9, the last one, we had a little bit of a wait.

After 15 or so minutes we were called forward so showed our passports to the agent and were through to the air bridge.

The plane was a Boeing 777 and was ANCIENT! It was a 3-3-3 seat layout so we had Jim, Helen and I together with Nick just over the other side of the aisle.
There were quite a few empty seats which in hindsight I wish we’d just spread out a bit as it was particularly cramped when the people in front reclined and then a bit later on we had this….

Where the hell have peoples’ plane etiquette gone 😡

The newer planes are much nicer and feel roomier, however beggars can’t be choosers, we were just happy to be going!

We were a little delayed in taking off and there was a strong headwind so we knew in advance we’d be landing later than scheduled.

Not one to break tradition, Jim was fast asleep before the engines had even turned on 🤦

Soon enough we were up in the air and I settled in to watch my first film, Tom and Jerry. The screens were tiny with marks all over so the picture wasn’t great but fine enough.

Drinks run after half an hour then
dinner arrived after about an hour. The choice was lemon & thyme chicken or veg chilli. We all went with the chicken.
Surprisingly ok, came with Pearl barley and carrots.

Jim was a little heavy handed in eating his GU dessert and proceeded to spill its contents into my Dooney & Bourke bag….!

I was still finding bits of it a week later 🥴

Second film choice was the new Cruella with Emma Stone. Fantastic film.

After this I took two of the paracetamol PM tablets I brought with me to try and get some sleep. These have a drowsy anti histamine in them, so like a mild sleeping tablet. Do the job though!
Read a couple of magazines then had a doze.

I actually managed about 4 hours as when I woke up the pilot was preparing everyone for landing. Result!

We had a strong headwind so landed about 40 mins late at 3.10am so 7.10pm Canadian time.
We were disembarked in rows of 5 so was much less of a scrum.
We fast walked to immigration which felt 5 miles away!

First off you go to a machine to declare any goods and/or money coming into the country, you then get a printed slip which you take up to an immigration officer who wants to see your passport and ArriveCAN code.
All in all it took less time than the walk there from the plane!

Our suitcases had already come out so within 10 mins we had all luggage and golf clubs and made our way to the car rental garage.
Lots of works going on around the airport so signage is a bit poor but finally found it.
Typically Budget was the furthest one away and when we got in, there was only 1 man serving a customer already.
We needed to add 2 more drivers (Nick had conveniently forgot his licence!) and the guy kindly only charged us for one so $100.

It took a little while as the car was still being cleaned?! but after 20 or so minutes we were loading our cases into a Dodge Caravan which thankfully all fit!
We named him Dave.

I was designated driver and as it was piddling down with rain and pitch black outside it was a bit of a hairy drive into the city but after 30 minutes we made it in one piece! It’s actually a very straightforward drive from the airport.
We unloaded the luggage out front and I went to park the car in the underground car park. It was really busy down here but thankfully managed to find a space. Took a photo of the licence plate to show reception for the parking ticket.

Dave

Took the elevator up to the lobby to check in.

I had originally booked 2 rooms for 2 nights but when I realised we wanted to spend more time in Vancouver I added on another night. Now I’m not sure if it was our jet lagged brains, the lady on reception not explaining herself or the masks and screen making it near on impossible to hear but Helen and I were really struggling to understand what we were being charged for!
I don't think it helped that we effectively had 2 separate reservations so that confused matters, also that we had been up for nearly 24 hours by this point!

We eventually got there and had our keys to the rooms. First impressions were excellent, this was a lovely hotel.

We were on the 21st floor at the very top!

Took the elevator up and found our room 2119 quickly.
Wow, the view was amazing!

We quickly got changed then met back up to go and grab something to eat. It was nearly 10pm so not sure what would be open.
Tried the restaurant opposite but they were just closing so went up to the corner of the street to Ballyhoos which were still serving food and drink.

I got a portion of salt and pepper chicken wings and fries and a Diet Coke. Jim got a pepperoni pizza. No photos, we were far too tired!

Made it to 11 o’clock before crawling back to the hotel. I think this is the longest we’ve ever stayed up on travel day!

[Beaker's Fluff]

Can’t wait to read along.

[anji]

So excited to read this! Hope to pick up lots of tips for our September trip Great travel day! Hotel looks beautiful. Hopefully we'll get a newer plane but, like you say, just will be happy to finally go on 3rd attempt.

[JoS]

Been looking out for this. Good travel day and your hotel looks beautiful. Cant wait to read along with you and enjoy Canada.

[MarionG]

We did a Canada trip with our best friends in 2008 and loved it. If funds allowed I would return in a heartbeat. We did Calgary, Banff, Jasper and Vancouver over 3 weeks. We also travelled in September/October.

[Goldia]

Oh wow Alicia, I'm so glad to see travel day posted. I can't wait to read the rest of your trip.

It seems like a fairly smooth travel day, all things considered. You managed to pick up a few bits in duty free. A couple of movies and a good meal on the plane, even if Jim threw half his dessert in your lovely bag. Oh dear! The hotel does look lovely and you made it out to dinner after being up so long. I'm sure you were shattered, I'd have been tempted to just go straight to bed and hunger be damned.

[P&S]

Great start looking forward to reading more

[sheluk]

Amazing day! Can’t wait to hear all about it. Your hotel view looks amazing! Xx

[Sparksy72]

So excited to see this Alicia! I wish I was like Jim, no sleeping for me I’m afraid, might have to try your trick with the paracetamol. So sorry to hear about your Dooney, you might need to pop a new one on your wish list for next years trip!

Toblerones are just a must for us too, I think I might need some of that fancy anti-aging moisturiser in my life.

You did well to drive after such a long day, especially in those weather conditions. The hotel looks lovely and I’m impressed to see you were able to stay up for wings and fries.

So nice to see travel days again. Xx

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Beaker's Fluff

Can’t wait to read along.

See more...

Thanks so much for reading, day 1 will be ready soon!