Comments by "" (@michaelformaini7053) on "What can YOU get with $100 in Canada?!" video.

  1. This week's offering is a great way of welcoming a first time visitor to Vancouver. The fact that you did it on a wet day and addressed the baser instincts of a new arrival is the thing that hit me most. As you know from my previous posts, I've been there several times now and this video really hit the spot with me. Everyone arriving at a new city for the first time needs something like this, Michael. I think that you have hit on a great idea for worldwide tourism here. The major airlines, travel agencies and regional tourist authorities could use videos like this as a "welcome to" introduction to specific places for budget travellers. Combined with selective inserts from Google Maps (with permission, of course), this would be a great research tool for prospective travellers. Such a pity about the Hotel Patricia, though, and its location. Every city has its down and out areas where human misfortunes are rawly displayed. You handled this side of things with great sensitivity and, no doubt, some editing of film. At first glance, the interior of the lobby and the room to which you were assigned was indicative of an effort to clean the joint up. It instantly reminded me of several places (minus the bed bugs) I have stayed at on my travels, as I look at hotel accommodation purely as a base for sleep and freshening up. Obviously the housekeeping there needs a swift kick up the derriere. I hope your experience is seen by someone in the local tourist authority and the health authority so that the issue can be addressed. While it is located in a dodgy part of town and some of the rooms are probably let on a, shall we say, hourly basis for nefarious activities, the bare minimum of health regulations requiring a change of bedding following the departure of every guest should be enforced. The eateries you chose showed what bargains are available if one cares to look carefully and be a little adventurous. My first meal after arrival in Vancouver in the late afternoon of the Saturday of Labor Day weekend in 2018 was at Fatburgers on Broadway, just down from City Hall and close to where I was staying on West 11th. It was there and open on a Holiday weekend and patronised by lots of folk looking for an easy option that didn't involve a trip downtown. The following night I had a great salmon steak and salad meal at the Waterfront ex-Canadian Pacific Terminal that you promote. Your selection of Queen Elizabeth Park, Lonsdale Quay and Chinatown/Gastown as places to see were spot on. Had the weather been nicer, a circuit of Stanley Park on a bicycle would have been a nice inclusion but I understand the limitations you faced with the weather, COVID restrictions and the possible need to keep the video within a 15 minute attention span. Great work and please keep the entertainment coming! Best wishes from Michael in Melbourne.
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