Reviews Moda Hotel in Vancouver

Guest Review of the Moda Hotel in Vancouver
Aug 26, 2008
The room was small, and very clean but the noise in the street absolutely dreadful! Not only are the SINGLE glazed windows paper thin but our room was on the 3rd floor above by the traffic lights. Traffic stopping and starting all night was extremely loud. There is apparently a plan to install air conditioning soon but no mention of changing the windows to double glazed sound proof ones. For the second night we asked the management if we could change to a quieter room at the back. It was not possible. They kindly gave us a bottle of wine as compensation!!

Guest Review of the Moda Hotel in Vancouver
Aug 18, 2008
We are from New York, NY and visited Vancouver, BC for the first time in August 2008. Based on our experience at the Moda Hotel, we would highly recommend you find another hotel if you visit Vancouver as we had a very unpleasant experience at the Moda Hotel.

Here are the reasons we would NOT recommend staying at the Moda Hotel:

1. LOTS OF NOISE!!! Simply put, it is unbearably loud. The Moda Hotel is located at the corner of Smithe and Seymour and on the corner across the street they are building a new building. We could hear the cement truck churning (and other construction noises) from about 7am - 11pm. We did not sleep in a single morning during our vacation and tried to avoid the hotel as much as possible during the day. To reiterate, it is SUPER LOUD!! We can't emphasize this enough.

2. TERRIBLE VIEW. Our hotel room overlooked the dumpsters in the back. On top of that, homeless men (or perhaps just regular men?) urinated behind the dumpsters frequently. Not a pleasant sight.

3. SHOWERS ARE INTENDED FOR PEOPLE 5'7" AND UNDER. I'm 5'11". The stream from the showerhead struck my back making rinsing the shampoo from my hair an unpleasant experience!

4. FREE INTERNET? We could not find the "free" internet offered by this hotel. Instead we stole wireless internet from nearby apartments.

5. WORLD'S SMALLEST HOTEL LOBBY. Not that I really want to hang out in the lobby, but I just want to note that the lobby is very small.

6. BROKEN HAIRDRYER OUTLET THAT DID NOT GET FIXED DURING OUR STAY. We told the guy at the front desk that the hairdryer outlet did not work. He said it would be reported to maintenance. This problem was not resolved prior to our departure.

In short, the image Moda tries to paint on its website is that of a sleek, boutique hotel. It is far from that and we were not impressed. The noise is the biggest problem, making it so unpleasant that we cancelled the remaining reservation and moved to another hotel.

Guest Review of the Moda Hotel in Vancouver
Aug 18, 2008
Initially I was pleased with Moda- it is a quaint and stylish hotel and very centrally located but ultimately it came up short in the area of customer service. It is also worth noting that the photos on their website are rather misleading- the rooms are indeed stylish as advertised but incredibly small- they were made to look much more spacious in the photographs. Ours had a view of the alley way and a dumpster- not the most scenic- but it was still relatively cozy. However, we had a very negative experience using their 'secure' parking facility which was recommended to us by the staff member who booked our room. Our car was broken into during our stay and while a Moda staff member did help us clean out the broken glass (which was very appreciated), they did not give any compensation for our loss and the very expensive repair that resulted from this. Upon complaining to management when I returned home, they did give me back my parking fees but I don't think a formal complaint should have been necessary to prompt this. Over all I am very displeased with the customer service and feel that a high quality hotel would have done more for their guests. I strongly advise against using their parking facilities.

Guest Review of the Moda Hotel in Vancouver
Aug 18, 2008
Just got back from this place and I've never been so glad to see my own apartment. Be warned, there is NO AIR CONDITIONING in this hotel. It was too hot to sleep on August 14. Not that we got much sleep due to the windows being ajar for breeze combined with drunks/addicts on the street screaming. It felt like I was back in college, not in a good way. I would not go back to this hotel until they upgrade to A/C and install sound insulating windows.


Guest Review of the Moda Hotel in Vancouver
Aug 17, 2008
We stayed at the Moda before and after our cruise to Alaska. Our ship left from Ballantyne Pier so wanted a hotel that was centrally located in the downtown area with access to Stanley Park, Chinatown, Granville Island. The front desk staff was extremely helpful even offering us a Moda umbrella since it was raining and we didn't bring one. During our stay on the front half, we were in an outside room overlooking Smithe St. Since they are in the midst of building a massive building across the street, it was fairly noisy but once we closed the windows, the noise was muted. They have those great tower fans (Sharper Image type) that really circulate the air well. I imagine that if it hit 80 degrees outside, then it might be too warm but we were fine. They were also installing a second set of windows to help reduce the noise which would certainly help. The rooms were very clean and highly functional with flat screens TVs that were mounted to the wall. We took taxis most places since we had five in our party and that seemed to work pretty well. There were plenty of coffee shops (Starbucks in every direction), restaurants - we liked Crepe Cafe (block and a half) and Salathai (three blocks) and a neat market (Nesters) and a liquor store next to the hotel. We saw a fair bit of rain so didn't enjoy being out and about as much as we'd hoped but still go to see most of the key sights. I'd stay at the Moda again as it really met our needs.

Jun 26, 2008
We've just returned from our honeymoon cruise of Alaska's frontier which finished with two days in Vancouver Canada. We usually stay at B & B's and have met some wonderful hosts during our travels. However, I wanted to surprise my new husband with more modern accomodations and searched to stay as close to the attractions as possible. The motel was Excellent surpassing all our expectations of fabulous. The staff was super friendly and helpful providing with the best service. The accomodations at the Moda were SUPERB, Clean, and trendy. The hotel 's Hotel Location is in the heart of downtown, we bought a 2 day pass $35 Red Trolley and had no parking worries. The motel is just across the front door of the Vancouver Symphony Concert Hall. We were able to literally cross the street and buy rush tickets for $15 to see the philharmonic orchestra's finale performance, then staff recommended and printed out a fabulous pizza eatery (Lombardo's) just a block away. The Moda Hotel is in the heart of downtown, we were able to hop on the Old Red Trolley just one block away and visit all main sightseeing attractions and more (Aquarium, Chinese Gardens, Stanley Park, Chinatown). I was debating wether to stay at a bed and breakfast, but this hotel/motel wons hands down. There is a wonderful place for breakfast 2 blocks away (The Whitespot) that was delish. My husband was so satisfied he raved about the motel to his friends commenting how the room had a flat screen and modern /contemporary feel and the staff was so courteous. We will visit again and stay at the MODA, Oooh by the way you can't beat the price and Hotel Location. The other reviews mention the noise level from the street, we roomed on the third floor towards the back and yes during the week there is trash pickup/dumpsters. But that is true for every other downtown hotel. It was not that loud to be a nuisance and the jazzy wine bar downstairs stays open late but we could not hear any music after coming up to our room. It's a great atmosphere professionals getting together for an after dinner wine,not a loud obnoxious bar!. Other reviews mention the neighborhood is under construction but that is true of any metropolitan downtown area, we walked everywhere and caught a foreign film the second night that ran late, waalked back to the hotel without cause for concern. Like anywhere else, safety is key and the Moda Hotel is located in a safe distrct where lots of professional people are seen walking to and from their downtown offices. I would highly recommend the Moda Hotel it's fancy yet simple chic boutique style and it's great staff are a win, win combination.


Jun 2, 2008
This hotel is perfect--great Hotel Location (to Robson shopping/museums, Yaletown restaurants, etc.), great staff (helpful with tips on how to navigate buses, etc.), & stylish room (with wall photography of local sites that actually were beautiful, great decor--also clean with great size).

I had read on-line that some found it noisy; so, I emailed a request for a quiet room. We had a wonderful corner room on the 4th floor.