Travel

Accent Inns Vancouver Airport hotel shuttle van
Accent Inns Vancouver Airport hotel offers free shuttle service

At Accent Inns we are in the travel business. We thought it might be fun to provide stories about our travels, our guests travel experiences, tips and tricks. You never know what you might learn or where you might want to go.

 
 
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Ode to the BC Ferries

Friday, August 26th, 2011
BC Ferry photo

BC Ferries, one of the best trips you'll ever take

Confession: I love BC Ferries

How I love thy chocolate buffet filled with Roger’s chocolates, decadent cupcakes, chocolate mousse cups, Florentines, four different kinds of chocolate cake, Grand Marnier Mountains, and  - oh my, I must go back for more!

I love the serenity of the Seawest Lounge, the chaos of the playground, the flat screen TV’s playing the hockey games, the coffee machines (Dear Lord, thank you for blessing the BC Ferries with Americano machines that make divine coffee for us unfortunate coffee snobs of the world).

I love the Smart Start breakfast (it’s actually good!), the wireless internet, and best of all, the fact that I can get my toes done while en route to a business meeting in Vancouver? Heaven. read more about Mandy's feelings about BC Ferries

 

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Burnaby and Victoria BC – Awesome Biking destinations

Tuesday, August 23rd, 2011
Bike friendly hotel has Bike lover logo

Accent Inns is for Bike Lovers

Here’s some great information on Mountain Biking specifically in the Burnaby BC and Victoria BC area.

Enjoy your ride!

Adventures in Cycling:  Burnaby Mountain Bike Park

Do you want to jump on your mountain bike and experience the challenges of adventure travel with a solid dose of a big city night life and never have to get in a car?

If you have never heard of Burnaby, British Columbia, it is a suburb of Vancouver BC giving you the convenience of staying in the middle of a great city with quick access to excellent mountain bike trails and best of all the Accent Inn Burnaby is a bike friendly hotel Spend your days in Burnaby Mountain Bike Park encompassed by woods, mountains, and ocean views with some awesome downhill mountain bike trails. read more on mountain biking in Burnaby and Victoria

 

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Have you been to Abkhazi Gardens?

Tuesday, August 9th, 2011

Victoria is well known for its Gardens. Most folks know about the world famous Butchart Gardens, one of the greatest places to visit anytime of the year. Accent Inns Victoria hotel, and our other 4 locations around the province, live up to our Victoria BC heritage by also covering our Inns with beautiful hanging baskets.  But I find that many local Victorians and visitors alike are not aware of the wonderful Abkhazi Gardens.  We are so lucky to have such a place in one of our oldest neighborhoods. Of course these gardens would not exist if it weren’t for the fantastic efforts of our friends at the TLC (The Land Conservancy of BC).   read about the Abkhazi Gardens

 

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NORTHERN VISITOR CENTRES TO LOAN FREE FISHING RODS

Friday, August 5th, 2011
Terry Farmer victoria hotel founder with his Grandchildren
Accent Inn founder Terry Farmer enjoys fishing with his Grandchildren

The Freshwater Fisheries Society of BC (FFSBC), the Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation, Tourism BC and the Angler’s Atlas have joined forces to create the Go Fish BC! Rod Loan Program which will help promote sport fishing in Northwestern BC.

“British Columbia has some of the best fishing and this program enables anyone in the Quesnel, Williams Lake, Prince George or Terrace areas, caught without a fishing rod handy, to try out one of our favorite pastimes,” said Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Minister Pat Bell. “The Go Fish BC! Rod Loan Program is an example of creative collaboration among agencies passionate about what they do and resulting in great outdoor experiences.” More about the Rod Loan program

 

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Machu Picchu appears out of the clouds

Thursday, August 4th, 2011
Accent Inns Canuck Duck and Victoria hotel sales manager Karen England enjoy the ruins in Machu Picchu

I could live here!

As the Trip comes to an end, Canuck Duck and Karen are treated to a wonderful site…..

Day 4:

We slept restlessly knowing that we will be getting up so early.  Breakfast and our final packing take place in the dark as does the first part of the morning’s walk.  We will soon be at our destination and all of us are still together.

We are surprised at how sore our muscles are today.  Yesterday’s downhills took a real toll on our bodies.

All 200 of trekkers arrive at the Sun gate around the same time.  The darkness has lifted but we are surrounded by clouds.  We are told that Machu Picchu lies below but there is no strong evidence. read more to see if Machu Picchu appears.......

 

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We have a Bike Love Contest Winner!

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

Thanks to everyone who sent in their photos and entered Accent Inns Bike Love Contest. We received many exciting, fun and scenic photos and the staff here all had different favorites.  We didn’t choose the winner though…you folks did.

Commuting like this is really starting to cramp our style!

Keri Coles has been crowned the first ever Bike Love photo contest winner!  Congratulations Keri,  who received 98 likes and is the Big Winner off $1000 in Norco Gift Certificates. Congratulations again Keri, now you can upgrade & get a better bike for commuting.

As the Bike Friendly hotel chain in B.C. we are thrilled to see and hear from so many of you that are also bike enthusiasts.  Some of you talked about road racing, some about radical mountain bike trips and it’s always fun to see children excited about cycling.

Several folks out there have asked…”why did Accent Inns put on a Bike Love Contest?”

We put together this contest so that we could meet many of the other Bike Lovers out there and to make sure anyone wanting to travel around BC now has a fantastic Bike friendly hotel option.

Here’s what we think a bike friendly hotel should offer…and we do!

Store your bike(s) in your hotel room -
*designated “bike friendly rooms” located conveniently on the ground floor.

Bicycle wash and tuning station at every Accent Inn –
great for getting the “trail” or “road” off of your bike. No more bending over to work on your bike.
Simply clamp your ride into the professional grade bike stand & tune / clean away.

Advanced Mechanic Tool Kit available for use –
includes 37 shop quality park tools so you can do everything from brake adjustments
to  headset overhauls.  You just might need to stay an extra night to play with it all.

Rags available – great for cleaning and drying your bike.

On-Site Laundry rooms available at all of our BC hotels –
after all –  it might not be just the bike that needs a wash after a day on the trail

For more info on Accent Inns Bike Love program click here.

Congrats again to Keri Coles the winner of the Bike Love photo contest.

 

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What, NO BEER?

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011
Accent Inns Canuck Duck enjoying Machu Picchu

Canuck Duck enjoying Machu Picchu

As we follow Canuck Duck and Karen through the third day of their Machu Picchu adventure, Canuck Duck reveals that he is indeed a true Canadian. He misses his beer but is polite enough to settle for something else.

Day 3

Since only 200 people (and one duck) are allowed on the Inca Trail per day, the various Trekking Companies stagger their distances so that some have an easier day on the 2nd day and others have their easier day on the 3rd day.  We are looking forward to our easier day. all this hiking makes Canuck Duck thirsty.......

 

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Machu Picchu -Dead Duck Pass!

Thursday, July 28th, 2011
Accent Inns Canuck Duck keeps hiking Machu Picchu even with the hills

They should call this "Dead Duck Pass!"

The trip gets challenging but Canuck Duck and side kick, Karen work through the pain and keep their spirits high!

Day 2:

I’m not a big fan of coca tea but the super caffeine jolt helps to mobilize my aching body after a restless night in our tent.  Despite pure exhaustion, 3300 meters of altitude plays havoc with sleeping and the night passed by drifting in and out of consciousness.

Day 2 is well known to be the most difficult of the trek with legendary tales of Dead Woman’s Pass at 4200 meters.  Karen wonders if she will be laid to rest as the latest victim of the pass but we come to find it is named simply because the rock formations appear from a distance to outline a woman in repose, or possibly dead.  We may have to re-name it Dead Duck Pass! our travelers meet the Incas and learn more....

 

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Machu Picchu trip begins

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011


Accent Inns Canuck duck dines with new friends in Machu Picchu

Canuck Duck and Karen meet new friends

Day #1

Our fearless duo have crossed the ocean and begin their journey……..

Our story continues as Canuck Duck tells of meeting new friends and beginning the trek.

The night before:

The first thing that strikes us at the pre-trek briefing is that we are a few years older than our fellow trekkers.  Quite a few years to be exact!  But we have trained.  Karen and I have braved the Everest Base Camp Trek and David has a number of marathons under his belt.  It’s only 4 days.  How hard can it be? read more as they start to hike........

 

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Weather doesn’t affect business at Kamloops hotel

Thursday, July 21st, 2011

Accent Inns Kamloops hotel Manager, Katie Bahnsen, who is also the President of the Kamloops Accommodation Association, was recently interviewed by CFJC TV 7 Kamloops about the uncommon weather this year.

“Weather  is not deterring them”

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Stop by the Accent Inn  and say Hi to Katie the next time you’re in Kamloops BC.

To make sure you have a great spot to stay call 1-800-663-0298 or book online at accentinns.com

Proud to be BC owned and operated!

Thanks to Tourism Kamloops for all their great work in getting the word out about Kamloops being a really fun place for holiday time!

 
 
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