Balfour House
Bed and Breakfast in Vancouver
3-Star Hotel
Reasons to book
Includes essentialsGarden, Internet / Wifi, Balcony or Patio and more
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About this bed and breakfast
Built in 1902, this Vancouver guesthouse is located in the historic Shaughnessy neighborhood.
Amenities
Internet / Wifi
Balcony or Patio
TV
Garden
Map of Vancouver
Available Rooms
1 Double • 139 ft²
Sleeps 2
You'll be directed to Booking.com for availability & pricing
1 Queen • 182 ft²
Sleeps 2
You'll be directed to Booking.com for availability & pricing
1 Double • 139 ft²
Sleeps 2
You'll be directed to Booking.com for availability & pricing
1 Queen • 279 ft²
Sleeps 4
You'll be directed to Booking.com for availability & pricing
2 Single
Sleeps 2
You'll be directed to Booking.com for availability & pricing
$$$$
Reviews
100% verified reviews
5.0
Cool old house. Amazing roof top deck.
Wasn’t clean. Kitchen is common and they seem to try to trick you with this.
Queen is 2 doubles pushed together.
7.0
Great location, nice old home, & quiet area. Good sized room & comfortable bed.
Bathrooms were clean.
Too bad there is no breakfast offered, I would be fine with a higher rate if it was. There was a towel in the room, but there
should also have been a face cloth & a glass for when brushing your teeth provided - these are standard items, which
usually are supplied at every hotel & B&B.
1.0
The location of the house was pretty central and close to a street with nice restaurants, shops, and Queen Elizabeth park. The house itself also looked interesting and historical, and was situated in a quiet neighbourhood.
Unfortunately my partner and I did not get to stay there, as when we arrived to check in there was no staff at the house and our room wasn't cleaned from the previous guests. I tried calling the main number, the cleaner's number, and emailing the property right away, but there was no response. They did eventually get back to us the next day and were apologetic, but by then my partner and I had had to make emergency alternative accommodation arrangements. At least they refunded my money promptly!
2.0
The location was good to get into any part of Vancouver and it is a nice safe wealthy neighborhood.
It was old building with bad old smell inside. I had to open a window in order to get all bad old air out. On the top of that the toilet was separated from the bathroom and it didn't have any toilet paper. Someone smoked on the property, someone took my food away. To sum it up: not really cleaned bed sheets, little towels, horrible old smell (building 123 years old), rodents outside and much more.
4.0
Very funky smell in the room that never went away, especially in the closet. It wasn't possible to open the windows so you couldn't air it out.
Kitchen was very dirty, didn't seem like anyone ever cleaned it. Some food we left there was stolen.
Never saw a single housekeeping staff during our whole 1.5 week stay, garbage cans in the room were never even emptied. Does anyone even actually work here?
Other residents kept leaving the main door unlocked and leaving other doors open all night, in spite of signs warning that rodents would come in. The staff should really drop by occasionally to keep an eye on things and make sure people are following the rules.
7.0
I like my room, I found it very cozy, felt like home to me. My room had a fridge that was in working order. I wasn't far from the bathroom which I very much appreciate. The room was quite large had a nice queen bed that was comfortable and kitchen sink. Large closet space you could easy fit all your luggage in. Neighbors were very respectable and kind. The room temperature was always perfect to my liking.
The stove in the room doesn't work. The kitchen was plied with dishes the whole time I was there. The garbage never was taken out either. I'm not sure if there was even a house keeper. The bathroom on the 2nd floor has a broken window as well as a lamp was broken. Do to these I did find the price to be bit high when there doesn't seem to be any upkeep.
7.0
We liked its location, we walked to downtown.
The bathroom was renovated and clean.
We love the terrace and house surroundings.
Friendly staff.
It is and old house and needs a lot of repairs.
The room carpet was stained and dirty especially under the bed.
Lack of cleaning in the house kitchen due to other guests.
10.0
This is a great house with history. If you looking for something unusual, not like all modern apartments, it will be a good choice. The house is located in a convenient location in very green and beautiful area.
1.0
the location was great.
I would like to start from the very beginning. When my wife and I first arrived to the property which was on 1 March at about 6 PM there was no one there. So we followed the instructions that were given to us via Booking.com and found a mailbox where should have been an envelope with our name on it and the key for the room inside. Spoiler alert, there were three envelopes and none of them had our name on it. Therefore I contacted the facility by phone and was told to take another envelope with the last name that didn’t sound anything like ours, they said the staff made a spelling mistake (The only similarity between our last name and the name written on the envelope was one letter btw). So we went inside, found the room, slept the night and the next morning got a call from I’m not even sure who, saying that there has been a mistake and we took the wrong room (what a surprise), asking us to pay another 100$ in order to keep that room or, alternatively they offered us to move to the room “that was initially meant for us”, we chose the second option. When we were back at the house that evening we were the ones who had to approach the staff about the moving and they had no clue about the whole thing, The communication was a struggle in the end..
Another thing is that it’s an the old house and the smell in it is very overwhelming, the amount of the dust under the bed makes you think that’s it’s as old as the house.. in the first room that was given to us all the bedsheets were covered in someone’s dark hair and there was no one to ask for another set..
One more upsetting moment is that it’s been a month since we’ve stayed there and they only returned us a key deposit(50$) but not a security deposit that they charged us in advance, at the moment the booking was made. They never even made an attempt to contact us about it. After I contacted booking a several times it seems like they will be returning this deposits (~250$) but it’s still not done …
9.0
The location is great, in a quiet neighbourhood and easy to get into downtown.
The property would benefit from regular cleaning especially in the Kitchen area.
10.0
Under the beds weren't clean
Ran outta tissue
No clean towels
8.0
I liked the old style well constructed house
Retrofits on the electricity plumbing windows and insulation would help this place exist for another 100 years
5.0
the house architecture.
the cleaning, organization, staff support, house maintenance.
2.0
Apart from the location there is nothing to like with Balfour House.
On the first glance it looks like a pretty nice place, but the closer you get you to realize that the facade is not what it seems like with a few planks missing here and there. When you enter the house the first thing that meets you is a musty smell of a house that is rotting away. The light is dim, all the clocks have stopped and there is nobody there to check us in even though we came ate 3 am. During our whole stay we didn't meet anybody that worked at Balfour House. The breakfast that was supposed to be included had withdrawn the breakfast with out informing us. Nevertheless in hindsight I must say I'm happy they did because I don't think the breakfast would have been any good judging the overall state of the establishment. We made our own breakfast and used the kitchen. The kitchen on the other hand was quite unhygenic and littered with handwritten notes. The over all feeling was more of a student collective then a B'n'B. The room was cold, the bed was hard as a rock and squeaked as soon as you shifted position. I would not recommend anybody to stay there.
4.0
No breakfast
3.0
Meh
Meh
1.0
****Urgent!!!**** Don't consider a stay here. You play for what you get and the pics are deceiving. There was so much that was not appealing. It's an 100-year-old house with charm but the walls are paper thin so you hear everything. Music played at 3-4 in the morning, the couple fell asleep with it on. We live in a world where we have earbuds so as not to disturb others. The property is under Development Application which I was told the renos were ongoing while they were in service. Dirty carpets throughout. The third-floor bathroom door does not lock, low water pressure with lukewarm water and wetting the floor without a bath mat. The window screen was broken and ripped in the bedroom. The outdoor landscape is overgrown and outdoor furniture is not worth sitting on. It's should be student housing, not an Airbnb and be off Booking.com and any other Rental sites.
Two-minute walk to Pallet Cafe on Oak St. Fine and modern.
2.0
Room was less stinky than the rest of the house.
The smell was horrible in the house. There were VERY basic amenities: would have been good to have shampoo and conditioner, a blow dryer, enough towels.
6.0
good location, quiet, clean bathrooms
2.0
beautiful location
lovely staff
old and unfinished. being painted, paint on my windows
windows, plastic still taped on windows
old carpets looked dingy, smelled very bad in the whole h
1.0
location, comfortable beds.
smelly, moving toilet, mouse traps in room.
4.0
quiet and historic
run down, old house smells, dilapidated
5.0
We were expecting a bed and breakfast, but no food was being served.
Updating your bed and breakfast to only bed is a start. Room was not clean. Lights were burned out. Had no water for several hours.
1.0
The location would have been good, but we didn’t stay. We immediately booked another hotel because the accommodations were so poor.
Substandard accommodations. There was a sign on the front door that said “keep the door shut so the rats don’t come in.” Dirty, no air conditioning. Broken chandelier over the bed. We didn’t even want to sit on the bed.
1.0
False advertisement with the pictures used for this place. Door practically off hinges, Filthy carpets with stains all over, dust everywhere, dirty window seals with dead bugs, junk in courtyard, broken patio deck. This place should not be listed for guests. Staff no where to be found or able to reach on the various phone numbers provided. Booked for three nights didn’t stay one and no one is answering my calls to get my money back! Just horrible!
5.0
1) I was at the property during a heat wave - there is no air-conditioning, like most old places in Vancouver so that is to be expected, but there was a fan in the room that kept it cool enough during the night time with the window open
2) The bed was really basic and nothing fancy, but it was comfortable and I didn't have any trouble sleeping
3) While the house is old and the carpets stained, my room and the bathroom were clean and ready when I arrived
4) I actually loved the sink in the bathroom, some kind of giant antique thing. I was always able to get cold and hot water when needed.
5) there is a small shared kitchen that can be used - we only used the fridge though.
6) wifi was good!
7) Even though the bathroom was shared, we only had to wait to use it once - there seemed to be maybe only one other person on my floor during my stay. It was actually pretty quiet.
To be quite honest, I was quite disappointed, confused, and put-off when I first came up to the property:
1) there was scaffolding up that blocked the front door and I had to walk around and squeeze behind to access the front door. There were some workers actively painting with a paint gun while I was trying to check-in.... this turned out to be a good thing though because they helped me get into the hotel.
2) the front door was locked, the back door was locked, no one came to the door when I knocked or pushed the door bell. We came at 2:10pm, right during check-in time (2-4pm). I assumed that I would be greeted by some staff on site... No one answers the phone when I called either. I was not sent any special check-in instructions either.
3) Even though I booked one room for two guests, I was only given one key.
4) In the photos online, the backyard looks beautiful and I figured I could relax there if it was too hot indoors during the heat wave - unfortunately the actual state of the backyard looked like a construction site with garbage on the deck, wood planks on the ground and over grown grass... Not to mention the white paint covering many of the plants from the ongoing painting.
5) From the information posted here on booking It was not clear to me that the bathroom facility was shared.
6) The lightning in my room was quite dim - the light fixture has room for multiple bulbs, but only one was working.
4.0
Location
I never saw a member of staff, communication was notes left.
The property is old but requires maintenance. The shower head would not stay up, the fitting was broken, which I feel is a small repair which would have made a big difference.
The windows in my room could not be opened, which I found frustrating.
FAQs
How much does this bed and breakfast cost compared to others in Vancouver?
The average price for a rental in Vancouver is $215 per night. This rental is $145 less expensive than the average.
Is parking included with this bed and breakfast?
Parking is not specified as an available amenity at Balfour House. For more information, we encourage you to contact the property about where to park.
Is there a pool at this bed and breakfast?
We didn’t find pool listed as an amenity for this bed and breakfast. It may be worth double checking if a pool is important for your stay.
Is Balfour House pet friendly?
Unfortunately, this bed and breakfast is not pet-friendly. Try searching again and filter for "Pets Allowed"
What amenities are available at Balfour House?
We found 4 amenities for this rental. This includes internet / wifi, balcony or patio, tv, and garden.
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