The Holiday Inn at 1110 Howe Street, Vancouver is a very busy hotel venue a little further away, but still relatively close to the downtown core of Vancouver.  Accessible by bus or taxi, the hotel offers full services for your wedding or event.

Upon entering the driveway to the entrance of the hotel, I noticed it was a bit narrow…especially if you have a large car.  A few cars were backed up so I think patience is a virtue while guests and luggage is being unloaded from their taxis or cars. There is no parking allowed so cars should move along to either exit the driveway or move on the parking. They do have a ramp to help with any mobility challenged guests.

At the end of the driveway is the entrance to the parking lot, there is a button on the wall that must be pressed to gain entrance. Here again, the parking lot is a touch small if you have a large car. It can be managed though as long as you are careful. For your vendors, it is best for them to park on the second level. This section is not covered but it will allow them to unload their equipment on a cart and roll it to the elevator. If they park on the first level, they will have to roll everything down to the second floor to the elevator.  The small ramp up to the elevator hallway leans a little so you must be careful that your cart, or if bringing a guest in by wheel chair, does not flip over.

The elevators are also small. It is possible to fit a cart with equipment in them and one person but it is difficult to fir more without squeezing in. Probably a wheel chair and two people would be comfortable. After that, it would be tight getting more people in the elevator.

The event rooms are on the second floor , with the Columbia room to the left upon exiting the elevator. This room is not tiny but is on the smaller side. It seated 90 guests comfortably  leaving room for a  dance floor. You could seat more if you put tables on the dance floor.

I was placed in one corner of the room and about 15 feet ( about 5 meters ) from the dance floor. There were guest tables in front of the DJ making it difficult to push sound across the room as it would be too loud for the guests sitting at tables directly in front of the speakers. Another challenge was that a pillar was directly in front of the DJ so the it was a bit difficult to see the dance floor well and it did obscure some of the sound for the dancers later on.

In this instance, the bride and groom were fine with it so it did hamper their enjoyment of their reception. Music projection was helped by the corner placement of the DJ and speakers  which tended to bounce the sound off the wall by the DJ and by the smaller sized room. However, there was a door to the hallway where on speaker had to be placed and there was some concern that too much volume would leak out into the hallway and disturb other guests in their rooms. 

The worry did not materialize however. As a far as I know, there were no complaints from other guests staying at the hotel concerning music volume. I would consider though, putting your entertainment at the opposite end of the room better yet, the far wall would be best.

The room is of course air conditioned for your summer events and the staff and room manager were organized, very helpful and friendly to the guests and vendors. They do have a small ceiling in house system for your speeches as well.   

The Holiday Inn on Howe Street has everything you need for a fun, smaller event. The biggest thing to be aware of is the placement of your entertainment for your dancing or karaoke enjoyment. I give this venue 4 out of five stars.    Â