There are more than 24,000 rooms in Greater Vancouver and more than 13,000 in the downtown core.

While the average rate is just over $120, rooms can go for as little as $60 or more than $1,000 a night.

The best hotel deals are offered October through April.

Whether you're travelling with friends, treating the kids, or retreating to romance, exciting experiences await you.

Vancouver hotels offer packages and special room rates tailored to your interests - you can choose from a number of intriguing themes such as indulgence, spa and wellness, family travel, outdoor and adventure and romance.

All packages can be booked online at www.tourismvancouver.com.

Vancouver is the only Canadian city with two hotels rated by the American Automobile Association as five-diamond.

The city's two five-diamond hotels, the Sutton Place Hotel and the Pan Pacific Hotel, are both located in the downtown core.

Hotel developments

In 2005, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts announced that they sold a parcel of undeveloped land in downtown Vancouver to Westbank, a Vancouver-based developer.

Westbank plans on developing a hotel and residential condo project on the site, and Fairmont has entered into a long-term agreement to manage the hotel.

Located across from the existing Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre (VCEC) and adjacent to its planned expansion site, this development will include a 415-room luxury hotel and 200 residential condos.

The hotel is expected to open in mid-2009, shortly after the expansion of the VCEC and before the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The hotel will be branded a Fairmont hotel and will showcase prime views of Stanley Park, the harbour skyline and North Shore Mountains.

Luxury hotel group Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts will manage a new five-star deluxe hotel in Vancouver opening in early 2007.

Known as the "Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver", it will be located in the heart of the city's business district.

The hotel will occupy 15 floors of a new 60-story landmark building, the tallest in Vancouver.

For an extensive listing of hotels in Greater Vancouver, visit www.tourismvancouver.com/visitors/accommodation/