Wow, Diane has created a beautiful, restful living space on the ground level of her home, tucked behind the trees and garden in her front yard. I was delighted when I arrived as I knew it would be perfect for my week-long stay in Vancouver.

The kitchen is fully equipped with everything for cooking meals (which I never even got a chance to do, as I was out every night) The bathroom is immaculately clean and again fully supplied with toiletries. The bedroom is spacious with a full closet, ironing board, comfortable bed with high quality linens. Light fills all the rooms of the apartment.

Diane is an experienced hostess and has thoughtfully provided maps, tourist guidance and books about the city and the area. She was also very generous about loaning me her bicycle, helmet, lock and route map which I used to tour Vancouver for several days.

The house is a short walk to public transit and while the apartment is close to town, the buses run on an inconsistent schedule in the late evenings, you may find you need to take a cab. The bus route into downtown Vancouver passes through an area where many homeless people congregate and the population on the bus can often include some colorful characters.

On my last day I discovered Commercial Street, another lively district quite near her home, but alas I'd run out of time to fully explore it. I'd love to visit Vancouver again and stay in Diane's fantastic garden suite.