Helm's Inn

One of downtown's best-value hotels, this three-building, motel-style property has 42 surprisingly large rooms, all with handy kitchen facilities (either full kitchens or refrigerators and microwaves). Family-run for three decades, it also has a coin laundry, cookies in the lobby and a communal seating nook around a fireplace. It's sandwiched between the Royal BC Museum and Beacon Hill Park.