The chef leafs through his newfound cookbooks for ideas for sweet and savory breads, muffin ideas, and other assorted goodies to add to the healthy buffet breakfasts served each morning.

The Manor Guest House has always been vegetarian except for the traditional smoked salmon served on Sundays, which is always welcomed by their guests. Usually served on warmed bagel halves, withgarden fresh dill, briny capers, chopped red onion and citrusy lemon zest. These smoky delicacies are offered with farm fresh scrambled eggs and enjoyed by the guests.

Sometimes the chef may decide to whip up a Smoked Salmon & Potato Bake drizzled with a decadent Hollandaise sauce.

 The Manor Guest House has also made the conscious decision to incorporate gluten free breads, pancakes and loaves in to its cornucopia of choices for breakfast – their aim: to accommodate the rising health issues that result from allergies and specific diets and to offer more choices to someone with diet restrictions.

The Manor offers various places within the household to gather for the wonderful breakfasts served each morning…

             …be it on the glass-roofed back patio

a family gathering around the main kitchen table… 

or if a more tranquil start to your day is desired The Manor also offers the formal dining room where cool jazz and classical music is played.

The Manor’s garden hosts various heirloom tomatoes, fresh green, yellow and red peppers, kale, spinach, assorted lettuces and strawberries. Also growing in the garden are fresh herbs; basil, rosemary, garlic chives, mint and lemon thyme that eventually enhance the chef’s dishes such as Spinach, Brie and Caramelized Onion Frittata, Italian Herb, Tomato and Feta Scrambled Eggs, or an Omelet made with various garden fresh ingredients that you can chose from.

A healthy, nutritious breakfast and a good time is The Manor’s goal for our guests each morning before they head out into the city to discover the many adventures and attractions awaiting them in Vancouver.

Beginning in 1985, the jazz festival has been held every year since, becoming the largest such festival in British Columbia. Over 1000 volunteers help in producing the event, which includes performances in parks, community centres, concert halls, clubs, public plazas, and in streets of various neighbourhoods. In total, the festival includes 400 individual  performances, including 130 free concerts, and it draws 460,000 people each year.

In past years, many well known performers were featured at the Festival, including Wynton Marsalis, Bobby McFerrin, Miles Davis, and Caesaria Evora.

This year the Festival features George Benson, preeminent jazz vocalist Dianna Reeves, jazz-fusion super group Spectrum Road, legendary saxophonist Wayne Shorter’s quartet, and Latin-soul kingpins, Los Amigos Invisibles, and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, to name just a few.

The opening weekend festivities with free concerts will take place in the downtown core, at the site of the Vancouver Art Gallery and Robson Square. The large area will allow the use of 3 stages.  Local crowd pleasers such as the Dal Richards Orchestra, Maria in the Shower, and Phil Dwyer will appear along with international talents such as French singer and cornettist  Mederic Collignon. The downtown location is also very close to the major Jazz Festival venues such as the Commodore Ballroom and the Centre in Vancouver for Performing Arts. All are easy to get to from public transit.

Granville Island is another popular venue for both free and scheduled concerts. And we’ve been saving the best news for last. The Manor Guest House is very centrally located to all venues – for dancing in the street or for enraptured listening in a theatre. It’s a half hour walk to either downtown or Granville Island.

For more information about the Vancouver International Jazz Festival visit their website at www.coastjazz.ca.

Check out our rhododendrons, poppies, lavender, azaleas, dahlias, wallflowers, hostas, ferns, ornamental grasses, cosmos, Scottish and Italian heathers, irises, roses, lupines, all manner of herbs, and our vegetable garden which will soon be yielding its bounty, with different colours and shapes of luscious tomatoes and peppers.

These vegetables and herbs are used in the preparation of our famous breakfasts. Our excellent in house chef, David, does his magic every morning. In addition the Manor Guest House is filled with fresh flowers, culled from our gardens.

Come and relax in our gardens, and watch the world go by as you soak up the sun and the beauty of what you see around you. We truly aim to be an oasis in the heart of the city.

If you want to see formal gardens in Vancouver, the 3 best ones are all within easy access of the Manor Guest House.

Queen Elizabeth Park, a 20 minute walk from the Manor Guest House with its floral conservatory, fountains, and floral gardens, is the second most visited park in Vancouver.

The Van Dusen Botanical Garden, less than a 10 minute drive from the Manor Guest House, is home to local flora as well as many species from Asia.

The Dr. Sun Yat Sen Garden is located in Vancouver’s historic Chinatown, about a half hour walk from the Manor Guest House or less than a 10 minute bus ride, is the only Ming Dynasty style garden outside of China.

All 3 gardens have guided tours, special events, and wonderful family oriented activities for children of all ages, as well as restaurants and gift shops.

Truth to tell, we were concerned that it would turn people off. We needn’t have worried.

As it turned out, guests loved the variety of our buffet breakfasts and constantly ask us for recipes.  And the odd thing was that in 18 years only one person commented to us on the absence of meat, and it was not in the nature of a complaint. So we quietly continued with our meatless ways.

In the course of time it became very natural for us to cater to vegans, or to people with special dietary needs, such as grain free, gluten free, dairy free  or nut free food. We also discovered that once observant Jews and Moslems discovered we were vegetarian, they were more comfortable choosing us as a Vancouver bed and breakfast because they didn’t have to be concerned with meat that was unacceptable to them.

Another of our breakfast policies that I kept secret was that we offer low fat options. As a somewhat fanatic weight watcher myself, I felt that I couldn’t in good conscience offer people what I wouldn’t choose myself, namely dishes made with heavy cream sauces, such as Eggs Benedict, which are standard fare at many bed and breakfasts.  I was afraid that if I made this policy public, people would avoid us because they might think our breakfasts might be skimpy and unappetizing.

I am also a food vigilante and I read labels, so that I stay away from foods that have additives and preservatives. What happens is that I end up making just about everything from scratch – which is exactly what we do at the Manor. So to please everyone, (including me) we offer a buffet with richer food choices as well as low fat choices such as fresh fruit salad, low fat, probiotic yogurts, and breads and muffins made with whole grains. And David, our very own Red Seal chef, dazzles with his creative brilliance.

How times have changed! We no longer have to keep our food policies secret. We are proud to say that we are the only vegetarian bed and breakfast in Vancouver! Always keen gardeners, as time went on it became “natural” for us to grow our own vegetables and herbs. Our produce is organic: we don’t use pesticides or chemical fertilizers. We can honestly say that we offer healthy choices.

1)     A great location. We’re on the edge of downtown in the City Hall-Cambie Village area. Downtown is walking distance, and public transit, excellent restaurants and shops are within 2 blocks.

2)     A room with king or queen bed and private bath will run you $135-165CDN per night. That includes a full buffet breakfast, internet, off- street parking, local and long distance calls, and the use of a fully equipped guest kitchen. And that’s for 2 people!

3)     Speaking of breakfast, we offer vegetarian options, low fat options, and we cater to all dietary needs. We also grow all our own herbs and most of the vegetables that go into the making of your breakfast.

4)     Beautiful gardens and decks, both in the front and the back, where you can relax with a glass of wine or a good book – truly your oasis in the city.

5)     You get to experience the elegance of a big old Craftsman mansion, built in 1900, and lovingly restored, and perhaps even improved.

6)     Knowledgeable, helpful staff who will answer your questions, make recommendations, reservations, book your tours, and in short, do whatever they can to make your stay in Vancouver an enjoyable one.

7)     Now isn’t that good value?

For many travellers seeking accommodations, the bed and breakfast option is an appealing one. Some of the motivating factors are the opportunity to meet other travellers, to have direct access to the knowledge of the host and in general to be in a more intimate environment and to experience the uniqueness of the establishment. It is fair to say that no two bed and breakfasts are the same. Yet it is precisely the lack of standardization that can make choosing a bed and breakfast somewhat overwhelming. Here are some guidelines that can help you, based on our experience as bed and breakfast owners in Vancouver.

CHOOSE AN ACCREDITED ACCOMMODATION

Bed and breakfast is the ultimate cottage industry. Especially since the advent of the internet, anyone can hang out a shingle and call themselves a bed and breakfast. Find out if the bed and breakfast you are considering has any accreditation. Do they belong to a local bed and breakfast association? Are they certified by a government agency? Does the local tourist bureau know about them? If you get a positive answer you can know with some certainty that at the very least basic standards are being adhered to.  Travel publications are a somewhat useful guide, especially those that offer critical evaluations, such as Frommer’s and Fodor’s. However, many excellent establishments are often not mentioned in these publications simply because their writers don’t know about them. Books such as the “Bed and Breakfast Encyclopedia” and “Lanier’s Guide to Bed and Breakfasts” are not critical guides. Bed and breakfasts pay to be listed and write their own descriptions, so there is no guarantee that what you read is what you get.The best thing to do is to invest in a phone call and have a chat with the innkeeper.

CHOOSE A PROFESSIONALLY RUN ACCOMMODATION
Just because a bed and breakfast is accredited, there is no guarantee that it is well run. When you call during regular business hours do you get a helpful, courteous person at the other end or do you get voice mail? If you do leave a message on voice mail is your call returned promptly? If you e-mail the establishment do they answer you quickly? Personal service and attention are what make bed and breakfasts special. If these traits are perceived to be lacking in your initial encounters, you have to ask yourself how you’ll be treated if you were to be a guest in that establishment.

CHOOSE A BED AND BREAKFAST THAT SUITS YOUR NEEDS
It’s important to be very clear at the outset as to what your needs are, so that you can ensure in advance that you won’t be disappointed. The more you can narrow the gap between expectation and reality the likelier you are to have a positive bed and breakfast experience. Here are some major considerations, not in any particular order of significance.

1) Location
Where do you want to be? Do you require a location in or near downtown? Do you want to be some place quiet and secluded? In addition to checking with the innkeeper, or the inn’s website or brochure, it’s also a good idea to refer to Mapquest or similar sites. Once you’ve established the location, it’s then easier to determine if you’ll need a car, or if you can get by with public transportation. If you do need a car, you’ll want to make sure that adequate convenient parking is available. Most bed and breakfasts offer free parking.

2) Special needs
Do you have food allergies or dietary preferences such as low fat, vegetarian or vegan? Are you allergic to feathers or animal hair? Do you have difficulties with stairs? Do you need a particular kind of bed or bed arrangement? Are you a smoker or an anti-smoker? Do you require a refrigerator for special food or medication? Do you require internet access or a phone in your room? Will you be arriving/leaving very late or very early? Will you be needing a very early or late breakfast, or will you be missing breakfast altogether? These are all matters which should be discussed with your host prior to your arrival.3) Environment
Are you a morning person who loves to chat with strangers at the breakfast table, or are you a reserved person who prefers privacy and solitude? It’s a good idea to find out what the breakfast arrangement is in advance so that you won’t feel deprived or inconvenienced. Also on the subject of environment, how important is décor to you? Will you be bothered by a more feminine style of décor with frills, pillows and stuffed animals, or do you insist on simplicity?

4) Children
Many bed and breakfasts are adult oriented, but if you have a preference to not being around children it’s best to ask what is the policy of the particular bed and breakfast you are considering. By the same token if you are travelling with children, you must tell the innkeeper in advance, or risk being turned away when you arrive.

5) Price
Everyone loves a bargain, but if a bed and breakfast is priced very low you’ll want to be circumspect. Perhaps the room is small, or the bathroom is shared with several rooms, or it’s not well located or well maintained, or breakfast is of no significance. By the same token, a high priced bed and breakfast should offer amenities worthy of the price. Also with regard to money, make sure that you will be able to pay for your accommodations in a manner that is convenient to you. For example, some bed and breakfasts ask for a credit card to secure the reservation, but then ask for cash or traveller’s cheques to settle the account. It’s always best to know in advance.

MAKE A RESERVATION
Although there is a lot to be said for spontaneity, it is always best to make a reservation. Some people think that a bed and breakfast may not be as busy as a hotel and they can just turn up and get a room. Often this is not the case, especially during the height of a busy tourist season or a major event such as a big convention.

To sum up, know what you want, ask the right questions, and enjoy. It’s hard not to have a memorable time when the way you’re treated makes you feel special. And that’s what bed and breakfasts are all about.

The following photos were taken by Kyron Nograd, a budding photographer and our house guest.

Our Guest House

Our Vancouver Bed & Breakfast is located on the southeastern edge of downtown Vancouver in a safe and elegant neighbourhood.   The Manor Guest House is an Edwardian mansion built in 1902. The original character of the Manor is reflected in its spacious rooms with tall ceilings, large windows and hardwood floors.  Most of our bed and breakfast units have private bath and we also have full suites. Our bed & breakfast units are comfortably furnished with English antiques and Persian carpets. The Manor Guest House is the only bed and breakfast in Vancouver that serves vegetarian breakfasts and our chef will cater to all dietary needs.