First day on the mainland

Let’s see, where was I ? Oh yes, the ferry had just taken me to the north side of Vancouver. It was late morning and I wanted to get around the city before traffic increased so I just got on the Trans Canada Highway and headed east towards the suburb on the east side where my Airbnb for 4 nights was reserved.

The suburb is called Surrey and on the maps it looked like a nice area and close to public transportation. When I mentioned to my Airbnb hosts in Campbell River that I was lucky to be able to snag a spot on an early morning ferry at the last minute because I needed to get to Surrey to find my Airbnb, my hostess exclaimed “Oh no, you don’t want to stay in Surrey!!” Evidently Surrey has a very bad reputation for gang violence, among other unsavory things. Before I went to bed I reread the listing and reviews that the family had. The photo looked very nice – a new house on a nice residential street. The reviews were all favorable about how charming the family that lived there was and how the mother often included the Airbnb guests in family meals. No mention of gangs or cars being vandalized or broken into. I decided to wait and have a look for myself before jumping to conclusions.

I first stopped at the Visitor Centre in Surrey. Well, I went to where Google Maps said it was. A business complex in which I had to pay to park. I have never had to pay to park at a visitor center!!

I went in the lobby and didn’t see the Visitor Centre listed in Suite 100. I called the number in the Google listing and a man answered, saying simply “hello?”. I asked if this was the Visitor Centre and he replied, “yes, that is the number you called”. I asked “Where are you? I am standing in the lobby of the building you are supposed to be in”. He said “Oh, we closed that location and now everything is virtual”. I asked “How am I supposed to get maps of the area?” He paused, like I was speaking Martian, and said “Maps?” I said “Yes, maps! I am a VISITOR that JUST ARRIVED IN TOWN and I need MAPS to show me where the various things I want to do are so I can organize my days here”. He hung up on me.

So I went back to my car and drove to where my Airbnb was, after having wasted at least 45 minutes going out of my way.

I found the house in a rather scruffy neighborhood and it looked NOTHING LIKE the photos in the listing. Oh, it was the same house, but it was clearly much older than when the photo was taken and the yard and shrubs in the front yard were WAY overgrown and untrimmed. The neighborhood looked sketchy and I was uncomfortable being there. So I left, drove to a safe location, cancelled the reservation and sent a message to the host explaining why I had done so.

I got on Airbnb and after some searching, and being turned down by the first host I sent a request to, found a very nice place in a suburb even further east, called Maple Ridge. I was much happier there and don’t regret my choice one iota.

I rely very heavily on guest reviews, and maybe I’m too uppity, but I can’t believe so many people stayed there and never mentioned the condition of the house or the neighborhood. The family may have been very nice, but….

It was almost 6 by the time I got settled in the new place and I just stayed put and went to bed early. And my host there also knew of the reputation Surrey has.