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Grand Union Hotel
Category: Event Planning & Services Hotels Hotels & Travel Hotels Hotels [Edit]
74 Hastings St WVancouver, BC V6B 1G6
Neighbourhoods: Downtown, Downtown Eastside
(604) 681-6611
- Hours:
Mon-Sat 10 am - 12 am
Sun 11 am - 12 am
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- No
9 reviews for Grand Union Hotel
9 reviews in English
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Review from Jeremy C.
8/20/2011
The best thing about Grand Union is that you will either love it or hate it. Like the rest of the people here on Yelp, I'm in the "love" category. I asked a couple of girls to meet me there, however, and they both felt really uncomfortable and asked that we leave. Walking through one of the worst neighborhoods that downtown offers doesn't help (even if it is only a couple blocks from standard Vancouver gloss).
The second best thing about Grand Union is that it isn't overrun by hipsters. This is probably a novelty for me being from Seattle. If this bar were 200 kilometers south it would be a thriving hive of young, pretty things trying to up their street cred. You'll find a wide assortment of characters at the Grand Union, and are certain to meet some people you might not encounter at your typical bar. And, as others have mentioned, they'll be happy to introduce themselves and make your acquaintance.
Last, of course, do not forget that this is a dive bar. You can expect cheap, shitty beer; stiff, shitty cocktails; live, shitty music; drunk, shitty dancing. It's all part of the charm. No one here cares: and if you're in the "love" category, neither will you. -
Review from Sarah O.
2/5/2012
Where to start. OH WHERE TO START.
So much can happen in one hour. I've been to some dives in my days and I will say that the Grand Union is the sketchiest dive in all of Vancouver.
First of all. The pee pee smell upon walking in eventually intensifies when you arrive in front of the kitchen so please don't eat here. Everything is sticky for some mysterious reason and they only take cash for reasons that seem quite obvious.
The choices for the next potential sitcom characters are endless here. There is that guy walking around selling pizza. Then the guy who kept insisting I was smarter than Canadians because he thought I was Japanese. Then the guy named Billy who bought us beers and created a make-shift date area where we shared some tender stories. Then the guy who hot-wired the pool table and let us play for free. Then the lady named Honey who came to that same pool table, took our cue stick, and shot some of our balls in while looking over her shoulder. And finally, the bathroom with the three stalls of bad scenarios. It was like opening the door to "what your life can lead to if you keep hanging out here". One stall had an overflowing toilet, one stall had empty bottle of pills on the floor, and one stall was half open with a woman standing there with her pants half down.
Everyone is super nice if you can get past them staring at you because you're obviously not one of their regulars. They play live music and people dance and sing. At Grand Union Hotel, everything is marvellous and nothing hurts. -
Review from Andrea B.
12/4/2010 ROTD 6/14/2011
6 Asians walk into a bar and what do you get? Stares and incoherent hellos in every Asian language possible. Apparently Asians rarely go to the Grand Union Hotel. One dude even asked:
"why are you here?"
Though we felt like a freak show, the pub is super duper fun! Drinks are dirt cheap (2 beers for $6.50?!) and everyone is soooooo friendly. This is the place you leave your worries and reservations at the door. Yes, there is a constant pee-smell lingering in the air and the beer (from the tap) tasted a bit odd but that's why this place rocks...OH and they have live music! WHAT?!?! It gives pretentious bars a run for their moneys.
Feel like dancing? Do it at the Grand Union.
Feel like striking up a convo with the person next to you? Do it at the Grand Union.
Feel like taking a nap? Do it at the Grand Union.
In other words, no judging will happen here. In fact, people will probably join you. My friends and I fell in love with this place so much that we started planning a monthly visit to ye olde watering hole. And right now they have xmas decorations up and eggnog+rum $3 special! Get in the xmas spirit :) -
Review from Rheanna F.
Vancouver, BC
7/25/2010
THIS IS THE BEST FUCKING PLACE ON EARTH. When i meet new people, i like to take them here because how they react is a great indicator of their moral fibre and moxie.
The first time i went, i was already a bit drunk and dragged in a friend of mine who claimed to be super punk rock. He couldn't handle it and has since stopped drinking and enjoying life outside of Warcraft. I'm not even kidding, i think that was one of the last times we really raged together.
We went in, sat down and within five minutes a woman wearing a bright pink turban staggered over, mumbling incomprehensibly as she gestured at her cell phone. I assumed she was trashed and couldn't turn it on, but we eventually figured out that she was trying to sell it to us. When that didn't work, she sat on my friend's lap and tried to steal my cider. Failing that, she mumbled more and toddled off to dance. My friend couldn't handle it and we left shortly after.
When i started seeing the guy i'm with now, he claimed to love dive bars, so i put him to the test. We stayed for hours, had a magical time and have since gotten tattoos of each other dressed as vikings. That was also the only occasion that i have ever left someplace because i could not, would not pee in the bathroom. One toilet was overflowing, and in the other stall an eerie looking woman was just standing there staring at the wall with her pants half down and the door half open.
But everyone there is mega friendly and i love the music!! They've got a live band who plays country and classic rock covers, and if you don't get up to dance at least once then you don't know how to live. Sometimes there's an old dude who walks through the bar with a box of pizza so you can buy a slice. We don't know where the pizza came from and how long it's been in that box, but goddammit, it's a nice touch and someday when i'm feeling reckless i'm gonna hit him up for a slice!
If you want a REAL dive bar experience, this is it! Step up! -
Review from Evilyn T.
You may have your reservations about this place, but like your momma said, "don't judge a book by its cover!" Rheanna F. dragged me and a posse of ladies here on a Friday night and the place was packed! We actually got an applause from the attendees when we came in, I felt like Norm on Cheers! Amazing!
The place may be filled with older native people who may or may not have teeth, but these are the friendliest people you're going to meet on a drunk adventure in Gastown. They had a band playing cover tunes and a lot of people were dancing and givin'er, but we didn't get a chance to get in on that action since sadly the pub closes at midnight and we arrived just in time for last call. The drinks are super cheap and super strong, I paid about $6.75 for a double rum and diet, and we did a round of six shots of jager for about $22.
If I ever feel like having a drink when I am in Gastown, I know where to go now!Listed in: Best of the best, Best Pubs/Clubs
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Review from Derek W.
I can't say one good word about the drinks, service, decor, or location, but I'm giving it a rare 5-star review based solely on bucket loads of pure, badass, genuine, no-pretense, they-just-don't-make-places-like-this-anymore character. To be totally honest, I've resisted writing a review of this place since I joined Yelp, just because I don't want it to change. I don't want it to be taken over by blipsters. I'm dreading the day that the owner renovates, so some cookie-cutter nightspot can take over and sap all the character from it.
There are two places I go when I'm feeling really sad: Church, and the Grand Union Hotel. When you walk through the doors, you know that life is, or has been, a warzone for almost everyone inside. And this is a place they can just take a load off, and in my experience they're remarkably warm to people who want to join with them.
Don't go if you're not ready for a little adventure, but if you keep an open mind, this place can be a little taste of dive-bar hospitality at its most honest. And remember that every single one of the locals inside has a story. You're entering into their space, so going in with a healthy dose of respect will be good for everyone. -
Review from Mathieu Y.
Vancouver, BC
Have you ever wanted to know what an actual dive is? Where the natives all dress like cowboys and the cowboys like natives? Where the bar band goes up on a tiny stage and plays spirit of the sky with a midi-synth drummer on a cheap panasonic keyboard? Where youre GUARUNTEED to get a shoulder massage by someone much older and drunker than you are, to be sold a pair of bowling shoes, and to see a fight between two people who already look screwed up enough?
Walk in to the union. There's two doors and an arcade punching game in the front. The bar doesnt even smell like bleach because they dont clean up, and the smoking room still has it's windows up for the drug dealers to sell in privacy (DONT DRINK THERE BECAUSE SOMEONE WILL GET PISSED IF YOURE NOT IN THE TRADE). On a side note, the smoking room still feels quite smokey, even a year after the all inclusive smoking ban cleaned it up.
Beer is incredibly cheap here, and the crowd a dirty mix of street people and ex-construction workers. Pints are around $3 and pitchers float between $9 and $11 depending on "how much money you have." Jagerbombs (LOL) are $3.50! More on that later.
For all the horrid impoverished people drinking in the worst bar in Vancouver, there is an equal amount of objective humor. One time walking in we recieved a standing ovation! One time we ran in to a group of people our age (early 20s) who ACTUALLY claimed to have taught the bar how to make jagerbombs and that they're "paving the way" for hipsters to come right in.
HA.
THE WORST BAR YOU CAN EVER TAKE YOUR FRIENDS TO.
OTHER THAN THE WESTListed in: Dive drinks
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Review from John B.
11/13/2010
Located at the start (or end, depending on which way you look at it) of skid row, the Grand Union Hotel is the mother of all Dive Bars. Once you walk thru the door, the overwelming smell of piss hits you like a hammer.
GodDamn!
Locals are nice, treat everyone with respect. Booze is cheap. -
Review from nikkolina o.
Vancouver, BC
2/27/2010
Best place for a date, and a bunch of friends. It is a country bar full of natives dressed as cowboys. You walk in there a punching bag game that now one plays cause real fighting is free which happens everyday. on your right theres a dance floor with there country house band. We walked in more and got a standing ovation some lady thought i was janis joplin. We sat down drank a 9 dollar pitcher. Which is cheap considering every bar gives you water down canadian. we mingled a bit everyone there is really drunk so very friendly. Except the chicks that try to get you to buy them a drink. And if drinking is not your fortay they sell drugs outside but i wouldnt recomend you buy them you'll get ripped off or mugged. Also sitting down a tranny sold me friend shoes. We danced and crowd surfed on the dance floor. Then left to watch chicks brawl outside. It was amazing.
Also it is most friendly on welfare wednesday.
