where to stay in vancouver - not sure... every time my wife and i go to the coast we stay with relatives/friends, so we never get a hotel.
in seattle... my wife and i went to seattle two summers ago and had a blast. we found a place to stay using hotwire that was maybe a 25 minute bus ride outside of seattle for something like $45/night (queen bed, bathroom, tv, complimentary breakfast) - a screaming deal!!
you do NOT want to park in seattle - it's ridiculously expensive!!
we bought a thing called a 'city pass' while in seattle - it was a great deal.
http://www.citypass.com/seattle
i think it was around $65 each when did it and it got us into....
- the space needle twice
- the aquarium
- a science center (the butterfly exhibit was really cool!)
- a music museum
- a harbor tour
- and a choice of either the zoo or the museum of flight... we chose the zoo
have fun!!!