Brian Cantwell of the Seattle Times spends a couple of nights in Nanaimo and discovers a new breed in affordable but amenity rich accommodations.  It is possible to travel to Nanaimo, experience a great night's sleep and not break the bank in tough economic times! Read about Brian's stay and his take on the Painted Turtle Guesthouse.

NANAIMO, B.C. -- My daughter and I are curled up in our room at the Painted Turtle Guesthouse, she on the top bunk of her bunkbed, reading a Christopher Moore book, and me with my laptop on the queen-size bed that completes our "family room" in this 20-room inn. It's called a guesthouse, and while it's still a hostel -- and a member of Hostelling International, the worldwide standard-bearer of the hostel world -- it's definitely on the cutting edge of a genre that's worth a fresh look in this era of tightened belts.

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