 |
Thursday, March 11, 2004
Short Trips: So many inviting rooms, so little time
By JEFF LARSEN
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER PHOTOGRAPHER
VICTORIA, B.C. -- This city is one of those versatile destinations in the Pacific Northwest, with something for just about everyone. The cosmopolitan capital of slightly more than 325,000 people has well over 3.5 million visitors a year who spend more than a billion dollars on everything from whale-watching tours to high tea at the historic Fairmont Empress Hotel.
 | |||||||||
| |||||||||
Many of those visitors arrive from the United States by boat or float plane at what's called the Inner Harbour, a well-protected waterway that serves as the main gangway to downtown Victoria. And many of those visitors, by necessity, are on foot with a hotel reservation, a pocket full of American cash, lightweight luggage and no transportation.
I arrived via the Inner Harbour a few weeks ago, configured just like many of those tourists (except for the cash), and decided to try to get a better sense of some of the lodging options available within walking distance.
I focused mostly on hotels, but more than 7,000 rooms are available in the greater Victoria area, including bed-and-breakfasts, hostels, vacation cottages and homes, timeshares, houseboats and guest farms.
I wasn't able to visit every hotel or resort property within walking distance of the Inner Harbour, but I was able to see a representative cross section to get a good feel for the extraordinary variety available.
Even with the large number of rooms, demand during the peak tourism season often outstrips supply. Tourism advisers strongly recommend reserving rooms well in advance, not only for price but for sanity as well.
The Magnolia Hotel and Spa -- The flowers always look fresh in the Magnolia lobby because they are. Every Wednesday, local floral designer Cory Hewko creates a new, elegant but cheerful display large enough to compete with the lobby's gold-leaf ceiling, alabaster chandeliers, mahogany-paneled walls and Persian-style area rugs.
In its fifth year, the Magnolia -- with 63 rooms on seven levels, and situated just north of the Fairmont Empress Hotel on the corner of Courtney and Gordon streets -- has a modern European motif and is considered a luxury, boutique-style hotel.
One of the managers told me the hotel's rooms are geared more toward childless, two-income adults than to families. The rooms all feature floor-to-ceiling windows with traditional furniture and an oversize work desk, which I liked. Coupled with high-speed Internet (ask at the front desk for an Ethernet cord), the convenient multiline speaker phone, cordless bedside phones and private voicemail cater well to the business traveler.
After a massage at Spa Magnolia, guests can grab lunch or dinner at one of the hotel's two restaurants -- Hugo's Grill or Hugo's Brewhouse. Both feature beers fashioned by their own brewmaster, from old European recipes.
 | ||
 | Jeff Larsen / P-I | |
| A beautiful skyline, from the grand Parliament Building to the Inner Harbour, awaits visitors to Victoria, B.C. And when the day is done, there are plenty of great places to lay your head. | ||
The Fairmont Empress Hotel -- The Empress has been the centerpiece hotel for Victoria and the Inner Harbour since it opened in 1908 and probably always will be.
Thanks to a major renovation in the mid-1960s, the stately Edwardian-style building lords over the Inner Harbour with the same majesty it did when it first opened. Luckily, the city recognized early on how important the hotel was to its image as a major tourist destination and didn't demolish it.
Image intact, even after what was dubbed the $45 million Royal Restoration in 1989, the hotel, in probably its grandest tradition, still serves afternoon tea to more than 800 hotel guests and visitors per day. All of the 477 rooms have been upgraded to a variety of different categories to suit many different tastes and needs.
Fairmont Gold service includes private check-in on the second floor as well as a private lounge with an excellent view of the Inner Harbour. Lounge services include an honor bar, cocktail-hour hors d'oeuvres and a complimentary continental breakfast.
The Gold rooms, all non-smoking, are on the first, second, third and eight floors and come in four configurations. The standard has one queen or king-size bed; the junior suite is an open concept room with defined sleeping and sitting area all in one large open space; the one-bedroom suite has a bedroom, one bathroom, and a parlor room with a door between the parlor and bedroom; the two-bedroom suite comes with an open concept bedroom-parlor room with fireplace and private bath that connects to a second bedroom that includes its own bathroom.
If guests and visitors don't fill up on scones during afternoon tea, for dining the hotel has the formal Empress Room, the Bengal Lounge, and Kipling's which is famous for its Sunday brunch.
Chateau Victoria Hotel and Suites -- It's not hard to find yourself when you walk into the lobby of the Chateau Victoria Hotel. Just look up. The ceiling is all mirrors.
 | ||
| Jeff Larsen / P-I | |
| Hotel Grand Pacific groundskeeper Joe Menard tends to his chores as well as a flock of Mallard ducks that he raised from babies. | ||
A third of the 177 rooms are standard boutique-style, with traditional furnishings and the usual amenities like coffeemakers, televisions and hair dryers. They are all on floors 2-4. The rooms on floors 5-17 are deluxe one- and two-bedroom suites, some with convenience kitchens and great views.
The Vista 18 restaurant and lounge, naturally on the 18th floor, besides good food, provides just what it advertises in its name -- great vistas of the city, the Inner Harbour, and Mount Baker and the Olympic Mountains in Washington state. Diners can enjoy different views for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The small lounge hosts live music on Friday and Saturday nights.
Chateau Victoria Hotel is behind the Victoria Conference Center, which is adjacent to the Fairmont Empress Hotel at the intersection of Douglas and Burdett streets, easy walking distance from the Inner Harbour.
Swans Suite Hotel -- For sure, the light-peach-colored exterior makes this restored, vintage 1913 heritage building stand out in Victoria's historic Old Towne.
Just one block east of the Johnson Street Bridge, Swans Suite Hotel features 30 one- and two-bedroom suites (actually two-story lofts) with 11-foot high ceilings, each with a fully-equipped kitchen. The suites also feature private patios, terraces, skylights and feather duvets.
Besides its popular brewpub with outdoor dining, Swans is noted for its extraordinary art collection of the late Michael C. Williams displayed throughout the hotel and pub.
The 1,600-piece collection was willed to the University of Victoria and the Swans Suite Hotel and Brewery, plus a few other commercial and residential buildings. The collection is made up of paintings, sculptures, furniture -- some dating from the 17th century -- plus a handsome collection of Northwest Coast First Nations art.
Most of the Williams collection is described as personal, colorful, exotic and, appropriately enough, unconventional. Most of the pieces are from local artists.
The hotel describes its 3,000-square-foot, $695 a-night penthouse as a "step above the rest." With large wood-beam ceiling supports, the two-level suite features a state-of-the-art kitchen, dining room, fireplace, television and stereo, all appliances -- including a washer and dryer -- and a loft-style bedroom with a queen-size sleigh bed. The bathroom is the size of most living rooms and includes a walk-in shower.
 | ||
| Jeff Larsen / P-I | |
| The Gatsby Mansion Bed and Breakfast across from the Inner Harbour. | ||
Try the brewpub's halibut and chips. And if you feel like partying, the pub is open late and features live music most nights. The kitchen is open until 1 a.m. Monday-Thursday, 1:30 Friday and Saturday.
Hotel Grand Pacific -- Like the pied piper, hotel groundskeeper Joe Menard routinely herds his flock of mallard ducks onto a piece of lawn in front of the hotel for passersby to stop and visit. Menard raised them all from ducklings and has patterned himself as the leader of the flock. The ducks instinctively follow him wherever he goes on the hotel grounds.
From the Victoria Express, Victoria Clipper and MV Coho dock on the Inner Harbour, it's just strolling distance to the reception area of the Hotel Grand Pacific. All 308 guest rooms have private balconies, high-speed Internet and air conditioning. Eight of the guest rooms are accessible to those with disabilities and are equipped with state-of-the-art, roll-in showers and automatic doors. From a number of the rooms, the view looks right down on the Inner Harbour.
The Courtyard Cafe is accessed only from outside the hotel on Belleville Street and serves specialty coffees, soft drinks, smoothies and fresh-baked pastries and deli items. The Pacific Restaurant on the lobby level specializes in Pacific Northwest cuisine and is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Mark is cozier and slightly more exclusive than the Pacific Restaurant and open only for dinner, 5 to 9:30 p.m. daily.
 | ||
Laurel Point Inn -- As I walked past the Laurel Point Inn along the public Inner Harbour waterfront walkway, the resort's reflection in the man-made pond reminded me of a Palm Springs resort. The inn has a real resort flavor and look to it, even if it isn't anywhere near a golf course.
The modern hotel includes 135 harbor-view rooms and 65 luxury and studio suites with balconies that also afford great Inner Harbour views.
In true resort fashion, the inn includes two restaurants, a piano lounge, Japanese Garden, Oceanside patio, indoor pool and Jacuzzi.
Rare these days, the hotel offers free parking for guests.
IF YOU GO
UPCOMING EVENTS
 Day in Pictures Odd little fish and more |
 David Horsey That old sinking feeling |
 Amazing Animals Photos from the past week |
101 Elliott Ave. W.
Seattle, WA 98119
(206) 448-8000
Home Delivery: (206) 464-2121 or (800) 542-0820
seattlepi.com serves about 1.7 million unique visitors
and 30 million page views each month.
Send comments to newmedia@seattlepi.com
Send investigative tips to iteam@seattlepi.com
©1996-2008 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Terms of Use/Privacy Policy
