Vancouver Hotels: Save & Splurge
by Lori Henry
Splurge
Rosewood Hotel Georgia
801 W. Georgia St. | 888-767-3966 | rosewoodhotelgeorgia.com | From $375
The lobby clock at one of Vancouver’s most-iconic hotels, Hotel Georgia, has been given the go-ahead to tick once more, 84 years after it was installed. The original piece was revived this summer, continuing life inside the newly reopened (and newly renamed) Rosewood Hotel Georgia.
Look up in the lobby and you’ll see it ticking underneath finely restored and reconstructed mouldings, next to the ballroom with the original minstrel gallery. All of the 155 guest rooms have been doubled in size, with the smallest rooms starting at 325 sq. ft., the separating walls replaced by oversized washrooms and spacious sitting areas. Top that off with chef David Hawksworth’s new Hawksworth Restaurant, which has the foodie world abuzz with its yellowfin tuna carpaccio and slow-cooked pork loin mustard spätzle. It’s almost as exciting as the roaring ’20s all over again—minus the original hotel’s guests that once included Ginger Rogers, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley.
Best Deal: Ask for one of the Superior “inside rooms” (starting at $375), which face the inner courtyard. They have the same spacious square footage, but are much quieter.
Save
Victorian Hotel
514 Homer St. | 877-681-6369 | victorianhotel.ca | From $100
Original hardwood floors and 113-year-old radiators share space with flat-screen TVs and iPod docks at the Victorian Hotel, a casual marriage of opposites that works beautifully. Opened as a guesthouse in 1898 for sailors and gold rush-seekers, the current hotel amalgamated with the adjoining building—built 10 years after the guesthouse—and reopened in 2001 as a favourite for budget-seekers. With free Wi-Fi and continental breakfast, sleek bathrobes and comfy Serta pillowtop beds, all rooms are well-served: the 19 “economy” rooms share six sparkly clean washrooms, while the “luxury” suites are larger rooms with a sitting area and their own bathrooms.
Best Deal: The Family Room (from $190) has three double beds, catering to families who want to share a room. It’s also great for serious budget travellers, as the hotel is happy to put six people in the room. Don’t worry: it has a very spacious washroom.
Three more historic hotels in Vancouver
O Canada House Bed & Breakfast
ocanadahouse.com
This 1897 charmer is housed in one of the oldest buildings in the West End, with luxurious antique furnishings filling the warm home-away-from-home space.
The St. Regis Hotel
stregishotel.com
A business hotel that opened in 1913, it went through a complete $11-million reno with revamped flooring in the guestrooms and renovated common areas refitted with new fixtures in 2008, but kept its great rates, starting at $129.
Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
fairmont.com/HotelVancouver
The queen of all Vancouver hotels, this regal lady is a downtown landmark dating back to 1939, with a graceful English tone and popular traditional afternoon tea, served daily.
Getting There
WestJet flies to Vancouver 52 times daily from 20 Canadian, U.S. and international cities this month.
This article was first published in up! magazine (the in flight publication of WestJet) (July 2011)