Fairmont Empress Hotel: Victoria

Chance are if you have ever been to Victoria, British Columbia, you have gone past one of the best known landmarks in inner harbour of the city; The Empress Hotel.  Construction of the hotel took place between 1904 and 1908 where later various renovations took place in 1965 and in 1989 to update the aging establishment by adding additional rooms and amenities but keeping its pre-war image and elegance.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts (previously Canadian Pacific Hotels) took over in 1999 and rebranded The Empress as the Fairmont Empress. Though people today (myself included) refer to it still as the Empress. In 2000 Fairmont sold the hotel to Legacy Hotels for a nice sum of $120 million but Fairmont still has a long-term management agreement them.

Our stay consisted of us being upgraded to an Ocean View room.  It is a nice change from walking past the Empress or having Afternoon Tea to actually staying a couple nights over looking Victoria’s beautiful Inner Harbour. Thanks to one of Robyn’s close friends we were able to stay at the Empress for the Friends & Family rate and still have enough money left over to have fun during our stay on the weekend.

The Empress offers travelers amenities that other more modern day hotels offer; an indoor pool, a spa, high-speed internet (wired), 4 restaurants, 1 bar and within walking distance to many of Victoria’s downtown tourist spots (BC Museum, BC Parliament Building, Royal London Wax Museum) and more.  Just don’t expect to see daily room prices under $175 per night, in fact the room that we stayed at would normally cost roughly $300 per night!

If you ever happen to be in Victoria and walking around the Inner Harbour, take a look over at the Empress hotel and take in the history that surrounds this hotel which coincidently is having their Centennial this year.