The Fairmont Empress in Victoria, BC

 

We stayed one night at the Fairmont Empress on the harbor in Victoria.  It is close to the impressive Legislative Assembly building, Royal BC Museum, Fishermen's Wharf and other points of interest.  It is a historic hotel.  It opened in 1908 and named for Queen Victoria, who was then also "Empress of India".  We spent about an hour wandering around looking at photos and examples of menus from the past.  There are also galleries, gift shops. sculptures and some Queen Victoria forward art work.   Our schedule didn't permit us to have high tea, which was a big disappointment to me!  We had a wonderful dinner at Q, the restaurant in the hotel.  It is a beautiful room.  I had burrata with pistachio.  The menu has several fresh seafood options.

                                                        My burrata with figs

We also had a great breakfast, but I forgot to take pictures.  The breakfast room is called "The Bengal".  It has striking high ceilings and amazing woodwork.  My friend had the G.S.O.A.T. (Greatest Scone of All Time).  The breakfast included traditional dishes and modern items such as an excellent mango chia pudding and a lovely avocado toast.  You know how avocado toast can be hard to eat because the toast is hard to cut?  This toast was very tender and easy to eat.

Our room was nice.  It is definitely an older hotel - the bathroom was small and the shower was in the bathtub.  

The staff was very nice and helpful.  The hotel had helpful extras like ice water at reception and free coffee service starting very early in the morning.  (I was there at 5:30 AM).

The layout of the hotel is a little odd.  The main entrance is on the left-side and not the center as would make more sense with the appearance of the facade.  I think this was done to accommodate entry from a parking garage.

The hotel was a wonderful and luxurious base of explore Victoria.