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Hotel Information: Beneath the ivied walls and chateau-style architecture at this legendary property, the Empress offers modern conveniences such as wireless Internet access in public spaces. Leisure travelers from around the world appreciate the hotel's historic ambience and numerous amenities, while business travelers return for the signature service and convenient location. The hotel, which is attached to the Victoria Conference Centre, benefited from a $65-million restoration in the 1980s.
Amenity highlights: An on-site spa features a full range of therapies, while hotel shops offer elegant apparel and jewelry as well as fine arts and crafts. The hotel also offers a fitness center, indoor atrium pool, children's wading pool, sauna, and hot tub. Secretarial services are offered in the computer-equipped business center. The hotel offers an elaborate afternoon tea service in the original lobby.
Insider tip: Guests with a taste for fine dining are advised to reserve ahead in order to guarantee a table at the elegant Empress Room with its tapestry covered walls and carved mahogany ceiling. Work up an appetite by taking a walking tour of the hotel with Walkabout Tours—front desk staff can assist with arranging a tour.
Rooms
This Victoria hotel offers 477 rooms arranged in 90 configurations in an eight-story building with interior corridors and elevators. Rooms at The Fairmont Empress include signature bathrobes and ceiling fans. Decor includes antique furnishings, floral bedspreads and accent pillows, and a color palette featuring pale pink, green, or yellow. Bathrooms have tile floors, clotheslines, and double shower curtains. Mini-bars are custom-stocked per guest request at check-in. Some rooms have high-speed Internet access (surcharge). |
Room Amenities
- Cable/satellite TV
- Video-game console
- Pay movies
- Hypo-allergenic bedding available
- Premium bedding
- Complimentary newspaper
- Climate control
- Ceiling fan
- Voice mail
- Internet access - dial-up
- Minibar
- Coffee/tea maker
- Wake-up calls
- Housekeeping
- Extra towels/bedding
- Turndown service (on request)
- Private bathroom
- Bathrobes
- Hair dryer
- Iron/ironing board
- Window opens
- Clock radio
- Rollaway beds
- Cribs (infant beds) available
- Smoking rooms
Recreation
Guests at the Empress work out in a fitness center equipped with three treadmills, two elliptical trainers, two exercise bikes, strength-training machine, and free weights. The gym overlooks a 60-foot atrium pool located next to a children's wading pool and a hot tub. Fitness center changing rooms have showers, toiletries, towels, lockers, and saunas.
Bicycle and watercraft rentals are available across the street at Victoria's scenic Inner Harbour. Hotel staff can provide guests with running maps, water bottles, and towels. Flightseeing tours and whale-watching excursions depart from docks in the harbor.
The hotel is two blocks from Beacon Hill Park, an expansive facility with walking and running trails, a petting zoo, tennis courts, and magnificent views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the distant mountains of the Olympic Peninsula.
The recreational activities listed below are available either on-site or near this downtown Victoria hotel; fees may apply.
- Golfing nearby
- Golf - driving range nearby
- Dock nearby
- Rowing or canoeing nearby
- Kayaking nearby
- Sailing nearby
- Boating nearby
- Swimming on site
- Whale-watching nearby
- Running track/path nearby
- Bicycle rentals nearby
- Hiking/biking trails nearby
- Helicopter/airplane sightseeing nearby
- Fishing nearby
Property Amenities
The famed Empress Hotel, now a member of the esteemed Fairmont chain, has been offering its guests premier service and amenities since the hotel first opened its doors in 1908. Today, guests enjoy the use of an atrium pool, hot tub, sauna, fitness center, and spa. Business services—including faxing, printing, and photocopying, as well as "light" secretarial services—are available, and a business center in the reception lobby has a computer with high-speed Internet access (surcharge). Wireless Internet access is also available in the lobby (surcharge).
In addition to two restaurants and a lounge, the hotel has specialty shops featuring elegant apparel, jewelry, and Canadian arts and crafts. The hotel is bounded by gardens and is conveniently attached to the Victoria Conference Center.
The Fairmont Empress is home to the 8,000-sqare-foot Willowstream Spa, a traditional European-style facility offering a wide variety of relaxation and therapeutic treatments including facials, massage, manicures, Kur treatments, and exfoliations. Three types of baths are offered, including Thalasso, thermal mineral, and herbal. In-room treatments are also available.
In-room dining is available, with a limited menu offered after midnight. Kosher meals are available by request.
- 24-hour front desk
- Internet access in public areas - high speed
- Internet access in public areas - complimentary
- ATM/banking
- Audio-visual equipment
- Babysitting or child care
- Banquet facilities
- Bar/lounge
- Beauty services
- Breakfast available (surcharge)
- Business center
- Business services
- Cell phone/mobile rental
- Coffee shop or café
- Complimentary newspapers in lobby
- Computer rental
- Concierge services
- Conference room(s)
- Doorman/doorwoman
- Dry cleaning service
- Event catering
- Express check-out
- Fitness equipment
- Gift shops or newsstand
- Internet access - wireless
- Limo or Town Car service available
- Medical assistance available
- Multilingual staff
- Number of rooms: 477
- Parking (surcharge)
- Patio
- Porter/bellhop
- Restaurant(s) in hotel
- Room service (limited hours)
- Safe-deposit box - front desk
- Sauna
- Secretarial services
- Security guard
- Shoe shine
- Shopping on site
- Spa services on site
- Spa tub
- Swimming pool - children's
- Swimming pool - indoor
- Video library
Policies
Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on hotel policy.
Photo identification and credit card or cash deposit are required at check-in for incidental charges.
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges. Special requests cannot be guaranteed.
- Small pets only
- Pet fee charged at hotel/condo
- Check-in time is 4 PM
- Check-out time is 11 AM
Dining
The Empress Room - Ornate tapestries, landscape art, a carved mahogany ceiling, and live harp music set an elegant mood in this fine-dining restaurant offering breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily. Signature dishes include wild British Columbia sockeye salmon paired with root vegetable gratin, and garlic-rubbed rack of lamb with kalamata olive gnocchi. A spa menu with lighter fare is also featured. The wine list has 500 entries, and wine pairing is a specialty.
Bengal Lounge - Leather furnishings and a tiger skin set the mood in this colonial-style lounge famous for its curry buffet lunches and dinners, and its longtime status as one of the city's premier meeting spots. Live jazz on the weekends. Extensive martini list.
Afternoon Tea in the Lobby - A tradition in Victoria for almost a century, the Fairmont Empress's tea service features tea, pastries, sandwiches, strawberries, and clotted cream served in the hotel's original lobby complete with palm fronds, carved ceilings, antique furnishings, and views of the picturesque Inner Harbour.
Address
721 Government St
Victoria, BC V8W1W5
Canada
Nearest major airport:
Victoria, BC, Canada (YYJ-Victoria Intl.)
Area:
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
