Historical Empress Hotel
Historical Empress Hotel
This is the beautiful Empress Hotel which was built and opened to the public in 1908 and has been a Canadian landmark for over 100 years. The amazing hotel was designed by Francis Rattenbury when he was only 25 years old. The hotel has 477 rooms most that overlooking the inner harbor, a rear courtyard gardens which itself is famous for its beauty, indoor swimming pool and not to mention the also famous crystal ballroom.
In recent years the hotel had been restored back to its original condition in which it was when royalty and celebrities used to stay there back in the day. This amazing landmark is also known as one of Canada’s grandest hotels and after you visit it, you will see why.
Brief History:
The Edwardian, château-style hotel was designed by Francis Rattenbury for Canadian Pacific Hotels as a terminus hotel for Canadian Pacific’s steamship line, whose main terminal was just a block away.[1] The hotel was to serve businesspeople and visitors to Victoria, but later as Canadian Pacific ceased its passenger services to the city, the hotel was successfully remarketed as a resort to tourists. Victoria emerged as a tourist destination beginning in the mid-to-late 1920s.
The hotel was built between 1904 and 1908, opening for service in that year. Additional wings were added between 1909 and 1914, and in 1928. During this time, The Empress (as it was known then) played hostess to kings, queens, movie stars and many famous people. In 1919, Edward, Prince of Wales waltzed into the dawn in its Crystal Ballroom - an event considered by Victorians to be of such importance that almost 50 years later, the obituaries of elderly ladies would appear under headlines such as, ‘Mrs. Thornley-Hall Dies. Prince of Wales Singled Her Out.’ In the 1930s, Shirley Temple arrived accompanied by her parents amid rumours that she had fled from California because of kidnapping threats, a story borne from the presence of two huge bodyguards who took the room opposite hers and always left their door open.
On May 30, 1939 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth attended a luncheon at the Empress, as guests of the Provincial Government.
For many years the hotel did not have a sign above the front entrance. The strong emotions the hotel evoked in Victorians and its guests and protectors is exemplified in the statement made by an irate gentleman, as workers raised the sign above the front entrance: ‘Anyone who doesn’t know this is The Empress shouldn’t be staying here.’
In 1965, there was much debate on whether to tear down what was becoming a faded, dowdy hotel, to make room for a more modern, functional high-rise hotel. One local newspaper warned that, ‘Without this splendid relic of the Edwardian era, literally tens of thousands of tourists will never return. This is the Mecca, this is the heart and soul of the city.’ A decision was announced on June 10, 1966: The Empress would not be demolished. Instead she would embark on a $4 million campaign of renovation and refurbishment, playfully dubbed ‘Operation Teacup.’
In 1989, over $45 million was spent in additional restoration. All the guest rooms were renovated, and a health club, indoor swimming pool and guest reception were added. With an emphasis on craftsmanship, no attempt was made to give the hotel a new image. Instead, the goal was to restore The Empress to its original, pre-war elegance.
In 1998, Ian Powell took over as the General Manager of the hotel. He was there through 2004 where he oversaw many of the changes to the hotel both esthetically and internally through staff and management.
In 1999, Canadian Pacific spun off Canadian Pacific Hotels, along with all its properties. The new company was renamed Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in an effort to reflect its growing global presence and ambitions. As such, all former CP Hotel properties were to be renamed and rebranded with the prefix ‘Fairmont’. This led to a loud uproar and consternation by Victoria’s newspapers and its citizens, a decision they viewed as sacrilege. Although the new name stuck, Fairmont made no changes to the hotel’s original exterior signage, as a compromise to soothe local anxieties and respect its iconic heritage.
Fairmont later sold the hotel on October 31, 2000 to the Legacy Hotels REIT for CAD $120 million. However, Fairmont has a long-term management agreement with Legacy Hotels, and as of August 2005, held an 11.14% ownership in this REIT.
