Top 10 Fascinating facts about Fairmont Empress, Victoria, British, Columbia, Canada

Fairmont Empress. Photo by Dllu- Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Fascinating facts about Fairmont Empress, Victoria, British, Columbia, Canada

The Fairmont Empress, formerly and commonly referred to as the Empress, is one of the oldest hotels in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

The hotel is located in Downtown Victoria Street, facing the city’s inner harbor. The hotel was designed by Francis Rattenbury and built by Canadian pacific hotels.

The hotel was officially opened in January 1980, and since its opening, it has undergone two expansions and multiple renovations.

The hotel was built to serve business people and visitors to Victoria, but it was later remarketed as a resort for tourists.

Fairmont Hotels and Resort currently manage Fairmont Empress, part of Accor hotels since 2016, and Nat and Flora Bosa of Vancouver owns it.

Visit Fairmont Empress today and have a great, relaxing, educative trip. Get to know more about Fairmont Empress through these top 10 interesting facts.

1. Francis Rattenbury designed the Fairmont Empress

Photo outsourced from Wikimedia Commons

Francis was born in October 1867. He was a British architect who spent most of his career in British Columbia, Canada.

Francis’s initial design featured a seven-story hotel, incorporating the element of French Renaissance architecture.

His design featured an enormous entrance hall and a glass-roofed palm decorated in a Chinese motif.

He delayed for months and was later relieved as the building’s architect on December 5, 1907and the design responsibilities fell to William Sutherland Maxwell, the chief architect for Canadian Pacific Railway.

2. The Fairmont empress features a chateauesque architectural style

Photo by Will Brown on Wikimedia Commons

The chateauesque style is a revivalist architectural style based on the French Renaissance architecture of the chateaux of the Loire valley from the late 15th and early 17th century.

The hotel features the chateauesque style, incorporating stones and bricks, ornate neo-gothic dormos and gables, polygonal’s turrets, and steeply pitched copper rafts.

Although the hotel deviated from the chateauesque style by incorporating contemporary architectural style into its design,

It featured elements of Tudor architecture, and the main raft of the hotel was designed in a second empire style with a flat top and iron railing.

3.  The hotel underwent several changes

Architect William Sutherland Maxwell designed the first expansion from 1910 to 1912, with the second building expansion ending in 1928.

The building’s exterior bricks were covered in an overgrowth of ivy until the renovation. The renovation from 2015 to 2017 saw the brick being repainted and the ivy removed.

Removing the plants was done to curb damage to the bricks and prevent animals from living within the overgrowth. Also, they redesigned guestrooms, suites, spas, reception lobby, and dining facilities.

The 2015 and 2017 restorations cost $60 million, and the hotel commemorated the restoration effort on June 28, 2017.

4. Fairmont Empress was built by pacific Canadian pacific hotels

Canadian pacific hotel is a division of the Canadian pacific official railway. The hotel was built between 1904 and 1908. The official opening was on January 20, 1908.

The hotel has 412 rooms, 52 suites, and four restaurants. The Canadian pacific hotels oversee all the building operations and maintenance.

5. It is a national historic site of Canada

Image by Hardo Muller- Wikimedia Commons

The building was designated as a national historic site on January 15, 1981, by parks Canada. This was due to the development of the chateauesque;s style of architecture.

Also, many historic people visited the hotel, which made it become a historic site such as Edward Prince of wells attended a gala at the hotel’s crystal ballroom in 1919.

Also, on 30 May 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth attended a luncheon at the Empress during their 1939 royal tour of Canada.

The hotel has played host to royalty, celebrities, and guests from all over the world and is the most photographed attraction on Vancouver Island.

6. Fairmont Empress is famous for its afternoon tea

Image from Wikimedia

The tea is the finest traditional tea and has been served to dignitaries, celebrities, and famous royalties.

The tea is mainly served at the elegant lobby lounge, an airy space that channels turn off the century elegance with modern refinement.

The tea is served with flaky scones with house-made strawberry jam, flutty pastries’, honey from the hotel hives, and finger sandwiches presented with a flourish on our tiered tea service.

The tea is ethically sourced from the top tea producers in the world, and the hotel serves over 130,00 people annually.

7. Fairmont willow stream spa

The willow stream spa is ranked as one of the top spas in Canada by Conde Nast Traveler and one of the most popular Vancouver Island spas.

The spa includes a jacuzzi, steam room, mineral bath, sauna, indoor lounges, fitness center, and two hours pre and post-service.

The spa experience combines authentic and effective treatment with a place for you to spend time alone or with someone special.

Willow stream spa offers services from re-energizing body scrubs and aromatherapy wraps to facials, manicures, and pedicures. The spa uses natural, locally sourced ingredients like seaweed harvested from the Salish sea.

8. Tour at the Fairmont Empress hotel

When you visit, partake in a 90-minute tour of the Fairmont empress and learn about the history of the building.

The tour explains how the building was built on water and the fascinating story of the hotel designer Francis Rattenbury.

Through the tour, you will learn how the hotel was designated as a national historic site of Canada and eventful it is a world-renowned landmark.

9. Fairmont empress beekeeping

The hotel has been harvesting onsite honey since 2011. The hotel has four hives, including the observation hive with 300,000 bees.

The hotels package the honey and sell it on site. The hotel has partnered with a local brewery, Hoyne Brewing Company, to produce summer haze honey hefe wheat ale served on the verando and Bengal lounge.

10. Fairmont Empress health club and pool

Fairmont health club offers the following services:

• An indoor heated swimming pool
• Indoor whirlpool
• Children wading pool
• Men’s and women’s change room
• Two saunas

The health club offers private workout rooms. The fitness center is open 24 hours. The fitness center has elliptical trainers, free weights, treadmills, stationary bikes, multi-gym, rolling machines, and stair chambers.