Empress Hotel

You just have to have tea at the Empress. nuff said

When I was about 20 my girlfriend and I made a trip to Victoria and of course we had to see the Empress. I remember the feel of the place was very formal and fancy. My friend and I sat for a while on sofas in the lobby area watching people go by.

I was wearing jeans and carrying a denim “jeans” bag with a bunch of my stuff in it. I was trying to be nondescript and hoping not too many people would notice us as I felt I wasn’t dressed quite well enough for this place.

One of the things in my bag was an alarm clock. The thing was having a problem working right and sure enough, the alarm went off right there in the lobby of the Empress. I was mortified and we decided the best course of action was to leave immediately. I felt lucky my friend didn’t disavow knowing me right then and there.

We had seen the Empress before from the outside, but had never been in there before, so we decided to give it a try.

We walked in through the side entrance. I guess we looked respectable enough. Nobody gave us any trouble.

The hotel inside if very beautiful. There is a lot of ornate woodwork. The shops inside are a bit on the expensive side and carry a lot of high-end merchandise.

There is a dress code. We took our kids up to Victoria in Aug.of 1993 on the hydrofoil & decided to have Afternoon Tea at the Empress. Upon arrival the hostess very politely informed us that the brand new shorts my daughter was proudly wearing- were not allowed. With that said the hostess produced an old, moth bitten, plaid wool skirt from an antique sideboard & directed us to the womens lounge to change out of the offending attire!(I could understand this attitude if she had on DaisyDukes). My daughter looked miserably hot in the skirt & it resembled her school uniform- the last thing she wanted to be wearing during summer vacation! So it was decided, she & her brother headed off on their own to McDonalds & then to the park to play hacky-sack while my husband & I enjoyed a relaxing Afternoon Tea.

I opted not to have afternoon tea because it was $35 just for cakes and scones. Expensive!

I went on a choir tour to Victoria in early HS. We sang all around town, on street corners, and on the steps of the Parliament building. Someone heard us and invited us to sing at the Empress during tea. It was very, very cool. I’d love to go back some day.

Great place to have Tea, if you can spare the price,if not there’s a great book called Victoria:The hidden city, excellent reference guide to visit the city plus a section on great places to have afternoon Teas a better price.But it is free to walk through the Empress Hotel.happy hunting1

I stayed at the Empress Hotel once, when I was doing research for an insurance company. I was only about eighteen at the time, so when a staff member found my girlfriend and I talking in one of the lounges downstairs in the evening he not-so-gently inquired about whether we were guests. When I said that I was, he asked to see my key. When I produced one, he was so surprised he practically scampered off.

In highschool, I went with the band to Victoria every year for the Victoria Day parade. While we were there, I always was fascinated with this building. It is one of the major landmarks in Victoria and a very beautiful place. I never got to go close to check it out though.

I saw the Queen here with Prince Phillip. They closed down the highway between Nanaimo and Victoria. I missed my ferry back to Vancouver. I don’t think the Queen cared.