Review of the Queen Victoria Hotel
21 November 2011
I had a short stay at the Queen Victoria at the end of June, including over
Canada Day, and found that it had the perfect location for my trip. It's very
close to the parliament building and the harbour, and the centre of town is a
short walk. In particular, it was a great location for getting out to the
harbour to see the fireworks for Canada Day.
The hotel itself has a slightly dated feel to it; our room was big but the decor
was a little bit tired, and whilst I understand that some travellers might like
the option of having a kitchen, I didn't particularly like having a slightly
drafty locked door on one side of the room where the kitchen was (as we didn't
want to use it, we didn't pay for it).
My only other minor complaint was that our room was not ready on arrival at the
hotel; we were a little early, but only arrived slightly before the check-in
time, so we were a bit surprised that we weren't able to check in on arrival. We
had to leave our suitcases and go out, which was a bit inconvenient as we had to
carry things around that we would have preferred to leave in our room.
Overall, I enjoyed my visit to Victoria and this hotel was a good base from
which to get out and explore the area.
Review of the Queen Victoria Hotel
26 September 2011
Booking this hotel for a one-night stay became our choice, based on the
recommendation of friends who had stayed here recently. We needed a hotel within
walking distance of the COHO Ferry, as well as downtown Victoria. A September
"special" included tickets to Butchart Gardens, with the lodging cost. The hotel
was sparkling clean and comfortable, with personable front desk people. Our room
was spacious, with two comfortable queen beds, but we should have opened the
sliding door a bit to let in some cool air, overnight! The bathroom was tiny,
but immaculate. (The only thing missing was the free continental breakfast we've
come to appreciate at most hotels we patronize.) The most challenging part of
our trip was figuring out how to get economical transportation to the Butchart
Gardens, without booking a "tour", or using the concierge's suggested (pricey)
busline. This was solved with a visit to the "Visitor's Center", downtown,
across the street from the tour buses! We were able to walk a few extra blocks
to the city busline; being seniors, a one-way fare to the gardens was only
$1.65! You must have Canadian coins for these buses, however, and correct
change. The money exchange also presented some creative thinking, since we were
there during closed hours of most money changing places. Thankfully, some very
nice Canadian citizens helped us.
Review of the Queen Victoria Hotel
23 September 2011
Stayed here before and thought the location was great and this time wanted to
use the kitchenette to save a little from dinning out all the time. When we
checked in, the room was not quite ready and I was told it would be about 20
minutes and to have a seat. I asked for the kitchenette and asked if we could
leave our bags and would come back later that night instead of waiting. The girl
checking us in said that they would unlock the kitchenette and then took our
bags.
We returned later that evening with a few perishables got our keys and went to
the room and found the kitchenette to be locked. When I asked Jay at the front
counter to unlock it he explained that there would be an extra charge for this,
which I already knew because I had asked for it when I checked in. I was told
someone would come up to unlock it but I had to wait 20 minutes, enough time for
my ice cream to melt but not quiet long enough for my perishables to spoil. The
knives were very dull but the kitchenette was well kept, as well as the room
itself.
That evening I went to bed very tired but woke up with the worst lower back pain
that I ever had. Thinking it may have been the way I slept I passed it off and
tried again the next night. Next morning same thing and it was so bad that it
hurt to bend over to put my shoes on. I have never experienced pain like this
and pretty well figured it wasn't the way I slept but it had to be the mattress
because it was the same issue every morning for 4 nights. When I brought this up
with Jay all I got was a grunt. I even made a couple suggestions how the problem
could be rectified but all I got was the standard grunt from him. Maybe this is
standard response training in the hospitality industry for this hotel but at
least he could have lied to me about the steps the hotel WOULD have taken to
make me feel like my business mattered. So if you are looking for a good night
sleep without back issues then don`t stay here. If you are looking for a place
with a kitchenette, don`t stay here because the beds will kill your back. |
