It had been a long day. I had been up for 30 minutes shy of 24 hours & traveling (or mostly just sitting in airports) for 19 of those. As I struggled to pull my suitcase out of the trunk of the cab which had just whisked me across town from the train station, I squinted up at the glowing neon outside the St. Regis Hotel & knew I had made a good decision. I didn’t go through my normally careful hotel selection process (a combination of the best & worst Trip Advisor reviews, Googling & web site combing) when I chose the St. Regis for my stay in Vancouver for the travel blogging conference I attended there last month. Instead I pulled up the “accommodations” page on the conference web site & started calling hotels offering a special discounted rate. The first one I called was booked. The second one, also booked. Third time was indeed the charm, as the St. Regis still had room for me to lay my head.
Not to be confused with the international chain of Starwood St. Regis hotels, the St. Regis Hotel in downtown Vancouver opened in 1913 & still has that old fashioned charm but with many modern amenities which were installed during its extensive $11 million renovation in 2008.
The list of amenities included in your room rate is exhaustive: a huge hot, made to order breakfast. WiFi (which worked well for me) & use of the hotel’s business center. Worldwide long distance calls. In-room bottled water (which I chugged like it was going out of style). Heck, the rooms even had a window you could open to let in the fresh mountain air & radiant heat in the bathroom floor. The location of the hotel, a block from two light rail stations & an easy walk to the hockey arena, convention center & cruise terminal, make it a great home base for both business & leisure travelers. In addition, the Starbucks in the building & the Tim Hortons across the street provide ample opportunities for caffeine.
Check-in was easy, even at the dreadful hour of 1:00 am. The front desk staff was even patient in repeating most of their welcome talk to me the next morning, since I had forgotten most of the key information in my jet-lagged haze. They also helped me out by converting a small sum of U.S. cash to Canadian dollars at a fairly reasonable exchange rate when my ATM card wouldn’t work.
My “Smart Queen” room on the 4th floor was indeed smart – smartly decorated & wired with smart “green” technology. The hotel’s attention to detail in decorating is superb. The walls of my room were covered in one-shade-lighter-than-Tiffany-blue leather rectangles stitched together. The baseboards & crown modeling were painted a bright white & the curtains covering the room’s four (!) windows achieved something few hotel curtains do: they were both stylish & actually kept out the light. The bathroom was small, but the lay out worked well, with lots of fluffy towels, a non-wussy hair dryers, & a surprisingly large stall shower. The small closet in the room contained just enough room to store a suitcase & a few hanging items & also contained a safe large enough to fit a laptop, a great security feature.
I felt like a valued guest throughout my stay, always greeted warmly by the person working the front desk when coming & going. Even Friday night, when the streets, the hotel restaurant, & the hotel rooms themselves were lined with deliriously happy hockey fans, service was still top notch. Upon checking out, they held my suitcase for me behind the front desk to allow me to enjoy the day before returning to get it prior to my red-eye flight.
When I find myself in Vancouver again, I won’t hesitate to stay at the St. Regis. The three-egg omelet the size of my head alone would be worth it.
Some things to consider when planning your trip to the St. Regis:
– Request a corner room on a high floor. The views of downtown are great, as is the light that pours in from the numerous windows.
– The elevator is small. It can really only fit four adults, with minimal luggage. A great security feature to see, though, is that the elevator is only accessible with a room key.
– If you’re in a hurry, let them know at breakfast when you first sit down. The speed of service can be tailored to your schedule, something I found out after having to shovel my eggs down to make an appointment I was running late for.
– If you’re hungry, make sure & order room service or stop by the restaurant early. The kitchen closes at 10pm & there aren’t really any other places in the immediate vicinity to grab a decent late night bite to eat.
PS I’m not perk’d or paid to write any of this – I can assure you that the only reason the St. Regis knows I exist is because I was gushing to the front desk about how much I was loving the hotel throughout my entire stay.
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