Victoria on the south end of Vancouver Island is a totally captivating city. Whenever I've been there I've thought that I could easily live there -- or at least spend a few nights in one of the Fairmont Empress Hotel's 476 rooms. It is one of Victoria’s most distinctive and beautiful landmarks, and another time, perhaps I will. Meanwhile, I have strolled through the gardens, wandered through the lobby and had a drink in the Bengal Lounge, where the word "colonialism" is a quaint and picturesque theme rather than an administrative system that is way out of favor these days.
I was just leafing through a 10-year-old copy of Victorian Homes magazine, which featured Victoria and noted that the Empress Hotel was then 90 years old. It was built in 1908, when the British Empire was the world's most wide
spread and powerful. By then, Canada, was already evolving from colony to independent nationhood, but English influence was still potent in Victoria. The Parliament building overlooking the Inner Harbour would not look out of place along the Thames in London, and neither would the nearby Empress, a splendid and opulent example of late Victorian/Edwardian colonial architecture.
spread and powerful. By then, Canada, was already evolving from colony to independent nationhood, but English influence was still potent in Victoria. The Parliament building overlooking the Inner Harbour would not look out of place along the Thames in London, and neither would the nearby Empress, a splendid and opulent example of late Victorian/Edwardian colonial architecture.The grandiose Empress is now part of the Fairmont group. The public rooms, which are all I have seen, have been immaculately restored. Many of the original features are still in place, including beautiful leaded glass, 12-foot windows and some dozen ornate chandeliers hanging from the high carved-mahogany ceiling.
The Bengal Lounge carries out the theme of India in the days of the British Raj. The Empress Dining Room is an elegant restaurant serving contemporary British Columbia cuisine, including wines from a commendable list. 
I have only sat down in the Empress for a drink, but many day visitors come for afternoon tea. In fact, I read somewhere that more than 100,000 guests do so each year, nibbling on small crust-off sandwiches of various sorts, freshly baked scones, house-made preserves, thick Jersey cream and a cornucopia of other pastries, and sipping on the Empress's custom-blended tea from Royal Doulton cups. There is a suitable dress code and such 21st-century tattiness as ripped jeans, short shorts or running clothes are not seen.
I don't know which day, week or month during 2008 has been designated for the official centennial celebration (and being so English in flavor, I am guessing there must be an official celebration!), but there is a Centennial Bed and Breakfast package that includes the hotel's famous afternoon tea, breakfast in the Empress Dining Room and a new commemorative edition of The Empress, a book tracking its glorious 100 years in words and pictures. Rates begin at CDN$199 per person, single or double occupancy, and is offered all year -- with the usual "based on availability" caveat that hotels are so fond of. If you just want to have tea, a special Centennial Tea will be presented every Friday afternoon through the end of September. The cost is CDN$100 for a memorable tradition.
The Fairmont Empress, 721 Government Street Victoria, BC V8W 1W5, Canada; 250-384-8111.
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