Who's Going
Budget Jetset, Party Weekenders, Shopping Set
Reason to Stay
Boutique Hotel, City Center, Designer Hotel
Hotel Type
Boutique Hotel
We were in a great mood as we arrived from our fabulous Air Canada flight, taxing through the ever-cosmopolitan downtown area to the glassy boutique facade of this Yaletown Hotel. In Vancouver's hottest neighborhood, the hotel has been part of a yuppie gentrification that's resulted in a coffee house, sports bar, and be-seen brasserie on almost every corner. So you're check-in begins with a dapper doorman in taper vest assisting with both the bags and the valet. You arrive to the reception, which is actually located smack-dab in the middle of the entry hall next to the Opus Bar rumored to be the hippest hotel lounge in town. As you fill-out your check-in papers, you notice that there's actually just a single threaded-curtain dividing the reception for the bar. And what a bar it is. Liberace goes to Alice in Wonderland with a series of baroque gold oversize chairs next to impractical stools and settees that seem to ignore every rule of good design and taste. Slightly better is Elixir restaurant by chef Don Letendre's creating classic French brasserie cuisine in a cozy yet stylish bistro setting. As for the other amenities of Opus, there's an on-site gym with tree well-selected cardio machines and modest free weights area with optional on-call personal trainer. The hotel also offers complimentary sedan service to area restaurants and shopping within a gleaming new 7-series with seating far more comfortable than anything you'll find in the hotel lobby.
The Room
A hydraulic elevator torments impatient guests, ever so slowly opening to windowless corridors leading to a series of standard, superior and deluxe guest rooms. We found our way to our own Deluxe King Room, a higher room category just below the hotels suite-level lofts and penthouse. A door big enough for a doublewide wheel chair opens to our least favorite hotel amenity in the history of bad hotel amenities, namely industrial grade-carpeting no longer new enough to show fresh vacuum tracks. We hold our breath and enter the King-size room, large and roomy with high-ceiling and smooth walls. The purple color-palette made us feel like you were swallowed up in some Revenge of the Giant Eggplant horror movie, but with ultra-suede ottomans and wood-veneer furnishings that brings in a nightlife vibe. The best feature of the rooms, however, was the exposed bathrooms that offered bathtub and shower views from the bedroom. While in the hotel ads you see sexy people posing in various silhouettes, you'll likely only be seeing people you've probably already seen naked if you're sharing a hotel room. Larger rooms offer the occasional balcony or even private courtyard as well as a penthouse suite with fireplace and floor-to-ceiling view of the Vancouver skyline.
Preferred Room
Executive Room
Special Features
Oversize Guest Rooms, Design Hotel, Hip Clientele
Amenities
Budget Hotel, City Center, Convenient Location
