TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

A very elegant hotel with great service. We stayed on the gold level and the lounge service was exceptional with a good breakfast selection and good choice of drinks. including alcoholic drinks at certain times of day. Hotel food was good. Would definitely stay again.

Service was great as expected. The hotel although boasts of a massive renovation is below par. Our room was old and horrible. The bathroom door had a massive piece of paint missing. The shower didn’t drain. Not worth the money you pay. The worst fair mommy I have been at

As a family we spent a very pleasant 3 nights here, late July 24. The hotel is superbly positioned overlooking the harbour in Victoria and close to lots of good shops and restaurants in Victoria’s downtown. The rooms are very well appointed with high quality furnishings and comfortable beds. We had 2 rooms, a standard twin room for the kids and an executive suite for ourselves which has a separate sitting area and bathroom with a large double bedroom. We booked through Amex FHR and the executive room was an upgrade as part of that package, though the twin room was just a standard room. We used the underground parking garage to park our rental Tesla and were pleased to have free EV charging available - 4 bays on the upper parking level near the street entrance - these were busy but after a few hours we found a free spot and charged the car. We had afternoon tea in the restaurant which was very nice with a decent selection of food and a large selection of tea available. Cost was high but it was worth it. Our daughter had the kids princess tea which was less intricate and more suited to young children- tea can be substituted for a soft drink if required. Breakfast was served in a portion of the restaurant in the morning - though this area seems too small as there was a wait on all the mornings we were there. As part of the Platinum Amex package breakfast is included - though you are limited to $40 CAD per person which is covered very quickly as prices are high for the choices on the menu. Breakfast is table service only - coffee is available free but all other drinks are chargeable. Overall we were very satisfied with our stay here at this bucket list location. If we stay again in Victoria the empress would be our first choice.

Beautiful hotel, wonderful staff. We had an amazing stay at the Empress, it was our first time in Victoria, first time staying at the Fairmont,First time at a 5 star hotel which we are not used to but could totally get used to it! Every staff member we spoke to was very helpful, very kind and warm. The room was lovely the food was exceptional, we loved every minute our stay! A special thank you to Kamel and Kevin H who were at reception who were so kind and went out of their way to send us a bottle of prosecco in our room for our Anniversary. We hope to one day return and stay in this beautiful hotel!

Best hotel bed I have slept in over the last several years. Great and friendly service. Really fantastic hotel. Can be pricey of course but if you are there for short stay I recommend you splurge and try it. Old classic luxury hotels often have a problem when they update their rooms balancing between modernizing and retaining the charm of the original. This was absolutely the best updated room that I have ever seen in a historic hotel in that the history was suggested throughout but everything was updated and comfortable. The only improvement I could really suggest would be the window coverings but they were ok as well. And YEAH for windows that open!