History
The Chateauesque was designed by Francis Rattenbury for Canadian Pacific Hotels as a terminus hotel for Canadian Pacific's steamship line, whose main terminal was just a block away.[11] The hotel was to serve business people and visitors to Victoria, but later as Canadian Pacific ceased its passenger services to the city, the hotel was successfully remarketed as a resort to tourists. Victoria emerged as a tourist destination beginning in the mid-to-late 1920s.
The hotel was built between 1904 and 1908, opening for service in that year and named for Queen Victoria, who was also Empress of India.[12] Additional wings were added between 1909 and 1914, and in 1928.[5] In 1919, Edward, Prince of Wales attended a gala at the hotel's Crystal Ballroom.[13]
In the 1930s, Shirley Temple arrived accompanied by her parents amid rumours that she had fled from California because of kidnapping threats, a story borne from the presence of two huge bodyguards who took the room opposite hers and always left their door open.[14] On May 30, 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth attended a luncheon at the Empress during their 1939 royal tour of Canada.[15]
Until 1960 the hotel did not have a sign above the front entrance.[16][17] In 1965, debate to tear down The Empress to make room for a more modern, functional high-rise hotel surfaced. One local newspaper warned that, "Without this splendid relic of the Edwardian era, literally tens of thousands of tourists will never return. This is the Mecca, this is the heart and soul of the city."[16] However, on 10 June 1966, the hotel's ownership announced that they would not be demolished, but would embark on a $4 million renovation and refurbishment program, playfully dubbed Operation Teacup.[16]
In 1989, over $45 million was spent in additional restoration known as The Royal Restoration.[18] Guest rooms were renovated, and a health club, indoor swimming pool and guest reception were added.[16] During these renovation, the engineering staff from the hotel confirmed that there was what has been described as a tunnel that ran from James Bay into the basement of the Empress. At high tide one was able to visit the basement and see the salt water flood the opening. It is not clear what the purpose was. Some have suggested that it was part of the hotel's waste management system and that at one time the sewage from the hotel was being flushed into James Bay. In 1999, Canadian Pacific spun off Canadian Pacific Hotels, along with all its properties. The new company was renamed Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in an effort to reflect its growing global presence and ambitions. As such, all former CP Hotel properties were to be renamed and rebranded with the prefix 'Fairmont'.[19] This led to a loud uproar and consternation by Victoria's newspapers and its citizens, a decision they viewed as sacrilege. Although the new name stuck, Fairmont made no changes to the hotel's original exterior signage, as a compromise to soothe local anxieties and respect its heritage.
Fairmont later sold the hotel on October 31, 2000, to the Legacy Hotels REIT for CA$120 million. However, Fairmont has a long-term management agreement with Legacy Hotels, and as of August 2005, held an 11.14% ownership in this REIT.[20] The hotel was sold again on June 27, 2014, to Vancouver-based owners, Nat and Flora Bosa. They invested more than $60 million in renovations.[21] In May 2017, the first phase of restoration work and renovation was completed at the hotel. The renovations included redesigns of the guest rooms and suites, spa, dining facilities, and reception lobby.[8][10]
