![‘Exceptional experience’: Victoria’s Empress hotel ranked 2nd best hotel in Canada](https://cdn.cheknews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/06171633/Empress-Hotel-161002-Pescod-CHEK-scaled-e1720902257916-1024x576.jpg)
The stately Fairmont Empress hotel in downtown Victoria has been named the second best hotel in Canada, according to travel website Travel + Leisure (T+L).
The historic hotel was ranked second on the website’s 2024 list of best Canada City Hotels, which were chosen by T+L readers through a survey.
Travel + Leisure says some 186,000 people participated in its survey this year, and were asked to rate hotels based on five categories – Location, Service, Food, Value, and Rooms/Facilities.
Each of those categories were then given a ranking ranging from “excellent” to “poor,” with the final score for each hotel being based on its average review.
Travel + Leisure says one reader found the Empress to be an “exceptional experience,” and the hotel was the top ranking one from B.C., coming out ahead of its third place neighbour, the Rosewood Hotel Georgia in Vancouver.
“This year, T+L readers selected top choices in Toronto, Victoria, Vancouver, Montreal, and Quebec City, edging out plenty of last year’s contenders and welcoming in a whole new crop of favorites,” said the travel website.
The best city hotel in the country award went to The St. Regis Toronto in Ontario.
The hotel, which was previously known as the Trump International Hotel and Tower, is located in downtown Toronto.
“Glamorous and ritzy, with a touch of early 20th-century charm, The St. Regis is rich in detail, with a stunning lobby that was part of a massive overhaul initiated when the hotel changed hands,” said Travel + Leisure.
It’s not the only award that Vancouver Island has received from T+L this year.
Earlier this week, the travel magazine named Vancouver Island the best island to visit in Canada in 2024, ahead of Cape Breton Island, N.S., in second place and Prince Edward Island in third place.
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