The first glimpses of renovations at the Fairmont Empress Hotel reveal a fresh look in the historic setting.
Huge beams and lattice work are being installed on the veranda — just the way it used to be.
“It is meant to replicate the original,” said Colin Millen, hotel director of operations, during a tour on Friday.
Guests will be able to have dinner and drinks on the veranda, amid new heaters.
A long, white, cool-to-the-touch bar, made of manufactured stone, and matching white chairs fill what used to be a catering and special-events room.
This is what Indu Brar, the hotel’s new manager, anticipates will be a popular spot featuring specially created cocktails. Dark brown ornate beams line the ceiling, which is five to six metres high.
When Nat and Flora Bosa of Vancouver bought the landmark property in 2014, a major renovation was on their agenda.
“She’s a lovely old princess,” Nat Bosa said in 2014.
“It’s a fabulous hotel. The bones are great. We just need to enhance the hotel, and we are going to have a proper program to do that.”
The first stage of renos is expected to wrap up in June and then restart in October as the tourist season slows down.
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts and Bosa Development are working with James KM Cheng Architects Inc. of Vancouver and the interior design firm of Hirsch Bedner of San Francisco on this interior and exterior project.
It is too soon to know what final costs will be. Brar has said they could be between $30 million and $50 million.
Building, electrical and plumbing permits totalling $2.8 million have been taken out for Empress upgrades, a City of Victoria official said.
The area known as the tea room will continue to serve tea during the day. In the evenings, this lobby lounge will be a place to relax in a “calm and tranquil space,” Millen said.
The first phase of room renos is now being completed for the 465 suites, which for the first time have air conditioning.
Grey wallpaper with a silvery pattern covers corridor walls. A completed room on the sixth floor shows grey and white as predominant colours.
More than 100 photographs from the past will hang in the hallways, showcasing the hotel’s history to its visitors.
Plants are already cropping up and colourful flowers blooming in a new rooftop garden that chefs will use.
