[trip style = urban + luxury]
{Editor's Note: This summer, we've been busy bees. One of the results is Trip Styler's new look, debuting today. This Friday we'll explain everything, as well as announce a few new features. Until then, this week is packed with goodies like today's classic hotel tour, Tech Tuesday, Travel Beauty with tips from a St. Tropez celeb tanner and Healthy On The Road. PS - this week we're giving away five DuWop Flight Sticks. Enter today.}
Vancouver's grand dame has been in hiding for a few years. With a highly publicized facelift, modernization and new pantsuit, she's emerged with the class of Elizabeth Taylor and playful beauty of Heidi Klum. She's as gorgeous today as she was in 1927 when the Vancouver {Evening} Sun headline proclaimed "New Building One of Finest Hotels on the Continent." A few weeks ago, Trip Styler was invited to tour Vancouver's newest hotel with some of the most glamorous bones in the city. Naturally, we donned a dashing shirt dress {a Fashion Friday :: Shoulder Season must-have} for the occasion.
History
The Rosewood Hotel Georgia can't help but catch your eye. Eighty years ago it was the place to stay and play, and with its recent reopening, nothing has changed. Sure, the historic property has welcomed Hollywood's elite, but two iconic individuals made a lasting impression. Katherine Hepburn is credited with setting Vancouver's room service trend in motion when she asked management to eat in her room rather than the restaurant. And speaking of room service, Elvis requested his now famous pan-fried peanut butter, banana and bacon sandwich when it wasn't on the menu. In a bow to the hotel's history, now it is.
Hub
Elegantly seated in the centre of Vancouver, Miss Georgia is neighboured by the Vancouver Art Gallery, Pacific Centre Mall and stately office buildings. Not surprisingly, it has become the go-to place for dining, events, meetings and most recently, open-air lounging. Named after celebrated Vancouver chef David Hawksworth, Hawksworth Restaurant is the property's main dining room, earning accolades as the best new restaurant in Canada. If Vancouver's hottest new restaurant is bursting at the seams, check out 1927, the hotel's quintessential lobby bar. And don't be surprised if you rub shoulders with a Don Draper lookalike---it's pretty big with the apres-work suits. Four levels above, an urban oasis draws see and be seen crowds onto its concrete perch to relax on cushy seating, sip classic cocktails and stare at still and cascading water features. The giant fire bowl, seemingly begging to brown marshmallows to a light crisp, helps to keep it hot when the weather is not.
Design
The mix of thoughtfully preserved old mingling with West Coast new is what strikes me at every turn. The lobby's original floors are paired with a visually playful geometric painting, the traditional neutral palette of the rooms is accented by bright blue pillows and a light-on-dark-brown herringbone print throw, and the indoor salt water pool beside the South Beach-style outdoor lounge offers a fresh take on the Glass City's design aesthetic. Anchored by features like the meticulous re-creation of the original 1927 cornicing with deco light fixtures and elevator doors, the hotel maintains a grandeur without being stuffy or unapproachable.
Art
Aboriginal modern. Geometric "untitled" wax {left}. Subdued landscape {painted by Takao Tanabe, born one year before the hotel opened}. Part of one of the largest private collections of Canadian art in the country, these progressive installations are more gallery than hotel. I try to spend time in galleries in every city I visit, and the hotel's collection is worth the excursion alone. Every piece is by a Canadian artist, with the exception of the lobby's reverse-perspective, 3D acrylic on wood aptly name "Internity", painted by British-born Patrick Hughes {painting pictured top right}.
Details
Trip style = luxury, rooms start at $375 a night. Note that the base standard deluxe room is not just a bed and bath. It has a sitting area and spa bathroom with two sinks, a soaker tub and separate shower.
[photos by @tripstyler aside from Hawksworth Restaurant and hotel's exterior, used with permission.]
[trip style = any]
It's always nice to know if a friend or someone you trust, liked or disliked a hotel you're thinking of visiting. This way, you know if it's worth the visit, mirrors your preferred trip style, or is the perceived value you're seeking.