Where to stay when visiting Victoria? Laurel Point, Oak Bay Beach, Abigails, and Magnolia.

My daughter, son-in-law, and two granddaughters live in Victoria in a comfortable house in Fairfield. Whenever my wife visits on her own, she stays in a lower-level suite in their house. But when I visit, I prefer to stay in a hotel. Over the past few years, we have enjoyed four different properties: Oak Bay Beach Hotel, Erickson Wing at Laurel Point, Abigails, and the Magnolia. 

Last weekend, we stayed at the Magnolia. Hotel and Spa. It offers a choice of rooms, but all our comfortable. We stayed in room 511, a deluxe corner room, but there are even nicer choices for a few more dollars https://www.magnoliahotel.com/guest-rooms/

The Magnolia is very well located in the heart of the downtown, close to Government Street, the harbour, and an array of shops. There is valet parking, but also convenient street parking and two nearby parkades. 

I recently stayed in hotels in the Netherlands and Belgium. One of the features found in European (and Asian) hotels that I wish our hotels would implement is a key wall slot by the door that is used to save electricity and energy while you’re out of the room. If you must keep the power on to charge batteries and heat or cool the room, you can insert any card in the slot. But this is truly an energy saving feature that it's time for North American hotels to copy.

That said, the Magnolia did offer some nice features that I would like to see in many other hotels. When I travel, I keep a small, portable plug-in night light in my toiletry case to light up hotel bathrooms. However, the Magnolia had a motion activated light under the bathroom vanity which worked well. 

The comfortable lobby lounge offered free coffee, tea, and even hot cider which was a nice touch. While the coffee wasn't as good as the Nespresso coffee in the rooms, it was welcomed when sitting in the lounge. 

While there is no pool, there is an exercise room and business centre located on the second floor, which are both well-equipped. There is also a spa which we are yet to take advantage of.

In two weeks, we will be staying at the Empress, which is also a pleasant and special experience. Nat Bosa has undertaken a major renovation since purchasing it a number of years ago. However, there is considerable variation in the rooms, and you need to pay quite a bit more for the larger, more comfortable rooms. We will be attending the BC Government House Foundation Ball on November 19th which is happening after a Covid hiatus. If you have never been, you should check it out. It's a fabulous event.  https://bcgovhousefoundation.ca/gala-ball/

Abigails comprises two buildings, the main building and the coach house. The hotel offers an excellent three-course breakfast which is included in the room rate.

We enjoy meeting other guests in the library bar. 

In recent years, we have stayed at the Oak Bay Beach Hotel over Christmas. However, we used to have our family over to enjoy the pool and we are advised the property no longer allows visiting children to use the pool. So, this year we have booked into Abigails over Christmas. While we would have liked to have stayed in their new wing (it was scheduled for completion this fall) it will not be ready until February. https://www.abigailshotel.com/

If you want to join us, there are still a couple of rooms left over Christmas at a 20% discount if you stay three nights!

If you prefer something more contemporary, do check out the garden level suites in the Erickson Wing at Laurel Point looking out over the harbour. They are terrific! https://www.laurelpoint.com/rooms/erickson-wing-garden-studio-king/

Below are a few more photos taken at the Magnolia.