3547 replies to this topic

[aastra]

June, 2024:

 

 

Though a 10-minute walk to the waterfront, the area surrounding the hotel is in decline.  Homeless wander along the streets, and the storefront immediately next to the hotel is boarded up, clearly not recently based on the accumulated trash in the grilled entrance.  There are many other abandoned/vacant storefronts along the streets, the thriving establishments being a Cannabis stre, 7-11, Burger King and about a block away a McDonalds.  There was no parking at the hotel so we were directed to a City parking lot adjacent to Centennial Square with a 24-hour/day bathroom., another gathering place for the homeless.  A sign posted in the garage offers a phone number for a security guard to walk you to your car.  We observed one person shooting up and another with a huge knife....and several were shouting obscenities and gesticulating wildly.

 

As past visitors to Victoria, we were shocked at the deterioration of the community.  What should be a treasured heritage is disintegrating.

[aastra]

Not the same hotel as the reviews above, but there are some seriously and seemingly justifiably negative reviews of a large downtown hotel re: basic cleanliness and upkeep.

[aastra]

If big hotels aren't able to handle the fundamentals anymore then methinks the motels-turned-housing places must be horror shows in terms of mould, pests, etc. (far beyond what we would tend to assume, I mean).

[Mike K.]

Is the first one Rialto?

[aastra]

Yeppers.

[aastra]

^In downtown Victoria's defense (I think), that same "terrible part of town" also contains one of the slickest restaurants in Canada and one of Victoria's spiffiest condo towers. Not to mention the bar & restaurant establishments within the Rialto itself, which tend to get good reviews.

 

But no argument that the immediate area can be a mixed bag. Heck, any area of downtown Victoria can be a mixed bag at any given moment.

[aastra]

Empress Hotel Gold-level lounge looks pretty spiffy... Definitely gives the staff breakroom at VibrantVictoria HQ a run for its money.

[Matt R.]

Hey that’s what the home hardware looks like here. Full bar.

Aren’t they all like that?