3426 replies to this topic

[vortoozo]

The City bought a former Travellers Inn at Queens and Douglas.

 

Is this the building you're talking about? Supportive Housing - Victoria Cool Aid Society

I don't think that took any hotel rooms out of the market. When's the last time it was operating as a hotel?

 

Edit: further details about that property on the city website: Queens Manor | Victoria

 

 

Queen's Manor was purchased by the City of Victoria in July 2010. 

All purchase costs have been recovered through funding from:

• Government of Canada's Homelessness Partnering Strategy, BC Housing, CRD- Housing Trust Fund

The operation of Queens Manor is funded by BC Housing.

As of February 27, 2013 Queens Manor is now owned by BC Housing and operated by the Victoria Cool Aid Society.

Edited by vortoozo, 28 April 2022 - 03:52 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

“You can come downtown and go to the Bateman Gallery you can go to the Bug Zoo, you can go to the Maritime Museum, all of these things are still around,” said Williams.

https://www.cheknews...ebuild-1032271/


There we have it. Victoria’s tourism draw.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 18 May 2022 - 03:11 AM.

[dasmo]

We don't need tourist traps.... The draw to Victoria was the European scale and style downtown core, the weather (it's better than a lot of other places) and the proximity to amazing natural places on the water, the beaches and the hills. 

[Sparky]

The City bought a former Travellers Inn at Queens and Douglas.

I think this was swing and a miss.

[Victoria Watcher]

Reid James, manager of the Hotel Grand Pacific, a block away from the RBCM, said the province’s decision to tear down the museum “was completely out of left field” and the timing was odd because the decision will hurt the tourism industry as it claws out of COVID.

 

“In my opinion, I don’t know if it needed to be replaced. The cost seems extreme and the length of time is extreme, especially coming out of the pandemic,” said James. The museum is one of the top attractions for guests in the hotel, along with Butchart Gardens, said James.

 

“What else is there to do? They can walk the harbour. Buskers are there. There’s some galleries, whale watching, but the list gets shorter when you lose the museum,” said James. “We’re happy to send our guests to other places. There are wineries and the [Malahat] Skywalk, but farther out.”

 

James said the hotel industry has meetings planned for a response to the province’s plans.

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...ployees-5394891

 

We also have Beacon Hill Park and Fort Rodd Hill, but neither are marketed very well.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 21 May 2022 - 05:27 AM.

[Mike K.]

You know, I’ve never been to FRH.

[Victoria Watcher]

It’s cool.

[Nparker]

You know, I’ve never been to FRH.

[Fox]

It’s cool.

Very cool, and cheap.  Plus free parking.

[Victoria Watcher]

Brand new video:

 

 

Welcome to Victoria, the capital of British Columbia! We have visited Victoria once before and have always loved its beautiful architecture, water views, and delicious local spots. In this video, we spend a jam packed day exploring the city! Links Watch our other Canada videos: https://www.youtube....laylist?list...

 

See all of our camera & hiking gear: https://adventuresofaplusk.com/gear/

 

⌚Timestamps 00:00

 

Introduction 01:35

“Afternoon” tea at Murchie’s 03:17

Exploring Chinatown 04:31

Coffee at Hey Happy 05:00

Lunch at Red Fish Blue Fish 07:24

Walking around Beacon Hill Park 09:27

Delicious ice cream at Parachute Ice Cream 10:41

Niagara Falls at Goldstream Provincial Park

 

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/tJRWTJRZgnI

 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 23 June 2022 - 03:57 AM.

[Mike K.]

Look at this: Canada’s best small city is fine with you thinking it’s just for the “newly wed and nearly dead.” Such out-of-date ignorance will keep the hiking trails empty, the traffic jams tolerable and the walk-in clinic wait times minimal. There’s even a nostalgic re-embrace of a cheeky and unofficial local retro slogan: Keep Victoria Boring. Of course, none of these clichés are accurate—at least not any more. And yet they persist. Because Canada’s best small city is, for the most part, a cipher for the rest of the country, with more of us having a better familiarity with Florida than with this provincial capital on the edge of a continent.

But when visitors do come—when anyone comes—they tend to fall hard for Victoria. This city is seemingly engineered for the post-pandemic, seize-the-day, work-from-home lifestyle sought by those privileged enough to appreciate such ease of mobility, while it genuinely pursues equality for its residents and an overdue collaboration with the 10 First Nations who’ve always called this region home.

Yes, Victoria is named after the British monarch and will always put out high tea for paying tourists and nostalgic (or irony-seeking) locals, but Little England has grown up to focus on its more worthwhile attributes.

Anyways…

These guys ranked Victoria as the #1 “small” city in Canada, and I suspect they’ve never set foot here. https://www.bestciti...t-small-cities/

[Nparker]

 

...while it genuinely pursues equality for its residents...

     

[spanky123]

^^ Heck we wondered what the City's 12 PR people do for a living - know we know.

Edited by spanky123, 06 July 2022 - 06:41 PM.

[Mike K.]

...and the walk-in clinic wait times minimal.

 

 

[LJ]

^Well that could be true, you go to the walk in clinic, they tell you that they are full for the day, you go home = minimal wait.

[Nparker]

There are still walk-in clinics?

[Victoria Watcher]

Maybe they should look at the revenue side. Improve that. Expand their volunteer base. Get a few corporate sponsors.


Point Ellice House operator says site could close without funding increase

Point Ellice House, near Bay Street Bridge, was centre of Victoria’s social scene in 1860s


https://www.timescol...ncrease-5652245




Point Ellice House brought to you by Shaw Hi Speed Internet.

Or look to other colonizers for sponsorship.

Colonial Countertops.
Times Colonist.

Or see if a wooly mammoth replica is available for display.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 03 August 2022 - 05:22 AM.

[aastra]

Check it out:

 

 

Old Blue bridge - beloved, new bridge more functional

July 2018

I never knew where the Johnson St. bridge was before, even though i have visited lots of times...

 

[aastra]

^Imagine visiting Victoria lots of times but never getting anywhere near the foot of Johnson Street.

[aastra]

Youtube channel "Look Past Limits: Steve and Vendy"

This video is worth a watch. I give these tourists props for venturing down onto the rocks below the King George Terrace lookout. 9 out of 10 Victorians have probably never been down there. It's quintessential Victorian natural landscape.

Victorians tend to take the waterfront drive, the natural landscape, and the houses & neighbourhoods for granted. They don't realize how exceptional that atmosphere is (for example, they forget that a whopping percentage of Canadians don't live anywhere near the ocean). These tourists obviously enjoyed that scene immensely.

I thought these folks were great. Some authentic & sincere personality as compared to what you often see in Youtube travel vids. They give their honest impression of the homelessness/addiction scene in Victoria and Vancouver.

The following reminds me of something I saw somebody post on skyscraperpage a few years back. The guy said he was blown away by the range of architectural styles and eras that were evident in Victoria.
 

 

while standing in Centennial Square:

"Now this part of the city (facing east across Douglas) is reminding us of Auckland in New Zealand. It's really cool, I don't think we've ever been anywhere in a city that feels so different. Like we've just came from a very authentic Chinatown, we've been back to the UK, now I feel like we're in Dubai, this reminds us of New Zealand, if you look over that way (toward City Hall) it's like France. Very cool.

 

Edited by aastra, 08 November 2022 - 04:01 PM.