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APPROVED
Montrose Wintergarden/Spire Hotel
Uses: hotel, commercial
Address: 780-798 Fort Street
Municipality: Victoria
Region: Downtown Victoria
Storeys: 20
The Montrose Wintergarden/Spire Hotel is a proposal along the 700-block of Fort Street at Blanshard Street to ... (view full profile)
Learn more about Montrose Wintergarden/Spire Hotel on Citified.ca
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[Downtown] Montrose Wintergarden Hotel | 66.9 meters


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#81 Mike K.

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Posted 13 February 2020 - 05:40 PM

Ah, I see.

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#82 Matt R.

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Posted 14 February 2020 - 12:45 AM

People on this island are nucking futs, sure seems like a greater concentration than Victoria.

David lives up a long, forested driveway. This wasn’t some random encounter with an unlocked car and a kid pulling some stupid joyride.

Matt.

#83 Kapten Kapsell

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Posted 28 July 2020 - 11:34 AM

Detailed plans are up on dev tracker now, and it looks like it will be a cool hotel.  It will be 16 storeys, contain 128 hotel units, and will be built on a triangular plan. 

 

montrose wintergarden.png

 

montrose2.png

 


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#84 Jackerbie

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Posted 28 July 2020 - 11:51 AM

It's not immediately apparent from the renderings, but this will be a wedge-shaped building. I hope this element is not lost in the likely design evolution/s... The angled walls would certainly be an interesting addition to the skyline!

 

Capture.PNG


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#85 Nparker

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Posted 28 July 2020 - 12:01 PM

I just hope it gets built at all. It seems like a risky time to be proposing a large hotel project. Then again, post-plague, Victoria may again be a desirable tourist destination. And there are certainly fewer short-term accommodation rooms in the city now than there used to be.

 

This one will definitely get Ben's blood boiling, so that's a plus right there.



#86 Kapten Kapsell

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Posted 28 July 2020 - 12:13 PM

I just hope it gets built at all. It seems like a risky time to be proposing a large hotel project. Then again, post-plague, Victoria may again be a desirable tourist destination. And there are certainly fewer short-term accommodation rooms in the city now than there used to be.

 

This one will definitely get Ben's blood boiling, so that's a plus right there.

I don't think Ben's going to oppose this.  2 reasons:  

1) Retention of the adjacent Montrose apartments as rentals in perpetuity.

2) This property is designed to provide direct competition to Air B&B units, which could free some of those up as rentals too.

 

It's true that there's no non-market component here, but I don't think that Ben will oppose it ...



#87 Nparker

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Posted 28 July 2020 - 12:20 PM

...It's true that there's no non-market component here, but I don't think that Ben will oppose it ...

Care to put a wager on this? If Ben supports it, I'll buy you a Moscow Mule* at the free-market bar of your choice.  :cheers: 

*I am sure the choice of this concoction is obvious


Edited by Nparker, 28 July 2020 - 01:57 PM.

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#88 Kapten Kapsell

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Posted 28 July 2020 - 12:41 PM

Oops-  i guess just the tower portion will be 16 storeys.


Edited by Kapten Kapsell, 28 July 2020 - 01:27 PM.


#89 m3m

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Posted 28 July 2020 - 12:46 PM

I love the look of this building.  The plans to have a restaurant on the 4th floor podium rooftop are cool.  I'm digging the idea of the wintergarden.

 

But......

 

...the hotel portion confuses the hell out of me.  It's like they've never actually set foot in a hotel or done any research about what is required to run a hotel that has 128 rooms. 

  • Where is the check-in desk?  It's not shown anywhere on the floor plans. 
  • There is no luggage storage area for the bellmen or valets. 
  • Where are the housekeeping closets on each floors? Where are the larger storage areas for housekeeping? 
  • Where are the staff change rooms, lunch rooms, etc? 
  • Where are the administrative offices for the hotel?  I would have thought on the 2nd and 3rd floor office space, but this space actually appears to be for commercial tenants to lease?
  • What about the engineering/maintenance workers? Where are they going to be? 
  • Why are the restaurant, office tenants, and hotel sharing the same elevators as guests? 
  • The restaurant seems too small to offer any sort of in-room dining options. 

They seem to be marketing themselves as a long-term stay hotel, but they lack amenities that long-term stay guests would likely want.  Business centre, gym, pool, parking, desks in the room. 

 

Maybe this is like that "Solo Suites" in Langford? But that makes absolutely no sense for a prime location in downtown victoria. 



#90 Jackerbie

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Posted 28 July 2020 - 01:43 PM

^ Because it's not a hotel per se, it's a rental building that's using the word "hotel" to skirt the 30-day minimum lease clause. The intent is that guests will "live like locals," i.e. use the gyms and restaurants and parks and coffee shops in the neighbourhood for their day to day needs, not any amenities on site. Housekeeping would probably only be before and after a booking and not daily, and if it's anything like the one going up in Richmond then the entire check-in is through an app with NFC locks on the door.

 

Sonder would be the likely comparison.


Edited by Jackerbie, 28 July 2020 - 01:47 PM.

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#91 Greg

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Posted 28 July 2020 - 01:50 PM

Detailed plans are up on dev tracker now, and it looks like it will be a cool hotel.  It will be 16 storeys, contain 128 hotel units, and will be built on a triangular plan. 

post-77-0-65080700-1595964837.png

 

That spiral staircase looks really cool. So there's no way this is getting built.



#92 m3m

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Posted 28 July 2020 - 03:01 PM

^ Because it's not a hotel per se, it's a rental building that's using the word "hotel" to skirt the 30-day minimum lease clause. The intent is that guests will "live like locals," i.e. use the gyms and restaurants and parks and coffee shops in the neighbourhood for their day to day needs, not any amenities on site. Housekeeping would probably only be before and after a booking and not daily, and if it's anything like the one going up in Richmond then the entire check-in is through an app with NFC locks on the door.

 

Sonder would be the likely comparison.

 

128 rooms is still a massive operation any way you look at it - even it is a "self service" style hotel.  I'd love to see more about how they actually intend to run it, because I have about 1000 more questions.  I'd have more faith if it was an established chain. 



#93 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 28 July 2020 - 03:32 PM

^ the developer has no successful track record of anything actually built so not sure they have the capacity to deliver here.  hard to say.


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 28 July 2020 - 03:35 PM.


#94 Jackerbie

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Posted 28 July 2020 - 03:47 PM

128 rooms is still a massive operation any way you look at it - even it is a "self service" style hotel.  I'd love to see more about how they actually intend to run it, because I have about 1000 more questions.  I'd have more faith if it was an established chain. 

 

The one big one I know of off the bat are an AirBnB development in Miami that is a combination of condos and close to 200 hotel units. 48 storeys!

 

Sonder has a number of projects on the go in Vancouver, but they're all boutique developments with about 30 units apiece. They also acquired a Travelodge here I think, which is being converted into hotel suites and rental apartments IIRC.



#95 DavidSchell

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Posted 28 July 2020 - 07:33 PM

I like the concept, the building and in regards to building big all developers had to start some where. 



#96 Mike K.

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Posted 28 July 2020 - 08:20 PM

Jackerbie, is it the Gorge Road Travelodge?

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#97 Jackerbie

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Posted 29 July 2020 - 07:27 AM

Jackerbie, is it the Gorge Road Travelodge?

 

Sorry I should have been more clear, "here" being Vancouver, and I checked and it's a Coast Plaza Hotel not a Travelodge


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#98 Hotel Mike

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Posted 29 July 2020 - 02:41 PM

We've stayed at Sonders and we love the concept. Glad to hear they are moving into the Vancouver market.


Don't be so sure.:cool:

#99 aastra

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Posted 29 July 2020 - 06:02 PM

Did anybody look at the docs? The Blanshard Street frontage contains a lot of dead space (equivalent to about half the Blanshard Street length of the Montrose Building). I like the vertical lines on the tower and the bronze-coloured metal cladding might be worth looking at, but it's sure a one-note design from the first tower level right to the top. No balconies at all? Is that right? And (as per the formula) there's not much in the way of culmination at the top. It just gets chopped, albeit the rooflines have been chopped at a slight angle. The terrace on top of the podium is a good thing but methinks the overall effect could be a pretty lifeless tower if it has no balconies.



#100 Mike K.

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Posted 29 July 2020 - 06:30 PM

Some renderings depict balconies but that won’t be the case. New renderings are coming soon.

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