The Four Seasons, Vancouver by Daniel Scott

Settle into a corner room at the Four Seasons Hotel, with its extensive views over Vancouver and the surrounding hills and islands, and you will definitely feel like you have arrived at the top end of town. Not only are you staying in one of the city’s more distinctive high-rises and enjoying the usual standards of service and accommodation associated with the Four Seasons brand, but the hotel is also perfectly located for everything from business to retail therapy and sightseeing.

For those in the city on business, the hotel is right in the heart of the financial district and very close to the Trade and Convention centre on the waterfront. For those with money to burn the Four Seasons has Vancouver’s largest shopping mall – the Pacific Centre – just below it, and is one block away from the city’s swankiest stores on Robson Street. Best of all, many of this appealing north-west Pacific city’s top attractions are no more than a walk away.

Closest by is the Vancouver Art Gallery just across the street, while within a fifteen minute stroll are the Burrard inlet waterfront and the historic districts of Gastown and Chinatown. With its famous steam-powered clock, restored Victorian buildings and innovative Storyeum Museum (which thrillingly reconstructs the history of British Columbia using actors to lead you through different periods) Gastown is of particular interest. Also nearby is beautiful Stanley Park, which hints at the wilds just beyond the city limits with its 35kms of hiking trails and 10km of seawall, and Granville Island, with its maritime history and large Public Market. The hotel offers a complimentary limo service to downtown locations, between 5pm and 10pm, which is useful if you want to have dinner at somewhere like English Bay, at the other end of the centre.

Back at the Four Seasons, the feel is busy but welcoming. The main lobby area is large and multi-functional, with reception, concierge, clusters of comfy chairs, the modern Terrace bar, the Garden Terrace restaurant and Chartwell, the hotel’s fine dining eatery, all on this level. The Health and Fitness Centre, up a couple of floors, is another pleasant open area, enjoying plenty of natural light and featuring an unusual half-inside and half-outside swimming pool. Service throughout the hotel is bright and efficient without being spectacular.

The rooms:
The Four Seasons has given all of its 376 rooms a cosy residential and somewhat European feel. Furnishings are classic but in excellent condition, and the tone blends old fashioned comfort with all the expected accoutrements of a modern five-star hotel such as two-line phones with dataports, high-speed internet access and voice mail. The Four Seasons’ rooms are generally among the most spacious in town but if you really want to stretch out then you should opt for one in either the Deluxe or Premier categories. In these the centrepiece is a whopping King-sized bed, dressed in 200 thread-count cotton sheets and goose down duvets – the sort of luxury that demands that you have a room service breakfast – and there is a separate sitting area off to the side. For the best views of the city, or of Burrard inlet and of the offshore islands, of English Bay or the North Shore Mountains, through floor-to-ceiling windows, splash out on a high-floor Premier corner room or a suite. But whatever floor you are on, make time for an in-room massage followed by a long soak in the tub of your marble bathroom.

Come for:
- Shopping
- Easy sightseeing
- The lovely indoor/outdoor pool
- Chartwell restaurant

Eating in:
Mystery surrounds why the hotel restaurant is named after Churchill’s country pad but they’ve done a good job at emulating its ambience here with its wood panelling, leather chairs and fireplaces. They have done an even better job with the wonderful food, taking the best available ingredients, like fresh North Pacific seafood and fine cuts of venison and steak and presenting them with panache. The Entrée of lobster ravioli with a vanilla roasted pineapple macadamia nut jus is particularly memorable for its tender and crisp texture and sweet and sour taste combination.