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Tea at the Empress is a rip-off & other Vancouver comments

Tea at the Empress is a rip-off & other Vancouver comments

Old Sep 15th, 2010, 04:27 AM
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Tea at the Empress is a rip-off & other Vancouver comments

Just returned from a lovely trip. There is lots to see and do. the Museum of Anthropology is worth the trip. Nothing like it anywhere else. Van Dusen Gardens is very accessible and had a great exhibit and sale of Zimbabwe sculptures.
Public transport is good.
The tourist office sells discounted entrance tickets. There is a free shuttle to Capilano Bridge in front of the office.
Food seems more expensive than other cities. DO NOT eat at Society(Yaletown)= tapas sizes at main course prices.
Used West Coast Sightseeing to Vancouver Is. They did a great job and since there were only 2 couples on the trip we got extra time at the Butchart Gardens. Not to be missed!
However dont waste your money with tea at the Empress. They dont even serve lemon curd. It was huge disappointment. Butchart Gardens does tea and it looked lovely.
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Old Sep 15th, 2010, 04:34 AM
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Thanks for the report!

If you loved the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, I hope you also got to see the Royal BC Museum in Victoria as well. That latter is also such a gem for artifacts of Pacific Coast First Nations!

Best wishes, Daniel
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Old Sep 15th, 2010, 05:52 AM
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I'm not a big fan of those expensive teas. We chose to go the the small but wonderful Indian buffet at the Bengal Lounge in the Empress. I can't remember the exact cost but I think it was twenty-something dollars pp (half of the tea price) and an extra cost for the 'death by chocolate' dessert buffet. We didn't have dessert but the Indian buffet was wonderful.

We have a lot of hotels serving British teas in Toronto and I recently took a party of 10 women to one as a special bridal celebration (at the Prince Hotel) but for the most part, for me, the thrill is gone. However, if you've never done it, you should do it at least once.
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Old Sep 15th, 2010, 10:14 AM
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As a Victoria resident I always advise visitors to skip the Tea and just walk around the Empress and if they like curry to enjoy the curry buffet in the Bengal Room. That is such a beautiful room and the buffet is excellent. As goddess says the chocolate dessert buffet is wonderful as well. We have several tea rooms that are half the cost and serve a much better tea. I am always surpised at the number of people who say they don't care they just want to say they had tea at the Empress. My most memorable tea was at the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong - puts the Empress to shame.
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Old Sep 16th, 2010, 08:03 PM
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Of course the Empress is in Victoria, not Vancuver.
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