jojo7

Staying in Victoria in July for 3 nights and wanted to know if anyone has stayed in the Harbour Towers Hotel & Suites? I also inquired about the Royal Scot Hotel. The only major difference is Harbour Towers is cheaper and has a beautiful view of the harbor. Any experiences with these two would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

April

While you're waiting for answers... I'll say that I don't think you can go wrong with either. Both are in a good location. Royal Scot has had positive reviews here and my relatives liked it. I don't know anyone who has stayed at Harbour Towers lately. My preference would be for the view.

jojo7

Thanks again April for answering another one of my questions about Vancouver Island. If you don't mind answering one more, I would realy appreciate it. Do you think three days in Victoria are enough in July with two kids? We are then heading to San Juan Island for four days and just trying to get an idea where I should allow more time (days). I still have some time to make a few changes before it's too late and everything is booked.

April

Yes, I think three days in Victoria is enough, maybe more than enough. Take in the museum, which is just a short walk from both those hotels. So are the little harbour ferries which the kids might find fun. Beacon Hill Park (with petting zoo) is not far away either. With three days you might even want to get out of town to one of the parks or beaches, or take a little boat trip to Sidney Spit, or drive to Hatley Park where the grounds slope down to a lagoon and ocean beach.

taggie

I've stayed at both, although about 5 years has passed...
The Harbour Towers is a big highrise hotel. Perfectly nice. And yes, the views are good - some rooms have views of the inner harbour, some higher-up ones can provide a view of the open ocean between Victoria and the San Juans.
The Royal Scot is cozier and has the feel of an apartment building. Also perfectly nice.
Neither is big on character but they are fine places to stay and the locations are very good. You could do a lot worse than either.
I'd second April's contention that 3 days is plenty of time.

jojo7

Thanks for your honesty on the hotels but now you have me wondering. I know there are many hotel choices in Victoria, but could you recommend several nicer hotels. The Harbour and Royal are not exactly cheap, approx. $300/night so if there are much nicer choices in the same price range, I would appreciate some suggestions so I could check them out.
Thanks!!

taggie

jojo I hope you aren't misinterpreting my comments...
The thing is that for personal travel I prefer "character" places, like Abigail's Hotel or the Beaconsfield Inn - these are kind of like upscale B&Bs. Not really suitable for young kids IMO. I also like the Empress, but have to get a large room or a suite.
When I stayed at the Harbour Towers and Royal Scot it was for work. They are nice, just not with the environment that I prefer on holiday.
I've had to stay in worse places for work, believe me.
I've also stayed at the Huntingdon Manor (OK I guess but I prefer your other 2 choices) and the Embassy (bad).
In the last year or two coworkers have been staying at the Hotel Grand Pacific (new place) - close to the Harbour Towers. They like it... but they'd also be happy enough with your other choices too.
I think the Harbour Towers would be a decent choice. I am a bit surprised at the cost, but then again it is July.

jojo7

taggie:
I definitely understand what you are saying and again thank you for sharing that information with me. I agree with you on B&B's. Always stayed in them before we had kids. There are just too many choices in Victoria. I also checked out the Chateau Victoria as a comparison because it appared more highend. They have a AAA rate of $300 for a 2BD penthouse, however, after doing some further research on it, the reviews are very mixed so I may just stick to the Royal Scot. At least I know exactly what I am getting. Their web photos are terrific! Thanks again for sharing your opinion. Appreciate it!!

April

Yow, $300 a night?!

jojo7

Yup! This is seems to be the going rate in July. Royal Scot and Chateau Victoria are both $300 a night and the Harbour Towers was biggest bargain at $247 a night.

April

Did you try the Queen Victoria Inn? Chateau Victoria feels more comfortable to me than the nearby Marriott and they have a restaurant with a great view. The Days Inn on the Harbour might not be the kind of place you are looking for but it has the location and probably cheaper rates. Or, you could find less expensive places away from the harbour, but then... you're away from the harbour.

jojo7

I don't mind paying $300 but just want to make sure it is nice. I looked at the Queen Victoria but I actually thought the rooms were nicer at Royal Scot and Chateau Victoria. I probably should just go with my original plan and stay at the Royal Scot. Other hotels in the area for a 2BD suite are double the price in July other than Harbour Towers and Chateau Victoria. A 2BD suite at the Delta Ocean Pointe was a wopping $700 a night and Coast Harbourside slightly cheaper. So, considering everything, Royal Scot is probably my best choice. My kids will probably love it.

April

They're like apartment suites (used to be actually) so should feel relatively homey.

jojo7

April:
I think you should start charging me for all the questions I ask you! HA! I do have one last thought I wanted to know if you could comment on. All the hotels that I have mentioned: Harbour Towers, Chateau Victoria and Royal Scot is there one in particular that is maybe a bit more upscale because there almost the same price. Appreciate your final thought on this. THANK YOU AGAIN!!!

April

Having not stayed at any of those places I really can't give a fair assessment. Maybe someone else here can. My guess would be Chateau Victoria. But there, I would be careful about room location. There is construction and a noisy pub nearby. With small children I think I might feel better about the Royal Scot / Harbour Towers neighbourhood which is more residential than intown. Not that your children will be out playing in the street - but it would be nicer for strolling around. A pleasant walk is along the harbourside path in front of Laurel Point.

If you have a kitchen, a grocery store is just a few blocks away. Is parking included in those rates?

jojo7

Parking is free at Royal Scot and $5.00 a day at Harbour Towers, however, Harbour Towers is $53.00 cheaper per night for the same type of room setup, 2BD with full kitchen amenities, pretty large. I have heard of as much as $25.00 a day for parking so considering, $5.00 is not too bad. Thank you for the information on construction and the pub nearby. That definintely illiminates Chateau Victoria because when we stayed in Vancouver we had that problem. There were loud people from a nearby pub that kept me up all night and had to leave my window open because it was hot. I was not a happy camper! Quiet is definitely a plus when you need to have windows open in July. I am so glad you gave me that bit of information. I think the Harbour Towers and Royal Scot are on the same street, Quebec? Well, I still have reservations at both HT and RS and have plenty of time stew about it and decide which one to cancel. I will definitely share my experience when we return. Thanks again for all your wisdom!

April

Yes they're on the same street. I would get the street-facing side at either place (which is north-ish facing). High up in Harbour Towers should give you a harbour view. At the Royal Scot you might at least see a horse-drawn carriage going down the street. On the other hand, if you like sun streaming in windows, the back of Harbour Towers might not be bad if you could see over to the strait and the cruise ship docks.

jojo7

April:
Well, my decision is made! FINALLY! Harbour Towers gave me a special promotional rate, half off the listed rated per night for a 2BD penthouse split level suite. It looks beautiful with amazing views. It's slightly more expensive than the Royal Scot, however, in US funds, it is an incredible rate for a 2BD penthouse. I hope it lives up to my expectations because their web photos show the entire layout and it looks extremely nice. I will have to post a report about it upon my return and hopefully I will come back with a positive report. Thanks again April for answering all my posts! BUT, Hey, you never know, I am sure I can think up some additional quesitons on Victoria for you.

Edible_Vancouver

If you are interested, my company called Edible Vancouver provides food minded travellers with reservations, personalized special menus, guided and un-guided food tours, corporate accomodation prices, and more for people coming to BC. If you are interested in learning more, visit www.edible-vancouver.com I could most likely get you a better rate than the Harbour Towers at the new Marriott Hotel.

Cheers,

Eric

April

I'll look forward to reading your review about whether or not it lived up to your expectations. You should have a good view at least.