A 'home-away-from-home' feel at L'Hermitage in Vancouver

Cool and often chilly Pacific Northwest hot spot Vancouver welcomed its first new hotel in six years with the recent downtown debut of L'Hermitage Hotel.

The 60-suite hotel is managed by Boutique Hotels & Resorts of British Columbia, which also provides concierge services to 184 residential units on site.

Despite the mix of guestrooms and homes, the hotel and residences are separate operations; L'Hermitage is not part of North America's so-called condo-hotel boom.

However, according to hotel General Manager Gail Chapelsky, what does distinguish L'Hermitage -- located downtown on Richards Street, at the corner of lively main commercial drag Robson Street -- from the four or so other self-described boutique competitors in Vancouver is, in fact, its residential feel.

"Our developer and designers made a big investment in adding a real 'home-away-from-home' feel to the guestrooms," she said, noting that all suites but eight boast fireplaces.

"Our fireplaces [are] probably the one feature that really stands out," Chapelsky added. "Vancouver, like Seattle, is known for its rain. With our evening turndown service, we not only put soft music on and lay out chocolates and other amenities for guests but turn on the fireplace, which really warms the rooms up on those cold, gray Vancouver days."

Suites might be homey on the inside, but the property also promotes itself with big-city swagger, touting its "Chicago-inspired architecture" and a "New York-style setting."

During a recent stay, both claims proved true: A comfortable, one-bedroom suite was boutique chic but not overly designed or cold, and service staff deftly managed both efficiency and warmth.

At the same time, the stately structure housing L'Hermitage harkened back to art deco's high-class heyday, smack dab in one of Vancouver's most lively and central quarters.

Boutique nuts and bolts

The hotel's 60 units include 34 standard and deluxe studios; seven one-bedroom suites; 17 premium one-bedroom suites; and two premium two-bedroom suites. All suites are equipped with 32-inch, flatscreen TVs with DVD players; high-speed Internet access; iPod docking stations; and other high-end amenities.

Premium one- and two-bedroom suites boast full gourmet kitchens with stainless steel appliances, microwaves, dishwashers and gas stoves; all other units are equipped with wet bars.

Since the hotel's June 25 opening, guest traffic has been primarily leisure in nature. Chapelsky said that going forward she expects heavy vacation bookings each summer but more corporate business the remainder of the year.

"We're very much focused on the corporate traveler, because of our [downtown] location; our in-room, high-speed Internet and desks; and our L'Orangerie amenity lounge and our library which many clients use for small, informal, more executive-type business meetings," she said.

However, L'Hermitage does not offer formal meetings rooms, per se. The library, equipped with two PCs with Internet access, does double duty as a business center; its 450-odd books, lent out on the honor system, have proved "quite the unexpected hit" with both business and leisure guests, noted Chapelsky.

The occupancy rate has hovered in the mid-80th percentile since opening, steadily improving since the hotel's debut. "September was actually our best month out of the first three," she said.

Autumn and winter grand opening, nightly rack rates at L'Hermitage, still in effect at press time, ranged from about $145 for a standard, 370-square-foot studio with king-size bed to about $655 for an 1,100-square-foot premium two-bedroom suite, with king- or queen-size beds.

"Our rates are more midrange, which is our opening strategy," said Chapelsky. "Our plan is, of course, to increase those more toward the high end" in time.

Boutique Hotels & Resorts of British Columbia operates five properties in the Canadian province, with three more under development. Black Rock Oceanfront Resort is set to open this fall in Ucluelet; the Nelsen Lodge will debut this winter at Revelstoke Mountain Resort; and Watermark Beach Resort will open in the spring in Osoyoos. For more, visit www.bhrbc.com.