Trip Report: May 3 - 18, 2001
by Ted & Sylvia Blishak
Through the Pacific Northwest and Canada
by Amtrak, BC Rail and VIA Rail Canada
VANCOUVER
Tuesday May 15, 2001.
Though we had every intention of awaking early, we thought as the sun rose, why bother leaving this comfy bed, we are two hours behind schedule anyway. But a voice in the hallway at 7:45 AM announces "Vancouver, 30 minutes!" We are roused into action to dress and walk back one car to the diner, where a delicious Continental breakfast is being served. Unlike Amtrak, where the dining car is always closed long before arrival at its destination, the Canadian's dining car stays open until every passenger who desires breakfast is fed, even if you arise late and the train arrives in Vancouver while you are still dining, you are encouraged to finish your breakfast instead of being evicted. Sitting in the diner's end booth between etched glass partitions, we finish our breakfast of hot oatmeal with brown sugar, bran muffin with butter and preserves, orange juice, and herbal tea as we back into Pacific Central Station.
Our lengthy train has to be split into two segments and backed into the station so that all passengers will have access to the platform rather than being let off in the yards. While this maneuver is going on, we are delaying the departure of the privately-owned Rocky Mountaineer Train, already loaded with passengers bound for Kamloops, where passengers overnight and the train is split into two sections; one headed for Jasper and the other to Banff and Calgary.
Breakfast is being served in the Red Leaf Service coaches to passengers at their seats, and the Gold Leaf Dome Cars are being switched in from another adjacent track. There is a commuter train on another track, so there is plenty of rail action this morning. We take one last photo at the Park Car which is spotted at the bumper post and proceed into the brightly illuminated, bustling waiting room.
At the beautifully restored Pacific Central Station, we visit the offices of Via Rail Canada's Market Development Department, high on the third floor, where we meet Ali Macaraeg, Manager of Market Development. Ali is very excited about the upgrades on the Canadian, all of which were due to be implemented by April 29, but should be finally in place by the beginning of June for the peak summer season.
We taxi to town to check into the Terminal City Club Tower Hotel, a high end property that is now being used on Rocky Mountaineer packages. This is a very impressive, with the ambiance of a private club, as it really is a private club with a hotel tower, and an office tower. We lunch in the Grill, where we enjoy poached salmon and a view of Grouse Mountain. The office in our mini suite has a fabulous view of the harbour, working here is not work at all.
We meet for dinner with Larisa Zenjin, Director of Sales, and Bin Kumar, Senior Reservationist, for Great Canadian Railtours, the operator of the Rocky Mountaineer trains. Larisa would like to show us another high end property utilized on her tour packages, the Sheraton Suites le Soleil. We are shown some of the rooms and suites decorated in the lavish style of the Sun King, then enjoy a gourmet dinner in their dining room. While I am sure that every feature of the rooms of this upscale hotel are of interest to every guest, the one feature which struck me the most was that the electrical outlets and phone jacks at the work station were at desk level, no crawling around on your hands and knees under the desk looking for outlets.
While we had walked to dinner in the balmy twilight, by the time we finished our dessert and coffee, there was a raging rain and wind storm outside, "Welcome to Vancouver weather," said the doorman as he flagged down a cab for us. Back at the Club, our feeling was that if we could just move in for a month or so, that would be just fine. I may well be recommending this hotel for my high end clients who are looking for a low key, high style overnight stop for their visit to Vancouver, one of our favorite cities.
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