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The Loden: No Longer a Kor Hotel But Still Loved By the NYT

Go To The Hotel's Web 
  Site Where: 1177 Melville St., Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6E 0A3
December 14, 2009 at 1:34 PM | by | Comments (0)

Though they might still be part of the British Commonwealth, Canadians definitely have an independent streak, especially when it comes to their American neighbors to the south. And hockey.

Don’t mess with them on hockey. Perhaps that’s why Vancouver’s Loden Hotel left the Kor Hotel Group, er, we mean Viceroy. Of course, this unexpected turn of events should not be surprising for a hotel that has shown its rebellious streak since a bumpy start (opening a full year late!) since it launched last October as the first new hotel in Vancouver in six years.

Even so, The New York Times found plenty to love, eh?

The first feature of the hotel the NYT admired: a dramatic green-glass façade rising 14 stories above the Coal Harbor neighborhood that resembles “a spinnaker in a breeze, echoing Vancouver’s watery surrounds and catching this city’s ever-changing light.”

As for the neighborhood, Coal Harbor is mostly residential, and is located at one edge of downtown near Stanley Park (which guests can borrow a bike for free to take a tour of) and the waterfront promenade, so there is plenty to explore nearby. The other main hotel element is the 80-seat Voya restaurant, headed up by Chef Marc-André Choquette, and featuring a local, seasonal menu. We bet that means lots of seafood.

Of the 70 rooms and 7 suites, the article characterized them as “Pacific Northwest outdoorsiness meets Hollywood Regency elegance,” noting touches like brown marble floors, lots of mirrors (six in the room!), and a color palette of “caramels, umbers and washed corals.” The floor to ceiling windows were also a big draw—perfect for contemplating the city while you use the in-room yoga mat to stretch out with help from the yoga channel on your room’s flat-screen TV.

What caught our eye was the mention of Molton Brown products in the marble and wood bathrooms, which include separate tubs and marble-tiled showers. So be sure to get groomed before taking advantage of the hotel’s free car service to a day of shopping or an evening at the theater.

Rates at the hotel start at $219 CAD, or about $213 US, but don’t count on getting such low rates during the Olympics.

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