Harbour Towers Hotel & Suites

This hotel would have received 5 stars from me, but my room was dirty when I checked in. I think my maid service was probably the worst thing about this hotel. However, the front desk sent someone up right away to clean and change the beds. The hotel also offered to switch rooms for me and my family. The hotel is really nice. The restaurant staff is good. It has accessible parking. It is located in a really good part for touring Victoria. Also, the hotel has a complimentary shuttle to drive you around. The indoor pool and hot tub is also really nice for the kids.

Nice hotel. Able to accommodate a last minute booking. It was the «off season,» but still nice to just show up. Both sides of the building had excellent views, ours was of the Straights and the Olympics Mts. way off in the distance. Plenty to to do within walking distance.
Only down side was very poor quality Internet and NO COMPLIMENTARY COFFEE. Restaurant charged Starbucks prices for Denny’s quality. We ended up cutting our stay short because of these issues. Particularly the Internet issue. Fortunately there are plenty of nearby places to get coffee.

A great hotel all around. Location is fabulous, convenient, and easy to walk to activities and attractions. The staff is wonderful-​super friendly, kind, accommodating, and helpful. Rooms are nice and extremely clean. We had a fantastic view of the harbour and we would definitely return.

The hotel was basic and for the price a great deal. I bought the 1 bedroom suite package with Clipper tickets to and from Seattle. This was worth the extra $ 30 for 2 nights. The rooms, hallways, and furniture have not been updated for a very long time. But again for the price a solid deal. There were very friendly stay at check in and check out from the hotel.
The restaurant is okay.
The location is perfect to and from the Clipper dock and for proximity to downtown.
Fisherman’s Wharf is 6 – 7 blocks away and usual has seals/​otters to feed.

Front desk staff was friendly and professional. Small elevators in building that you have to go up about 8 stairs to reach. Not very accessible for those in a wheelchair.
Rooms are a bit dated but fairly clean. I stayed in a 1 bedroom suite with a balcony and a kitchen that had a 2-​burner stove and some basic dishes. Carpet had some stains in it. You hear lots of noise in the hall, especially other guests slamming their doors shut.
Maid service is minimal and not very good. Crumbs were still on a table in the sitting area, bed sloppily made up, garbage left. And this was after leaving maid a $ 5 tip.
Stay comes with a free breakfast before 10am. It’s absolutely terrible. Scrambled eggs were dry, crumbly and tasteless. Bacon and sausage had an odd flavour. Even the tea tasted terrible, how does that happen? You’re much better off going somewhere else for breakfast and paying yourself.
Price was okay and its in a very good location, but I don’t think I’ll be going back next time I’m in Victoria.

We stayed one night in a 2 bedroom suite. One room had a king bed, the other a queen, and there was a pull out sofa as well. The beds weren’t the most comfortable but they were fine. The kitchen was basic and the fridge was a bit small. The décor wasn’t the most visually appealing and was quite dated. One thing I really didn’t like was that there was one full bathroom in one of the bedrooms, the other bathroom in the hall was a half bath. So not only does everyone have to share a bathtub, they have to enter someone’s bedroom to shower. This makes it a bit of a pain for everyone to try to get ready in the morning.
When I first entered the elevator I thought it was the service elevator. It was small and just looked old and worn. The rates were the best I could find for a two bedroom suite at the time and were reasonable. We had free breakfast for everyone (4 adults) included in the price of $ 230. Despite the dated décor, everything was clean. It’s also in a convenient location by the harbor. We got a room on the 9^th floor which had a nice view of the water.
One thing I’ve got to give them is the customer service was great from booking to check in to getting anything we needed to check out. The staff were all very polite and helpful.

What can I really say? This is a cut and dry, clean hotel. No frills, but no issues either! The customer service was good and they had no problem with any of the little things we asked for. When we checked into the hotel we told the concierge that it’s our wedding anniversary and we were immediately upgraded from a room with a queen size bed to a suite with a king! The next morning, we were a little slow getting out of the hotel and found ourselves in a crunch for time… I asked since we were in a suite if that included the free breakfast service that comes with paying for a suite. No, it didn’t, but I just said, «Oh well. I was just curious since we got into the suite for our anniversary if there was anything else.» The lady at the desk just GAVE us breakfast vouchers! At checkout, we were able to check our bags in the front so we didn’t have to lug them around Victoria for the whole rest of the day until the Clipper left for Seattle.
The few strikes against them is more of a style issue that my husband and I had. The bed didn’t have fitted sheets on the mattress. We were a little annoyed that the bottom sheet was so small! Every time we moved on the bed, the sheet wrinkled up and we were just straight on the mattress. Boo. Also, we were on the 8^th floor and while the temperature didn’t get incredibly high (it’s mid October for crying out loud!), we were roasting, even during the night. We didn’t want the windows open all night long since there wasn’t any screens… but it was HOT! Air conditioning might bee nice on the higher floors? Or at least screens on the windows? A few moths and ladybugs managed to fly into our suite over the weekend.
All in all though, good place and just what I was expecting. For the most part. ;)

I was surprised to see the relatively low ratings for this place — after a wonderful stay with my mom this weekend, I expected it to be five stars! We booked a last-​minute trip on the Clipper for the weekend and I selected this hotel based on the location (a block and a half from the Clipper dock), relatively low cost, and availability of a two-​bed room.
We arrived just before noon and even though it was four hours to check in, our room was ready and they allowed us to check in early. We dropped off our stuff and were offered a ride in the hotel shuttle to the Fairmont for our 12:15 tea reservation. The shuttle driver was really sweet and gave us some great suggestions for dinner and places to check out on our trip.
The room itself was nice — quiet, spacious, and really clean. We were on the 11^th floor with a partial water view; luckily for us it wasn’t super hot so the ceiling fan and open window did the trick. The bathroom was nice and there was a separate sink and mirror in the sleeping area that made it a lot easier for us to get ready at the same time.
When we went out later in the afternoon and saw it was raining, they gave us umbrellas! When the drink machine was out of order, they gave us free bottled water! When we ordered dessert from the restaurant, it was ready in five minutes and was super fancy and delicious! They don’t do room service but can have anything ready fast and you just go down to the lounge to sign for it and take it back upstairs, which was fine for us. We ended our day in the hot tub, which was open until 10:30. There were a few kids enjoying the pool and some other couples and families in the area, but it was still pretty relaxing.
We didn’t have a suite so we had to pay for breakfast, but we enjoyed the buffet. It was crowded and chaotic, typical for hotel breakfast buffets, but the service was great and the food was fine. The waffle bar line was too long for me to deal with, but they looked good.
They had it together in all aspects and I can’t imagine a hotel with nicer or more helpful staff. We would absolutely stay here again.

I stayed here for a long period of time for work, and I was NOT impressed at all.
1) I have a handicap placard and asked if I could stay parked in the designated spot. The front desk staff told me NO. that I had to move to a regular spot. That was good for unloading my stuff. Really — did you tell all handicapped persons the same thing?
2) Noisy as hell — can hear people in the hall in your room, at all times.
3) Bed sheets… the bottom «fitted» sheet — was NOT a fitted sheet. They never provided me with a fitted sheet. It was a top sheet they used everyday and it constantly moved in the night and I got tangled up. Stupid thing… — I asked twice to get this fixed and twice they gave me a top sheet again. I stopped complaining. Nothing was going to change.
4) Staff at times were rude, unfriendly. Some staff at times were very nice and helpful.
The only good thing about this hotel — location, location, location.

Stayed here with a deal from the Clipper. Reasonably priced, two bedroom suite with a large living/​dining area and decent kitchen that we didn’t use. Bedrooms were decent, beds bouncy, but comfortable enough. Décor is really dated and building is old with tiny elevators. My big complaint was the bathrooms, our suite had 1 ½ bathrooms, the shower being in the en suite to the master. What could have been 1 nice sized bathroom was split into 1 ½ very tiny bathrooms. difficult if you are a larger sized person. Water was strong with good pressure and almost this side of being TOO hot. Also took the kids to the pool which was the tiniest hotel pool I’ve ever seen and drops from 3ft to 7ft very quickly.
Free breakfast buffet was decent with almost everything you could think of wanting from a breakfast buffet. A little further walk from the main hub of town than I liked, but a nice pretty walk in front of the parliament along the waterfront. Very close to the clipper terminal and also a stop for Cruise Victoria if you choose to book tours thru them. Wouldn’t be opposed to staying here again, but most likely would choose somewhere a little more updated and closer to downtown.

This is a perfectly find hotel. Nothing over-​the-​top special, but it worked really well for our one night in Victoria. We did get the hotel as part of a package deal with the Clipper, so I’m not sure what the cost usually is outside of that deal. For what we paid for everything, it seemed very reasonable.
Checking in and out as a breeze and the staff was very friendly. Our room was really warm when we got there, but we had a balcony and were able to open the door to let fresh air in and it was fine. Everything seemed very clean; I didn’t notice anything unsavory whatsoever. I LOVED that WiFi was free. I feel like in too many hotels these days, you have to pay an exorbitant charge just to use the internet. Great location, too, if touristy — it’s within walking distance to everything downtown but not right in the middle of all the noise.
The elevators are small and take quite a long time to arrive when called. The rooms are a bit dated in some aspects, like the popcorn ceilings mentioned in another review. That didn’t bother me as we were really only in the room to sleep. The only other thing that bothered me was the noise; you could hear everything in the nearby rooms and there were a lot of yelling kids.

This was a decent, middle of the road budget hotel with a friendly staff. We were looking for something relatively inexpensive for our two nights in Victoria and this fit the bill– good location, clean room, comfortable beds… It’s definitely an old hotel in desperate need of updating. The rooms, although clean, appear dingy and somewhat grimy– popcorn ceilings, gold framed windows, dated kitchens. It appears that some efforts have been made to update the easiest things– flat screen TV, iphone docks, etc. Gripes would be that there is no AC (rooms get very stuffy, so your only option is to open the windows or balcony doors), the ceiling fan in bedroom was hanging by a wire and sounded like it was about to fall when turned on (which didn’t help the no AC issue) and the walls are paper thin so it’s very noisy both from rooms on each side and the ones above. Breakfast was included with our room rate, but it also left something to be desired. Line to get seated on a Monday morning was about 30 min. (we were told a hockey group was in town, so they were more crowded than usual) and then the food was mediocre at best. Definitely would’ve been upset had we paid extra for breakfast. That being said, we were overall pleased with our stay and would return. We came without a car and had no problem whatsoever getting everywhere on foot.

This hotel is a disaster and the only thing good to say about it is the location. Went to check in at 7 pm and there was a long line… that’s fine and understandable, but the woman at the counter could have said «thank you for waiting», «sorry for the wait»…etc. Instead she just took our reservation number and gave us our suite number. We ended up on the third floor when we had requested a higher floor. When we booked this suite on Expedia, we were told we would be on floor 2 – 8, but we booked so far in advance that it seems like they simply just put us wherever and didn’t read the online request. The woman simply refused to move us to another floor and said for the price we paid this is what we get.
We then asked for a luggage trolley and were told they are usually in the parkade, because people who bring their cars pay $ 15/​day to park here. I’m from Victoria and know where to park for free so I’m not going to waste money when I don’t have to. I’m 29 weeks pregnant, and am not about to lift 30 lb luggage and you’d think a trolley in the lobby wouldn’t be too much to ask for.
Our room itself was fine at a glance, but two of the towels had dark brown stains on them, they smelled clean, but should have never been used for guests. There were coffe spill marks on the wall near the coffee maker, dirty finger prints in the bathroom and the sink in the bedroom kept dripping even before we had a chance to turn it on. When we walked into the suite i had my kids wash their feet (day at the beach) and then dry them on a towel. The towel obviously got a little dirty and was placed in the bathtub. The next day, after housekeeping «cleaned our suite» that same dirty towel was re folded and placed near the tub, gross. I usually tip the cleaners because it’s a thankless job, but was not about to do it here.
This hotel is popular with Americans who take the ferry to Victoria, they are offered some sort of package deal. There was one family who let their kids run wild at night screaming up and down the hallway and play in the elevator in the morning. There is a one inch gap between the floor and the hallway doors, so having no real seal on the doors you can hear everyone and everything, this is not the hotel to go to if you want a goodnight sleep.
On the second day of our stay none of the two key cards were working, had to go down to check in and find out why, turns out they cleared them and were now blank. Mistakes happen, but really this just added to the list of incompetance. Bottled water is not complementary here, $ 1 + tax and deposit per bottle. This hotel is cheap (and not in the amount they charge you), unwelcoming and has no cleanliness standard, but maybe this is a third floor thing. BTW we paid $ 300 for two nights, and if we could have gotten a refund we would have after the check in experience. I stayed at a two star no frills hotel in Nanaimo and had much better service and a cleaner room than this place, also stayed at a four star hotel outside of the downtown area that really lived up to its standards. This hotel is a rip off and I would not stay here again, nor would I recommend this place to anyone. Harbour Towers get your act together and treat you guests as guests.

I appreciate the manager responding to my review. However Kay only addressed the lack of AC. Let’s be clear, the lack of AC is because this is an old very dated hotel. Not some design choice made because of the «temperate climate.: Every new hotel in Victoria has AC. I have stayed in most of them. Even if you can cool things off with a ceiling fan and leaving the sliding glass door open. Huh the Noise!
But since Kay chose to open this door, let me give the reader some more examples. It starts when you check-​in and realize you have no choice to get to the elevators but climb up a set of eight marble steps. Now I am young and big enough to carry everything I travel with. But if you are not. be careful.
Once up the stairs you can get into the small elevators (three people and luggage … max).
Once on my floor you can smell and see the old carpet, then I could always spot my room by the loose door handle. Inside I have a small room and an even smaller toilet. Kids … you will love that! Parents not so much.
Dining gives you the choice of Vic’s Steakhouse (not well rated) and after a walk thru I decided to eat elsewhere.
In closing this reminds me of countless hotels I have seen doing the best they can with very little to work with. Right up until they close the doors. It is obvious the owners will not pay to improve things.
Pay a little more, move away from the Inner Harbour area and enjoy you stay!

Clean, comfortable and with sufficient room. Our single night in Victoria went very well. Hotel staff were very friendly and gave us some good tips.
The fact that it is situated a bit outside of the more rushed centre of town was very welcome.

Let’s start this review out with a compliment sandwich shall we? First of all, I have to say the location is supreme! We took the Clipper over and it was such a relief to not have to haul luggage too far. Not to mention, they were able to check us in right away, which is saying something when you arrive at the hotel at 11 a.m. not expecting much but hopeful because your husband didn’t fare well with the ‘small craft advisory’. They noted we were celebrating our anniversary and gave us breakfast vouchers for our stay, that was a real treat and I am so thankful for that!
Now for the sandwich part. I had read the reviews when I booked the hotel that it was a bit run down, and I don’t know if I’d put it that harshly but we agreed it was tired. The décor reminded me of my Grandma’s house and her décor is stylish, well okay, it was stylish for the late 80s early 90s. You get my drift. Also, I understand it is the off season but I still think they should clean the balcony area, which during our stay wasn’t clean. For the romantics out there looking forward to the ‘jetted tub’, it does not resemble the one in the picture, it is not a round bathtub fit for a rap star. It’s a disappointing square shape. Looking forward to the romantic fireplace, well don’t, it’s not a fireplace it’s one of those fireplace heater things. With, you guessed it, fake flames.
To end this compliment sandwich I’d like to point out how friendly and helpful the staff was and aside from the balcony everything was clean. Also, they graciously held our bags after check out which was a huge help! All this place needs is a face lift and it would be a 4 or 5 star review I’d be writing. This really deserves a two star review but due to the awesome view (we had one of the top floor suites) and convenient location I can’t complain. Plus we got a lot more square footage than we would have gotten anywhere else for our money.
Would I stay here again? Maybe, it would depend on what kind of trip I wanted to have. If you are looking for a well located, clean, economical hotel I would go for this one. If not, maybe look elsewhere.

I have to disagree with other reviews, and call this a two star. We paid quite a bit for our room on Priceline, although reading these reviews, I’m betting I overbid and got «lucky» at this property vs. something nicer.
The lobby is nice, and the location is pretty great too, although there are some more central (and undoubtedly more expensive) hotels available right in the middle of downtown. It’s super close to the Clipper terminal, so walking with luggage is a block or two at most. But the room was pretty tired… very dated. No air conditioning, which wasn’t a problem, as we could open the windows and turn on a ceiling fan and make the room very pleasant. Otherwise, very average.
I do want to comment on the bathroom. There was a switch, and it did seem to turn on a vent fan, but there was no vent in the bathroom (unless it was exhausting via the huge gaps in the ceiling around the central light fixture), and it took a good several minutes to spin up to speed, like an airplane warming up. For that reason, this goes on the dreaded list. Also — water pressure from the tub faucet is absurd — like, if I needed a water jet cutter for sheet metal? This would be a good spot to try. But turn on the shower, and it’s below average from the shower head, which, by the way, is mounted at armpit height on me. Are Canadians, as a race, just really short? It didn’t seem that way.
Their WiFi is free, and given that I didn’t want to pay my US carrier’s $ 10/​MB rate for international data, I was pleasantly surprised to be able to check in almost everywhere in downtown from the hotel’s WiFi. Gotta keep up the Unilocal addiction. Staff were very helpful and polite, which was a bright spot, recommending the best way to get to the gardens and getting us a little bit of a rate on our transportation/​admission package. So that’s a plus. But on a future stay, I would hope to try some place else, quite frankly.

The only reason, I mean THE ONLY REASON, Harbour Towers gets a passable three-​star ranking is because of the convienent location and subsiquent ability to walk everywhere you need. Other than that, I’ve stayed in cardboard boxes that are nicer than the rooms offered at this hotel.
This was another Priceline deal, so at $ 85 CAD per night, I can’t complain too much. As I said before, the rooms are to be desired. Relaxing in the room felt like I was filming a bad 80’s porno. The worst part about it was I had a view of the neighboring hotel (the Oswego) which seemed to be taunting me with better amenities and luxurious rooms. Damn you Priceline!
If you want great, excellent, fantastic location in a quiet neighborhood just steps away from the hussle of downtown, then the Towers are your place. If you want to feel like you haven’t become a porn star, then I’d suggest you search elsewhere.

Harbour Towers Hotel & Suites is an older hotel but is very clean and within walkable distance to all the downtown highlights of Victoria. Decent value for $ 119/​night.
We stayed in a King Room Suite on the 11^th floor that had a separate bedroom and a large living area with a mini kitchen. The balcony had a beautiful view that overlooked the harbour — it was fantastic. The suite was spacious and with ample room for running around and the kitchen was practical especially if you have small kids.
There was an extra $ 12+tax charge for parking in their underground garage but they did not push this on us also suggested free parking on the street as an alternative.
Wi-​Fi was Free.
Staff was friendly and the service was efficient. Their hotel restaurant looked nice but we didn’t get a chance to try it.

We stayed in one of the two bedroom Penthouse suites which we got for a good deal through American Express Travel. It was glorious! It was a three story apartment that had 1 ½ baths and a full kitchen which saved us $$ by cooking a few meals ourselves. The view was amazing, overlooking the inner harbour and Victoria central.
There was a running path across the street that went around the harbour and was a lovely run. The walk into downtown was a short 10 minutes and took us by the Parliament building which was festively lit for the holidays. Two blocks from the hotel was the stop for the horse drawn carriage rides and just beyond Parliament is the Museum. Truly, the location of this hotel can’t be beat.
The bar had good service and average drinks. The restaurant was okay, but pretty generic.
The only bad thing I can say (hence the knocked off star) is that the maid forgot to come one day and it happened to be a day we were having a party in the room. We called down and asked them to send up the maid who showed up, changed the towels, made the bed in one room and left. I had to clean the dishes and rest of the apartment in 15 minutes before the guests arrived. Not what you’d expect if you’re paying for a Penthouse, but I’d still stay here again because the rest of the experience was perfect.