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The Road Warrior1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Itinerary | Home
Some hotels offer proximity to facilities of special interest to the business traveller. The Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver connects directly to the upscale Pacific Centre mall. Likewise, the Hyatt Regency Montreal is attached to the Complexe Desjardins mall, one block from the convention centre. The Westin Ottawa is linked via a covered walkway to the Ottawa Congress Centre, and I discovered an underground passage that connects the Hilton Saint John to that city’s convention centre. An indoor skyway connects the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront to the Casino Nova Scotia, and the Fairmont Vancouver Airport is, naturally, attached to YVR. For an aero-nerd like myself, it’s a big thrill to have a room on the 14th floor overlooking the terminal and tarmac, so my Sony digital camera gets a pretty good workout. Weekend Warrior I don’t quite manage the daily training regimen I imagined on the road. If not for a late night and comfortable bed at Hotel Arts in Calgary, I would certainly have joined the morning yoga class. Honest, the next time I stay at the Delta St. John’s Hotel, the Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver or the Westin Ottawa, I’ll bring my squash gear, as all have full-size courts. But I finally find my motivation at the Westin Calgary’s Reebok Gym, where I nod to a woman twice my age running full tilt on the treadmill; after a punishing workout with my Panasonic headset drilling inspiration into my brain, I collapse... and she’s still running. At the Sheraton Suites Calgary Eau Claire, I have the pool and waterslide all to myself. I manage a few laps at the InterContinental Montréal pool before my Treo rings (Bell Mobility service really does work everywhere) and I have to take an important, um, business call. (Hi, mom.) I complete my gentleman’s workout at the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver with generous whirlpool and sauna time. Bar Stool Diplomacy I’m the kind of traveller who likes to spend quality time in the hotel bar... networking, you know. When Wunderbar in the W Montréal gets too crowded, I cross the hall over to the quieter little Bartini. I can’t resist the old-school charm and soaring rotunda of the Palm Lounge in Winnipeg’s Fort Garry Hotel, where local jazz trios often hold court. The dark and sexy ambience of Club 22 in Toronto’s Windsor Arms Hotel is popular with celebrities and the just plain beautiful. I like the copper-topped bar and the calligraphy paintings in the Terrace Bar at the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver, where, savouring the Dungeness crab miniburgers, I have a fascinating conversation about scrum etiquette with a seasoned political reporter. Getting Promoted I find myself replying to hypothetical calls on my Centrios Bluetooth headset and picking up my Olympus voice recorder to say things like “note to self,” to help me gain access to hotels’ private club floors and lounges. Most – like the Executive Lounge at the InterContinental Montréal, the Signature Club Lounge at the Delta St. John’s Hotel and the Club Level at the Sheraton Suites Calgary Eau Claire – offer complimentary continental breakfast, wireless Internet, and a comfortable place to work and recharge both myself and my indefatigable Nexxtech batteries. As an Executive Club guest at the Westin Calgary, I enjoy a newly renovated business suite with plasma screens and an ergonomic work area. I book one of the Radisson Plaza Hotel Saskatchewan’s Plaza Club boardrooms and hook up my Toshiba portable DVD player to my Toshiba data projector – to watch Match Point in all its wall-size, Scarlett Johansson magnificence. Fuelling Options I like a good club sandwich, but when you’re on the road for 30 days, they start to look depressing. It’s a treat to stay at Hôtel Le Germain Toronto, where the room service menu has foie gras terrine, raw oysters and saffron vichyssoise. Loews Le Concorde in Quebec City has delicious Quebecois dishes, like waffles with maple sugar, while the InterContinental Montréal’s menu doubles as a veritable dictionary of classic French dishes. Le Royal Méridien King Edward breakfast arrives in 12 minutes (the quickest time all month), and the café in the lobby of Hôtel 71 in Quebec City pulls a mean espresso. Still craving a sammy? I recommend the Metropolitan Hotel Vancouver’s chicken panini. |
