900 West Lounge & Wine Bar

Sad times. The Fairmont has updated this once classic lobby bar. Gone is the Rose Club style décor of the grand hotels of New York, and in comes the kind of paint-​by-​numbers hotel bar you can find in any modern 3 star.
Gone is the grandeur of an after work, Mad Men, Old Fashioned or Manhattan. In with the after work Yaletown brigade.
Some classy touches remain in the service and drinks menu, but ultimately it’s a huge disappointment. They can’t even get the beer or the coffee right (little to no local craft on tap and the fresh coffee is ground and roasted in the U.S. rather than one of Vancouver’s fine coffee roasters).

The setting is old-​fashioned but a good reminder of what Canada was once like, the service was personable and attentive, and the food was well prepared and presented.
The menu itself was a little limited, so both my husband and I chose the prime rib dinners. The portions were huge, with a 12 oz cut of perfectly prepared prime rib, a huge (but slightly too crispy) herby-​yorkshire pudding, garlic mash and baby carrots. We also had French onion soup to start which they so kindly split into two portions before bringing it out. I also had an excellent cocktail with muddled watermelon, lime and sparkling wine.
The live music added additional atmosphere to the setting, and it was really nice to sit there and imagine the Hotel Vancouver back in the day when it was likely «the place to be» in Vancouver!

Wonderful place to be. Service is above average. Beer selection is lacking significantly.

Excellent location for good cocktails in a classy setting.

Charge for WiFi access. this is 2012, even Starbucks does not do that.
Left and went elsewhere.

Went there for afternnon tea. Bottom line is go there if you never been to high afternoon tea elsewhere or you won’t miss much there!
Yes it is 5 stars hotel in DT Vancouver, the lounge is spacious however you can feel the décor is getting old. Service is bit slow especially the server didn’t refill our tea (after the first pot and way before they closed) until we requested. This is poor service if you consider they charged $ 38/​pp for 2 pots of tea + 2×8 pcs of bit size sandwich/​desserts in a 5 stars hotel.
The tea selection is good, food is average and i expected they would be more fancy decorated with higher quality ingredients. What is weird is the 2-​tier serving rack, it is so worn out that the paint is partly missing and not matched the copper silverware at all…
We had enough food just don’t think the tab is well worth it. Overrated.

It was around 12:30pm and our table was the last couple ones left to be seated. In fact, shortly after we were seated, we saw people wait by the door for the next available table.
It was an extensive tea menu. I’d say there were around 20 kinds to choose from, black, green, white and herbal teas. I ordered Lavender Earl Grey, which was very fragrant — you could smell the scent of lavender as you pour the tea, and you could taste it too. Mom picked Royal Bengal Tiger, which is a black tea with hints of mango and passion fruit. A very fruity tea, we highly recommend it!
As for the sandwiches and pastries, it was pretty exciting when the tower arrived at our table. There was a good variety. I do like that all sandwiches are two-​bite size, just enough of savoury items before we moved on to the sweets. The flavours were all very good, although some are lighter than the other.
Surprisingly there were more sweets than savoury. The selection seems to vary a lot judging by what I saw in other bloggers’ posts. At the end, we felt that it was just the right amount of food for lunch.
Our server was nice enough to offer to take pictures for us, as soon as we sat down and I started playing with my camera; however she waited until the tea tower arrived so we got a beautiful mom & daughter picture together.
Pictures and more detail here:

i love their high tea! very good service too. Sometimes it is a little hard to make reservations though. They don’t always seem to pick up their phone and when they do, they’re usually fully booked so you have to check back for cancellations. that’s why I only give them 4 stars. But all in all, great experience and great food. Their decorations in the 900 west lounge and the tea sets are so cute!

Great high tea! The room is beautiful and very classy!
This is definitely the best high tea in Vancouver. Treats are similar to the ones in ShangriLa and Sutton Place but waaaaaay more tastier!
I loved little croissants with ham and brie and smoked salmon sandwiches… and scones, oh scones… I shouldn’t love them so much, but I do! I admit it, and I accept it! I indulged in every bit… everything comes one per person except for the scones, they come two per person! What a great decision!
Definitely go there at least once to try it. It is a bit pricey ($ 36 per person)
p.s if you are not a scone lover, I will gladly eat them for you:)

Classy!
What a great place for an after work or pre-​dinner drink. Great service relaxed atmosphere, comfortable seats. Truly a Vancouver classic.

Service that is too be expected in an upscale hotel. Drinks are definitely over priced and the ambiance a bit lacking.

* Classic squared *
In the heart of the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver’s lobby area this lounge is a timeless classic. Many come here for the afternoon high tea, but it is nice for a pre-​dinner drink as well. Comfy lounge chairs, high ceilings, good service, and surprisingly reasonable prices make for a nice mix a step above grabbing a drink at one of the nearby crowded family style restaurants/​sports bars.
Tonight add in the joy of a live a cappella concert by Cornell University’s Cayuga’s Waiters (a group that has been in existence for over 60 years) and you have classic squared. They brought 15 of their members for a bit of a British Columbia tour (apparently they will be performing tomorrow afternoon at the Fairmont again in the Griffin Restaurant and then head up to Whistler for some more performances between skiing I suppose). They entertained the crowd nicely, in this classic lounge setting. Photo:

A classic type of pre-​dinner drink with nice a cappella to round things out. Wonderful!

High tea at Hotel Vancouver! Yay!
I’ve been wanting to try high tea forever but it’s so damn expensive that I didn’t bother. Enter Groupon’s awesome half-​price offer and I was sold.
We decided to go on a Monday afternoon so we would be sure it wouldn’t be super busy (and didn’t need a reservation which I guess is a MUST if you’re thinking of going on a weekend).
The space is absolutely beautiful, very old world classy. If you can, try to get one of the tables with wing-​back chairs just to get that extra fancy feel.
The tea list is extensive and it took me a good 10 minutes to decide which one would fit the experience the best. The one I picked (one of the blacks, I can’t remember the name right now, sorry) was absolutely awesome. I love black tea and this hit the spot and then some. And the food! When those little sandwiches and desserts came out on the 3-​tiered silver tray I swooned a little — so awesome! The sandwiches were fresh and delicious (I was surprised by the curry chicken for some reason and it was delicious), as were the desserts (though the chocolate cake was pretty underwhelming).
Service was prompt, friendly, and discreet, an extremely good combination. Also, because it wasn’t very busy in there at the time, we felt like we could properly enjoy our tea and conversation after our meal rather than rushing out (helped by the fact that our server in no way rushed us, which was very nice).
High tea is not something I would do (or could afford to do) every weekend, but it was a great little treat that you really should try at least once.

Ok, the bartender here *knows* his stuff. When I go out, and I want a nice, old fashioned cocktail like a Moscow Mule, I’m really happy when I don’t have to explain what that is. Yes, in other parts of the world you wouldn’t, but sometimes, Vancouver tries but fails. The best part about their’s? Fresh ginger. YUM.
The atmosphere really showed a lot of business type meetings going on, always a good sign of a good place in my books.

Tucked behind the Lobby Bar, 900 West Lounge takes you back to old-​school hotel dining era. Elegant soft lighting and background music to complement the ambiance.
We had their afternoon tea service which they call «Tea at the Castle» which normally goes for $ 36 per person, but was discounted by 50% due to the recent Groupon offering.
Service was friendly and unassuming. The staff was there when you needed them at the start and then completely out of the way when the food items were already by the table.
The sofa-​like seats by the perimeter visually looked great, but was not ideal when you constantly had to lean forward to reach for items at the table. Best to have the usual chairs if going for afternoon tea.
I did enjoy the tasty loose leaf teas as well as the two-​tiered delights of finger sandwiches (on the lower tier) as well as the pastries and scones with Devonshire cream, jam, and fresh berries (for the second tier).
However it was too expensive for what it was and you’re only paying the bulk of the bill for the Fairmont name and hospitality. I wouldn’t recommend it at $ 36 per person. And even at the price we paid, our total bill came out to $ 48 for two which is actually just right for a two-​tier tea service. Actually if I think about it, the price is still expensive considering I had the best tea service at the «Rose Garden Tea Room» in the Huntington Library where you have a central table containing all the fresh finger sandwiches, pastries, scones, and fresh fruits all for $ 24.95 per person. As a bonus, when you’re done you have acres of Botanical gardens to walk thru as well as a library and art collection to oggle. You can’t get any more old school than that. With Fairmont, you walk back out into the street.
In any case, it’s an experience when staying at the hotel in Downtown Vancouver.

Tea and Cucumber Sandwiches! Afternoon teas, such as the one on offer here at the Hotel Vancouver, should certainly subject the diner to some clever Oscar Wilde-​esque ribbing, but fortunately the food is so good that it would be well worth it.
My Darjeeling was spot on and tasted as good as any pot that I have ever had. Really nice flavour. The savoury spread consisted of a brie and cheese croissant, with salmon, curried chicken and cucumber-​mint cream cheese sandwiches. All tasted fantastic with my only reservation being that a curry flavour may be a little much as an accompaniment for afternoon tea (this is easily taken care of with a glass of sparkling wine which does a good job of cleansing the palate).
The lemon scones were perfectly baked and served at a perfect temperature. Oh… and the Devonshire cream is just delightful. The chocolate cheesecake was nice, light and not too sweet. The only dessert that I was not particularly fond of was the mango slice which needed slightly more of a mango flavour and a lighter feel. Having said that, it would still be an above average dessert on the menu of many other good restaurants in town.
The atmosphere is sophisticated, but not stuffy to the point of being uncomfortable. The service staff are attentive, professional and do a good job of making guests feel comfortable.
The price is rather expensive at $ 36 per person, but as a once-​in-​a-​while treat to break up a busy afternoon downtown, it can be justified as a great way to get in a bit of relaxation.

This place is very old money swank. Plush carpeting, porcelain and silver dishware, glass table settings, (bad) landscape-​themed paintings… potpourri hangs heavily in the air.
My mom wanted to introduce me to a colleague of hers (yeah, she’s kind of a recurring character in my reviews – what can I say? We hang out a bit) and he chose this place. Quiet, unobtrusive jazz was playing in the background. I was starving that day and ordered a bocconcini salad. It was okay – nothing extraordinary but nice nonetheless. The cocktails, on the other hand, are great. They have a pretty varied cocktail and martini menu. I had a few that day (beyond the first two vodka martinis, I can’t remember what else I ordered) and they were all strong and none too sweet.
We came here on a mid-​week afternoon; and despite it being located in the lobby of a hotel, there weren’t that many tourists there. In fact, the clientele consisted mainly of people «doing» lunch.

The Hotel Vancouver, with its gothic architecture and green copper roofs, rises like a fairy tale castle among the office towers and glass condos of the city’s downtown core.
The hotel’s interior, complete with sparkling crystal chandeliers, plush red carpets, and golden décor, includes the 900 West Lounge & Wine Bar, open 11:30 a.m. until midnight. The menu offersw cocktails, wine, beer, spirits, and an entire page devotes to spectacular martinis. Try the Frozen Greyhound (made of fresh grapefruit slush and vodka) and the Dragon’s Breath (blood orange).
The menu also features tapas, at two plates for aboput $ 26. The lobster spring rolls and antipasto platter come presented like artwork on porcelain plates stacked on a double-​decker silver serving tray.