RETAIL EXPANSION
Hotel Vancouver begins a $ 12- million renovation to add more shops.
The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver will shut down Griffins restaurant next month and replace it with high- end shops as part of a year- long, $ 12- million renovation of the hotel lobby and breezeway.
It will be the historic hotel’s first major lobby renovation in nearly two decades.
The hotel’s other restaurant — 900 West — and lobby lounge will remain, but will be extensively remodelled to give them an updated look.
“We want to keep that sense of the grand old hotel while giving it a really fresh look and feel,” Fairmont Hotels & Resorts regional vice- president Phil Barnes said in an interview. “Everything probably becomes a bit lighter and brighter.”
Griffins, a 3,600- square- foot restaurant designed by celebrity chef Jeremiah Tower, opened in 1995 with a bright interior, open kitchen and high arching windows.
Barnes said Griffins enjoyed a “wonderful run,” but it no longer makes sense for the hotel to have more than one restaurant in a city with so many dining options.
“We need a great restaurant and bar in the hotel, but we only need one,” he said. “It’s more economical and a better business decision ( to put shops in the Griffins space). Retail is definitely a lot more profitable.”
Griffins employs about 25 people, and Barnes said the hotel hopes to find other jobs for them within the building.
After Griffins closes on Nov. 5, all breakfast, lunch and dinner service will shift to 900 West before moving temporarily to
We need a great restaurant and bar in the hotel, but we only need one. It’s more economical and a better business decision ( to put shops in the Griffins space).
PHIL BARNES
FAIRMONT HOTELS & RESORTS REGIONAL VICE- PRESIDENT
the Panorama Roof on the 15th floor next year while 900 West gets renovated.
The Panorama Roof — which enjoyed its heyday in the 1940s and 1950s — will also get a makeover, but Barnes said it is unlikely to ever reopen permanently as a restaurant and bar.
“It will be a fabulous space for weddings and other social events,” he said.
The existing entrance to the hotel breezeway will be moved and replaced with larger double doors to make it more accessible. The check- in desks will be relocated closer to the breezeway entrance.
Barnes said the renovations to the 556- room hotel that opened in 1939 will begin after Griffins closes, and will be complete by late next year.
He expects this to be the first phase of a three- phase renovation project that will include upgrades to hotel function rooms and all guest rooms over the next three years.
PKF Consulting senior associate David Ferguson said restaurant operations at Vancouver hotels are clearly challenged with competition from a growing number of quality restaurants in the city.
“When any hotel looks for better revenue sources and wants to change with the times, ( closing a restaurant and replacing it with retail space) is certainly an avenue to consider,” he said. “If your retail space is 100 per cent leased, then you’re 100 per cent certain of what your revenues will be for a fixed period of time. Restaurants can be more hit and miss.”
Barnes couldn’t confirm the names of any of the new retailers expected to operate in the Griffins space, but they are expected to be high- end brands that will complement other retailers already open in the hotel — including Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Omega and St. John.