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June 15, 2007
No resting on laurels
Updated hotel offers a glimpse into the past.
BAILA LAZARUS
If combining the modern with the past sounds like it might make
for an interesting trip, consider a weekend in Victoria, taking
advantage of the Laurel Point Inn's Titanic package.
No, despite rising B.C. waters, this does not mean that the hotel
is sinking. In fact, Laurel Point was rated one of Canada's top
20 hotels by Condé Nast Traveller last year. However,
the hotel, if you'll excuse the lame pun, is far from resting on
its laurels. It's completely modernizing its 200 rooms and common
areas with everything from new flat-screen televisions to updated
sconces in the spacious bathrooms. Thankfully, nothing will be done
about the exceptional service for which the hotel is known.
Being right on the Inner Harbor, the hotel is around the corner
from the Legislative Building, Victoria Conference Centre, Beacon
Hill Park, the downtown centre and the Royal B.C. Museum, which
is currently running Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition.
As part of a summer/fall package, the Laurel Point is offering a
Titanic special that includes accommodation, tickets to the exhibit,
access to the entire Royal B.C. Museum, complete breakfast and parking.
Commemorating 95 years to the day of the sinking of the ocean liner,
the Titanic exhibit opened April 15. It contains almost 300 artifacts
recovered from the ocean floor, as well as historical background,
technical data, minute-by-minute chronological displays of the events
and reconstructions of the ship's hull, corridors and cabins. I
especially appreciated the docents who happily answered all of this
reporter's countless questions.
As a way to get the viewer engaged, each visitor is given a boarding
pass with the name of a real Titanic passenger and some interesting
tidbit about their background. As you travel through the exhibit,
you find out if your passenger made it out of the frigid waters
alive.
One of the more moving parts of the exhibit was the collection of
quotes by the passengers about the sinking.
"We are dressed in our best and prepared to go down like gentlemen,"
said Benjamin Guggenheim, one of dozens of Jewish passengers. For
some background on other Jewish connections to the Titanic, visit
www.ilperetz.org/graduates/karen_hakken.htm.
Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition runs until Oct. 14. Prices for
the package start at $264. Contact 1-800-663-7667 or www.laurelpoint.com.
To contact the Royal B.C. Museum, call 1-888-447-7977 or visit www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
Baila Lazarus is a freelance writer, photographer and
illustrator living in Vancouver. Her work can be seen at www.orchiddesigns.net.
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