Dalton Hotel And Suites

Cheap, clean, and safe

When I told my Dad that I was staying in an older budget hotel in the heart of Victoria's downtown, he said, "Is that the Dominion?", and I said surprised, "Yes... it is!" He said, "Oh wow... I stayed there when I was in grade 11!" which would have been back in the late 1960's. "Well, I'm sure it's been renovated since" he replied.

When we arrived at the Dominion, I had recognzied this old building from my previous trips. It was across the street to the Cineplex Odeon which was next door to my favourite used record store, Lyle's Place. It's a great location - within walking distance to Victoria's Harbour while being surrounded by parks, shops and restaurants.

Our hotel room was simple, but clean, tidy and had the look of a recent renovation. We stayed on the 2nd floor at the end of the building. There was a pleasant earth tone deep brown/taupe decore, and the beds were quite comfy. They have wooden blinds which completely blocked out the light at night, however, while we didn't hear any of the other guests, I could hear the occasional bus drive by outside. While this didn't bother me at all, light sleepers expecting absolute silence might think twice about staying here.

The bathroom was clean, but unfortunately we didn't have hot water during our first night, and only luke warm water for showers in the morning. We mentioned this to the front desk at the morning, who responded by telling us that we should have called them. However, we didn't have their phone number in our room, and we didn't realize that "0" would have give us their front desk. As a result, the consierge deducted our parking fee (which was under $10 a night), and we were allowed to park there all day if we had wanted to.

Would I stay there again? Yes, but only if I wanted a simple, cheap place to rest my head for the night. If I wanted to be pampered, I would have chosen another hotel, or I would have tried to stay in one of their boutique rooms. The boutique rooms look absolutely beautiful!

Unique Quality: The Dominion Grand is both a budget hotel and a boutique hotel located in one of the oldest buildings in the city. However, if you're looking for one of their boutique rooms, be sure to specify it, otherwise you'll be put in one of their regular rooms.

There is a nice-looking restaurant-lounge called Syn downstairs and it looked rather nice. You can get 50% off on an entree there if you pick up the Dominion's brochure on the BC ferries.

There's also a "Serious Coffee" coffee shop in their lobby.

The TV channels go up to about channel 80, but you don't get every channel in between.

There's free coffee in each bedroom, but we didn't make any.

• Opinion of Price: less expensive than average
• Related to: Study Abroad, Budget Travel

Dalton Hotel And Suites Photo: The Dominion Hotel on Yates Street

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Don't expect much

The hotel looks nothing like the photos. Its pretty run down, but is undergoing renovations. The major problem we had was that we had arranged for a crib, both at the time of booking and I also called ahead and made sure one would be available. Well, when we checked in, guess what...no crib. They said the only crib that they had available was in use. I indicated that was unacceptable as I had made two inquiries to make sure one would be available. They then said not to worry that one would be brought up shortly. Two hours later and no crib. I called the front desk and they said they couldn't come up with one and offered to move us into a king room. I'm guessing they figured that would give us room to let our 6 month old sleep on the bed? My wife was livid and I suggested that perhaps they could have someone run out and buy a pack-n-play crib. They said they didn't have authority to do that and no manager was available. I asked when a manager would be available and they said in a few hours. So we had to go out and come back several hours later.....to finally find a crib in our room. We were prepared to find another hotel if that didn't happen. Overall, a pretty bad experience.

Unique Quality: Location is decent. Its probably worth the $80 we paid, but is no real value. Definately not a 3-star hotel.

Off Season = Reasonably Priced Accommodation

The best bargain in Victoria?

Well I'm not so sure about the "Grand" but the Dominion is certainly "grand" value for money. We stayed here in mid September for just $79 CAD and this even included breakfast, a packed lunch and a 3 course dinner. The rates are even lower off season, I have seen the room and all the means advertised for $59 CAD.

We had a quiet room at the rear of the hotel with a view of a wall so I can't comment on traffic noise if you get one of the rooms on the main street.

OK the dinners at Hunters the restaurant next door to the hotel were quite small though pretty tasty as far as I was concerned. The rooms reminded us of our stays in Paris, small dingy rooms in dire need of renovation but then I felt the place had some character. Staff were great and the location was spot on. There is a limited parking in front but when full guests can park in the public lot a minutes walk away. The charge is the same whereever you put the car at $9 from 12pm - 12pm the following day.

Unique Quality: We went to the museum on the second day of our visit to Victoria and I was flicking through some newspapers from 1922 and on the front page I saw a picture of Yates Street and the Dominion was still there looking exactly the same!

• Opinion of Price: least expensive

Dalton Hotel And Suites

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Hotel with Atmosphere

The Dominion is one of the oldest hotels in Victoria. The old restored building ha a lot of character and personality. It is not located directly on the Inner Harbour, but it's a five minutes walk. It is still in the heart of downtown Victoria, walking distance for most attractions. It's close to Fort street - the antique shops street.

Unique Quality: Location and atmosphere

• Opinion of Price: about average

Dalton Hotel And Suites Photo: hotel front

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The Dominion Hotel

We paid $80 per night for a luxury suite which is cheaper than a standard room over at the Empress. Plus the price included vouchers for dinner and breakfast.

Unique Quality: This is the oldest hotel in Victoria. The architecture is very nice and the entire hotel was in the process of being restored when we were there.

We stayed at an older place...

We stayed at an older place called the Dominion. It was in downtown Victoria, but very reasonable and ok for a hotel. It had very friendly people working there. THis is a picture of the lobby there.
Our price included a free dinner in the restaurant adjoined to it (which was VERY good), and a free breadfast in their other little restaurant. I think the cost was about $49/night. (Canadian dollars).

Unique Quality: They have about 12 parking spots. We managed to get one after the first day for an extra $5 / day. There's a parking garage about a block away that you can park in free after 6 until 9 (I think) in the morning.

• Opinion of Price: less expensive than average

Dalton Hotel And Suites

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