afternoon tea - the fairmont empress hotel

the setting & the price ($59 per person)are stunning - but the experience was a disappointment. scones & strawberries were tasty & fresh, but the sandwiches & pastries were stale. even the signature tea was bland. the kitchen needs to do better!

tradition at it's finest. of course you can find tea at a better price but there is so much more to a high tea than that! if you have never had tea (i mean high tea) you need to experience this at least once at the empress. the price varies depending on the time of year or did when i was there last. it was 45$ and is a great place to introduce your young daughter or grand-daughter to the magic of tea. i took my mother and will remember this as one of our special moments. you will dine on royal china and use real silverware that is sold in their boutique so you can bring a tea cup home as souvenir. the sale of china at their boutique actualy helps pay to replace the royal china at the hotel. ok back to the food...starwberries or fresh fruit in season with cream, scones, assorted tea sandwichs, petits-fours and their own blend of tea which they give you to take home. i also like the fact that they will give you a box with your left overs to take with you since there is no way to finish everything. the experience is memorable and i measure other teas to this one. i will go back!

at $49.95, afternoon tea at the empress hotel is a steep proposition; it is a further +$15 to try one of their more interesting teas. if paying for heritage ambiance and to literally dine as the royals did, then you will not blink at the price. if a tasty and interesting afternoon tea is your sole aim, then look elsewhere.

truly a tasty and fun experience to step back in time, for a time honored tradition.

tea @ the empress, cheap? no. a traditional tea with sandwiches, scones, desserts, tea and fruit served with cp silver? absolutely! it's an experience, with can't-be-beat-views and professional service. hot tip: coming in march? there's a 50% off deal with the be a tourist promotion.

pretentious and over priced. this is embarassing for victoria. the empress is a beautiful landmark, but when it comes to food, it is over priced and mediocre to poor.
the high tea is not impressive at all, but the price tag sure is. they must of been high when they came up with this

ha ha ha... suckers! what can one expect from a us managed chain hotel...? well, for the price a lot more quality than you get for the money - the atmosphere is good, the service is hit or miss, the tea is ordinary and the food is pretty unimaginative - there are better places to go for less money and better fare

it’s a “been there, done that” kind of thing, but i would recommend any visitors to victoria to go to the empress and have afternoon tea there. we had a great time!

i have many childhood memories of going for afternoon tea at the fairmont and it is still one of my favourite things to do on special occasions! many people make the irritating error of calling this high tea as they think it sounds fancier, when in fact high tea refers only to the height of the table and is usually a much less formal, supper-like meal. as for complaint about the price, your are paying for the experience, the white glove service, the china gifted by the queen, the intricate carvings on the banister and yes the wonderful food and tea. if that is all you care about however, go to one of the other tea rooms around victoria with very little ambiance, and prices to match.

over-rated. the atmosphere is great in the dining room (high tea), but the quality of the pastries/mini-sandwiches and their so-called special tea are way over-rated for the price you pay. have had better high tea. but the experience was still a memorable one with its grand decor and great services. i think i would rather spend money on their indian buffet. :-)

the experience at the empress was great! the service, ambience was extremely enjoyable and i recommend anyone visiting victoria to try. i do personally feel however the meal was way overpriced for what i received.

ever since my first afternoon tea experience at hotel vancouver , i've been on a constant search for the best afternoon tea in the lower mainland. though located all the way across the georgia strait in victoria, fairmont empress is well-known for its traditional tea service which has been enjoyed by the queen herself in the famous tea lobby overlooking the harbour. i finally got the chance to try it over the long weekend, and was absolutely in awe upon entering the venue. i could tell the place was aged, but the general ambiance was just so grand and regal. the price for afternoon tea is $58/person for the summer months and quite a bit cheaper at $47/person during the winter. but for december 23-26, the hotel offered a special carol afternoon tea for $58/person. as we enjoyed our tea, 7 carolers moved around the lobby singing christmas carols a cappella. as we browsed through the list of teas, our server brought each of us 2 chocolate-covered strawberries to munch on. while i enjoyed

overpriced. we were visiting victoria for the weekend so we did one of the main touristy things and went to afternoon tea at the empress. the experience was nice, but not one i would repeat. the furniture and decor were elegant and very appropriate for the empress and the food and tea was good. they even accommodated our diet (pescetarian) with no advance notice. and the service was certainly very good. however, in retrospect it was definitely not worth $60 per person. i like expensive meals, but not meals that cost more than they merit, and for $60 i expect to be treated as the empress victoria herself. the experience definitely fell short of that. with so many tourists in the tea room coming and going, there was a constant clatter of dishes on tables, and the live piano advertised on their website was conspicuously absent. it felt like almost as much a diner as a tea room.

luckily though i wasn't thinking of the cost at all while i was there so i still had a good time.

in the end we left the empress feeling very satisfied and very happy that we decided to come here for tea, despite our preconceived notions of it being a place just for tourists.

scrumptious yes. tasty yes. extremely overpriced yes. because of this i will only go there once or twice a year