World Traveller 73 
Review: The Crest Hotel, Prince Rupert, Canada
My latest work trip had me travelling to the northern British Columbia coastal city of Prince Rupert. With only one real hotel in town, I ended up staying at the Crest Hotel Prince Rupert. The Crest Hotel Prince Rupert has been the place to stay in Prince Rupert since the sixties. Returning back to the Crest Hotel, how would my latest remote hotel experience fare?
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Review: The Crest Hotel, Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada
“The only place to really stay in Prince Rupert – British Columbia, the Crest Hotel of Prince Rupert’s somewhat dated shell is redeemed through excellent food and beverage at the hotels Waterfront Restaurant”
On this day, a work trip took me to the Pacific Coastal city of Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada. The city of Prince Rupert is located about half way up the coast line of British Columbia.
Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada is an isolated port city located at the end of a VIA Rail train line. While it used to be a major industry town, it’s fortunes have lessened and it is currently going through a period of infrastructure renewal. While it used to be served by up to five flights per day from Air Canada and Westjet, it’s now only served by one Dash–8 flight per day, on each carrier.
There is really only one hotel in town and that hotel is the Crest Hotel in Prince Rupert. There are no franchise hotel options, meaning that the Crest Hotel was going to be the hotel only hotel option for my stay.
Booking the Crest Hotel:
The hotel itself wasn’t working very well with my corporate travel agency. As a result I navigated over to the hotel’s website and made a booking direct.
I was able to complete a booking into a deluxe room. Unlike most other online booking portals, while the reservation was not instantly confirmed, it was confirmed by email within 48 hours. Within the email, I received a confirmation letter which outlined the cancellation policy as well as the room rate.
Getting to The Crest Hotel:
There are limited options for flying into Prince Rupert. The Prince Rupert Airport offers a few flights at day served by Air Canada and Westjet. At the time of my visit, it was a “one a day” frequency by each carrier.
The Crest Hotel is centrally located in the town of Prince Rupert, BC. While it is located on the water, it’s fairly close to most other amenities around town. It’s also across the street from a Safeway grocery store, which makes it handy for supplies such as bottled water or “in room” snacks.
The hotel is also accessible by car at the western end of Highway 16; a mere 8 hours drive and 720 kilometres drive from the central British Columbia town of Prince George, BC.
On the approach, the hotel isn’t super impressive. Since the hotel was built in 1961, it has a bit of a dated look to the outside. Along with hotels of that era, it features a parking lot immediately outside of it’s front doors.
The wind in Prince Rupert is so strong, that the Crest Hotel is one of the few hotels that I have visited that has a windscreen located immediately outside the front door. The windscreen is retractable, which allows the hotel to insulate the lobby from coastal breezes.
Fortunately, my stay wasn’t too windy. The weather was actually pretty favourable and dry during my visit, despite being a little grey.
Checking into the Crest Hotel:
Immediately upon entering the Crest Hotel, I was left with a bit of a dated looking introduction to the lobby. With the wooden panelling, It was reminiscent of a men’s club from the 1990s. The lobby featured extensive wood paneling, comfortable elegant furniture, along with local artwork.
I was promptly attended to at the front desk. My rate was confirmed and I was assigned my City / Mountain View Queen room. I did not get any further upgrade.
The Room: A City / Mountain View Queen
I headed down the hallway immediately off the front desk. I was assigned room #114, which was a short walk down on the ground floor.
When you stay at the Crest Hote, it’s a sharp first impression when you enter the hotel room. The hotel room represents decor from another era. While everything was exceptionally well maintained, it has a look and style from a different generation.
The room decor offers browns, greens and ornate styled furniture. It is great from a period perspective. However, it did remind me of my grandparent’s house in eighties; less the flat screen televisions.
The room offered a comfortable back lounger and foot stool. This was great for watching television.
The room offered a small desk for laptop connections and drops. While I didn’t actually do any work on site, I did use the space for charging of devices.
The room featured what you’d normally expect in a fully featured hotel room. The room offered an empty mini fridge, a Hamilton Beech drip coffee maker along with some glassware.
The bathroom had been modernized with fresh tiling. It offered a compact space with limited spots to drop your toiletries, as a result of the pedestal sink.
Being on the ground floor, the view from the room was not all that inspiring. The view from my room was over the smoking pit near the entrance. I ended up keeping the blinds closed most of the time that I was in the room, since everyone had a view directly into my sleeping space.
Despite the close proximity to the parking lot, I had a solid sleep at the hotel. I didn’t experience much noise from the parking lot, entrance or the hall way.
Around the Hotel Property:
The Crest Hotel Prince Rupert offers most hotel features of what you’d expect from a full service hotel. The best feature of the hotel was the food and beverage.
Food and Beverage:
The Crest Hotel offers three food and beverage experiences. The full service Waterfront Restaurant, the Charley’s Lounge and the Crest Café. I would get the opportunity to test out one out of three of these options.
The Crest Café
The Crest Café is pictured in the background of this first photograph. It offered take a way coffees, along with a few pastries.
I didn’t actually end up using the Crest Café during my stay. In the morning, I found quite a few queues here with people that didn’t seem to be moving.
I ended up walking across the street to the Safeway grocery store for the embedded Starbucks located inside. However, it if were raining (like it is known to do in Price Rupert), the Crest Café might be just up your alley for a convenient morning coffee fix.
Charley’s Lounge:
Immediately off the lobby was the popular Charley’s Lounge. The Charley’s Lounge was almost always fully occupied during the weekday evenings during my stay. It offered a brisk business, serving both hotel guests and people visiting the hotel.
Waterfront Restaurant:
Instead of the Charley’s Lounge, I ended up in the Waterfront Restaurant on two separate visits. These would include a morning breakfast and a late dinner.
After work event, I ended up at the Waterfront Restaurant for a late dinner. The menu’s were actually quite intriguing for a hotel in a small town in the middle of nowhere.
What really brought me to the restaurant was the featured “Halibut-fest” that my fellow other business travellers were raving about. During my visit, it was a spring time halibut season, and as such, I ended up enjoying some of the freshest halibut on offer.
I enjoyed a halibut shrimp cake, which was an enjoyable appetizer almost large enough to be a main course. It was tasty and perfect for a late dinner.
On my second visit to Waterfront Restaurant, I passed though for a full breakfast.
I ended up enjoying a smoked salmon Eggs Benedict, which was topped with parsley and paprika. It was nicely prepared, although a little light on the smash-brown potatoes.
Despite this, the breakfast view from the Waterfront Restaurant is to die for. There’s nothing wrong with a pristine view like this.
While the waterfront location of the Crest Hotel is spectacular, unless you book yourself a water front view room, you’re not apt to get to fully experience it.
In my case, since I had a city view hotel room, I rarely got to see the water while I stayed in the hotel.
Checking Out of The Crest Hotel:
I didn’t have any issues checking out of the Crest Hotel. Check out time was at 11 AM.
My hotel bill was as expected. Since the hotel doesn’t participate in any major loyalty programs, the only excitement in this area will be related to the credit card that you use to charge your room.
The Bottom Line: The Crest Hotel Prince Rupert
I always find it interesting to review rural properties on the work travel circuit. In this case, travels took me to the Crest Hotel Prince Rupert. With no other real options in the area, it became a home for a three night stay.
While the room and the hotel furnishings weren’t exactly to my taste, the food and beverage from Waterfront Restaurant were the highlight of my stay. I have to commend the hotel for keeping things interesting with it’s Halibut-fest menu.
Overall, I’d return again if travels brought me back to Prince Rupert.
World Traveller 73 
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