mahasamatman

The official public opening of Botanist appears to be Monday (the 24th).

Bohemian1

Scout magazine has a preview (including menu) here.

jdj84

http://www.botanistrestaurant.com/menu/

Bohemian1

Will be there for lunch on Thursday (April 27) and will report back.

AMRivlin

I am not a fan of the boutique plant arrays, feels too residential or temporary.

Will have to see how the food is.

Bohemian1

Went to Botanist today for lunch.

The bright, sunny (today anyway) space on the first floor is nicely laid out in about three open sections with the tables are a comfortable distance apart. The restaurant has a lot of sheers over the windows, but the hard floors make the space a bit noisy acoustically, although not to the point of distraction.

The lunch menu is fairly straightforward and also offered a two or three course lunch tasting menu for those with time constraints. My dining companion decided to try the lamb and lentil entrée and I opted for a starter of mussels followed by a vegetarian pasta dish. The lamb was nicely cooked and beautifully presented on ‘beluga’ lentils with some tomato puree. The mussels were served in a Moules Marinières style but with chucks of chorizo in the broth providing a bit of zip and accompanied by two perfectly grilled pieces of garlic baguette. The pasta was cavatelle served on top of an almost meaty vegetable ragu laced with pine nut and basil. The pasta and lamb were perfectly cooked and all dishes were nicely seasoned.

We did not ask to see the complete wine list , but did enjoy drinking a nice Sancerre chosen from their decent selection of wines by the glass.

I have a standing rule of not going to restaurants within 3 weeks on opening precisely because the service is rarely dialed in before then. There were a few rough spots in the team service, mainly with some delays at the beginning and some service items. But the food was all very tasty and we weren't in a particular rush. Shon the GM seemed to genuinely appreciate our constructive feedback about both the service and the food. Based on this admittedly small sample, we will be back in the future to try their dinner tasting menu.

mahasamatman

We had dinner at Botanist on Saturday and really enjoyed it. A tidbit of interest is the fact that the sommelière has her very own wine blend from the Okanagan Crush Pad.

cruisingmickey

How's this compared to the Hyatt? I'm Globalist with Hyatt. If I book with Virtuoso, that will come with an upgrade and breakfast as well so it looks like I'll receive the same benefits at both. The difference is about $100 usd between the two, with the Fairmont being $100 usd more.

Jasper2009

The Pacific Rim is several notches better than the Hyatt Regency. The former is a true 5* hotel while the latter is a rather generic Hyatt Regency (more 4*).

Rates at the Pacifc Rim are often double those at the Hyatt Regency, so if it's "only" $100 more during your dates, that's an excellent deal.

The only scenario where I may consider staying at the Hyatt is if I had to choose between a one-bedroom suite at the Hyatt (using a suite upgrade cert) and an entry-level room at the Fairmont.

CanuckFlyHigh

It doesnt compare.

Bohemian1

+1 to that. Pac Rim all the way if you can afford it.

cruisingmickey

Thanks everyone for your reply. I'll stick with Fairmont. This will be my first. I've never stayed in one before. I'm hoping to be able to apply my upgrade cert/suite cert to this booking. I wonder if that will work on top of the Virtuoso benefits?

Jasper2009

Yes, definitely no problem at all.

SOWK

You won't be disappointed with the Pacific Rim, even in a standard room! While room upgrade certificates never seem to be a problem, suite upgrades are basically nonexistent (I've managed to use one over the years, and it was for a one night stay. Beautiful suite though).

gizayabasu

So is there pretty much no availability for suite upgrades at Pacific Rim?

Would your recommend staying at Pacific Rim with a room upgrade vs. another Fairmont property in Vancouver with a suite upgrade?

Any recommendations on this?