Indu Brar is the first female General Manager of the Fairmont Empress since its
opening in 1908. She has lead the property’s two-year renovation, completed in
June 2017, and gives us insight into maintaining the historical integrity of an iconic
building while introducing modern design elements that surprise and delight.
YOU RECENTLY COMPLETED A TWO YEAR, 60-MILLION-DOLLAR
RESTORATION OF THE FAIRMONT EMPRESS, WITH THE THEME
“RETURN OF THE QUEEN”, BASED ON THE QUEEN VICTORIA, WHO
WAS EMPRESS OF INDIA. CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT IT?
The renovation took two years, it was staged October to May during our quieter
season as there was too much demand to shut it down, which is why it took so
long. We did the main building first, then refreshed the lobby, Fairmont Gold
room and health club, pool area and, spa. It was originally meant to be a 35 million
dollar renovation and ended up being north of 60,000.
We have tried to keep the elegant historical elements and marry them with
modern touches in a way that honors the past but really forges the future.
Today’s savvy world traveler is looking for a unique venue and destination so we
chose to keep the original ceiling in the Q Bar, for example, and marry it with
contemporary light fixtures and artwork with a statement slab bar counter that
makes the atmospheric environment come to life.
Our Lobby Lounge is home to our famous Tea at the Empress, a magical tea
experience with 21 loose leaf teas and hand-crafted scones, pastries, clotted
creams and strawberry preserves with fresh lavender from our rooftop garden. It
is still a very traditional affair where guests dress up and enjoy all that is elegant
and refined about tea. We took the original chandeliers and refaced them with
beautiful understated covers so that they would look like they have always been
there.
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