A Bike-Friendly Hotel
Victoria BC’s Hotel Zed, owner Mandy Farmer and the hotel’s revamped 1967 Volkswagen Bus which shuttles guests downtown. Photo credit: Hotel Zed.
Design and bike lover? Then you’ll likely fancy Victoria BC’s “ridiculously fun and eclectic” Hotel Zed which offers bike-friendly rooms, a 1967 VW bus shuttle and more.
Opened May 1, 2014, the 62-room hotel was re-designed, with bold colors, retro-style and modern technology in mind, by owner Mandy Farmer, her staff and Kimberly Williams Design. The former economy-level and basic blue-and-white Blue Ridge Inn was transformed into the mid-priced, mid-century-savvy and colorful Hotel Zed.
“Zed has a lot more leeway and rebellious fun, starting with the mega-watt color palette in the rooms and all over the property. The painters told us drivers stopped every 20 minutes to say thanks for brightening the ‘hood and their day!,” says Farmer.
During the hotel’s redesign, some of the many creative ideas incorporated include: comic books in bathrooms; high-tech media hubs; refurbished Tanker steel desks; working vintage dial phones; a vinyl-record listening station; a Ping Pong Lounge, typewriters; and free Wi-Fi and Wii games.
We love that Hotel Zed guests can rent-free, vintage-style bikes to ride downtown Victoria or nearby Galloping Goose Trail, a cyclist and pedestrian route. If you’re traveling with your bike, Hotel Zed’s Bike-Friendly Hotel Program includes:
- Free bikes;
- Ground floor rooms where you can stay with your bike;
- Bicycle wash & tuning station with a professional-grade bike stand;
- Advanced tool kit;
- Rags for cleaning your bike and
- A laundry room if you need to wash your riding gear.
Hotel Zed
3110 Douglas St
Victoria BC, Canada
V8Z 3K4
Web: www.hotelzed.com
