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A town is usually desperate when one of its key attractions is a hotel, but in the case of Victoria the Empress Hotel , 721 Government St (tel 384-8111), is so physically overbearing and plays such a part in the town's tourist appeal that it demands some sort of attention. You're unlikely to be staying here - rooms are very expensive - but it's worth wandering through the huge lobbies and palatial dining areas for a glimpse of well-restored colonial splendour. In a couple of lounges there's a fairly limp "Smart Casual" dress code - no dirty jeans, running shoes, short shorts or backpacks - but elsewhere you can wander at will. If you want take tea , which is why most casual visitors are here, enter the Tea Lounge by the hotel's side entrance (the right, or south side): there you can enjoy scones, biscuits, cakes and, of course, tea over six courses costing a whopping $42 but you have to abide by the dress code. In other lounges like the Bengal you can ask for just tea and scones. At the last count the hotel was serving 800 full teas a day in summer and 1.6 million cups of tea a year. The hotel's Crystal Lounge and its lovely Tiffany-glass dome forms the most opulent part of the hotel on view, but the marginally less ornate entrance lounge is the place for the charade of afternoon tea, and indulging can be a bit of a laugh. There's also a reasonable bar and restaurant downstairs, Kipling's , and the attractive Bengal Lounge , compete with tiger-skin over the fireplace, where you can have a curry and all the trimmings for about $15. For a splurge, try the London clubland surroundings - chesterfields and aspidistras - and the champagne-and-chocolate-cake special ($8.50) on offer in the lounge to the left of the entrance lobby. For an even bigger treat, take dinner amidst the Edwardian splendour of the Empress Dining Room . As one would expect, meals here are expensive, but the service and food are both top of the line.
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