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VIDEO: Surrey’s Civic Hotel hosts grand opening

Hotel’s theme is ‘Celebrating B.C.’ with each floor representing a different region

Despite Civic Hotel opening to the public in April, the general manager said some people are still surprised to hear there is a new hotel in Surrey’s City Centre.

The Civic Hotel, Surrey’s newest highrise hotel in two decades, held its grand opening Wednesday, Sept. 19. The hotel is part of the Marriot International’s Autograph Collection hotels. It also includes restaurant Dominion Bar + Kitchen and Prado Café.

For the opening, the Now-Leader took part in a tour of the hotel which included visiting several guest rooms, the fitness centre, the pool and hot tub and the staff floor.

The hotel is part of 3 Civic Plaza, which also includes residences and commercial space that will be occupied by Kwantlen Polytechnic University. The residences and KPU are part of the 52-storey tower with KPU using five floors.

The hotel has 16 floors of guest rooms with the plan for a rooftop bar on the 22nd floor, said hotel general manager Franklin Jackson.

He said the rooftop bar isn’t open yet, but the plan is to have it open by next year. Although, Jackson said, the bar will only be for catered events.

“It has the best view in town.”

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The response for the hotel, which opened in the spring, has been “fantastic,” said Jackson. He added that people are still surprised to find out there is a hotel there now.

“Nobody thought there would be a hotel here. Some people still don’t know a hotel exists here.”

The hotel’s theme, he said, is “Celebrating B.C.” Jackson said each floor represents a different region of B.C. and each room on that floor represents a community in that region. He said there are nine rooms on each floor.

Civic Hotel also includes a fitness centre, pool and hot tub on the fourth floor. On the second floor are two ballrooms and two conference rooms.

Also on the second floor is a mural by Canadian artist Sandeep Johal. The mural shows a cityscape, but a penguin is included. Jackson said the penguin represents the hotel.

“We are daring, we choose to build the hotel in Whalley because nobody wanted to and we wanted to be different and daring. We like to be the first penguin in the water.”

As for Johal, she said the mural was a challenge from her usual work that generally includes a central female figure with bright, bold colours and patterns around her.

“It was a good challenge to think outside the box and to create something that was a bit more subdued and relaxing, but still do it in my style,” she said.

Johal, on hand at the opening, said the piece was her first client-driven mural. She said the mural took her nine days and she finished on Aug. 30.



lauren.collins@surreynowleader.com

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Civic Hotel general manager Franklin Jackson at the entrance to the second floor of the hotel. The Civic Hotel had its grand opening Wednesday, Sept. 19 but opened to customers back in April. (Photo: Lauren Collins)
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The Civic Hotel in Surrey City Centre had its grand opening Wednesday, Sept. 19. The 16-floor hotel includes 144 guest rooms with a theme of Celebrate B.C. (Photo: Lauren Collins)


Lauren Collins

About the Author: Lauren Collins

I'm a provincial reporter for Black Press Media's national team, after my journalism career took me across B.C. since I was 19 years old.
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