London Arms

[VicHockeyFan]

That's right kids, a new pub is opening soon.

Manhattan and London Arms are two distinct new arrivals on the Victoria dining/pubbing/clubbing scene.

Both are located in the Super 8 Hotel at Douglas and Topaz.

There is a special gala preview opening on Thursday, February 28th at 4pm, upstairs in London Arms. All Vibrant Victoria members and friends are invited!

There will be a boat-load of door prizes, including an all-expenses-paid trip for two to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

[osmich]

Oh wow, a new pub and club at the "Super 8" motel let's go. Sure to be great hits with who?

[Nparker]

Out-of-work loggers, making their semi-annual trek into the "big city" from Sooke, Jordon River and Port Renfrew I would guess.

[G-Man]

There is quite the residential neighbourhood on the west side of Burnside I am sure that some of the people from there will go. Also there are plans to increase the density of this area with one new townhouse project planned for behind Douglas Centre. I would imagine in 10 years we won't recognize this area.

[Galvanized]

^Don't forget the neighbourhood on the other side of Blanshard too.

[VicHockeyFan]

Originally Posted by osmich

Oh wow, a new pub and club at the "Super 8" motel let's go. Sure to be great hits with who?

With who? The regular working guy for the most part. Gone are the days when an office worker can even think of having one beer at lunch. But the construction worker or travelling salesman can knock off at 2pm and go for beers. That's why Shark Club is dead at 2pm while a place like Goose and Trestle is firing on all cylinders. Shark Club still dead at 4pm, while Murph's (the old Tally Ho) is full.

V-Lounge on Douglas is very profitable, so is Blue Pearl in Langford and neither has an upscale clientele. No club has closed in Victoria in over 10 years for lack of business, so the club will take care of itself. Steamers closed because the owners retired and sold the building, Central lost their lease when the building changed hands, and Boom Boom closed because it was bought by a guy with lots of cash.

As for the pub, a survey done in 2003 for another company showed that 92% of day-time pub-goers in Victoria lived more than 5km from the place they were at. So to us, traffic counts on Douglas was more important than exact location. Super 8, not a great brand, but no worse than "The Ingy" where Bourbon St. and Al Capones were very successful over 17 years until the mid-90's when the hotel was sold to new owners that installed the two failed businesses there.

Now, having said all that, the financing of the new clubs solely comes from the very positive cash-flow of Soprano's, a backwater bar that sits on a side street out of the downtown core, and located in a run-down Travellers Inn hotel built in the 1960's. So go figure.

[Mike K.]

I'm sure these digs will do just fine.

There is a huge residential base within walking distance and plenty of people will stop there before heading downtown to hit more clubs or bars. Or it might be the other way around where people will start their partying downtown and then head "up town" on the new busway to London Arms

[VicHockeyFan]

15 days until grand opening.

[VicHockeyFan]

Today is the day. All VVers are welcome starting at 4pm. Free food and booze.

[Dylan Leblanc]

Mike and I are going to show up a little later.

[VicHockeyFan]

Thanks to all that showed. I think we put thru over 500 peeps.

[Dylan Leblanc]

I was quite surprised at the number of people who were there. Everyone was having a good time. You must really know how to get the word out!

[Mike K.]

London Arms and VibrantVictoria.ca are co-hosting a VV meet and greet! Come out and meet the VV crew and your fellow VV-ers as you enjoy an all-expenses-paid dinner with beverages! RSVP and more info here.

[VicHockeyFan]

London Arms is having a Neighbourhood Open House this Friday, starting at 4pm.

Everyone is welcome, free bite-sized menu samplers at 5:30.

[martini]

Oh jeez, I missed this.
I've only been to Floyd's for lunch, or popped into Liquor Plus. Nice to see these places opened up. Hope they do well.
There seemed to be a lot of changes there over the while.

[martini]

I see the London Arms is closed for renovations?

[Nparker]

Originally Posted by martini

I see the London Arms is closed for renovations?

Seems odd that such a new establishment (6 months since their "grand opening?) needs to renovate. It's been closed for several weeks now as well.

[VicHockeyFan]

London Arms now belongs to the hotel that owns the space. The operator pulled out due to problems with the nightclub underneath. There are no renovations, just an inept ownership group.