Richmond’s luxury boutique airport hotel rich with whisky

Your flight’s been cancelled or you have a big layover at Vancouver International Airport and need to spend the night.

Or you live in the Vancouver area and simply want to have a deluxe staycation.

Those are just three reasons — and there are many — to check out the 100-room-and-suite Versante Hotel, billed as the first luxury boutique hotel in Richmond (just minutes from Vancouver) and only a 10-minute drive from the airport.

From the moment Versante’s informative and friendly shuttle driver Ewan picks us up (you just call the hotel for a ride upon arrival), there’s a sense this is going to be a very different experience than what you might get at one of the typical chain hotels found near any airport.

The lobby, for starters, is eye catching for its unusual artwork including the handcrafted chinoiserie rug by Andy Dixon, a rug copy of the painting that is hanging in the hotel’s signature Versante two-bedroom penthouse suite, and a charcoal sculpture by Marie Khouri behind the reception desk

And then there’s a second-floor, unisex, Chinese-inspired red and black and gold bathroom, complete with golden lion door knockers and Chinese lanterns, which was recently nominated for most beautiful in the country by Cintas Canada.

The rooms themselves are disarmingly quiet — despite planes constantly landing overhead you don’t hear a thing — and our king-size superior room features a soaker tub, rainforest shower with heated floor, Red Flower bath and shower amenities, Dyson hair dryer, blackout curtains, and an unusual feature that allows you to custom tint your room windows.

Truthfully, we walk to a nearby Starbucks for a much-needed jolt of caffeine as still to come to the property is a coffee shop.

Also helping us wake up is an outdoor rooftop heated saltwater pool and jacuzzi — accessed via the state-of-the-art fitness room that has Peloton bikes and a mirror with workout technology — with a view of the mountains.

Both are open 24 hours and we check out the pool and jacuzzi again in the morning.

Little did we know that our approaching dinner and whisky tasting at the intimate and ultra-cool looking 65-seat Cask Whisky Vault, which is adjacent to the hotel’s Oo La Cha Mediterranean-influenced restaurant, will be the highlight of the trip.

With hundreds of varieties of single malts, bourbons and blended whiskies and an izakaya robata grill — essentially bite-sized Japanese food — you feel as if you’ve entered someone’s cinematic idea of a bar space not unlike one you might see the robbery gang frequent in Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s Eleven.

With its green and brown leather seating, nine-metre bar, and oversized black and white photographs of whisky-producing countries, it seems a shame not to take advantage of the private tasting vault in which we find ourselves surrounded by hundreds of perfectly lit and arranged bottles.

I make it through three countries — Japan (The Matsui), Scotland (The Dalmore aged 15 years, The Classic Laddie, Bowmore, aged 18 years) and Ireland (Redbreast) in five tastings while dining on such delicious snacks as Chicken Nanban, Robata like Wagyu Beef Skewer, and a savoury offering of Beef Short Rib.

The single most expensive item on the drinks menu is a Macallan 30-year sherry oak that goes for $1,050 for a one-ounce drink and $1,750 for two ounces.

We’re told it’s never been ordered but, hey, the hotel only opened in July 2021 so there’s always a first time.

Seriously, it’s such a beautiful experience, it’s kind of hard to leave, especially when a three-piece strikes up the band at 8 p.m. (They play Thursdays and Sundays and Cask is open Wednesday to Sunday.)

In the morning, we check out breakfast at Versante’s other onsite restaurant Bruno, seeking coffee, fresh orange juice and champagne, eggs Benedict , fruit salad and toast while seated in a pretty grey leather banquette with nearby fresh flowers.

Following breakfast, it’s time to work off our food with some outdoor shopping at the 80-store McArthurGlen Discount Outlet Mall, only five minutes from the airport, and Ewan shows up to take us there.

For those on a flight stoppage or layover, the mall conveniently has storage lockers for luggage, and the Canada Line stop is Templeton Station if you’re coming straight from the airport.

There’s everything from Puma and Adidas to Versace and Ports 1961 and a European coffee shop, Caffe Artigiano, for one last iced latte before we take off again by personalized shuttle.

But if you still require sustenance after shopping, there’s Jade Seafood Restaurant — part of Richmond’s Dumpling Trail — for Chinese dim sum where it’s really hopping at lunch time with diners ordering everything from sticky rice to shrimp dumplings and more.

Me? I just want to go back to Cask.

IF YOU GO

FLY: aircanada.com
STAY: versantehotel.com
EAT: Onsite at Bruno. Jade Seafood Restaurant for Chinese dim sum five minutes away.
DRINK: Onsite at Cask Whisky Vault.
SHOP: McArthurGlen Designer Outlet, five minutes away.