Vancouver, B.C., Trump Tower opens two days before Trump inauguration

Photo: Martin Child/Getty Images Trump International Hotel and Tower (under construction) Vancouver

The delayed, controversial Trump International Hotel and Tower in Vancouver, B.C., is set to open January 18, 2017, a bare two days before President Donald Trump is inaugurated in Washington, D.C.

Rates for the 147 rooms at the 63-story hotel, at its opening, start at $318.51 a night (Canadian), not counting taxes and other fees.

The hotel, developed by the Holborn Group and run by the Trump Organization, is being touted as "Vancouver's most coveted address" and "Vancouver's landmark address" and has been described by Donald Trump as as "totally magnificent.

"Join the Trump lifestyle," says one invitation on its website.

Before the unexpected result of last November's election in "the States," a promotion contest was offering the lucky winner a limousine ride, a free room plus the opportunity to meet with members of the Trump family.

Not everyone wants in.

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"I think none of it reflects our tolerant, progressive, dynamic city: There is nothing coveted about Mr. Trump's open bigotry, disdain for the environment, promotion of inequality and contempt for others," said Adrian Dix, a member of the British Columbia Legislature from Vancouver.

Rafe Mair, a former British Columbia cabinet minister and later a popular on-line radio host, feels that the Trump Tower will fit right in with the "undistinguished" architecture of Canada's third largest city. Said Rafe:

"Since I was born in Vancouver, I perhaps have a different view of things than others do but I think basically we look at new edifices like the Trump Tower with a view to determining its place in the General List of Ugliness (GLU) of which we all maintain an individual copy with each of us having an untrammeled right to amend it to suit."

Mair is predicting that Trump, or at least the Trump brand, will for once be upstaged.

"The citizens of Vancouver have always been far more interested in when, if ever, the sun will come out again," he said, "knowing that in the event it does, one look at the North Shore mountains makes all else pale into insignificance."

City officials, led by Mayor Gregor Robertson, wanted Trump's name taken off the skyscraper, after then-candidate Trump called for a ban to Muslims entering the U.S. A petition to Holborn was signed by 50,000 people.

"Trump's name and brand have no more place on Vancouver's skyline than his ignorant ideas have in the modern world," Robertson said in a letter to Holborn.

The voters of America's Rust Belt states felt otherwise. Holborn is exultant in its Trump Tower website.

"Trump International Hotel and Tower Vancouver will be the icon in the city's skyline: Bringing an unprecedented level of luxury lifestyle and service that will anchor Vancouver as an international gateway city," Joo Kim Tiah, head of Holborn, said of the $360 million (Canadian) project.

The penthouses atop Trump Tower go for $20 million (c). The premises will feature a 6,000 square foot Trump Spa and Vancouver's first pool bar nightclub.

"It will be a spectacular addition to a very beautiful city," Donald Trump said when he appeared to launch the project.

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Others say that Vancouver's status as an international city is rooted in its people, not its buildings.

Joy Foy, national campaign director with the Wilderness Committee, which has helped establish many of British Columbia's provincial parks, reflected:

"My mom was born in England, my wife in the Philippines: We have family roots that spread across the globe. My grandma was born in Vancouver in 1903 and as I write this, I am waiting for the news that my grandson has arrived -- at the local public hospital. Trump-think has no place in my world."

The Trump Tower, at 1133 W. Georgia, is Vancouver's second tallest building.

It was to be suite of an office tower, but developers in the 1990's ran out of money, leaving skeletal remains of their project. It was then the planned site of a Ritz Carlton Hotel, until the 2008 financial crisis.

But that was yesterday. For the wealthiest Trump Tower patrons, a new offering coincides with the opening:

"Trump Lux: By invitation only trademark) ensures that you are always on the VIP list at all the right places."