The Fairmont Empress is a beautiful and historic property, the staff is very professional and courteous, and the location is great. The one downside was that my room was between that of a loud family and I think a storage closet or some other space that the staff frequently had to get into, and also there was a lot of street noise. There's not much the staff can do to control the volume of other guests, but I was surprised that, given this is one of the higher-end hotels in Victoria, it seemed that nothing had been done to soundproof or insulate the walls and doors. Still overall a pleasant stay.