The Oriental Club Welcomes Members of The Union Club of British Columbia

The Oriental Club is delighted to welcome Members of The Union Club of British Columbia when they visit London.

The Club, situated in a quiet cul-de-sac close to Bond Street has forty bedrooms, offering a range of accommodation from single rooms to luxury suites. The Dining Room offers a wide range of menu options from the traditional Roast of the Day and Club Classics to more contemporary, seasonal dishes and, of course, the famous and ever popular Oriental Club curries. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served from Monday to Friday in the Dining Room. The Calcutta Light Horse Bar and Terrace provide an alternative to the Members’ Bar and serve food throughout the day, including Oysters, Burgers and Salads. The Calcutta Light Horse Bar is also open on Saturdays offering a hot and cold food menu and a sandwich menu is available on Sundays.

All Club rooms and the Courtyard are open to ladies, gentlemen and children over eleven years old. Accommodation may also be reserved, subject to availability and a range of private dining rooms are available.

All Members of The Union Club of British Columbia will be offered a glass of Champagne to welcome them to the Club. I look forward to seeing Union Club Members and their guests when they are in London.

Best wishes,

Matthew Rivett,

Club Secretary

www.orientalclub.org.uk

 

Victoria is the Best City in Canada to Be a Woman

A new study suggests Victoria is the best city in Canada to be a woman, despite the wage gap between men and women there worsening slightly in recent years.

The study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives looks at differences between men’s and women’s access to economic and personal security, education, health and positions of leadership in Canada’s 25 biggest cities.

The CCPA says Victoria is the only city on the list where more women than men are employed, and they account for nearly half of all senior managers and elected officials.

But it says the wage gap in the city is on par with the rest of the country, with women earning 73 per cent of what men do — slightly worse than five years ago.

In Windsor, Ont., which ranked worst in the study, the wage gap is actually smaller than average, with women making about 75 per cent of what men earn.

But the study says only 23 per cent of elected officials and 34 per cent of senior managers in the region are women, and women are more likely to be living below the poverty line than men.

The CCPA also says that sexual assault is the only violent crime that’s not on the decline in Canada, and every city still struggles with high rates of sexual and domestic violence.

“Statistics will never be a substitute for the full experience of lives lived. But as signposts they mark the spot where more attention is needed from our political leaders and policy-makers,” says study author Kate McInturff, a senior researcher at CCPA. “We hope they follow through.”

____

Here is the CCPA’s ranking of the cities it studied:

1. Victoria

2. Gatineau

3. Hamilton

4. Kingston

5. Vancouver

6. Quebec City

7. St. John’s

8. Sherbrooke

9. Halifax

10. Toronto

11. Ottawa

12. London

13. Kelowna

14. Abbotsford-Mission

15. Montreal

16. St. Catharines-Niagara

17. Winnipeg

18. Edmonton

19. Saskatoon

20. Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo

21. Regina

22. Calgary

23. Barrie

24. Oshawa

25. Windsor

Douglas Magazine Talks to Steve Wallace

Douglas Magazine talks to Steve Wallace, the ex-politician/driving instructor/sports fanatic/entrepreneurial whirlwind who says what he thinks, damn the torpedoes, and, as the owner of Wallace Driving School, says he’s in the business of saving lives.

(Union Club member) Steve Wallace sports a wide-brimmed hat, a blue windbreaker and a grin as we set out in a car bearing the logo of Wallace Driving School.

We stop in Esquimalt where his student, a Syrian refugee, lives. The young man, Jawdat Belal, is one of more than two dozen Syrians getting lessons from Wallace. The instructions are free for heads of privately sponsored refugee families.

“Signal right and show me how good you are, and don’t scare the heck out of Jeff, right?” he tells his 17-year-old student as we head out.

Wallace’s trademark hat, to say nothing of his constant wisecracks, gives him a bit of a cowboy air, perhaps befitting someone who rode in from the Cariboo a decade ago to relaunch his business in B.C.’s capital city. He’s been a driving instructor for more than 40 years, starting in Quesnel’s school system (he’s a certified teacher) and then setting up his own business, which now serves Victoria and Vancouver Island. He’s also well known in political circles, having served as mayor of Quesnel from 1990 to 2002, as president of the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) and even once running provincially for the B.C. Liberals.

Today both Wallace and his vehicles with their bright-green logos are familiar sites around Victoria.

“He’s the best,” Belal says of his instructor. “I feel good, yeah. It’s very nice since I start driving with Steve. I’ve started to get better and better.”

Belal hopes to get his driving licence to help him attend classes at Camosun College. Looking serious, he says little as he surveys the road and traffic conditions, hanging on every word from Wallace.

“No one-hand stuff,” Wallace chides him. “Don’t give me that Syrian [driving] stuff. Give me the old Canadian stuff. Look back. Now bring it back … more, more, more … and stop. Pretty good.”

And so it goes. In a one-and-a-half-hour lesson, Wallace covers the fundamentals of driving, while also touching on politics, baseball, hockey, philosophy, business, cars, tires and family.

Halfway through the lesson Wallace asks Belal, “How’s your dad doing? Good? Did his health problems get straightened out? On your gas … See the light?”

Certainly it’s a less intimidating environment than the Syrian teenager would have encountered in his hometown of Aleppo, the war-torn city where he lived before his family came to Canada a year and a half ago. Wallace is sensitive to the unique driving challenges they face.

“The people that come out of Aleppo who I teach, the mature people like Jawdat’s dad, they’re looking for the tops of buildings for snipers. They’re looking for IEDs (improvised explosive devices),” he says. “If the road is disturbed they don’t want to go over that section of the road because they figure it might blow up.”

His student, who he notes should be able to pass his driving test after a few more lessons, says driving in Canada is all about following the rules: “In Syria there are no rules.”

A Passionate Approach to Teaching

So why is this veteran driving instructor offering his services free of charge to refugees? Wallace credits his upbringing in Montreal: “My mother was the eldest of 11 kids, right? And she said, ‘Don’t ever refuse somebody who really needs your help.’”

But someone who has known Wallace for 30 years also sees this as the work of a savvy businessman. “I am not going to impugn his motives, but that is a very wise business promotion tactic,” says former Fort St. John mayor Steve Thorlakson, who, along with Wallace, used to hold court for the media at UBCM conventions in the days when they were both involved in municipal politics.

“Everybody down [on the Island] is to the left of Joe Stalin,” Thorlakson says of his perception of B.C.’s capital city. “I genuinely commend him, but I also recognize the cleverness of the business benefits he derives as the result of his not entirely altruistic heart.”

He describes Wallace as bright, articulate, creative and adaptable, “so it doesn’t surprise me that he is doing that with his business in Victoria.”

And there’s no doubt Wallace’s approach is working in what one of Wallace’s mentors, Josie Briton, describes as a fiercely competitive business. Briton is the owner of the North Shore Driving School in North Vancouver and Burnaby. She says Wallace is someone who is “always thinking of progress and touching all parts of the industry. He’s a very, very devoted, very passionate fellow towards driving schools.”

As for Wallace, he notes that his business has taught more than 25,000 people to drive, including the grandchildren of some of his first driving students.

At Wallace Driving School, Business Meets Sport

He’s also big on community. His business sponsorships include the Royals and the Grizzlies hockey teams, and the HarbourCats baseball club. A sports fanatic, he’s out almost every night, turning up at baseball, hockey, soccer and lacrosse games. There’s even a small baseball bat tucked down by the seat of his car. It’s just there, Wallace tells me, in case the car is ever immersed in the water and he has to break a window to escape.

At a recent HarbourCats game, I sit next to Rick Town, one of the instructors who works for Wallace and one of his old friends from their days at theUniversity of Manitoba in the early 1970s. Town notes Wallace’s “larger-than-life” personality and his support for the community and sports.

“Every time he walks by any group of people at all, people gravitate towards him and give him high-fives. That type of flamboyance translates into a really caring, giving aspect of his life.”

A flamboyant driving instructor? It hardly fits the stodgy stereotype — that of a middle-aged fellow with a conservative jacket and tie, sitting ramrod straight in the passenger seat, clipboard in hand, unsmiling.

At the HarbourCats game, I notice Wallace is constantly on the go. He starts the evening at the game greeting folks at the gate, then sits behind home plate, moves a few rows back with us for a while and also finds time to work the crowd, burger in hand.

He’s anything but one-dimensional. Case in point: While you’d think a driving instructor might not be a big cycling supporter, John Luton, a long-time cycling advocate and transportation consultant in Victoria, says Wallace is a keen supporter of Bike to Work Week and recreational cycling. In fact, Wallace and Luton have waged annual cyclist-versus-motorist commuting challenges that Wallace writes about in his Times-Colonist column.

“Others have blinders on about cyclists being uniformly scofflaws and parasites on the transportation system, and Steve is much more balanced, so he is refreshing in that respect,” Luton says.

Wallace happily accepts all the compliments. He says he’s doing a lot of things that set his business apart from the pack.

“The key thing with us is the instructors have to be the best in the business,” he tells me in an interview in his downtown Victoria office. “We choose them for success in parallel pursuits.”

Wallace Driving School employs about 15 instructors. One is a former captain in the navy, another is a former deputy police chief, one has a day job as a senior bureaucrat, one was a semi-pro baseball player, another a soccer coach and yet another, like Wallace, is a former municipal politician and UBCM president.

“We want people who have had stellar performances in a related field,” Wallace says.

“They can tailor their instruction to individual students, readily spotting those with special needs. They’re also people who have skin in the game. The majority of our instructors own their own vehicles and they own their own business and they exclusively contract with us.”

An Eye On the Future

Step into the office of Wallace Driving School and you enter a world with some of the latest in driver-training technology. In fact, it’s more a classroom or computer lab than an office.

Wallace’s wife, Joan, a shareholder and adviser, says, “Steve is the strategist. He’s always planning ahead.”

She holds a senior position with the Driving Schools Association of the Americas (something Wallace himself has done in the past), and they attend conventions throughout North America, keeping abreast of the latest innovations.

“Joan is the tactician,” Wallace responds. “She will say, ‘That’s a great idea.’ And I will turn to her and say, ‘How do we do this?’”

Today, Joan demonstrates the “Intoxiclock,” which tells drivers how long it would take to burn off a couple of drinks. There are also simulators that judge drivers’ reaction to hazards on the road. Then there’s the Promethean Board, which projects street scenes from London, Paris, Rome, or, for that matter, downtown Victoria, on a screen so students can plot their moves.

And, of course, there are tests, including Distract-A-Match, a distraction test that requires students to match brightly coloured foam pieces to shapes on a board, without using the same colour twice, and simultaneously counting backwards from 100.

The first time I try it, I fail with flying colours, hesitating 15 times, losing points, finishing with zero. The second time, I try it while wearing “drunk goggles,” which distort the images. This time I actually pick up the pace: “86-85-84-83…” I feel bewildered as I count. “Green twice!” Wallace snaps. “Look at him go. That’s fantastic. You drive better drunk, man!” I still end up with zero.

At the end of my visit, I’m left wondering if I could pass any of these tests or even get a driver’s licence today.

The courses here can cost up to $1,200 for the “full-meal deal,” which is the ICBC Graduated Licensing course that Wallace says is the best in North America. If students fail their driving tests the first time, Wallace takes them in hand and offers more instruction free of charge until they pass.

He says there are still driving schools that have rote instruction. “They don’t teach driving; they teach testing, [they] charge lower rates and don’t offer the Graduated Licensing course.”

The Proof is in the Driving

Ultimately, though, Wallace’s success rests on the success of his students. A few weeks after our interview, he calls me to let me know young Jawdat Belal passed his driving test. He is obviously pleased, having taken the young man under his wing last year.

“He’s very happy,” Wallace says of Belal. “He made only two minor errors. It’s like getting an A-minus on the test.”

How good a driver is Belal? “He’ll be good,” says Wallace. “He’s probably driven illegally in a war zone … So he had all these traits of someone who had been driving illegally because of the nature of where they were.”

Whoever he is teaching, ultimately Wallace says he’s in the business of keeping people alive on the road.

“If you have the most life-threatening activity known to mankind,” he says about driving, “and you have someone who is less than the best to do it, are you out of your mind? Why don’t you just get your dad to do the appendectomy on the kitchen table, or get the knife out and do a root canal for you — because they have about as much expertise doing that as they do teaching driving.”

And with that, he’s off to teach another lesson, a true believer in his mission to make the roads safer for everyone.

 

17 of London’s Most Exclusive Private Members’ Clubs, Ranked by Price

London’s private members’ circuit has come a long way since the days of the stuffy gentleman’s club.

The capital now boasts one of the most diverse selections of clubs in the world.

While areas such as Mayfair and Pall Mall are still synonymous with the members club scene, an explosion of more accessible, affordable, and arguably trendier clubs have shaken things up.

Whether you are looking for a well-being sanctuary, to indulge in the world of fine wine, fine art, live performances, and intrepid exploring, or just somewhere with cool rooms where cool-looking people hang out, each club has its very own niche, making it ever trickier to pick the right one.

We’ve rounded up a selection of London’s most exclusive private members’ clubs, which cost between £150 to over £5,000 — or the cost of a new car — for an annual membership.

Scroll down for a sneak peek inside some of London’s best clubs, ranked in ascending order by the price of a standard annual membership and joining fee.

 

DISREPUTE, SOHO – £150, NO JOINING FEE

Disrepute, a “hidden gem” nestled within an opulent Soho basement, offers an expertly curated cocktail menu and an atmospheric space perfect for secret late night sessions. It is one of the most reasonably priced members’ bars in London.

Membership privileges include priority reservations, the ability to book in parties of up to 12 people, and free access to special events, talks, and masterclasses.

A members’ bar not in the conventional sense, according to the club, applications are welcome from people of all backgrounds and persuasions. Non-members are also welcome to book a table, subject to availability.

 

L’ESCARGOT, SOHO – £450, PLUS £250 JOINING FEE 

Set in a Georgian townhouse in the heart of Soho above London’s oldest French restaurant L’escargot, the chic Upstairs Club is accessed via a psychedelic carpeted spiral staircase.

It’s a secretive hideout away from the hustle and bustle of the capital. There is an air of eccentricity to the club which offers its members access to a series of private rooms, including the salon noir, salon bleu, and salon rouge, which regularly host performances and general debauchery.

Under 28s can obtain a reduced membership of £250. If you don’t have a proposer, you may be asked to visit the club and meet with one of the membership team for a drink and a brief introduction.

 

QUO VADIS, SOHO – £500, PLUS £150 JOINING FEE

Quo Vadis, easily recognisable by its iconic neon street sign, is another of Soho’s members’ haunts. The club consists of a first floor bar and lounge, and a dedicated members’ restaurant, which serves quintessentially British cuisine. The second floor is home to the “Blue Room,” an intimate, atmospheric lounge with open plan bar and first rate sound system.

It is popular among Soho’s creatives, foodies, and more generally seekers of relaxed business and serious pleasures. Members can enjoy £5 Martini Hours on Thursday and Fridays and half price Pie and Oyster Mondays.

Under 30s benefit from a discounted yearly rate of £300. The club doesn’t have a blanket policy for membership and says it instead looks at case by case applications, accepting people without airs and graces who are interesting and happy to be themselves.

 

THE CHELSEA ARTS CLUB, CHELSEA – £579, PLUS £250 JOINING FEE

The Chelsea Arts Club has a rustic and bohemian charm. The club centres around the Billiard Room, the Dining Room, and the secluded garden. There are also 12 bedrooms which members may book.

The club counts painters, sculptors, architects, poets, photographers, filmmakers, writers, actors, and musicians among its members, whose work is exhibited at the club year-round. Its parties are said to be “legendary.” There is no dress code.

In addition to offering a discounted rate of £210 for under 30s, the club distinguishes between “town” and “country” memberships, with the latter benefitting from a reduced rate of £403.

The Chelsea Arts Club says it has a waiting list for new applicants, who have to be sponsored by two existing members whom they have known for at least two years.

 

ALBERT’S CLUB, KENSINGTON – £650, PLUS £250 JOINING FEE

A newcomer to London’s private members’ scene, Albert’s Club opened its doors to the “Royal Borough” of Kensington and Chelsea in 2016. Albert’s says it provides local residents with an alternative to its Mayfair rivals.

Inside, the décor is “quintessentially classic peppered with eccentric British twists,” the walls are lined with Colefax & Fowler wallpaper, and there are two mahogany wood-panelled bars, a lively nightclub, and a restaurant run by ex-Cecconis chef Alessio Piras.

Lifetime membership can be obtained for a one-off payment of £2,500, or annual membership is £650 with a £250 joining fee. All members are required to be proposed by a current member, or to come in for a quick tour with their membership director.

 

CENTURY CLUB, SOHO – £750, PLUS £250 JOINING FEE

Launched in 2001, The Century Club sits behind a discreet front door on Shaftesbury Avenue. It boasts four floors of members’ club fun, including Soho’s largest roof terrace.

Given its proximity to the theatres of London’s West End, it is frequented by people in the arts, media, and entertainment industries.

The club also offers an out-of-town reduced annual membership at £550, and an overseas membership of £400, plus a joining fee of £250. Under 30s membership costs £400, and the joining fee is waived.

To apply for membership, prospective members need to complete an application and attend an informal meeting with the head of membership.

 

THE HOSPITAL CLUB, COVENT GARDEN – £850, PLUS £250 JOINING FEE

The Hospital Club is a unique private members’ club targeted at the world of creatives located in the heart of Covent Garden.

The seven-story building has an award-winning TV and music studio, a gallery, restaurant and bars, a screening room, 15 hotel rooms (open to non-members) and a live performance space, The Oak Room.

The club has a reputation for showcasing emerging and established creative talent via its gallery and member spaces.

Under 30s and under 27s benefit from discounted annual subscriptions of £515 and £450 respectively, and the joining fee is waived.

 

SOHO HOUSE, SOHO – £1,100, NO JOINING FEE

Soho House at 76 Dean Street is a Grade II-listed mid-Georgian townhouse spread over four floors. It’s popular with the neighbourhood’s media crowd.

The club’s courtyard provides one of the few al fresco dining spots in Soho. The club also boasts the Screening Room, a fully air-conditioned 43-seat cinema offering a varied programme of advance screenings and new releases.

The membership application process is the same for both Soho House and Shoreditch House – you apply online with a couple of paragraphs about yourself and two current members as proposers.

Yearly membership costs £1,100 for a local house member (access only to the house you apply to), or £1,650 for an every house member (access to 18 Soho Houses around the world).

 

SHOREDITCH HOUSE, SHOREDITCH – £1,100, NO JOINING FEE

Shoreditch House is situated on the top three floors of the old Dickensian Tea Building in East London. It draws London’s “it” crowd.

The club is one of the few London private members’ clubs to offer a rooftop pool, which gives members stunning views of the city. It offers a number of other areas for members and freelancers to chill out, including the Sitting Room, the Square Bar, the Snug, Cowshed Spa, and the House Kitchen, which boasts a wood-fire oven.

The fourth floor features a glass walled gym looking out onto a backdrop of yet more awesome views, complete with spinning room, free weights, sauna, steam room, and comfortable changing rooms.

As with Soho, yearly membership costs £1,100 for a local house member, or £1,650 for an every house member. Hopefuls can apply online here.

 

67 PALL MALL, ST. JAMES’S – £1,250, PLUS £1,250 JOINING FEE

67 Pall Mall is London’s first private members’ club for wine lovers. Born from “a passion for fine wine and a frustration at the egregious mark-ups on the capital’s wine lists,” the club’s mission is to make the world’s finest wines accessible to its members at sensible prices.

It offers over 500 wines by the glass using Coravin’s revolutionary wine access system, as well as an extensive list by the bottle from all corners of the world. The club’s wine list is expertly curated by 67 Pall Mall’s Master Sommelier, Ronan Sayburn MS.

The club also offers a Members’ Reserve facility, which allows members to store up to two cases of their personal wine collection in the club’s cellars to enjoy by the bottle in the members lounge as and when they please.

Candidates require a proposer and seconder from within the club’s existing membership.

 

MORTON’S CLUB, MAYFAIR – £1,500, PLUS £1,100 JOINING FEE

Morton’s private members’ club has been at the forefront of Mayfair’s elite social scene for the past 40 years. The Grade II-listed building overlooks the length of London’s exclusive Berkeley Square.

The first-floor restaurant, with its lofty ceilings and panoramic balcony for summer al fresco dining, is the focal point of the house. Morton’s head chef, Dario Avenca, has devised a Mediterranean-inspired menu and the club claims to boast the largest wine list above any of its competitors.

Potential new members must be referred by two existing members. Applications are to be made to membership secretary Stephen Howard.

 

HOME HOUSE, MARYLEBONE – £1,940, PLUS £295 JOINING FEE

Home House is an exclusive private members’ club in London’s Marylebone, which “fuses 18th century splendour with 21st century style.”

The club’s facilities include a boutique health spa, a garden for al fresco dining and drinking, two restaurants, numerous bars, The Vaults decadent party rooms, elegant bedrooms and suites, as well as a full calendar of social events including legendary members’ parties throughout the year.

According to the club, “the best bit is that there are no stuffy rules, in fact there really aren’t any rules at all. Well, just one: ‘Nudity is discouraged.’ Naughtiness, on the other hand, is de rigueur.”

The club offers a number of different membership packages, including an under 35 annual rate of £1,275.

 

THE ARTS CLUB, MAYFAIR – £2,000, PLUS £2,000 JOINING FEE

As its name would suggest, The Arts Club attracts people connected to or passionate about art, architecture, fashion, film, literature, music, performance, photography, science, theatre, and TV/media.

The 18th Century townhouse at 40 Dover Street in Mayfair counts Charles Dickens among its former members. It prides itself on being a hub for creatives and entrepreneurs to meet and exchange ideas.

The club’s art collection, curated by Amelie von Wedel, remains at its very core, highlighting international trends, as well as maintaining a focus on British-based artists.

Under 30s benefit from a reduced annual subscription of £1,000, plus a joining fee of £1,000. New members are accepted on January 1 each year.

 

DEVONSHIRE CLUB, THE CITY – £2,400, PLUS £2,400 JOINING FEE

Another relative newcomer, the “unashamedly luxurious and glamorous” Devonshire Club, located in the heart of The City, opened its doors in 2016.

Housed on over 60,000 sq ft in a Regency warehouse, it boast 68 bedrooms, a 110-seat brasserie, three bars, four private event rooms, a members’ gym, glazed garden room, outdoor terrace, and a private courtyard garden.

The club offers members an opulent space to both relax and conduct business and attracts the likes of financiers and city professionals, as well as creative execs based in Shoreditch and Hoxton.

Many of its members come through referrals, and every potential applicant is put forward to the membership committee. The club also offers “Debenture Memberships” for £24,000.

 

THE NED, BANK – £3,000, PLUS £500 JOINING FEE

London-based Soho House and New York’s Sydell Group joined forces to create The Ned: the newest private members’ club to arrive on the London scene.

Set in the former Midland Bank building, it boasts 252 bedrooms channeling 1920s and 1930s design, nine restaurants, a range of grooming services, as well as “Ned’s Club,” a social and fitness club where members have access to a rooftop pool, gym, spa, hammam, and late night lounge bar.

Ned’s Club Upstairs has a heated pool overlooking the London skyline and two converted domes with outdoor terraces for eating and drinking. The Roof Bar features a retractable roof and heaters, and offers views of the City and St Paul’s Cathedral, with an international menu prepared on the rotisserie grill and wood oven.

Behind a 20-tonne, two-metre wide vault door is The Vault bar & lounge, an all-hours cocktail bar lined with thousands of original safety deposit boxes, ideal for a nightcap.

 

SOUTH KENSINGTON CLUB, SOUTH KENSINGTON – £3,500, PLUS £1,000 JOINING FEE

South Kensington Club is a health and fitness sanctuary inspired by the spirit of adventure.

Its offers a unique “Voyager Programme” headed up by polar explorer Christina Franco. The programme comprises three elements: a monthly lecture series, the opportunity to join tailor-made expeditions inspired by the lectures, and preparation and training for these adventures carried out by specialist fitness instructors at the club.

Other membership priveleges include a sky-lit gym, fitness classes and training programmes, a bathhouse (with a hammam, banya, and watsu pool), spa and beauty treatments, a Mediterranean restaurant, club sitting rooms, and a concierge service.

Membership starts at £365 per month, plus a £1,000 joining fee and an under 30s rate begins at £228 per month, with a £500 joining fee. However, the club offers a rate of £3,500 plus a £1,000 joining fee to members paying upfront.

 

5 HERTFORD STREET, MAYFAIR – PRICE ON REQUEST

5 Hertford Street is so exclusive and private that it wouldn’t reveal its membership price. We did, however, manage to get the above glimpse of its insides.

Described by Vogue as the ” loveliest club in London,” it is frequented by Hollywood A-listers and home to the impossibly cool Loulou’s nightclub for after dinner dancing.

Membership can be obtained only through application, but the word is some billionaires have been unable to score entry, so it’s best not to get your hopes up.

 

Luxury Lake Tahoe Hotel Adds $10 Million Lakefront Club

The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe hotel has opened a luxury perk for guests called the Lake Club on the shore of Lake Tahoe.

The hotel and spa is at the Northstar California Resort, which is mid-mountain at a ski resort in Truckee. The new Lake Club is about 20 minutes away on the lake.

Lake Club adds to the resort’s summertime offerings. In winter, the Ritz boasts a location where skiers can literally ski from the hotel to Northstar, with the hotel offering a ski equipment concierge.

The new club features outdoor dining by the lake or on an upstairs deck, a private boat pier for kayaks and stand-up paddleboards. It also has an outdoor spa, fire pit and a large lawn. The $10 million project was completed at the end of June, said Kira Cooper, spokeswoman for the resort.

The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe has 152 regular guest rooms, 16 executive suites, and three Ritz-Carlton suites, which range from 1,900 to 2,600 square feet. The presidential suite rents for between $2,000 to $5,000 a night, depending on season and other factors. The regular rooms and suites range from more than $400 to $1,900 a night, according to the Marriott International Inc. (Nasdaq: MAR) booking engine. The rates vary by season.

The new Lake Club adds another feature to what is already an amenity-laden hotel. Despite being a relatively small hotel by its room count, it features a huge 17,000-square-foot spa.

The Lake Club is available as a special room package for hotel guests, or it can be added to regular rooms for a $250 daily access fee, which includes food and most beverages. Fees vary on a seasonal basis.

The hotel runs an hourly shuttle between the lake and the main property, Cooper said.

The architecture and interior design of the club was done by Tahoe City-based Walton Architecture + Engineering, an architectural design, interior design and engineering firm.

Golf Is the Long Game for Affluent Brands

Golfers are passionate about golf and are willing to spend money to pursue their hobby as well as to keep up their lifestyle of quality products and travel.

You may not first think of golfers as those who seek out luxury and quality goods—in fact, if you’re not a golfer yourself, you probably picture them only as retired old men wearing a pair of cheap docker shorts with some old polo shirt from some golf trip they took a lifetime ago. But if that’s your mental image of golfers, you’re missing out on a great market with dollars to spend.

Despite smaller television ratings than football, basketball, and baseball—golf, by the numbers, remains a marketer’s dream. According to Nielsen, 27% of golfers earn $100,000 or more. And 43% of PGA fans are more likely than average U.S. consumers to own second homes, and 60% are more likely to own stocks or stock options, according to Simmons Market Research and Experian Information Solutions Inc.

“Golfers tend to seek out a luxurious type of experience with all of the products and services that they buy,” says Jon Last, vice president of corporate marketing, research and brand development for Golf Digest Publications. “In a lot of the research that we have conducted, the golf market tends to outspend even the most affluent people when you are looking in categories like travel, automobiles and real estate and, of course, within the golf categories as well.”

3rd Annual UC Open – THANK YOU!

Yesterday, September 25, 2017, saw the Union Club host it’s 3rd annual UC Open at Gorge Vale Golf Course.  Approximately 80 golfers enjoyed the tournament, and Mother Nature did her best to ensure a dry, mild climate was delivered, too!

On behalf of the Club, we would like to thank Tournament Organizers Barrie Hewstan (Past President), Gary Kirk and Keith McCallion; Event Coordinators Grace Van den Brink (Vice-President) and Lyle Soetaert (Finance Chair), and, last but not least, our SPONSORS:

TITLE SPONSOR
Dev Wood Consulting

PLATINUM SPONSOR
Winchester Galleries

GOLD SPONSORS
Browns Social House
Collins Barrow

SILVER SPONSORS
Harris Victoria Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram
Hendry Swinton McKenzie Insurance
Intact Insurance
Knappett Projects Inc.
Lee & Lorraine Ferreira
Paul Mara Fine Jewellery & Watches
Wallace Driving School
Wellburn’s Food Market

BRONZE SPONSORS
10 Acres Bistro
Catalano Restaurant & Cicchetti Bar
Five Star Whale Watching
Garyali Architect Inc.
Jeff Bray, Capital Public Affairs
Magnolia Hotel & Spa
The Maritime Museum of British Columbia
Past President Bernard Beck and Family
Phillips Brewing & Malting Company
Rick Arora, 5th Avenue Holdings
Sam’s Deli

SUPPORTERS
Kerry Gibson
Mike Kynaston
Grace Van den Brink
Paul Vanden Brink

 

WE THANK YOU ALL!!

The Union Club’s Coat of Arms

The Significance of the Union Club Coat of Arms:

In Canada, a coat-of-arms granted by the Crown is an honour akin to an appointment to the Order of Canada or other decoration for meritorious service. In our case, the Governor General’s office has seen fit to honour our club in recognition of our history of contributions made to Victoria and the wider community.

At the centre of our arms is a depiction of the keystone over the main entrance to our clubhouse. As its purpose is to hold a structure together, it represents unity, and thus our club’s name. It is surrounded by an open wreath of golden maple leaves, in a ‘U’ shape, recalling the political goal of our founders: a ‘union’ of the Crown Colony of British Columbia with the Dominion of Canada. The artist has painted six maple leaves in the wreath, suggesting that B.C. was the sixth colony to join Canada.

Above the keystone and maple leaves are the waves and the sun-in-splendour from the Royal Arms of British Columbia. They directly signify our club as a club of British Columbia, and also the successive Lieutenant Governors who have been members. As design elements, they appear in the top portion of our shield, as they did in B.C’s arms at the time our club was founded.

A helmet sits atop our shield, as is traditional in heraldry. It is crested by a coronet of maple leaves and Pacific dogwood flowers (the provincial flower of B.C.). This coronet serves to again emphasize our name and origin, as advocating ‘union’ with the dominion. And from this coronet a lion’s paw extends, grasping a sword in a blue scabbard. The lion’s paw suggests the lion in the Royal Crest of B.C. The sword was inspired by the replica weapon borne by our modern presidents, as a symbol of their office (nicknamed, ‘Excalibur’). As a whole, the lion’s paw issuing from a coronet and grasping a weapon suggests the crest of our founding president, Sir Matthew Begbie. He bore a crest of an armoured arm issuing from a coronet and grasping a spear. Depicting our sword sheathed also recalls the badge of Knights Bachelors, which Sir Matthew would have borne.

Supporting the shield are a wapiti deer and cougar. The former is a supporter in the Royal Arms of B.C. And both are animals native to Vancouver Island. Each has a ‘collar’ of laurel, recalling the laurel wreath used to encircle our club’s monogram. And they stand on a rocky mount, reminiscent of the rocky outcroppings around Victoria and her harbour, strewn with local Douglas-fir branches. The waves beneath allude to our location at Victoria’s Inner Harbour.

Our motto is Latin (a traditional language for heraldic mottoes) can be translated as, ‘Friendship In Unity and In Strength’.

We have also been granted an heraldic badge and flag, for use by our members. These are a depiction of the club’s keystone, and (for the flag) that same badge on a flag of royal blue. To represent the club as a body, we use the design depicted on our shield as a flag (just as the provincial government uses the design from the Royal Arms of B.C. on their flags).

Stephen Lowe – A Bridge Between Cultures

Stephen Lowe was born in Quangdong and was long a resident of Victoria before his death from lymphoma at the age of 37.

Lowe spent most of his life in Victoria, beloved by students and collectors here. It’s inexplicable how he achieved such skill and produced so much in the short time he had. And it is even more surprising to realize that his work and his example are enormously appreciated in the burgeoning world of Chinese art.

Stephen, the eldest of five children, made his way to Hong Kong at age 17, and his determination to study art led him to Zhao Shaoang, leading exponent of the “Lingnan school,” a progressive and atmospheric style of painting that is the distinctive expression of South China. At the request of his grandfather, Lowe emigrated to Canada in 1956, at 18 years of age. He arrived to find his grandfather living in a lean-to in a ghost town, one of the few surviving emigrés still living in Cumberland.

Lowe’s talent and personality brought him valuable support in Victoria. Through connections from his first job, as a room steward at the Union Club, he was sponsored for a year in Hong Kong, where he continued his studies and met Eunice, his wife-to-be.

Fast forward over 50 years, to present day, and Club member Eunice Lowe is celebrating the release of the book she has been working on since 2005 – “Stephen Lowe – A Bridge Between Cultures”.

As Robert Amos states: “The book is a delight. The 330 pages include reproductions of 125 paintings in colour, some of the reproductions 50 centimetres across. The Chinese-language version has been published by the People’s Fine Art Publishing House of China, and the English-version, privately published. The quality of layout, paper stock and binding are beyond anything available in this country.”

Eunice Lowe has recently supplied the Club with copies of the marvelous book (in both English and Chinese), which are now on display and for sale in the Club’s display case.

Amos concludes: “What a story: A penniless immigrant lad, with nothing but native talent and the support of Victorians, created a timeless body of work in a few short years, far from home. And now Stephen Lowe’s reputation is reaching heights we just can’t imagine. Victoria’s art culture is rich.”

Members’ Town Hall Meeting

TOWN HALL MEETING

Date: Saturday, September 30, 2017  Time: 2:00pm

Topic: Dress Code at the Club

As the Club’s Dress Code nears its 6-month anniversary, Club members are invited to join President Lawrence Graham, Vice-President Grace Van den Brink and members of the General Committee at this Town Hall Meeting, to provide input, receive updates and discuss the Dress Code.

For the sake of planning, reservations are requested.

Please visit the Front Desk, call 250-384-1151 (ext. 0) or email .