The Olympics come to a city only once in a lifetime, and Vancouver was lucky to enjoy a perfect confluence of spring-like weather, an unexpected surge in patriotism and enough gold medals for Canada to break the world record.
About 250,000 people visited the city during the Games, and judging by the herds that streamed past Opus day and night, every one of them made it into Yaletown. The hotel was a hotbed of activity, enjoying a full house of awesome guests from Alberta to Australia.
The hotel kicked festivities off early with the Podium Party on February 9 co-hosted by Tourism Vancouver. Among the media personalities, celebrities and athletes in attendance were Olympic gold medal pairs figure skaters Jamie Salé and David Pelletier and gold medal rowers Jake Wetzel and Ben Rutledge. Making a rare appearance were the fictional characters that inspired Opus Hotel’s lifestyle décor schemes—Mike, Billy, Susan and Pierre—who performed slice-of-life scenes to showcase our stylish guestrooms. (In typical fashion, diva Dede was a no-show).
Gold medalist Jake Wetzel tests bounciness of Opus beds with 24 Hours reporter Michael Schratter and virtual resident Billy
On the heels of the Podium Party, Opus hosted an exclusive cocktail event on February 11 for Liberal Party Leader Michael Ignatieff, who may very well be Canada’s next prime minister.
Opus owner John deC. Evans and GM Nicholas Gandossi flank Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff and wife Zsuzsanna
Next up was an event on February 13 for fashion label DSquared attended by real-life diva Measha Brueggergosman, who sang the Olympic Hymn at the opening ceremonies. Also present were two-time Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan, rapper k-os and DSquared proprietors Dean and Dan Caten, who designed the outfits worn by Nelly Furtado, Bryan Adams and other performers at the opening and closing ceremonies.
When the Olympics began, Vancouver was hit by a wave of patriotism that had even the most curmudgeonly of Canadians donning bright red “Go Canada!” t-shirts and posting Canadian flags in their windows (guilty here, though I stopped short of painting a maple leaf on my face).
Where did all the patriotism come from? Prior to the Games, Prime Minister Stephen Harper urged Canadians not to feel “the least bit shy or embarrassed” about showing an uncharacteristic burst of patriotism, saying, “We will ask the world to forgive us.” But the flag-waving was less likely the result of a government decree than a grassroots movement fueled by the triumphs of our athletes.
Opus staff, dressed in home-team colours for Go Canada Fridays, are treated to a surprise visit from skeleton gold medalist Jon Montgomery
Patriotism reached a feverish pitch when Montrealer Alexandre Bilodeau captured the country’s first gold medal on Canadian soil in the moguls competition. That victory was followed by stunned silence, however, after Canada lost to the US in a preliminary men’s hockey game. That night I slept soundly for the first time since the Games began but for one sad, desperate “Go, Canada, go” outside my window at 2:00 AM.
Canada got its revenge on closing day of the Olympics, however, when Sidney Crosby scored the gold-medal goal in men’s ice hockey, prompting a great belch of patriotism that could be heard across the country. Here’s a video I took from the roof of Opus Hotel Vancouver shortly after the game.
Now that the Games are over and the Paralympic Games are soon to begin, I guess it’ll soon be time for Canadians to ask the world to forgive us for our uncharacteristic burst of patriotism. But a nation of our massive size and sparse population rarely, if ever, feels this kind of unity. Sure, we’ll resume being the true north strong and silent types, but let’s hope this national pride becomes a lasting legacy of the 2010 Winter Olympics.
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