How do stars spend their summer vacations?

By Michael Killingsworth - September 2004

Watch for familiar faces in Vancouver's hip Yaletown: presenters at this year's Academy Awards received a coveted gift basket that included three nights' luxury accommodation at the Opus Hotel (opushotel.com) and dinner for two at Elixir, the hotel's buzzing bistro. Celebritysightings at the Opus aren't new, or few. The list is as long as my arm.

Some leading ladies (X-Men's Rebecca Romijn, for one) have called it home while shooting on the left coast, some leading men Justin Timberlake, in the city this year for his first big~screen role in Edison) pop in to Elixir to unwind. What is remarkable is that in just two years the independent visionaries behind Opus have succeeded in putting their funky alternative address on the fickle celebrity hotlist.

A modern glass-and-steel Davie Street frontage sets the tone for the clean-lined lobby and just 96 colourful suites customized to suit the personalities of five imaginary characters: Mike is "modern and minimalist"; Susan, "stylish and sophisticated." Cute marketing. What it all boils down to, regardless of your room's "personality," are vivid colour schemes, bold contemporary design, and perks like heated bathroom floors, CD players and bathroom toiletries from L'Occitane En Provence.