How Four Strangers Found Friendship in a Luxury Vancouver Spa

Living just four blocks from the JW Marriott Parq Vancouver, I never imagined a getaway could be this close to home.

But after a day of teaching, I stepped into the sleek lobby on a crisp fall afternoon and it felt like crossing into another world—a sanctuary of calm above the city’s hum.

This wasn’t just a spa getaway in the middle of the school term when marking assignments and lesson prep for my day job as a college instructor were always on my mind. This was a chance to rediscover my own backyard while meeting three women who would soon become friends.

Whether it’s from a flight from Chicago, where one of my new friends had flown in from earlier that day, or for me, who walked over from my Yaletown neighbourhood after classes ended on that weekday, there’s something about stepping into a spa to ease away the toll of travel.

The JW Marriott Parq’s Spa is perfect as a first stop for any traveller who signs up for the 25-minute Mind Sync Experience on the reclining Harmonic Sleep Lounger. It was the perfect icebreaker—no awkward introductions, just shared silence and serenity.

Later, we regrouped for dinner at Burdock & Co., a Michelin-starred restaurant in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. Earlier in the fall, the tasting menu was “submerging stones under a Sturgeon Moon” and featured savoury padrón peppers with almond crush and almond parmesan. My favourite was the celebration salad dressed with a vinaigrette made from what I learned from the knowledgeable host was the native North American pineapple weed. The weed is also called Wild Chamomile by some and its taste and scent are exactly what you would expect from a mix of pineapple and chamomile. The restaurant is known for its Arctic Sourdough Bread which began life in the far north, where chef Andrea Carlson first picked up the starter. If you don’t know how to spark a conversation with strangers, as we were when the meal started, here’s the lesson I learned. Ask about what home bakers name their sourdough “mother.”  The hands-on winner: Jane Dough.

If you have time for a getaway before the rush of the upcoming holiday season, the restaurant is now serving the Moon Menu featuring chicory and radicchio dishes from green farro risosto, chicory and lacto-fermented potato mousse with radicchio sauerkraut to a tasty macaron with porcini and chicory root. 

The next day, my travel companions, who had come from Washington State, southern California and Illinois, ventured to Stanley Park for the Salish and Sea & Me Tour with Talaysay Tours. I had been on the tour previous, but with each changing season, as we were moving from late summer to early fall, the Indigenous stories bring new life to Vancouver’s past and the generations who had lived here before. 

What remains constant are the roots of the rich history. With the Talking Trees tours, an ethnobothanist takes visitors on a focused nature walk exploring how the Shíshálh (Sechelt) and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) people utilize the land for food, medicine and technology.

After exploring this intimate walk with nature, we no longer felt like strangers. The connection was forged and the roots ran deep. 

In Yaletown, I live within a few blocks walk of renowned restaurants, but my hands-down favourite for steak is The Victor in the JW Marriott Parq. The Wagyu Ribeye and Porterhouse striploin and tenderloin are rich and buttery, and best of all, unlike other steakhouses in downtown, the setting is not all testosterone and beefy who-can-order the flashiest drink. 

For my visiting friends, The Victor gave them a highlight of Pacific Northwest seafood of Sake Marinated Sablefish with saikyo miso and the just-enough-bite chili threads.

There’s a playful and graceful vibe at The Victor, boosted by the kind and attentive hosts and servers, that make it easy to have great conversations about nothing at all and also intimate discussions without feeling like there’s a need to one-up your dining companions. That’s why this was such a lovely restaurant for four strangers to solidify their friendship. 

On the final day of my spa staycation, a visit to Circle Wellness brought us, well, full circle. The Granville Island self-guided spa includes open-air rainshowers, cedar tubs, sauna, cold-plunge pool and a heated river stone bed. It blends hydrotherapy traditions with modern design and although it’s meditatively self-guided, there is light, sound, and intention embedded in the experience that is designed to ground the body, calm the mind, and restore balance. The duration of the spa visit can range from 90 minutes to two hours and is available for single or double occupancy at the same price. It is a deeply personal ritual of renewal and emerging from the experience is like an awakening after a deep rest.

That’s why the perfect way to end the staycation was a final dinner at the JW Marriott Parq’s Sky Suite high above the ground and a view of Vancouver’s downtown unlike anything I had seen before, even though I live just steps away. The Sky Suite overlooks B.C. Place Stadium from above. The view of wires and white canvas may seem like nothing special, but the evening glow transforms the scene into one that makes you feel you’re floating above the clouds. These two-bedroom residences are wrapped on three sides in floor-to-ceiling windows and, if you need a place in Vancouver to stay for perhaps a three-day concert, era-ending world tour, or for the upcoming FIFA men’s World Cup, the amenities feel like home whether you’re a famous pop star or a football player. Newly appointed dual property executive chef Colin Burslem and his team created a culinary experience for our farewell meal that highlighted fresh, local ingredients from the most sumptuous sushi and raw oyster bar I’ve ever experienced. The next day was travel day for my friends. One to Chicago, another to southern California and the early-bird riser had to catch a plane for home to Olympia, Washington. As for me, I was back on the bus, heading to class for an 8 a.m. start. Over the span of 72 hours, I spa-ed, dined, conversed and laughed with some of the most amazing and fascinating travel companions I ever met. It was a staycation where long after it’s over, the connection stayed alive.