Botanist Bar

Botanist Bar is a small, upscale cocktail bar at the entrance to Botanist, the restaurant inside Fairmont Pacific Rim on the Coal Harbour waterfront. It has collected a string of awards. It is ranked 38th in North America's 50 Best Bars, came 20th in Canada's 100 Best Bars for 2025, won the Michelin Guide's Exceptional Cocktails award in Vancouver in 2022 and received the Michter's Art of Hospitality award, presented by North America's 50 Best Bars, in 2023.

The drinks take their inspiration from the landscapes of British Columbia, from mountains and subalpine meadows to the ocean and the province's orchards. Next to the bar is a glass-walled lab where the team experiments with new ideas, and many cocktails look as though they were designed by a chemist. The programme is led by creative beverage director Grant Sceney.

The best-known drink is the Raincouver, topped with an edible rain cloud as a playful nod to the city's wet, rainforest climate. What the Flower is a gin-based cocktail inspired by BC's subalpine floral meadows, and the Pale Blue Dot, a gin cocktail from the Water of Life menu, has been served with scallop tartare. There are good non-alcoholic choices too, such as the Sunday Spritz, made with passionfruit, yuzu and a non-alcoholic aperitif, so the bar works for drivers and non-drinkers as well.

This is a bar for a special evening rather than a quick pint. It suits couples, cocktail enthusiasts and hotel guests, and it is a natural place for a drink before or after dinner at Botanist next door. The bar describes itself as both a late-night and a destination bar.

The bar has its own phone line and email address, which are the best way to ask about opening times and whether you can reserve a table, as the online booking link on the hotel website is for the restaurant.

Fairmont Pacific Rim is at 1038 Canada Place, close to the Canada Place cruise terminal and the Vancouver Convention Centre. Miku, the aburi sushi restaurant at 200 Granville Street, is nearby for dinner, and Gastown's bars, such as the Pourhouse on Water Street, make a good next stop for anyone continuing the evening.