The Terminal City Club is one of the oldest and most respected clubs in Vancouver. The club has a wide variety of services and can host a variety and events of up to 250 guests in the Metropolitan Ballroom. The venue is well kept and with it being downtown there are lots of things going on around the venue as well.
The venue is quite easy to get into. Underground parking is just on the corner of West Cordova and Howe Street and there is an elevator right up to lobby of the club and a ramp to the second level of the club. There are a number of levels. To get up to the main level of the Metropolitan ballroom and to other rooms upstairs, there is an elevator. This is quite convenient for your mobility challenged guests. The button in the elevator to the lobby from the parking lot to the lobby is a little hard to see. It took me a little time to find it.
Your vendors though usually load in from a back alley where there is a gate and then up an elevator to the kitchen and from there into the main ballroom or into the elevator to the upstairs rooms. The vendors often have to wait for someone to open the gate to let them in so I recommend they are at the venue earlier to allow for that. It is good to have a phone number for the catering department and security to make sure the vendor can reach someone to minimize wait time.
The Metropolitan ballroom is L shaped and does have partitions that can be opened for a larger guest list. The L shape of the room does make it difficult to project music to both ends of the room so the placement of your DJ takes a little consideration. A good spot is in the corner by the back windows. As always, it is best not to put any tables between the DJ and the dance floor. I would also recommend a powerful enough PA system to project the music to the dance floor when the DJ is placed for in this spot. A smaller budget system will not work well if you have guests who love to dance.
The Metropolitan ballroom does have drop-down screens and projectors built into the room for your slide show or video presentation. They also have a wireless microphone and in-ceiling speakers for your speeches. The speakers are adequate for speeches but not for dance music.
Another note on the time frame for your vendors, if you are having a general meeting or event in the room before the start of the dinner and entertainment portion of your event, be sure to leave enough time for your DJ to set up so they will be ready to go at the contracted time. It does take the staff time to reorganize the room and this can delay the Vancouver DJ setting up and not being ready to start the music at the contracted time.
The lobby area of the venue is very nice with marble floors and nicely carpeted areas in all of the rooms.
The entrance area to the main ballroom has very nice decor with a staircase and overlooked by a wonderful stained glass dome in the ceiling.
The wait staff are not overly friendly but are attentive to the guests and effective in their services.
The Terminal City Club is a very nice upper-class venue set in the heart of Vancouver. It is an easy venue for everyone, including mobility challenged guests, to move around and the decor is first class. The location is centralized and easily accessible. However, the odd shape of the Metropolitan ballroom, the length of time it can take to get equipment into the venue and the business-like demeanour of the wait staff made me feel like the venue was lacking a positive, warm ambiance. I give this venue a 4.3 out of 5.