University Women’s Club of Vancouver At Hycroft

I just joined the club. I really like the idea that it’s a group of people who are committed to helping others. Gotta love that they lobbied to make sure women were allowed into UBC !!
:-) or that they saved to pay cash when they bought the building because women were not allowed to hold a mortgage in the 60’s!
Anyway, I attended my first event this week — a barbecue that I invited family to. I cannot believe how gracious everyone was. Of course the venue is absolutely stunningly and tables were set out on the patio with a view over the gardens. Food was great, the waiters were really attentive, and my guests had a wonderful time. My sister mentioned she couldn’t believe how friendly people were, even the other guests were chatting with her. It has a lovely effect on people. My brother-​in-​law went to the dessert buffet three times :-) not a lot of choice for vegetarians but other than that it’s fantastic. I loved the spontaneity of the older folks. A number of couples just got up at the end and started ball room dancing on the terrace. It was very romantic. Kind of F Scott Fitzgerald…

Recently attended a friend’s wedding here and I couldn’t have been more stunned by this amazing house. It’s so nicely kept and maintained, you can tell that the people who work here are really proud of their beautiful manor.
The food was catered by the Hycroft Manor people themselves, and it blew me and all the other guests away. I’ve been to so many weddings with all the same boring, bland, overcooked wedding food, and this was completely different. I wish I could’ve kept on eating, the food was so good! The staff was also super accommodating and friendly, so we never felt like we were in some stuck up old mansion for just another stuffy wedding. We actually felt comfortable and like we could really enjoy the house and have fun at this awesome wedding!
It was also really easy to find parking so that was definitely a plus.

Garden, view terrace, the heritage building, and the Juliet balcony are gorgeous. The venue is stunning! But there are lots of stairs & small rooms.
Unfortunately due to the locations all events must end by 11pm. It also has limited amount of parking. Great for events of 100 ppl or less.
Staff was really nice & accommodating.

This review pertains to Christmas at Hycroft only
If you have never been inside, and love historic houses like I do, this is worth the time to come during Christmas in Hycroft.
The mansion is completely decorated for Christmas.
As a private club, normally you cannot come in unless invited to a function.
This is my first time attending. Entry is $ 15 which is quite reasonable and you can stay as long as you want to enjoy all the entertainment. They provide Valet parking for $ 5 — highly recommend.
The Driveway has Santa’s Sleigh set up for photo opportunities,
Tents are set up outside with different vendors and a children’s activities tent,
Christmas Bakery is set up inside where the mews used to be,
All three floors of the Mansion is fill with Christmas cheer.
Main floor, the drawing room is set up for musical performances with the Grand Piano and Santa is located in the library. They even offer light meals at the tent covered Terrace.
All three levels are full of vendors selling Christmas goodies. (J’adore les macarons had many fabulous goodies there)
Interesting find: —
Basement — General’s Speakeasy — Original Bar Set up with beautiful wood bar and several cozy tables tucked away in the various alcoves.
Main Floor — Access to the Stone Terrace and Solarium, very open, makes the house look bigger and not gloomy at all. Grand Staircase!
2^nd Floor — General’s Shower — built in 1911 when the General first moved in, it still works over 100 years later. I am amazed by the multiple jets and the giant rain shower overhead.
Kudos to the club for putting on a great event and the volunteers who answered all my questions.
The Christmas at Hycroft event is one of the many fundraising events for University Women’s Club.
Check them out next year.

Anything great I could have said about this place was vastly overshadowed by the extremely poor attitudes myself and friends experienced while there during their Christmas event last month.
My friends and I went as a small group and got dressed up in fun outfits hoping for a nice time together. Things started out all right when we arrived but quickly deteriorated.
We split up into two smaller groups of 2−3ish to look around. The group I was with ran into a volunteer there who not only wanted to look up our dresses (I wish I was kidding, I really do) while she was explaining about the Hycroft’s history, and she randomly asked another guest passing by if she could have her drink. The guest was just as wierded out as we were. We got away from her as quickly as we could and avoided that area the rest of the night because… yuck.
My other friends got it way worse. Naturally with the place all decorated for Christmas and with us dressed up, we wanted to take pictures! However when getting a last picture or two of the night, my friends literally got screamed at. Why? Because there weren’t supposed to be «photoshoots» there without paying for them. Ummm… what? My friends explained that we in no way were there for a photoshoot — we were getting some pictures to have for ourselves. Another staff member then rushed over to further yell at them and demanded they leave! Other guests hearing this were just as shocked as my friends were at the extent of these peoples’ rudeness!
Another staff member did come to try and calm them down as they were being shooed away, but it was too late. One of my friends was literally in tears because of these horrid people.
Let me be clear: We were there just to have a fun holiday look-​around. We were respectful and courteous to both vendors and staff. We did absolutely nothing wrong. We dressed up for fun, none of us are models, and none of us had professional photography equipment. I mean I was using my cell phone for pictures for Pete’s sake! Additionally there was nothing posted anywhere about no photography. If there were restrictions we would have very willingly and respectfully followed them. But no, we all got screamed at instead.
We just wanted to have fun. We certainly didn’t want all that. Needless to say we’re never coming back again. The staff should be ashamed of themselves.

Hycroft is the clubhouse of a women’s club in Vancouver, bc — thousands if miles from the home of John F of Toronto. How much interaction would John of Toronto have with the rental person there? Is this a strange and unusual blindside attack? Hycroft is a classy place for a party.

Boo ya!!!
First male to review this place! I come here once a month for meetings to keep me informed of the technology industry. I have only been to the basement of the facility and not seen the entire mansion. I’m sure it’s beautiful inside the rest of the mansion, but the basement needs a bit of work. It’s showing its age a bit. Stairs on the way down are a bit rickety and it smells like a «old mansion».
It’s located just off the Crescent in Shaughnessy. I will say though, the outside grounds of the mansion are quite nice.

The place is awesome. The event coordinator, named Jennifer is crap. She is rude, unprofessional, impatient and unresponsive.
She is rude and unprofessional because she makes off-​hand comments about other clients’ culture, choices, practices, etc in the presence of other clients. She also promises to call back but never does. She told me to call back on a certain date and time but she was not there and I had to make repeated phone calls to get a hold of her again. We have met with her twice and both times she was late. I have emailed her at least 3 times and she has not responded AT ALL. This is completely unprofessional. If the place did not sell itself on the rental front, it would have gone under a long time ago. No business can survive if it does not tend to its clientelle.
She is uninformed and lacks knowledge — she cannot answer many of the questions I have, and where she does, she gives contradicting information. I have spoken to other people who have asked her the same questions and she would tell these people something completely different than what she told me. Similarly, the caterers that Hycroft uses tell me things that are completely at odds with what she told me. Neither can she answer any specific questions (e.g. Hycroft dimensions). The caterers had to give it to me.
She is impatient because she will give you any answer just to blow you off or brush you off.
Much like Beverly, I called and complained about her and was given the same answer that Jennifer receives a lot of emails and may have missed it. This is inexcusable. She has ONE job — to be the event coordinator and answer and communicate with clients or potential clients. I have never seen such incompetence in my life.

Set up, tore down, and attended my sister’s wedding at this venue last night. This review is based on my experience implementing a traditional wedding with all the trimmings for 150 guests.
My sister joined the Women’s club which gave her an automatic discount on the space (yay!).
The space has an old English manor feel to it, with lovely gardens and a large terrace. There’s a gathering hall in the basement that’s great for dancing, and an adjoining bar and lounge (which are stone set, so cave-​like and cool temperature-​wise).
The staff were gracious, friendly, and helpful throughout the day, and helped to smooth my mother’s ruffled feathers by lending their own extensive experience in wedding set-​up. During the event, they were helpful if needed but were not obtrusive.
Teardown was a breeze with the staff’s assistance. Overall, everyone who works here was courteous, professional, and friendly.

I have attended many social events at the University Women’s Club at Hycroft in Vancouver. I can honestly say that, without a doubt, all the functions have been well planned and executed with great style. The members, both young and not so young, are very involved and committed to the preservation and operation of this wonderful historic residence. Christmas at Hycroft is not to be missed!
Gayle Y.

I am currently planning my wedding and decided to inquire at Hycroft as a potential venue. I became interested in Hycroft because I saw a lot of amazing wedding pictures that took place there based on wedding photograpy websites. However, after my short experience, I became confused as to why it would be such a sought after wedding location.
Because it is part of the University Women’s club, I felt that there is a certain level of expectation regarding service. I checked Hycroft’s online booking calendar and it showed that my date was available. I then e-​mailed the event coordinator to arrange a tour and asked her to confirm that my date was available. She provided me with the standard copy-​and-​paste response at first. On the second e-​mail, I asked again if my date was available and with another question regarding rental rates. The event coordinator provided me with a one-​liner that answered the question regarding rental rates only.
When I arrived Hycroft for a tour, I asked the tour guide about the online calendar and the fact that the event coordinator did not respond to all my questions in the e-​mail. The tour guide then said that the event coordinator receives a lot of e-​mails and that she may have missed it. Are you kidding me? You are part of a University Women’s Club and you can’t even respond to e-​mails properly? ??? Clearly, the event coordinator is failing at her job if she can’t even respond to her e-​mails and answer questions.
Furthermore, why is the online booking calendar even on the website when it isn’t working? With all the money they are getting from memberships and rentals, can’t they take 15 minutes to remove the link from the website? This is not what I would expect from a University Women’s club.
I have noticed that places like Hycroft may not provide the best service to people who want to book their venue. Sometimes, the event coordinator has a bit of an attitude. It doesn’t matter whether the event coordinator is nice because the venue is going to be booked by someone anyhow.
Furthermore, Hycroft does not look as good in person as in photographs. There was one room that was called the solarium and had green walls. In pictures, the green was vibrant but in person it was dull. People do pay the big bucks for some good photo adjusting.
Members of the University Women’s club can obtain a discounted rental rate but only if you have been a member for a year.

Hycroft is a large historic house and property where the University women’s club has meetings and holds events. These social events and functions vary from historical fashion shows and wine tastings to Christmas at Hycroft, a festival that includes food and music as well as an artisan’s village and an introduction to local non profits.
Each member of the social club is encouraged to be involved in organizing a variety of events for the purpose of fund raising and for the preservation of the property, the house, and it’s cherished heritage.
If you have an opportunity to visit the house for any of the events, be sure to include a guided tour. The rooms and furnishings including the artwork have been preserved as best as possible to keep the charm and authenticity of the house.
We visited as part of the centennial year celebration, which included the unveiling of a painting of the house and presented by an 87 year old member! The UWC members vary greatly in age and are as diverse as the events held on the property.
I feel really grateful to have been invited to participate in last night’s event and enjoyed the opportunity to learn about this wonderful historical house and the UWC.

Ladies who lunch?
This upscale, very posh ladies’ club and heritage mansion called the Hycroft Mansion hosts many events that I attend. It’s also used in the movie industry for filming many cool scenes. The mansion is artful, historic and pristine. It’s a place where women of similar interests can get together and share ideas, chat and hold meetings. I’ve been to charity fundraisers, the Christmas at Hycroft is beautiful and always sold out, the grounds are vast in the summer and lush (perfect for a tea party) and the rooms are in Edwardian style. Cucumber sandwiches anyone?