Hotel Zed’s “The Love Nest”: Canada’s First Hotel Room Made for Sex

After many months in the making, the Hotel Zed in Victoria, B.C. has just put the finishing touches on its room dubbed The Love Nest and it signals a shift not only in our attitudes toward sexuality, but in the energy and vibe of Victoria itself.

Long seen as a sleepy retirement town with picture perfect postcard views, manicured lawns and afternoon tea, Victoria has finally got some serious mojo, and The Love Nest is a celebration and manifestation of this new energy.

“Victoria always had this wonderfully cheeky undercurrent to it,” says Mandy Farmer, CEO of Hotel Zed. “Yes, it’s beautiful and charming and known for gardens and tea, but there’s also this really vibrant, creative, progressive community here that’s grown so much over the last decade.”

Indeed, over the last number of years, an incredibly dynamic food scene has emerged, as has a thriving wellness and arts scene, not to mention a bolder nightlife scene and vibrant queer culture.

“People aren’t just visiting Victoria for a quiet getaway anymore; they’re looking for memorable experiences and spaces that feel authentic, playful and a little bit unexpected,” says Farmer.

Cue The Love Nest, and like so many things, timing is everything.

“For me, the timing feels perfect because people are craving real connection more than ever right now!” says Farmer. “I wanted to create an oasis of sex positivity; a safe space where you’re allowed to celebrate sensuality and explore what excites you. It’s not just about building a room for better sex. It’s a room built for better intimacy where you’ve got a chance to be vulnerable and explore.”

If anyone in the industry was going to pull this off, it was going to be Mandy Farmer. She has been a pioneer and a bit of a rebel in the hospitality world her whole career, pushing boundaries with her people-first management approach.

Before The Love Nest even started to take shape, Farmer spent the better part of 10 years writing business plans for her retro-themed hotels before finally getting buy-in.

What started out as an idea that many dismissed – retro, playful, personality driven hotels -has grown into a successful brand with three Hotel Zeds now in B.C. including Tofino, showing that the idea was not just outside the box but scalable.

That same persistence and willingness to take risks is how The Love Nest was born. “I’ve been dreaming of The Love Nest for years, and I’m inspired by an unspoken truth that sex in hotel rooms is better than sex at home…As a hotelier, I think it’s imperative that we continuously enhance our guest experience. If folks really prefer hotel sex, what if we designed an experience for our guests that can make hotel sex even more awesome.”

It’s still early days but The Love Nest has quickly become a destination experience. The hotel had nearly 2,000 people sign up for the pre-sale list, and since opening it has been consistently booked with weekends selling out and steady demand across the week.

And it isn’t just visitors booking the room. It’s locals, couples, people in different kinds of relationships, and people exploring something new.

When we arrived at the hotel, the retro vibe was on full display. The front desk staff were incredibly friendly, gave us a knowing smile, and a heads up about the “intimacy kit” inside the room that contains vibrators, lube, restraints and other accessories available for purchase.

When we finally opened the door to our suite, it felt like we were stepping onto the set of Boogie Nights, the Hollywood film that explores the 1970s “golden age” of adult film. There’s no shock value here – just a welcoming, sensual space where guests can explore and celebrate intimacy in whatever way feels right.

Equal parts cheeky and curated, it’s really meant to be a room where you’ve got a chance to be vulnerable, a bit mischievous and most importantly have fun. And it’s all about the details.

There’s the requisite cocktail bar and several other playful touches including a tantric chaise, different grab bars strategically located throughout, a fully washable velvet Playpen Sofa, a high-grade sex swing and right in the middle of the room a dancing pole.

A fully mirrored wall is even discreetly hidden behind soft velvet curtains, and a spacious bathroom is kitted out as a wet room with peekaboo windows.

A custom grab bar on the headboard has been added for good measure and a curated library packed with old editions of Playboy magazine and books about tantric sex and other “inspirational resources” are there to help anyone looking to deepen their understanding of intimacy.

“The room is designed to be self-service, because nobody wants to call the front desk and ask how to use a sex swing,” says Farmer. “Shame isn’t invited into The Love Nest, so we created a retro-inspired menu that explains everything clearly, and we let guests decide when they want housekeeping so they’re never interrupted at the wrong moment.”

The room isn’t just a little naughty and fun, but it’s part of a broader cultural shift not only toward sexuality, but also to Victoria’s hospitality scene that has been steadily shedding its prim image in favor of something more expressive and experiential.

By Jeff Silverstein