Victoria hotel goes 'Downton Abbey' with special package / travel

VICTORIA - The Oak Bay Beach Hotel, an oceanfront English manor-styled resort in Victoria, is inviting guests to celebrate the Jan. 6 season launch of TV miniseries "Downton Abbey" in style.

A "white-gloved and period-inspired" dinner will be followed by a screening of the season 3 premiere at 9 p.m. on the big screen in the hotel's David Foster Foundation Theatre. A reception and overnight accommodation is also part of the package, priced at $289 per couple.

Guests who arrive in appropriate "Downton Abbey" attire will be entered to win door prizes, the hotel says. The drama is set in a Yorkshire country estate in the post-Edwardian era.

Partial proceeds from the evening's events will go to support Seattle-based PBS affiliate KCTS 9, which airs the miniseries.

Details at www.oakbaybeachhotel.com.