By using this website you allow us to use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. Cookies are harmless and never personally identify you.
"The Hotel Van, as the locals say, is a great example of the the majestic railway hotels that built across the country by the Canadian Pacific and the Canadian National Railways at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. For their time, these hotels were miracles of construction and engineering. Everything that went into them was the biggest and best of their time and they have become very much a part of Canada's national heritage and identity. They still stand tall today as some of the most striking architectural treasures of this fascinating country. The Hotel Vancouver is in fact the third hotel of that name in the city."
HISTORY IN BRIEF
1939: Opening year of the modern Hotel Vancouver, which was in fact the third hotel of that name in the city.
1999: Rebranded as The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.
HISTORY IN DETAIL
1887: A first Hotel Vancouver opened in the city.
1916: A second Hotel Vancouver opened it doors. It was designed in a grand Italianate revival style, and was considered one of the great hotels of the British Empire. In the time of this building the names of the Spanish Grill, the Panorama Roof, and the Red Barrel became famous as part of the city's social whirl (names that are used by facilities in the third Hotel Vancouver). It had several ballrooms and lounges, as well as an adjacent opera house cum cinema (originally the Orpheum, later restyled the Lyric), and all the bathrooms were fitted with marble sinks and gold-plate faucetry.
1939: The current Hotel Vancouver, a block away across the fountain plaza of the then-provincial courthouse and on the same side of Georgia, opened in May 1939.
1939-1957: The Hotel Vancouver was the tallest building in town.
1940: Young Dal Richards, the legendary Canadian big band singer, his 11-piece band and a then-unknown 13-year-old Juliette were booked to replace Matt Kenney and His Western Gentlemen, Canada's leading dance band at the time. No-one could have known that Dal's initial six-week contract would stretch into 25 years of regular performances and broadcasts at "The Roof". A weekly CBC Radio show was broadcast nationally from the Panorama Roof Ballroom of the Hotel Vancouver for many years. Dal would earn the moniker King of Swing.
WW2: The hotel became a troop barracks during the war.
1949: The other Hotel Vancouver was torn down to accommodate a government building.
1970s: Until the opening of the Pacific Broadcast Centre in the 1970s, the offices and broadcast studios of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Vancouver bureau were on the mezzanine floor of the hotel, overlooking the corner of Hornby and Georgia. A large art-deco sound stage used for radio theatre and musical broadcasts was located on the ground floor, with an entrance off Hornby Street.
1999: Canadian Pacific spun-off Canadian Pacific Hotels, along with all its properties. The new company was renamed Fairmont Hotels & Resorts in an effort to reflect its growing global presence and ambitions.
Air-conditioning and personal heat control
Alarm clock/radio
Bathrobes
Coffee/Tea maker
Cable television, in-room Pay-Movies/Games, Video Check-Out
Hair Dryer
Iron and ironing board
Mini-bar
In-Room Business Amenities
Large working desk, Business supplies, High Speed Internet Access upon request
Lieutenant Governor's Suite
-----------------
Morningside Suite
-----------------
Royal Suite
----------------
Gallery Suite
900 West Lounge
----------------
Griffin's
Explore the engaging seaside metropolis of Vancouver. Stanley Park, with its mile-long seawall, is a must for cycling, walking or having a picnic. The nearby Robson Street is a lively thoroughfare packed with boutiques, cafés and restaurants.
Health Club
---------------------
The Spa at Hotel Vancouver
----------------------
Golf and racquet sports can be arranged,
The hotel boasts 37,000 square feet of meeting space.
Google Map
Share:
Our Select Member Hotel
Vancouver Country: Canada City: Vancouver Opening date: 1887/1939
Note from the Host
General Manager Philip Darnis Hotel Manager: Fred Lawlor
Coordinates
900 West Georgia Street B.C. V6C 2W6
Canada, Vancouver
Tel: +1 604 684-3131
Fax: +1 604 662-1929
Happiness is made to be shared, knew the great French dramatist Jean Baptiste Racine (†1699).
Fill in the form below to allow us to send you our free newsletter "Feuilleton" — and we start sharing our stories and research with you. You can change your subscription any time. And while you are here, you can share with us your favourite famous hotels.
Thank you
Your Hotel(Hi-)Storyteller
Andreas Augustin & Team
Subscribe to Feuilleton, the famoushotels newsletter
"The Hotel Van, as the locals say, is a great example of the the majestic railway hotels that built across the country by the Canadian Pacific and the Canadian National Railways at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. For their time, these hotels were miracles of construction and engineering. Everything that went into them was the biggest and best of their time and they have become very much a part of Canada's national heritage and identity. They still stand tall today as some of the most striking architectural treasures of this fascinating country. The Hotel Vancouver is in fact the third hotel of that name in the city."
‘The Suite Life of Zack and Cody’ (2005)