Hotel Vancouver

This is the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, though it used to be, and some people still call it, the Hotel Vancouver. It’s right here in the Financial District, on West Georgia Street in Downtown Vancouver. Two architects, John Smith Archibald and John Schofield, designed it. Fairmont Hotels and Resorts manages it now.

It opened in May 1939, and it’s considered one of Canada's grand railway hotels, built in the Châteauesque style. This building is 112.47 meters tall and has 17 floors. It was actually the tallest building in Vancouver until the TD Tower was finished in 1972.

You can find it at 900 West Georgia Street. Burrard Street is to the northwest, West Georgia Street to the northeast, and Hornby Street to the southeast. There are two buildings to the southwest, including 750 Burrard Street. It's also close to the Vancouver Art Gallery and Robson Square directly to the southeast, and Christ Church Cathedral, the oldest church in the city, is north of here. There are also two SkyTrain stations nearby: Burrard and Vancouver City Centre.

It was originally built by Canadian National Railway as one of their grand railway hotels. Construction started in 1929, but it wasn't completed until 1939 because of funding issues during the Great Depression. Canadian Pacific Hotels, a part of Canadian Pacific Railway, had to invest in it to get it finished.

Like other grand railway hotels, it takes inspiration from chateaus in France's Loire Valley. You can see the Châteauesque features in its prominent copper pitched roof with dormers, and the carved stonework over a steel frame. It also has Renaissance architectural details, gargoyles, and relief sculptures. Artists like Olea Marion Davis, Charles Marega, Beatrice Lennie, Valentine Shabief, and Lilias Farley were commissioned for the decorative work in 1939.

Inside, there are 557 guest rooms and suites, including the Lieutenant Governor's Suite, which has Art Deco stylings and black walnut veneer-paneled walls, and the Royal Suite. In 2018, a four-year renovation project updated the main lobby and guest rooms. It also restored the 14th floor to its original 1939 decor, including English harewood doors with bronze doorplates, bronze hallway doors, and sapele-paneled walls with bronze strips in the elevator lobby.

There’s also a restaurant called Notch8 Restaurant + Bar, which also hosts afternoon tea. Other facilities include a gym, a swimming pool, and a spa.

Plans for a railway hotel here by Canadian Northern Railway first came up in the 1920s. Canadian National Railway started work in December 1928, building it as part of a land deal where the city prepared tidal flats on False Creek for railway yards and Pacific Central Station. In return, the company promised a large downtown hotel and made Vancouver the western terminus for its rail network.

Work stopped after the steel frame went up due to the Great Depression. It resumed in 1937, and in 1938, Canadian National Railway partnered with Canadian Pacific Railway to finish it. They rushed to complete it for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth's 1939 royal tour of Canada. This was actually the third hotel in the city to be called "Hotel Vancouver." The first two were southeast of here on West Georgia Street. Canadian Pacific Railway even closed its hotel operations at the second Hotel Vancouver when this one opened to avoid competition. That second building was torn down in 1949 after Canadian Pacific sold it to Eaton's in December 1948.

In the mid-20th century, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio stations were located inside this hotel