Fairmont Vancouver Hotel

After our exploration of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Jandy and I visited the historic Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.  Formerly and still informally called the Hotel Vancouver, it is situated within the city’s Financial District in Downtown Vancouver, bounded by Burrard Street to the northwest, West Georgia Street to the northeast, and Hornby Street to the southeast. To the southwest, the hotel property is bounded by two buildings, including 750 Burrard Street.

Check out “Vancouver Art Gallery” and “Former Vancouver Law Courts Building”

Jandy and the author with the hotel in the background

This  17-storey building, opened in May 1939 and currently managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, is considered one of Canada’s grand railway hotels (it was initially built by Canadian National Railway). Standing 112.47-m. (369.0 ft) high, the hotel was also the tallest building in Vancouver until the completion of TD Tower in 1972.

The view of the hotel from the Vancouver Art Gallery

Located close to several attractions in Downtown Vancouver, the hotel is situated directly northwest of the aforementioned Vancouver Art Gallery and Robson Square (a public square adjacent the art museum). Christ Church Cathedral, the oldest church in the city, also lies north of the hotel  and two SkyTrain rapid transit stations (Burrard station, and Vancouver City Centre station) are also situated near the hotel.

Heritage Building Plaque

The third hotel in the city to use the name “Hotel Vancouver,” the first and second Hotel Vancouver were both located along West Georgia Street, southeast of the present hotel. The first, a crude four-storey structure, debuted in 1888 after the arrival of the Canadian National Railway in the region. In an effort to prevent competition with the new Hotel Vancouver, Canadian National Railway closed its hotel operations at the second Hotel Vancouver once the new hotel opened and, in 1949, it was torn down after Canadian National Railway sold the property to Eaton’s in December 1948.

Bas reliefs

This Châteauesque-styled hotel (part of series of Chateauesque grand railway hotels built throughout Canada in the late-19th and early 20th centuries), designed by two Canadian architects, John Smith Archibald, and John Schofield, incorporates elements from Renaissance-era chateaus found in France‘s Loire Valley.

The spectacular copper pitch roof outfitted with many dormers

Its Châteauesque features include its prominent and spectacular copper pitched roof, outfitted with many dormers, and extensive amount of carved stonework encompassing a steel frame. Hotel Vancouver also incorporates Renaissance Revival architectural detailings, gargoyles and relief sculptures. The decorative work for the building was done by a number of artists including Olea Marion Davis, Charles Marega, Beatrice Lennie, Valentine Shabief, and Lilias Farley.

Here’s the historical timeline of the hotel:

• In the 1920s, plans to develop a railway hotel at the present site of Hotel Vancouver first emerged.
• In December 1928, as a result of a land deal between the city, and Canadian Northern Railway (a company later acquired by Canadian National Railway), work on the present Hotel Vancouver commenced.  Shortly after the erection of the building’s steel frame however, work on the hotel was halted, as a result of the Great Depression.
• In 1937, work resumed on the building
• In 1938, a joint investment into the property from Canadian Pacific Hotels (a division of Canadian Pacific Railway) and Canadian National Railway made possible the completion of the new hotel.
• In May 1939, the hotel was completed in time for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth‘s 1939 royal tour of Canada.
• In 1962, Canadian National Hotels (a division of Canadian National Railway) acquired Canadian Pacific Hotels’ share of the property, gaining full ownership of the hotel.
• On January 1, 1964, Hilton Hotels International assumed management of the hotel for CN, though it was never branded as a Hilton.
• On January 1, 1984, after the management contract with Hilton ended, CN Hotels resumed management of the hotel.
• In 1988 Canadian National Hotels sold its remaining nine properties, including Hotel Vancouver, to Canadian Pacific Hotels.
• In 2001, Canadian Pacific Hotels was reorganized as Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, adopting the name from an American company it had purchased in 1999. As a part of this re-branding effort, the hotel’s name was changed to the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.
• In 2007 Fairmont Hotels and Resorts sold 25 hotel properties, including Hotel Vancouver, to Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, although Fairmont continues to manage the hotel.
• In 2015, the property was sold to Larco Enterprise for C$180 million.
• In 2014, in preparation for the building’s 80th anniversary, the hotel underwent a C$12 million renovation which saw a reworked main lobby and guest rooms and restoration of the 14th floor of the hotel to its original decor from 1939. Restored items on the 14th floor include English harewood doors with bronze doorplates, bronze hallway doors, sapele-panelled walls with bronze strips at its elevator lobby.
• In 2018, the four-year hotel renovation project was completed.

Check out “80 Years of Iconic Moments“

Hotel lobby

The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, with 557 guest rooms and suites (including the Lieutenant Governor’s Suite and the Royal Suite), has a restaurant (Notch8 Restaurant + Bar which also hosts the hotel’s afternoon tea service), a gym, swimming pool and spa. The Lieutenant Governor’s Suite, designed with Art Deco stylings, features black walnut veneer-paneled walls.

Notch 8 Restaurant

Aside from King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, other famous people who stayed there include:

• Anna Pavlova (Russian prima ballerina who performed in the Imperial Russian Ballet)
• Ethel Barrymore (actress regarded by many to be “The First Lady of American Theatre”)
• Sarah Bernhardt (French stage actress known for her roles in such plays like La Tosca, Ruy Blas, and La Dame Aux Cameilas)
• Babe Ruth (legendary outfielder for the New York Yankees regarded today as the being best baseball player ever)
• Winston Churchill (Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1940 – 1945 and 1951 – 1955).

Front Desk

In movies and television the hotel was featured in:

• Russian Roulette (1975)
• Falling in Love Again (1980)
• Dead Zone (1983)
• The Penthouse (1989)
• Bird on a Wire (1990)
• The X-Files: Fire (1993)
• The Santa Clause (1994)
• Double Jeopardy (1999)
• Get Carter (2000)
• Dark Angel: Prodigy (2000)
• Antitrust (2001)
• Josie & the Pussycats (2001)
• Life or Something Like It (2002)
• Slap Shot II (2002)
• La La Wood (2004)
• White Chicks (2004)
• Are We There Yet? (2005)
• The Suite Life of Zack and Cody (2005 – 2008)
• She’s the Man (2006)
• The Good Wife (2009)
• The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010)
• Call Me Mrs. Miracle (2010)
• Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)
• Age of Adaline (2015)
• Fifty Shades Darker (2017)

Fairmont Hotel Vancouver: 900 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, British Columbia VC 2W6, Canada. Tel: +1 604 684 3131.  Fax: +1 604 662 1929.  E-mail: hvc.concierge@fairmont.com.