The Sylvia Hotel

The Sylvia Hotel stands on Gilford Street at English Bay, beside Stanley Park, and its ivy-covered walls make it one of the most recognisable buildings in the West End. It was built in 1912 as an apartment block, designed by the Seattle architect W. P. White, and named after Sylvia Goldstein, the daughter of the original client, who later graduated from UBC and became a community volunteer. It became an apartment hotel in 1936, and during the Second World War many suites were turned into rooms for merchant marine crews. The City of Vancouver designated it a heritage building in 1975.

The building has some notable firsts. It was the tallest in the West End until 1958, when its restaurant used the slogan Dine in the Sky, and in 1954 it opened Vancouver's first cocktail bar. Boston ivy now covers the whole Gilford Street side. The hotel is also known for a former resident: a stray cat known as Mr Got To Go, who inspired three children's books by Lois Simmie, illustrated by Cynthia Nugent, and the singer Cheryl Wheeler mentions a feline resident in a song about the hotel.

There are 120 rooms and suites, ranging from petite queen rooms to three-bed units for families or groups. Suites include the English Bay Suite and the Beach Avenue Suite, and some rooms have kitchens, which helps on a longer stay. Room names such as King Beach Avenue point to the categories on the bay side of the building.

The hotel's restaurant and lounge, Sylvia's, takes reservations online and suits a relaxed dinner or a drink after a walk on the beach. There is on-site parking, and the hotel is pet friendly with no pet fee.

The Sylvia suits couples, families and budget-conscious travellers who would rather be by the sea than among the downtown towers.

The setting is the main draw. English Bay Beach and the Stanley Park seawall are a few steps away, and the hotel is about five minutes from downtown. From the door you can walk or cycle the seawall around Stanley Park, visit Lost Lagoon, or follow the path along Sunset Beach towards False Creek.