I’ve stayed in over a dozen hotels this year and I must admit that I’ve only ever stayed in a Vancouver hotel once. This week’s installment of my “Then and Now series features the cornerstone of our tourism community, hotels.

Hotel Vancouver
The first Hotel Vancouver from the 1880s was on Georgia at Granville. The second was built at Howe and Georgia, where the TD Tower sits today. My Flickr contact SqueakyMarmot has a nice side-by-side comparison of this iteration. These images are of the third Hotel Vancouver, which is in operation today.

1938

Private collection – ITEM #: Hot P80

2005

Photo credit: maynard

Yale Hotel
The Yale was founded in the mid 1880s and was one of the very few buildings to survive downtown’s Great Fire of 1886.

1944

Photographer: Jack Lindsay – ITEM #: CVA 1184-624

2005

Photo credit: David Ascher on Flickr

Sylvia Hotel
The Sylvia has been a landmark in English Bay for almost a century. It’s great for photographing especially in spring and summer when the ivy crawls its way all over the brick exterior.

1932

Photographer: Stuart Thomson – ITEM #: CVA 99-2632

2008

Photo credit: Tyler Ingram on Flickr

Hotel Georgia
The famous Hotel Georgia closed its doors and began renovation/re-construction a few years ago. It hosted high profile celebrities during its 80-year run including Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, John Wayne and Bob Hope.

1931

Photographer: Stuart Thomson – ITEM #: CVA 99-3998

2007

Photo credit: rodefeld on Flickr

Should you have any suggestions for next week’s installment, or any photos you think would be a good fit, please feel free to contact me.

*All photos have their item number listed so you can look them up online or in person at the City of Vancouver Archives.