Vancouver council approves 250-room floating hotel

There will be a few more rooms with a view coming to Coal Harbour.

Vancouver city council approved Finnish hospitality company Sunborn International’s 250-room floating hotel proposal Tuesday evening.

“We’re absolutely delighted,” Sunborn chief executive Hans Niemi told CTV News at city hall following the decision. “It’s been a long journey to get here. It’s really taken almost four years to run through this process, so we’re very, very happy with the outcome.”

Sunborn has a template—with floating hotels in locations including London and Gibraltar.

This floating hotel is expected to employ 200 people when it opens.

It will essentially be a six-storey vessel attached to the convention centre and will include a 130-metre public pier.

Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre had rights to that part of the waterfront, and its chairman, Graham Clarke—a key player in the marina space over the decades—was a key figure in getting the project over the goal line.

“The one place there was a missing tooth in the smile of the waterfront was the north side of the convention centre,” Clarke said at city hall following the decision, noting he supported the Sunborn proposal which will have a public pier, in contrast to a marina for superyachts that he once contemplated for that space.

“This is something that Vancouver needs,” he said. “You know, one of our core economic drivers is tourism.”

In his 80s, Clarke said he is thinking about his legacy, and believes the aspects of the project available to the public, including the pier, will help contribute to what he referred to as the “town square” in the area of Jack Poole Plaza.

Still, a small protest was held outside city hall ahead of the vote, including members of Unite Here Local 40, a union representing hotel and hospitality workers.

“In terms of public benefits, they’re not offering very much,” said Michelle Travis with the union. “The developer is basically offering a walkway to a spa and a restaurant which really serves the floatel more than it serves the public.”

Inside the public hearing Tuesday, a number of speakers voiced concerns related to how the floating hotel would impact the view, to the fact Sunborn will not pay millions of dollars worth of community contributions a land-based hotel would be required to pay as part of the approval process.

Sunborn argued during Tuesday’s hearing that its proposal was ultimately temporary, and that its floating hotel would not enjoy the land value appreciation of a traditional hotel.

Niemi said the plan is to build the floating hotel in Europe, and then send it to Vancouver in the next few years, but there is no firm timeline at this point.

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