The Sylvia Hotel is a Vancouver landmark. Built in 1912 next to the waterfront and Vancouver’s iconic Stanley Park, it was the tallest building in the area and originally contained swanky apartments for the affluent. It became a hotel after World War I.
It went through a short period of decline but was designated as a heritage building in 1975. Since then its fortunes have increased.
After a long walk through Stanley Park it was a great place to stop for some lunch and a break.
Greetings from Vancouver. 🙂
In the Net! - Pictures and Stories of Life 
An iconic landmark for sure. Always meant to stay there, but never did. Have fun in Vancouver Lynette. Allan
Thanks Allan. We plan to stay there next time we’re here.
I like these old buildings that have stood the test of time.
I do as well. They have so much character and provide such a sense of history.
We were fortunate to stay there in 2000 great hotel. It’s fab to see these pictures. Thanks for sharing Lynette.
You’re very welcome. 🙂 We plan to stay there on our next Vancouver visit.
It’s good to know the Canadians, unlike their next door neighbours, place a value on older buildings and preserve them for the benefit of future generations. All helps give young people a sense of the history of their land.
Vancouver hasn’t always had the best reputation for preservation; it’s doing much better now, including intervening on developers who buy 100-year old houses in order to replace them with so-called monster homes (large and cheap to build but expensive to buy). Yes, it’s important to protect history, both good and bad, but protecting old buildings is also necessary for safeguarding our national personality.
That’s good to know. Preservation is also much better for the environment, of course, where sustainability needs to become the first consideration for all actions.
Yes, I agree completely. Sustainability is the answer, but people keep thinking that we need to grow. We’ve done much more than enough of that!
A basic problem with Capitalism, unfortunately.
I love lunching at renowned places. I don’t do it often but have enjoyed every one of them.
Yes, it’s such fun! A bit of trivia: apparently it was one of Errol Flynn’s favoured watering holes.
I absolutely love historic buildings, especially hotels, and I will happily stay in a long-established property rather than something fancy and new.
It sounds like Dallas and Vancouver have a similar trajectory, at least in the context of this post. There was a time when they were tearing down everything historical and many magnificent buildings were lost. But now the tide is turning and it’s become much easier to save the landmarks whenever possible…
I do as well and prefer to stay in older hotels; there’s just so much more depth.
Vancouver started rectifying its reputation for tearing down older buildings in the 70s and 80s. There had been a lot of criticism, and deservedly so. Dealing with developers was another issue as they wanted to tear down everything, repeatedly. Having the Olympics in 2010 helped to refocus the city and province on what they wanted to present to world, too.
I love how the Sylvia Hotel has survived the ages and is looking even better today. If walls could talk, I’m sure they would tell some interesting stories.
I like that, too. Yes, if the walls could talk! My understanding is that Errol Flynn liked that hotel (he was a famous actor – and quite a party guy – of the Hollywood golden age).