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<\/p>\nThe plan outlines a 131-metre-long vessel six storeys tall from sea level, situated in front of the Vancouver Convention Centre with the North Shore mountains rising up from the opposite shore of Burrard Inlet.<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
Ed Crowder was taking in what he called the \u201cspectacular\u201d view of the mountains jutting up into the blue sky on Wednesday. <\/p>\n
The first-time visitor to Vancouver from New Haven, Conn., had been \u201cstanding here just gazing at it for the last 20 minutes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a visitor, I have to say I appreciate the view as it is. I don\u2019t see any reason to clutter it up more,\u201d Crowder said, though he noted he understood there would be economic motivations behind the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying to think of what it would have looked like 30 years ago,\u201d he said. \u201cWill one more thing here ruin the view? Probably not, but then one over there and another one over there \u2026 and after a while it just kind of loses its charm I\u2019d imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project\u2019s supporters say public access to the dock attached to the western side of the hotel mean views will be retained, with people able to get closer to water level.<\/p>\n
While Jennifer Kuhn, visiting from Regina, said she thought the floatel could be an \u201ceyesore,\u201d blocking the view of the North Shore, her father, Murray Kuhn, said there was plenty of space in the harbour and he would happily stay there.<\/p>\n
In the application\u2019s letter of intent, Graham Clarke, chairman of Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre, said the floatel would \u201ccontribute to Vancouver\u2019s hotel stock in a meaningful and unique way,\u201d helping to grow the vibrancy of the nearby community.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis proposal is a far better use of the publicly accessible waterfront than the private yacht marina that was approved here but never constructed,\u201d Clarke said. <\/p>\n
\u201cGiven that virtually the entirety of the Coal Harbour (development plan) area has been developed, this project proposes an elegant solution to the challenge of delivering a new hotel that will support growth in tourism and convention activity while complementing the area\u2019s existing uses.\u201d <\/p>\n
Sunborn said the 150-cabin hotel would support up to 225 jobs and the entry level of the vessel would be fully open to the public, attracting locals and tourists alike while driving economic activity.<\/p>\n
Waste from the hotel would go directly into the city\u2019s sewerage system, it says, and its carbon footprint would be \u201csubstantially lower\u201d than that of a typical hotel, the proposal says.<\/p>\n
Coun. Sean Orr voted against the project, while a number of members of the public spoke out in opposition during Tuesday night\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n
One resident told council the structure \u201csits right in the line of sight to one of the most amazing views in Vancouver,\u201d while others expressed concerns over congestion and potential pollution in the harbour.<\/p>\n
In a comment opposing the project, Vancouver resident Clinton Robinson said the floatel should be moved farther east or a new location should be chosen to avoid blocking the view of the North Shore.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis view is one of the most visited by visitors to the city, and residents, including myself, never tire of standing exactly where the entrance to the floating hotel would be to enjoy the view, at all seasons of the year,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cA floating hotel would completely change this view, obstructing it for certain angles and distracting from the natural beauty. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere is absolutely no way the hotel in this position could possibly enhance the environment and its attractions.\u201d<\/p>\n
City staff said the project must still meet all environmental requirements and approval processes.<\/p>\n
They said the floatel\u2019s placement near the Waterfront SkyTrain station should mitigate congestion concerns.<\/p>\n
Sunborn chairman Hans Niemi told the council meeting that the floatel design has already evolved several times in consideration of the harbourfront view. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand the sensitivity of the site and the viewpoints,\u201d Niemi said, noting Sunborn has looked at several alignment options for the vessel to \u201caccommodate the viewpoints of the port.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe feel that this particular alignment and location fulfils all of those concerns.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andra Patrichi lives in downtown Vancouver and walks the seaside pathway next to the project site about twice a week. She stopped Wednesday to read a sign alerting the public to the rezoning application and shared mixed feelings about the plan.<\/p>\n
While an artist\u2019s rendering of the hotel looks \u201ckind of cool\u201d and the project could attract more visitors to boost the local economy, the rendering showed the vessel looks large enough to block the view of the mountains, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s like a prime, you know, viewpoint for people walking along the waterfront.\u201d<\/p>\n
It might be different if the hotel\u2019s proponent was Canadian, she added.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it\u2019s funny how they put the Canadian flag on here,\u201d Patrichi said, gesturing to the Maple Leaf flying from the back of the vessel in the rendering.<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 15, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brenna Owen, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The plan outlines a 131-metre-long vessel six storeys tall from sea level, situated in front of the Vancouver…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[879,49,48,2467,2461,2468,2460,2462,2463,44,2464,2465,2466,82,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-608018","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vancouver","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-central-vancouver-island","12":"tag-nanaimo","13":"tag-nanaimo-breaking-news","14":"tag-nanaimo-news","15":"tag-nanaimo-news-now","16":"tag-nanaimonewsnow","17":"tag-news","18":"tag-oceanside","19":"tag-parksville","20":"tag-qualicum","21":"tag-sports","22":"tag-vancouver"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}