250-room floating hotel proposal to be considered by Vancouver City Council | Daily Hive

250-room floating hotel proposal set to be considered by Vancouver City Council

Concept for a floating hotel at the Vancouver Convention Centre. (Dialog/Sunborn International Holding)

The proposal to build a floating hotel with 250 guest rooms on the Coal Harbour waterfront in downtown Vancouver is heading into Vancouver City Council’s consideration process, with City of Vancouver staff recommending that it proceed to a public hearing.

The project, envisioned for the water lot immediately north of the West Building of the Vancouver Convention Centre, would see a ship-like hotel moored to a new public dock. The floating hotel would span a height of six levels, a length of 431 ft., and a width of 60 ft., and its displacement in the water would be about 5,400 tons.

The hotel’s lower levels — directly connected to the seawall by several pedestrian bridges — would be accessible to the general public, featuring shops, a restaurant, cafe, and spa. The main pedestrian bridge for public hotel access would be located right next to the iconic blue “The Drop” raindrop sculpture.

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According to a new City staff report, this unique accommodations offering could boost tourism and help address Vancouver’s shortage of hotel rooms, aligning with broader economic vitality goals for the highly centralized waterfront area.

The proposal requires changes to existing zoning rules, including increasing allowable building height on the water and adding more floor area to accommodate the hotel and complementary commercial uses.

If approved, the floating structure would be the first of its kind in Vancouver’s harbour, offering public amenities such as viewing areas and expanded access along the seawall.

Concept for a floating hotel at the Vancouver Convention Centre. (Sunborn International Holding)

This hotel, by Finnish hotel developer Sunborn International Holding, would be known as “Sunborn Evolution Vancouver.”

In an interview with Daily Hive Urbanized in early 2025, Hans Niemi, CEO of Sunborn International, said the Vancouver floating hotel would be a brand-new, custom-designed vessel for the local market. The company would enter into a decades-long lease for the water lot, which is owned by the provincial government. The project is already endorsed by provincial Crown corporation Pavco, the operator of the convention centre.

Sunborn operates similar floating hotels in London and Gibraltar, with plans to build a new replacement hotel for its London location — the sister vessel of the Vancouver hotel — and open its fourth location in Seville.

In their new report to City Council, City staff further describe the project as “unusual” due to its setting on water and the floating design, which falls outside conventional land-based building regulations.

While the vessel looks like a ship, it functions much more like a barge, as it does not have any built-in propulsion capabilities and is not meant to be moved often. Just one level would be below the waterline, containing only staff areas, storage and equipment space, and other back-of-house uses.

Concept for a floating hotel at the Vancouver Convention Centre. (Sunborn International Holding)

Sunborn Evolution Vancouver floating hotel f10

Concept for a floating hotel at the Vancouver Convention Centre. (Dialog/Sunborn International Holding)

Concept for a floating hotel at the Vancouver Convention Centre. (Sunborn International Holding)

Sunborn is working with Vancouver-based firm Dialog, which is serving as the local architect of record and is particularly involved in the land-based design aspects of access, the pedestrian bridges, docks, and utility connections.

Based on the technical drawings, the floating hotel would fit snugly into two new moorage docks on either side of the vessel.

City staff acknowledge the project would partially obstruct existing harbour and mountain views along the seawall and from Burrard Street. To offset this, they are proposing conditions requiring public viewing areas and improved access along the new dock, which is something that is already proposed along the northwestern edge of the floating hotel.

However, previous plans had already envisioned obstructing views from this seawall location. When the water lot was created in the 2000s for the construction of the convention centre expansion, it was originally intended to eventually become a new marina at some point in the future, allowing large boats and yachts to berth directly in front of the seawall. In fact, the proposed floating hotel would repurpose an existing, unused concrete footing in the water — originally built to support that future marina — located directly in front of the seawall.

Concept for a floating hotel at the Vancouver Convention Centre. (Sunborn International Holding)

Previous marina plan for the water lot:

Previous plan for a new marina on the water lot in front of Vancouver Convention Centre’s West Building. (Colliers International Unique Properties)

Previous plan for a new marina on the water lot in front of Vancouver Convention Centre’s West Building. (Colliers International Unique Properties)

As well, because the hotel would float rather than sit on a foundation, it would not fall under the municipal government’s typical building permit system. Instead, the hotel would be certified by an international maritime classification body, with oversight from federal authorities including Transport Canada and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. To mitigate risks, the City is proposing legal agreements requiring insurance, regular safety inspections, and indemnification in case of accidents.

While the project would generate some development-related fees, the applicant has declined to provide a requested $3.6 million voluntary cash contribution to the City toward public benefits. Instead, the developer is offering public access to the new waterfront dock as a major in-kind community amenity contribution.

City Council is expected to approve City staff’s recommendation to refer this application to a public hearing later this spring. Although a public hearing is not legally required, as the proposal follows the prescriptions and stipulations of Vancouver’s newly approved citywide Official Development Plan, City staff are recommending such a public meeting due to the project’s complexity and public interest.

On Sunborn’s website, the company states the rezoning process for its Vancouver location is “proceeding well and in line with the anticipated schedule,” with the rezoning application decision by City Council expected in April 2026 and the rezoning enactment expected to reach completion by the third quarter of 2026.

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