Sunborn Vancouver

Vancouver City Council approved a 250-room floating hotel for Coal Harbour on April 14, 2026, to be moored beside the Vancouver Convention Centre by Finnish operator Sunborn Group, which already runs floating hotels in London and Gibraltar. The purpose-built, low-carbon, 136-metre vessel passed council by a near-unanimous vote despite a contested public hearing, with the developer's own filings suggesting rooms could open by 2027 if approvals and construction proceed without delay.

The place

The hotel would moor as a permanent vessel in Coal Harbour, directly beside the Vancouver Convention Centre's West Building, with a large public dock open to non-guests between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m.

The concept

Sunborn Group, the Finnish company behind existing floating hotels in London and Gibraltar, is proposing a purpose-built, low-carbon 136-metre vessel moored permanently at Coal Harbour, a genuinely new hospitality format for Vancouver rather than a conversion of any existing structure. Vancouver City Council approved the rezoning on April 14, 2026 with only one councillor, Sean Orr, opposed, after a public hearing that drew more than 20 speakers and a roughly even split of written submissions (32 in support, 38 opposed): most objections centred on the hotel blocking sightlines to the water and mountains, and on the developer declining the city's request for a $3.6-million voluntary contribution toward parks and childcare, a contribution ordinary land-based hotel developments are typically required to make through the building-permit process but which does not apply here since the vessel has no foundation or footings. As a condition of approval, Sunborn must indemnify the city against injury, death or damage tied to the hotel and carry liability insurance naming the city as an additional insured party. Sunborn CEO Hans Niemi has said the project will create roughly 200 jobs and is pitched as a mid-market, not "unattainable," price point for the local market.

Dining & wellness

Plans describe a hotel bar, restaurant, spa and café aboard the vessel, alongside the public dock; none of these has opened and no operator, chef or spa-brand names have been disclosed.