From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History
Every year Ross Dyck, general manager of the Sylvia Hotel opens about 600 handwritten letters from fans of Mister Got to Go, mostly kids in Grades one and two. And every year he personally answers every one of them.
Dyck has worked in the hotel industry for the past 25 years, before that he taught drama and stage craft to high school kids.
The two Mr. Got to Go books about a cat that moved into the Sylvia Hotel, are so popular he says, that it’s not uncommon to stumble across a bus load of little tykes in the hotel lobby enroute to the Vancouver Aquarium.
“They force the bus driver to stop here so they can come in and find the cat,” he says. “Course the cat hasn’t been around for about 12 years, but we love the fact they still come.”
Dyck is likely the only hotel boss who would say that—but the Sylvia Hotel that celebrates its 100th anniversary this year is a special kind of hotel.
“When I first got here I was horrified. I’d walk into the lobby at 5:30 am and I’d see people walking around in their housecoats and slippers,” he says. “But I can’t think of any other hotel in Vancouver that can say that.”
Last year the Sylvia hosted a fifth generation wedding. The first family member was married there in 1913.
A woman in her 90s came to stay at the hotel for a night. Her mother had stayed at the Sylvia years ago and she showed Dyck the invoice. In those days, two nights accommodation, two breakfasts, and seven phone calls came to $7.14. When the woman checked out the next morning, Dyck charged her $7.14.
The same family has booked room 801, the same room that once housed the Dine in the Sky restaurant–for a month in the summer every year since 1990.
Over the years the hotel has hosted people like Pierre Trudeau and Errol Flynn. Like a good hotel manager, Dyck doesn’t like to name his famous guests, but he’s comfortable telling me that singer songwriters Jane Siberry and Jennifer Warnes are both regulars.
The Sylvia Hotel received Heritage Designation in 1975. Six years before the Englesea Lodge (seen in the photo below) burned to the ground.
Dyck, who likens his job to that of mayor of a small town, says that the best part of his job is that in the five years he has worked at the Sylvia he’s never had the same two days in a row.
9 comments on “The Sylvia Hotel turns 100”
Lovely article. Couldn’t believe it when I read that the Sylvia receives 600 letters a year!!! Who made the wacky cover for the 3rd book? I’m hard at work trying to come up with the cover myself.
I just found it online – must have been the publisher! Can’t wait to see the finished product – love your illustrations
I stayed at the Sylvia hotel a few years ago.
I was reading the book “Mr. Got to Go” to my two tiny toydogs Cleo and Cuddles while sitting in the lobby around 10 o’clock p.m.(empty nest syndrome)
Everything was quiet behind the lobby desk and there weren’t any customers in the the lobby.
All of a sudden….Cleo lunged at the lobby desk and started barking hysterically…very unusual for Cleo…Cuddles is the one who is yappy…and Cuddles didn’t make a sound…not one peep.
It’s always puzzled me why Cleo saw ‘something’ on the lobby desk and Cuddles didn’t.
Actually I didn’t see anything either nor did the staff….anyway Cleo is a much more ‘sensitive’ dog than Cuddles…she picks up on peoples feelings etc whereas Cuddles is oblivious in a puppylike way
I think Cleo saw ‘Mr. Got to Go”
I loved my stay at the Sylvia
Margaret McJannet
That’s fabulous – now the Sylvia has a ghost cat! Thanks for posting sounds like a dog’s worst nightmare
Thank-you for this interesting and informative article on the lovely Sylvia Hotel. Fortunately I did enjoy a few drinks in the lounge years ago, when one could afford a ferry trip to the mainland. A beautiful hotel with a long history. I was so moved that I put a collage together that I hope you don’t mind me sharing with you and your readers: https://www.flickr.com/photos/westcoasthistory/8402522983/
We hope to visit Vancouver one of these days and if we do the Sylvia Hotel will be on our list as one of the great places to see.
Hi Glen, thanks so much for your kind words. Love the collage – I hope that you don’t mind if I share it on my Facebook page.Eve
Thank-you and yes feel free to share on Facebook, cheers. I look forward to your future writings.
Bit of a gap in the posts but The Sylvia has a special place in my heart. My mom worked at the Sylvia both at Dine In The Sky and at the restaurant on the ground floor as a cook in the early 60s. One of her favorite stories was about an accident in the kitchen. They were working under the kitchen floor and she spilled a large pot of gravy on the workers below. They calmly asked her to pass down the roast beef. A woman that worked the front desk gave my mom a dog. A beagle named Hamlet. That dog could fill a page with stories and it came from the Sylvia. When I was a bit older the Sylvia lounge was a favorite place to drink. Rusty Nails and Zombies were favorites. One of the first dates my wife and I went on was to the Sylvia Lounge. I would take my mom their for diner in her later years. In 1972 while attending BCIT a group of us had to interview credit and collection policies at 3 hotels. The Bayshore The Sylvia and the Caravan motel . Mr Reeves was the manager of the Sylvia at the time and he remembered my mom so it was an in. Today we still get to the Sylvia if were spending the day at Stanley Park. Its my favorite Vancouver Landmark
Thanks so much for this Doug, and for all the comments that you leave. It really adds to the richness of Vancouver’s history for me when I hear these personaL stories.