Royal Hotel

This building was the home of the Royal Hotel until the early 2000s. It was built in 1911 by the architectural partnership of Parr and Fee for Dr. Robert Boyle, a physician who lived on Robson Street. The Royal Hotel was one of many Single Room Occupancy establishments along Granville Street where working class men and women lived.

There was a bar on the first floor that in the final years of the hotel became a gay-friendly space. When the famous Castle bar closed in 1990, its gay patrons gravitated to the Royal until it “went straight” in 2001 and the gay community gradually drifted away to other bars. The space now houses Hosteling International – Vancouver Central.

Source

City of Vancouver Archives, Daily Xtra article, Changing Vancouver blog