Washington Hotel/Maple Hotel

The Maple Hotel was built in 1912 by architects Parr and Fee, who designed many early Vancouver buildings. The hotel was built for James Borland, a pioneer who arrived in Vancouver in 1888 and later became a well-known building agent.

The hotel has gone through different name changes. Until 1935, it was known as the Hotel Maple. It was then the Hastings Hotel and later the Washington Hotel. The hotel underwent large-scale renovations in 2013-2014 as part of BC Housing’s SRO Renewal Initiative. After the renovations were completed, the hotel returned to its nearly original name, Maple Hotel.

The hotel’s fine finishes show that it catered to tourists and business travellers, who were expected after the completion of the Canadian Northern Railway and the Panama Canal. The Hotel Maple also housed services geared towards a male travelling public –
a pool room, a gentleman’s clothing outlet, and a restaurant.

Since 1998, the hotel has been managed by the Portland Housing Society, who provides 81 units of social housing for a diverse group of Downtown Eastside residents. The Maple‘s ground floor houses the Needle Depot project and the non-profit Washington Community Market, which provides neighbourhood residents with common essential food and household supplies at minimum mark up.

Source

Canada's Historic Places, Portland Housing Society website

More information

http://www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=8289