A no messing around guide to the coolest things to eat, drink and do in Vancouver and beyond. Community. Not clickbait.

We Want to Sleep in the Cockpit of a 747 Permanently Parked at YVR Airport

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If is a column that advocates for things that exist in other cities that could serve to improve or otherwise celebrate life in our own.

Wouldn’t it be great to have something as cool as Stockholm’s Jumbostay attached to YVR Airport? As much as we appreciate the luxury and convenience of the airport’s Fairmont Hotel, it wouldn’t hurt to give it some direct competition. From Insider:

Jumbostay has been on the tarmac of Arlanda Airport, Stockholm, since 2009. The Boeing 747 plane was built in 1976, and was last operated by Transjet, a Swedish airline that went bankrupt in 2002. It was converted by owner Oscar Diös into a functioning hotel.

It has 33 rooms and 76 beds. Guests can choose from the engine rooms – which are converted under the wings, to hostel-style beds, single rooms and the cockpit suite.

Booking the cockpit suite gets you exclusive access to the VIP lounge. The original airline seats are still in place, as well as bar, drawers and magazines. The control panel above the bed is still in place, and the room also has an ensuite.

Jumbostay’s staff are all referred to as cabin crew, and wear stewards’ uniforms. The plane is within easy reach of Arlanda Airport train station, and can be accessed by a free shuttle bus.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If We Had More Safe Indoor Spaces for Skateboarding

Its vaulted ceilings may have once carried the tenors and altos of Catholic choirboys, but nowadays the acoustics of the abandoned St. Liborius Church have been repurposed to carry the screeches and echoes characteristic of a DIY Skatepark. We think Vancouver would be cooler if we had an all-inclusive indoor community skatepark of our own...

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If It Had a Massive Floating Housing Project at the Port

Imagine a colourful, mixed-used, housing complex like Amsterdam's Silodam floating at the foot of Victoria Drive.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If It Had Floating Camp Sites in False Creek

Imagine Belgium's Vlot Kamp - essentially eight floating campsites accessed from the shore by canoe - next to Olympic Village.

Vancouver Would Be Cooler If It Had a Cocktail Bar Hidden in a Skytrain Station

This 15-seat speakeasy-style bar is located behind a nondescript door in New York City's 28th Street subway station.