With 2023 seeing another year of rising rents in Vancouver locals have gotten creative with room rentals in the city.
Landlords and fellow renters have many options on offer online right now, on sites like Craigslist and Facebook. While many are pricey and some look like they're in decent shape, not all are the most appealing options.
To call these "highlights" may be a stretch, but these five sleeping spaces (they're not all bedrooms) do have lights, or at least places to plug in (small) lamps.
The 'Is it really a solarium?' rental
This room is advertised as a solarium on a Facebook Marketplace ad, but doesn't appear totally accurate.
The room is quite small, which is normal for a solarium. What is abnormal for a solarium is the number of windows. If you include the glass doors as one very large window, the room has one window.
While photos in the ad give a good idea of the inside of the small, dim room, they don't give a good idea of the rest of the space, so it's unclear where the doors lead, but it seems unlikely they would directly outside, so the solar energy reaching the room is likely limited not just by the lack of windows, but the route sunlight would need to take.
In any case, it's going for $1,200 per month, the priciest spot on this list.
The larger-than-average closet
As far as closets go this would be considered a pretty good one. It's deep, just long enough for a twin bed and an open door.
And that's about all there is to this one. It's not quite one of those capsule hotels from Tokyo, since its ceiling is quite high, but its width and length aren't much more.
The ad calls the room a den, which works since a den is simply defined as a small, multi-purpose room. In this case, the purpose is as someone's private space and sleeping quarters.
The two positives with this place are its location in downtown Vancouver (which is common for rooms this size priced this way) and a separate actual closet.
Rent is $850 per month.
The one that may have an odd window
A $600 rental in Kitsilano is uncommon, so it's not shouldn't come as a surprise that this room may not be the most appealing.
It's a simple space, with a twin bed that takes up the vast majority of floor space, a door that won't open all the way because of said bed, and a few shelves.
Normally a small window would be a pleasant addition to the space, but oddly a nearby window in this room appears to look into the rest of the unit. However, the room may be so small the window is actually in an adjacent room, which may be a positive or a negative.
The one that's not a bedroom
A spacious, well-lit sleeping area for $700 per month in Coal Harbour may sound too good to be true, but it is true.
It's just not the whole truth.
It's not so much a bedroom as it is a living room. And the living room is also attached to a kitchen.
"Also you have to share the (living room)," notes the ad.
The room with a view
A room with a view in Vancouver is often pricey, so getting to look out over downtown for $1,000 might sound like a deal.
However, aside from the view, there's not much to this room that barely fits a twin-size mattress. It does hold a chest of drawers though, which is more than some of these spaces can offer.
