"The worst Christmas I've had in 36 years."
That's David Brabner, a resident of the Regal Hotel in Vancouver, who says he spent the holiday freezing in his room after the heat went out on Christmas Eve.
Owned by the notorious Sahota family, the Regal is a single-room-occupancy building located at 1046 Granville Street that came under fire this year for being in "unsafe condition." A report that went before city council stated that it represented “an ongoing risk to the life safety of the residents of the building.”
Brabner, 36, told Vancouver Is Awesome in a phone interview on Wednesday (Dec. 29) that he moved into the building in July 2021 but hopes to find other accommodation as soon as possible.
"Today alone the power has blown three times," he said. "It was off for about a half-an-hour each time."
While the heat was back on Boxing Day, Brabner notes that he never feels warm in his room. For one, he says the window in his room has never been fixed, so cold air is always blowing in.
"I'm paying like almost $700 a month to live in a cockroach-infested hellhole where the sink never works. There's one shower working in the whole building.
"It is just disgusting...this place should be condemned."
Brabner added that there are mice in his unit, rats on the stairs, and his girlfriend has been bitten, although she doesn't know what bit her.
Over Christmas, Brabner slept with "three jackets on under two sleeping bags" and was "still shivering." Now, he says he has a sore throat and other tenants have complained of new coughs.
Vancouver responds
The City of Vancouver tells V.I.A. in an emailed statement that staff visited the Regal Hotel on Monday and that the building was getting warmer when they visited.
"We were informed that additional work is happening on the heating system this morning, and are following up today to ensure that work is completed and full heating has been restored," reads the statement.
The city also stated that staff monitor SRO buildings "closely and facilitate compliance" through inspections and by responding to complaints. Enforcement action is taken if a violation is noted during an inspection.
The city says it became aware of the heat issue on Dec. 17 and immediately took action. "Our understanding is there was an issue earlier over the holidays which building management attempted to resolve, but the problem had reoccurred."
Vancouver's long fight with the Sahota family
The city’s rental property standards database, which lists previous and current violations, shows the Regal has records dating back to April 2014 for contravening one or more bylaws related to building, fire and standards of maintenance.
Problems included issues with fire alarms, fire exit doors, fire extinguishers, fire connection, housekeeping, plumbing and “lodging house room number and records.” The database indicates 46 “completed issues” and five “current issues.”
The Sahotas will be familiar to readers who followed the city’s fight to expropriate and eventually buy the Balmoral and Regent hotels on East Hastings, near Main Street.
The Balmoral has been vacant since June 2017 and the Regent since June 2018. Both hotels have at least 150 rooms. The city closed both buildings because they were deemed unsafe to occupy.
Vancouver Is Awesome made several attempts to reach members of the Sahota family on Wednesday.
With files from Mike Howell.
