TRUMP Vancouver hotel name signs finally removed

The giant "TRUMP" sign has been removed from the West Georgia Street main entrance into the former Trump Vancouver hotel, as of December 23, 2021. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

All exterior signage spelling out “TRUMP” on Vancouver’s second tallest building has finally been removed, well over a year after the hotel property announced its permanent closure and declared bankruptcy.

Earlier this week, the giant uppercase chrome letters that hover above the West Georgia Street main entrance into the former Trump International Hotel and Tower Vancouver were unceremoniously taken down.

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Other smaller signage has also been scrubbed of the “Trump” letters, including the smaller sign directly above the main entrance doors and the crest logo to the west of the reopened Mott 32 restaurant.

Before — main entrance on West Georgia Street:

trump vancouver hotel sign december 9 2021

The condition of the main entrance from West Georgia Street into the former Trump International Hotel and Tower, as of December 9, 2021. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

After — main entrance on West Georgia Street:

trump vancouver hotel sign removed december 23 2021

The giant “TRUMP” sign has been removed from the West Georgia Street main entrance into the former Trump Vancouver hotel as of December 23, 2021. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

“TRUMP” has been scrubbed off the crest logo on the West Georgia Street frontage of the former Trump Vancouver Hotel as of December 23, 2021. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Similar signage with the former US president’s name in the hotel’s secondary entrance, accessed from the laneway, was dismantled several weeks earlier.

All of this comes ahead of the hotel property’s anticipated reopening with a new brand and name sometime in 2022.

On December 9, Daily Hive Urbanized was able to independently confirm that the hotel property’s second life will carry the brand of Paradox Hotel. Local developer Holborn Group was reached for comment, but at the time, they suggested they were unable to make any formal statements about the new direction for their hotel property.

Before — secondary entrance in the laneway:

Trump Vancouver Hotel laneway entrance, as of September 2020. (Google Maps)

After — secondary entrance in the laneway:

The “TRUMP” sign has been removed from the secondary laneway entrance into the former Trump Vancouver hotel as of December 23, 2021. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

New hoarding with branded graphics covering the main entrance doors and windows include text that alludes to the hotel’s upcoming new life. A quote by American author Wilferd Peterson reads: “Champion the right to be yourself; dare to be different and to set your own pattern, live your own life, and follow your own star.”

Paradox Hotel is also the operator of Summit Lodge Boutique Hotel in Whistler, which is owned by Holborn Group. The brand new international upscale hotel chain has plans to also open new locations in Phuket (Thailand) and Singapore in 2022.

Paradox Hotel’s first two locations in Asia could potentially be achieved by the rebranding of TA Global Berhad-owned hotels — the Movenpick Resort & Spa at Karon Beach in Phuket and the Swissotel Merchant Court in Singapore. Malaysian-based TA Global Berhad owns the former Trump Vancouver tower, and Holborn Group is the business unit for its development business in Canada.

The giant “TRUMP” sign has been removed from the West Georgia Street main entrance into the former Trump Vancouver hotel as of December 23, 2021. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

Following a months-long initial temporary COVID-19 closure, the Trump Vancouver hotel permanently closed in August 2020 — just over three years after opening in February 2017 — due to the accumulated impacts of the pandemic. TA Hotel Management, the Canadian subsidiary of TA Global Berhad for operating the Vancouver hotel, declared bankruptcy at the same time.

Although the hotel carried the name of the controversial US president, the Trump family never had an ownership stake in the Vancouver tower. In 2013, Holborn Group first announced their licensing partnership with the Trump Organization, allowing the property to use the branding and marketing power of Trump Hotels.

The 616-ft-tall, 63-storey tower — one of the last designs by late architect Arthur Erickson — contains 147 hotel guest rooms, amenities, and ballrooms within the first 15 floors of the tower and 217 luxury condominium homes in the upper levels.

The strata overseeing the tower’s residential levels removed the controversial “TRUMP” branding after the hotel closed, rebranding itself as “1151 Residences.”

The “TRUMP” sign has been removed from the secondary laneway entrance into the former Trump Vancouver hotel as of December 23, 2021. (Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive)

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