Patricia Hotel residents report inadequate, inconsistent heat at provincially-owned SRO

As B.C. undergoes an extreme cold snap, residents of SROs like the Patricia Hotel on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside say they have been enduring the freezing conditions without heat.

Residents of the single-room-occupancy hotel on East Hastings Street tell CityNews living without the heat for a week has been extremely difficult.

“It’s been freezing. My girlfriend almost died. I didn’t know what to do, we were up all night. We’re doing anything we can to keep warm. It’s just crazy,” Mitch, a resident explains.

I spoke with some residents inside the Patricia Hotel in Vancouver today, who talked to me about living with inconsistent heating amid this cold snap. @CityNewsVAN https://t.co/GQaUZ1NhGh

— Kier Junos (@kierjunos) December 30, 2021

Earlier this year, the province bought Patricia Hotel and two other buildings on the Downtown Eastside to house mostly Strathcona and CRAB Park campers. However, Dale, a man who lives in the building says he isn’t any warmer in his room than he was when living outside.

“What’s the difference between this and living on the street? It’s not much warmer I don’t think. Sometimes it’s colder in here than it is outside,” says Dale.

In a statement to CityNews, Atira Property Management — the non-profit contracted by the province to operate supportive housing at the Patricia Hotel — says the heat is working.

“The boiler went down on Sunday and was repaired the same day,” writes CEO Janice Abbott.

However, she notes there were other factors that likely contributed to the lack of heat for many.

“Unfortunately and perhaps understandably, a number of people tried to adjust the radiators in their rooms and broke them — 20 in total were broken,” she said. “They were all fixed by midday yesterday.”

With constant below-freezing temperatures and a cold weather warning in place until Jan. 3, residents say even when the heat works it is still not enough to keep them warm.

In response to the extreme cold weather the City of Vancouver is extending the current alert until Jan 3. Warming centres remain open & we encourage anyone who is sleeping outside or out in the cold during the day to visit one of these centres. https://t.co/5rI5BVPYgd pic.twitter.com/d4fW9GHuoQ

— City of Vancouver (@CityofVancouver) December 28, 2021

“My hands get too cold that I can’t use them,” says one woman who CityNews has agreed not to name because she both lives and works in the hotel.

“It’s not adequate housing,” she adds.

In a statement, the city said they have reached out to all private SRO managers and owners to ensure they are complying with maintaining tenant living standards.

“We also have additional blankets and space heaters available for tenants, if requested (all buildings have been outfitted with these prior to this extreme weather onset),” the city wrote in a statement to CityNews.

So far, city workers have attended to the heating problem reported this week at The Regal on Granville Street, however residents at Patricia Hotel are still waiting for answers.