On my last trip to Vancouver, I stayed at The Listel Hotel and had an experience that deftly broke free from the practiced hotel mold. You know the one I mean: standard bed, standard desk, some generic painting of people harvesting wheat hung on the wall. It turns out The Listel has dedicated the past fourteen years to creating a unique blend of boutique hotel and artistic experience for its visitors. Here are a few features that made The Listel stand out to me:

• The Gallery Floor: Each room on this floor functions as a private art gallery, with pieces provided by the nearby Buschlen Mowatt Gallery. I stayed on this level, and trust me, there are no tired paintings of wheat harvests or bumbling rivers to be found. I spent a solid twenty minutes in my room lost in the paintings, and almost missed a meeting.

• The Museum Floors: The rooms on these two floors all feature locally made Northwest Coast art. I chatted with a guy during an elevator ride who was staying in one, and they sounded impressive. He said his headboard was hand-carved cedar, and he was seriously considering buying a piece of hand painted pottery in his room, but had to run it past his wife first. I hope she gave him the green light.

• O'Douls Restaurant and Bar: This is the restaurant located inside the hotel. They've had a live jazz band playing seven nights a week for ten years running, and the food is just as cool as the atmosphere. I sprung for the Westcoast Bouillabaisse—amazing scallops and prawns.

• The Vancouver Stories: I thought this was an interesting tidbit. In 2005, The Listel partnered with Raincoast books, a local book distribution company, and published a collection of short stories that delves into Vancouver life. The collection was even shortlisted for the City of Vancouver Book prize.

Ultimately, it isn't any one feature that made The Listel stand out from the hotel-pack—it's the abundance of artistic elements and details that I encountered at every turn. I was thinking about the paintings in my room all the way through airport security. That doesn't even happen to me when I go to museums.

I always enjoy visiting Vancouver, and The Listel Hotel made my last trip that much better. Next time I come through, I'm gunning for a room on the Museum Floor to see if I can scope out piece of hand painted pottery of my own.