By far the best part of this hotel is the location. The beach is a few steps away and if you wish, you can just walk along the path right into Stanley Park in a few minutes. If you're looking for more lively fare, Denman St. is a few steps in the other direction with a dizzying array of shops and restaurants. You can easily have a wonderful vacation only on foot if you're stationed at the Sylvia.
In terms of the hotel itself, this is a wonderful place if you love character and history. The room we had was fine. It was clean and had a recently renovated bathroom, but the size, layout, and overall aesthetic are definitely in the "character" column, and you can definitely see signs of the age of the building in the layers of paint on the trim, the lack of A/C (radiator heat) and layout of the room. If you're looking for a lavish hotel room to "veg out" in, this might not be the best choice. As a base of operations for your exploration of Vancouver, I'm not sure you can find a better one.
The onsite restaurant/lounge was also fantastic with live music on a number of nights. Even with all the other options available nearby, we ended up at the Sylvia for a nightcap most of the time.
Overall, this is the perfect place to use as your starting point in a daily adventure in Vancouver, especially if you appreciate history and character. This will be our go to when visiting Vancouver for sure.