General Hotel News

[rocketphish]

Quebec chain gets funding to expand Alt Hotels brand across Canada

The Canadian Press ~ OBJ
Published on December 03, 2014

Quebec's Germain Hotels group plans to expand its Alt Hotels banner across Canada after securing $80 million of additional funding from investors.

Group Germain Hotels co-president Jean-Yves Germain said the new financial support demonstrates that the hotel industry represents fertile ground for growth.

The locations of the new hotels haven't been identified. The company already plans to use existing funding to open hotels over the next three years on Slater Street in Ottawa, as well as Winnipeg and Calgary.

Original investors from 2011 – the Caisse de depot, Investissement Quebec, La Capitale Financial Group and Industrial Alliance (TSX:IAG) –provided the additional undisclosed funding.

They are joined by the Quebec Federation of Labour's Solidarity Fund, Montreal investment bank DNA Capital and an undisclosed European investor.

Five Alt Hotels have opened since 2007, including two in the Montreal area, one in Quebec, one at Toronto's Pearson International Airport and one at the airport in Halifax.

Through this $15-million reinvestment, this key player in the hospitality industry will be able to continue expanding into Canada's hotel market," said Caisse de depot executive vice-president Christian Dube.

http://www.obj.ca/Local/Tourism/2014-12-03/article-3960932/Quebec-chain-gets-funding-to-expand-Alt-Hotels-brand-across-Canada/1

[DEWLine]

How "key" is this outfit in reality?

[rocketphish]

Bee Hotel coming to Ottawa:

Bees coming to Chateau Laurier, other Fairmont Hotels & Resorts locations

The Canadian Press ~ OBJ
Published on June 02, 2015

One of Canada's largest hotel companies is buzzing with efforts to provide more homes for bees.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts says it will erect 16 additional so-called bee hotels in several cities across Canada to help give the population of the busy pollinators a space to nest.

Six of the specially built structures will be at Fairmont properties in Quebec City, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Vancouver and Whistler, as well as the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa.

The other 10 will be placed in public spaces in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Halifax.

Fairmont erected its first five bee hotels last year in the Toronto area, including one atop the Royal York near Union Station in the city's downtown.

The initiative is being done in partnership with Burt's Bees Canada, which makes a variety of bee-related products, as well as other groups devoted to sustaining the bee population.

http://www.obj.ca/Local/2015-06-02/article-4167611/Bees-coming-to-Chateau-Laurier%2C-other-Fairmont-Hotels-%26amp%3B-Resorts-locations/1

More Info:
http://www.fairmont.com/promotions/fairmontbees/

Toronto's Fairmont Bee Hotel:
http://www.thestar.com/business/2015/06/02/fairmont-expands-its-bee-hotel-program.html

[Radster]

Bee Hotel coming to Ottawa:



More Info:
http://www.fairmont.com/promotions/fairmontbees/

Toronto's Fairmont Bee Hotel:
http://www.thestar.com/business/2015/06/02/fairmont-expands-its-bee-hotel-program.html


Nice, good to hear this is becoming a trend here! First time I heard about this and saw such installations was in Paris last year, on the roof of a shopping centre (Centre Commercial Beaugrenelle). I spotted it from my AirBnB unit in a highrise near the shopping centre.

[rocketphish]

Marriott buys Starwood for $12.2 billion, creating global hotel chain of unrivaled scope

The Associated Press ~ staff OBJ
Published on November 16, 2015

http://www.obj.ca/media/photos/unis/2014/02/27/photo_2563585/article.jpg

Hotel behemoth Marriott International is becoming even larger, taking over rival chain Starwood in a $12.2 billion deal that will catapult it to become the world's largest hotelier by a wide margin.

The stock-and-cash deal, if completed, will add 50 per cent more rooms to Marriott's portfolio and give it more unique, design-focused hotels that appeal to younger travellers.

The new company would have 5,500 properties with more than 1.1 million rooms around the world, uniting Starwood's brands, which include Sheraton, Westin, W and St. Regis, with Marriott's two dozen brands including Marriott's Courtyard, Ritz-Carlton and Fairfield Inn.

The deal is expected to close in the middle of 2016.

The next-largest hotel company is Hilton Worldwide with 4,500 properties and about 735,000 rooms.

"To be successful in today's marketplace, a wide distribution of brands and hotels across price points is critical," Starwood CEO Adam Aron said on a call with Wall Street analysts. "It appeals to travellers wherever they may go, leverages marketing and technology spend(ing) and strengthens frequent traveller loyalty. Today, size matters."

Marriott and Starwood – like other hotel chains – own very few individual hotels. Instead they manage or franchise their brands to hundreds of individual owners, often real estate development companies. Those individual hotel owners are responsible for setting nightly room rates. It isn't uncommon for a developer to own a Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and Sheraton in the same city.

The merger will give Marriott 30 brands and more leverage with corporate travel departments who often look for one giant chain to house all of their employees. Frequent business travellers will also be closely watching the deal. Starwood has a beloved frequent guest program with partnerships with American Express, Delta Air Lines and Uber. Marriott has a much larger program with partnerships with Chase and United Airlines.

Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson said he was attracted to Starwood, in part, because of its loyalty program. He said the members skew a little younger than Marriott's and the program is "very valued by elite travellers."

"We will take the best of both programs and make sure the bests are preserved," he said on the analyst call. The details will be worked out in the coming months.

Back in April, Starwood announced its board was exploring strategic options for the hotel company. The Stamford, Connecticut, company has struggled to grow as fast as its rivals, particularly in "limited service hotels," smaller properties which don't have restaurants or banquet halls. They are often located on the side of the highway, near airports or in suburban office parks.

There was speculation in the markets about a potential deal with Holiday Inn owner Intercontinental Hotels Group and more recently Hyatt Hotels Corp. But in the end, it was Marriott who prevailed.

Starwood's strong international presence will aid Marriott. In the past few years, Starwood has made a strong push to grow in China, India, the United Arab Emirates as well as more-established European destinations. Marriott, in turn, has a well-established network of hotels including deep coverage of small towns and cities with its Fairfield Inn, Courtyard and Residence Inn brands.

The deal comes at a time of record hotel occupancy and rates.

During the first nine months of this year, guests filled 67.3 per cent of the available rooms in the U.S., according to research firm STR. That's the highest level since STR started collecting data in 1987. Guests paid an average of $120.35 a night so far this year. The prior record, adjusted for inflation, was $119.70 in 2008.

Marriott, based in Bethesda, Maryland, has been aggressively growing. In April, it acquired Canadian chain Delta Hotels and Resorts, helping it become the largest hotel company in Canada.

The boards of both companies approved the acquisition unanimously, which now must be approved by investors in both hotel chains.

Marriott's Sorenson will be president and CEO of the combined company and the headquarters will be in Bethesda. Marriott's board of directors following the closing will increase from 11 to 14 members, with the expected addition of three members Starwood's board.

Marriott said it expects to deliver at least $200 million in annual savings in the second full year after closing.

Last month, Starwood announced the sale of its timeshare unit to Interval Leisure Group, with its shareholders retaining a 55-per cent stake in the company. That deal is expected to close before the Marriott acquisition, with Starwood shareholders receiving additional compensation for their stake in the timeshare business.

http://www.obj.ca/Canada---World/2015-11-16/article-4344797/Marriott-buys-Starwood-for-%2412.2-billion%2C-creating-global-hotel-chain-of-unrivaled-scope/1

[rocketphish]

Ottawa's Fairmont Château Laurier included in $3B hotel chain purchase

Robert Sibley, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: December 9, 2015 | Last Updated: December 9, 2015 8:37 PM EST

One of Ottawa’s most prestigious hotels, the Fairmont Château Laurier, appears to included in a nearly $3-billion deal in which eight iconic Canadian hotels were sold to a French-based hotel chain.

AccorHotels SA announced Wednesday a share-and-cash deal worth $2.84 billion to acquire FRHI Holdings Limited, which operates 155 hotels and luxury resorts around the world under Fairmont, Raffles, and Swissôtel brands, including Manhattan’s Plaza, London’s Savoy and Raffles in Singapore. Another 40 are under development.

In Canada, Toronto-based FRHI’s properties include several Fairmont-branded hotels in Canada, including, among others, the Château Laurier, Quebec City’s Le Château Frontenac, and Toronto’s Royal York as well as Banff Springs, Lake Louise and Jasper Park hotels in Alberta.

The press release announcing the sale does not specifically mention the Ottawa hotel, but an Accorhotel spokeswoman, Anne-France Malrieu, said in an email exchange that “all” the Fairmont hotels in Canada were part of the deal.

FRHI Holdings is made up of Oxford Properties, the property arm of a major Ontario pension plan, and investment companies in Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Overall, FRHI has hotels and resorts in 34 countries across five continents, with 42 properties in North America, two in South America, 26 in Europe, 17 in the Africa-Middle East region and 28 in the Asia-Pacific region. AccorHotels has almost 500 luxury and upscale properties.

AccorHotels said it will make a cash payment of US$840 million and issue 46.7 million new shares under terms of the agreement. Both the Qatar Investment Authority and Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal’s Kingdom Holding Co. will become major Accor shareholders, with 10.5 and 5.8 per cent of the share capital respectively.

The announcement did not contain details on the payment to Oxford Properties, which is part of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System.

Paris-based AccorHotels, Europe’s biggest hotel operator, with 3,800 hotels in 92 countries around the world, described the transaction as an “outstanding opportunity” that offers the company “robust and global leadership in luxury hotels, a key segment in terms of geographic reach, growth potential and profitability.”

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ottawas-fairmont-chateau-laurier-included-in-3b-hotel-chain-purchase

[rocketphish]

Lord Elgin Hotel to undergo major renovations as it celebrates 75th anniversary

Tom Pechloff, OBJ
Published on February 29, 2016

More than 250 people attended a weekend gala to mark the 75th anniversary of the laying of the cornerstone at the Lord Elgin Hotel, but the Ottawa landmark is planning much more than a party to mark its anniversary.

“The hotel is actually, throughout the year, going through a major renovation as well through the summer months, trying to get ready for 2017,” director of sales and marketing Ann Meelker told OBJ in a recent interview.

Ms. Meelker said the renovations – the hotel’s first since 2004 – will include extensive updates to all the rooms and corridors, estimating the tally at $28,000 per room. That puts the total cost of the makeover in the $10-million range.

“We’re excited. We want it ready for the big 150th (anniversary of Confederation next year), so we’re doing it in short order,” she said. “Short-term pain for long-term gain.”

Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King and Mayor Stanley Lewis were among the dignitaries who attended the laying of the cornerstone on Feb. 27, 1941. Mr. King was also the first person to sign the guest registry when the hotel opened on July 19 of that year.

“He was really involved from very early on,” Ms. Meelker said.

The Lord Elgin was designed by the same architects who were behind the Chateau Laurier and Toronto’s Royal York Hotel. Unlike those hotels, however, the Lord Elgin, originally run by the Ford Hotel Company, has managed to remain locally owned for most of its existence, Ms. Meelker said.

Its current owners, Gillin Engineering & Construction, also own the Residence Inn on Laurier Avenue and the Hotel Indigo on the corner of Laurier Avenue and Metcalfe Street. Gillin’s other holdings include the Residence Inn in Kingston and an interest in the Westin in Montreal.

While the Residence Inn is part of the Marriott chain and Hotel Indigo is a member of the Intercontinental Hotels Group, the Lord Elgin remains independent.

The industry has seen major consolidations in the last few years, but the Lord Elgin continues to outperform many other hotels in the area, according to Ms. Meelker.

“The Internet really has changed a lot in that realm,” she said. “People now search for travel online. As long as you can play that game well, you can compete, if you have a good product in a sound location.”

She said the hotel has been marketed internationally for several years and has a solid brand. While she wouldn’t reveal its annual revenues, she said the Lord Elgin's average occupancy rate is about 80 per cent and its average room rate is $160. That would put annual revenues at more than $16 million.

Ms. Meelker attributes the hotel’s “fairly high” occupancy rate to its diverse group of customers.

“We have a good strong leisure base, a strong meeting and group base. We have quite a lot of business travel, so we have a good mix and that helps to balance it all out,” she said.

The hotel may host more public events as the anniversary of the opening approaches, she said, adding there will definitely be a celebration for employees.

“A lot of our staff has been here for 10, 20, 30, 40 years,” said Ms. Meelker, who started her career at the Lord Elgin four decades ago with a summer job as a reservation clerk. “They’ve been a big part of the story, so we want to recognize them at that time and make sure we honour that. That’s a huge part of who we are.

“It has a way of getting into your blood,” she said. “It’s a very different kind of hotel.”

http://www.obj.ca/Local/Tourism/2016-02-29/article-4451489/Lord-Elgin-Hotel-to-undergo-major-renovations-as-it-celebrates-75th-anniversary/1

[TheGoods]

I still cannot believe that the Lord Elgin is only 75 years old, I would have taught it is much older.

[rocketphish]

Starwood receives nearly $14B buyout bid from Chinese group

The Associated Press ~ staff OBJ
Published on March 14, 2016

A fight for control of the Starwood hotel chain is under way following a $14 billion buyout offer Monday from a consortium led by China's Anbang Insurance Group.

Anbang, which remains largely unknown to most Americans, has quickly positioned itself to become a player in the U.S. hotel industry, acquiring marque properties.

It made a splash in the fall of 2014 when it bought New York's Waldorf Astoria for almost $2 billion. And just days ago, it cut a $6.5 billion deal for Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc., which owns tony properties like The Westin St. Francis in San Francisco, JW Marriott Essex House in New York and Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego. Strategic also owned five different Four Seasons hotels, two Ritz Carltons and six other luxury properties.

Now it is going toe-to-toe with U.S. hotel giant Marriott International Inc., which said late last year that it would buy Starwood, the owner of Sheraton, Westin and St. Regis hotels, in a deal worth $12.2 billion. That acquisition would create the world's largest hotel chain with 5,500 properties and more than 1.1 million rooms around the world. Such scale would give the combined company pricing power when negotiating commissions with online travel agencies such as Expedia and Priceline, as well as help it land more corporate travel contracts.

The next-largest hotel company is Hilton Worldwide with 4,500 properties and about 735,000 rooms.

Marriott and Starwood – like other hotel chains – own very few individual hotels. Instead they manage or franchise their brands to hundreds of individual owners, often real estate development companies. Those individual hotel owners are responsible for setting nightly room rates. It isn't uncommon for a developer to own a Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt and Sheraton in the same city. That's how Strategic, for instance, owned hotels under the Westin, JW Marriott, Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons and InterContinental brands.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. said Monday that it still favours the Marriott deal, but that it's looking at the latest bid.

The offer from the Chinese group includes $76 per Starwood share and Interval Leisure Group stock currently valued at about $5.50 per Starwood share. Starwood said that there are still "a number of matters" that need to be worked out in the group's proposal.

Asian companies have been acquiring U.S. properties because it is a relatively safe place to park money, particularly with signs of slowing economic growth in China.

Marriott, based in Bethesda, Maryland, said Monday that it stands behind its offer. Shareholders of Marriott and Starwood are expected to vote on that deal on March 28. If Starwood ends its agreement with Marriott or changes or withdraws its recommendation for shareholders to vote in favour of the Marriott transaction, Starwood would have to pay a $400 million termination fee.

Starwood essentially put itself up for sale last April. The company has struggled to grow as fast as its rivals, particularly in "limited service hotels," smaller properties which don't have restaurants or banquet halls. They are often located on the side of the highway, near airports or in suburban office parks. The deal with Marriott would help fill in many of those blank spots on the map where Marriott often has its Courtyard and Fairfield Inn brands.

However, outside the U.S. Starwood has been very active in growing its brand, especially in luxury hotels and in untapped markets such as China, India and the Middle East. For instance, after New York, the city with the most Starwood hotels is Dubai.

The deal making comes as the U.S. hotel industry comes off its best year in history. The per cent of hotel rooms occupied and the average night room rate were both at all-time highs in 2015. Right after Starwood and Marriott announced plans to merge, French hotel chain Accor announced in December that it was buying the parent company of the Fairmont, Raffles and Swissotel hotel brands for $2.9 billion.

Starwood, based in Stamford, Connecticut, has almost 1,300 properties in about 100 countries. Its shares jumped more than 7 per cent in Monday before the opening bell.

http://www.obj.ca/Canada---World/2016-03-14/article-4465882/Starwood-receives-nearly-%2414B-buyout-bid-from-Chinese-group/1

[rocketphish]

Sheraton owner Starwood set to accept offer from China’s Anbang

Reuters
Published Friday, Mar. 18, 2016 10:09AM EDT | Last updated Friday, Mar. 18, 2016 10:11AM EDT

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Inc, the operator of Sheraton and Westin hotels, said on Friday it planned to accept a raised buyout offer from a group led by China’s Anbang Insurance and scrap its deal with Marriott International Inc.

A successful deal would bolster Anbang’s reputation as one of China’s top corporate acquirers and would follow its purchase of New York’s iconic Waldorf Astoria hotel last year.

It would also be the biggest acquisition of a U.S. company by a China-based investor.

Anbang’s new offer raises the value of Starwood to $13.16-billion from $12.82-billion, based on shares outstanding as of Feb. 19. Marriott had offered $12.2-billion for Starwood.

Anbang has also agreed to buy Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc for around $6.5-billion, a person briefed on the matter told Reuters last week.

Strategic Hotels’ properties include the Four Seasons Washington, D.C. on Pennsylvania Avenue, the Westin St. Francis on Union Square in San Francisco and the beach-front Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel in Orange County, California.

Marriott, which has until March 28 to counter Anbang’s offer, said it was considering its options.

The Anbang-led group, which includes private equity firms J.C. Flowers & Co and Primavera Capital Ltd, has raised its cash offer for Starwood to $78.00 per share from $76.00, Starwood said on Friday.

Starwood’s shares were up 4.6 per cent at $79.90 in early trading.

Starwood shareholders will also receive stock in Interval Leisure Group Inc, which is buying Starwood’s vacation ownership business for about $5.67 per Starwood share.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/sheraton-owner-starwood-set-to-accept-offer-from-chinas-anbang/article29287320/

[rocketphish]

China’s Anbang scraps bid for Starwood Hotels: source

Greg Roumeliotis, Reuters
Published Thursday, Mar. 31, 2016 4:32PM EDT | Last updated Thursday, Mar. 31, 2016 5:39PM EDT

China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co has abandoned its bid for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday, paving the way for Marriott International Inc to buy the Sheraton and Westin hotels operator.

The surprise withdrawal marks an anticlimactic end to a bidding war that had pitted Marriott’s ambitions to create the world’s largest lodging company, with about 5,700 hotels, against Anbang’s drive to create a vast portfolio of U.S. real estate assets.

Anbang did not offer Starwood a reason for not following through on its raised offer of March 26, the people said on Thursday. Starwood said on Monday that Anbang had raised its offer to almost $14-billion. That offer was not binding, and Anbang was expected to firm it up for Starwood to formally declare it superior to Marriott’s.

The sources asked not to be identified because the withdrawal has not been announced. Anbang, Starwood and Marriott declined to provide immediate comment.

Anbang’s move fuelled speculation on what drove it to change course. Chinese financial magazine Caixin reported earlier this month that China’s insurance regulator would likely reject a bid by Anbang to buy Starwood, since it would put the insurer’s offshore assets above a 15 per cent threshold for overseas investments.

Should Anbang have clinched an agreement with Starwood, it would have been scrutinized by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an interagency panel that reviews deals to ensure they do not harm national security. However, sources had said that both Starwood and Anbang believed the deal would have received CFIUS clearance.

In its latest offer, Anbang’s consortium, which includes private equity firms J.C. Flowers & Co and Primavera Capital Ltd, had offered $82.75 per share in cash. Marriott’s latest cash-and-stock offer, which was announced on March 21, is currently worth around $75 per share.

Starwood’s shares fell 4.4 per cent to $79.80 in extended trading, while Marriott shares fell 4.9 per cent to $67.68.

Starwood’s shareholders are scheduled to vote on the Marriott deal on April 8.

Lazard Ltd and Citigroup Global Markets Inc are financial advisers to Starwood. Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP is its legal counsel. Deutsche Bank Securities and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher are advising Marriott.

PJT Partners Inc is Anbang’s financial adviser, while Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is its legal counsel.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/chinas-anbang-scraps-bid-for-starwood-hotels-source/article29481264/

[J.OT13]

Downtown Ottawa hotel landscape suddenly chic

David Sali
Published on June 10, 2016

“Fun” isn’t a word generally associated with business meetings, but it’s the one Ash Wilby chose to describe the “creative spaces” at Ottawa’s newest downtown hotel.

“They are fun rooms to be in,” the sales manager of Group Germain’s Alt Hotel said last month after giving an OBJ reporter a tour of the new building at 185 Slater St. “You go into some meeting rooms and think, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to spend the next eight hours of my life in this room?’ These are fun rooms.”

From the cozy guest quarters outfitted with minimalist work stations to those brightly painted meeting spaces featuring whiteboards on the walls, the Alt is part of a new wave of “lifestyle” hotels that are changing the face of the industry across North America – and the National Capital Region is no exception.

“These aren’t your grandfather’s hotels that are coming into Ottawa now,” says Pat Kelly, a former general manager of the city’s Westin Hotel who now runs his own travel consulting firm. “These are really cool brands.”

The 148-room Alt Hotel, which opened last month, is Group Germain’s 13th property in Canada and seventh under the Alt banner. The Montreal-based company is planning to open another hotel at the redeveloped Arts Court late next year under its more upscale Le Germain brand as part of an aggressive nationwide expansion campaign.

Group Germain isn’t the only chic hotel operator establishing a presence in the capital in 2016.

Another of the “cool brands” set to make its debut this year is Hyatt’s Andaz Ottawa ByWard Market, which will become the international chain’s first Canadian hotel under the Andaz banner when it opens its doors at the corner of Dalhousie and York streets in August. The 200-room lodging will join other Andaz-branded hotels already located in cities such as London, New York, Shanghai and Tokyo.

To Steve Ball, the president of the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association, the opening of a pair of trendy boutique hotels within a few months of each other is a sure sign the local industry is in robust health despite several high-profile closures over the past few years.

“If you’re going to measure growth opportunity, look at the people that invest,” he said, noting Group Germain spent $30 million on its new Slater Street Alt location. “They wouldn’t do that if they didn’t think the return was there. It tells us we’re doing some things right in Ottawa. It shows confidence in our marketplace.”

In all, about 800 hotel rooms have disappeared in Ottawa over the past couple of years, many of them downtown. But Mr. Ball chalked up the closure or conversion of facilities such as the Holiday Inn on Cooper Street, Minto Suites Hotel on Lyon Street, the National Hotel & Suites on Queen Street and the Quality Hotel on Rideau Street to coincidence, not a long-term trend.

“We didn’t lose them because of lack of business opportunity in hotels,” he said. “We lost them for odd reasons. So to have the Andaz and Alt kind of replacing some of that inventory is really good because they’re great brands.”

In fact, Ottawa’s hotel market is one of the healthiest in the country, according to Brian Stanford, senior managing director of CBRE Hotels Valuation and Advisory Services in Toronto.

Ottawa tied Montreal for the third-highest average occupancy rate among Canada’s 12 major markets last year at 72 per cent, he said, a number that isn’t projected to change much in 2016. Meanwhile, the city’s average daily rate ranked fourth behind Vancouver, Quebec City and Montreal.

“Those are pretty healthy numbers,” Mr. Stanford said. “In part, I think the decline of some bad inventory has certainly helped the industry,” he added, calling some of the recently shuttered properties “functionally obsolete.”

The local scene is being rejuvenated thanks to new brands such as the Alt and Andaz, he said. They tend to have fewer rooms and a more laid-back feel than traditional highrise luxury hotels, Mr. Stanford explained, featuring more modern designs, bright colours, natural lighting and amenities like free Wi-Fi throughout the building.

These brands cater to millennials who want spaces where you can “sit and relax with your laptop, have a glass of wine, be seen, see people and, even if you’re not formally socially interacting, you feel like you are,” he said.

The Alt Hotel, for example, has a 24-hour cafe that serves locally catered food, offers alcohol in the evening and features computers equipped with high-speed Internet that guests can use free of charge.

Mr. Kelly said millennials are the fastest-growing market segment in the hospitality industry, and anything Ottawa can do to beef up its share of that pool of potential customers will benefit tourism in the region.

“It’s going to help the image of the city within the travel market,” he said. “It’s also good because the additional (hotel room) inventory will help relieve some of the pressure that’s been created by a bit of a soft supply and a strong demand.”

That inventory is expected to grow further if Morguard, the owner of the former National Hotel site at 361 Queen St., launches its proposed redevelopment of the property. The company announced last summer it was planning to demolish the two conjoined hotel towers and replace them with a new 300-unit lodging that would be part of a mixed-use complex.

The developer hasn’t provided any updates since then, but Mr. Stanford said a hotel would be a logical anchor for such a proposal.

“I think they’re looking at that as an opportunity to try and maximize the development mix between commercial, residential and hotel uses,” he said.

In the near term, Mr. Ball said he would be “thrilled” if the city can duplicate its occupancy numbers from 2015, conceding this spring’s numbers have been “a little bit softer” than last year’s. But with Canada’s 150th birthday on the horizon in 2017 and the long-awaited redevelopment of LeBreton Flats slated to include a hotel and other amenities expected to lure more visitors to the downtown core, he sees a bright future ahead.

“All the excitement will be LeBreton Flats,” he said. “We’re a ways away from seeing anything concrete, but at least now we’ve got a proponent. I can’t imagine a 150-room hotel would be what the owners would want. There will be a lot of discussion over the years ahead as to just what this community needs or is missing right now. We’ll see. But it’s exciting for sure.”



http://www.obj.ca/Local/Tourism/2016-06-10/article-4556211/Downtown-Ottawa-hotel-landscape-suddenly-chic/1

They were talking about 800 hotel rooms in two facilities for Le Breton Flats.

[citydwlr]

Just noticed this thread, so I'll continue the conversation of the Metcalfe Hotel (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=7642952&postcount=4991) from the General Rumours thread here...

Another post went up today that shows a larger rendering of the Atrium/lobby; Phil235, looks like you were correct (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=7643204&postcount=4993) in your assumption that Hotel Indigo is rebranding as "The Metcalfe":


Sneak peek at what our renovated lobby will look like 👀🤗. Amazing to work with @4teinc (https://twitter.com/4teinc)on this! #Ottawa (https://twitter.com/hashtag/Ottawa?src=hash)#meettheMet (https://twitter.com/hashtag/meettheMet?src=hash)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CzArVEIUcAAVQmA.jpg

12:42 PM - 6 Dec 2016


Looks pretty nice!

[rocketphish]

Hotel Indigo no more: Downtown lodging drops IHG to become Metcalfe Hotel

Peter Kovessy, OBJ
Published on January 17, 2017

The owners of a boutique hotel in downtown Ottawa are ending their decade-long affiliation with international hospitality giant IHG and plan to start operating independently next month.

On Feb. 12, the 106-room Hotel Indigo will become the Metcalfe Hotel, marking the latest chapter in the property’s storied history.

Patrick Quirouette, the director of sales and marketing, said the inspiration to go independent came to the property’s owners – a local family he declined to name – after seeing boutique hotels in the United States that had successfully positioned their property to capture business from both Baby Boomers and millennials.

"IHG was a great partner over the past 10 years. Part of the reason we decided to part ways was that the brand awareness wasn’t as strong as we had hoped it would be," he said.

Being part of a hotel chain typically forces a property owners to follow specific design standards, down to the carpet and furniture.

Now, the proprietors of the soon-to-be Metcalfe Hotel are using Ottawa-based design firm 4té to guide renovations of the property.

The early goals include upgrading the lobby with an eye to making it more inviting to pedestrians walking by the property, which is located at the corner of Metcalfe Street and Laurier Avenue West.

Corridors are also being repainted, crown moldings around door frames are being replaced and minor modifications are being made to guest rooms, including removing Indigo hallmarks such as murals.

One of the changes guests will see is more communal seating in the atrium area. Mr. Quirouette said he wanted to give guests the option of working in a more social environment and not feel confined to their rooms when they need to catch up on e-mails or prepare a presentation, for example.

That work will wrap up in May. More extensive guest room renovations are planned for 2018.

Mr. Quirouette said Hotel Indigo traditionally relied heavily on corporate and government business during the week as well as leisure travellers looking for a unique hospitality experience during the weekend.

One of the risks of going independent is that travellers who were attracted to Hotel Indigo in part by IHG’s popular loyalty rewards program will choose to stay at other properties where they can continue to collect and redeem points.

In addition to Hotel Indigo, IHG operates the Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and InterContinental brands, among others.

Mr. Quirouette conceded the Metcalfe Hotel may lose some of these customers but said he’s confident the majority of guests will continue to do business with the rebranded property.

“What they value the most is a familiar face when they check in, consistency of service and the ideal location,” he said. “We’ve been here for 10 years and are well-established and well-connected within our community.”

Mr. Quirouette said most of the money saved in IHG franchise fees will be put towards marketing the Metcalfe Hotel.

He adds that bookings at the hotel are higher than at the same time last year, in part because of the buzz surrounding the full year of festivities surrounding Canada's 150th anniversary.

This year’s rebranding is the latest change for the property, which has been the site of several hotels and home to several famous Ottawa residents for more than a century.

It’s the former site of a home once owned by Sir George Étienne Cartier, the powerful Quebec lieutenant and longtime political protégé of Sir John A. Macdonald, according to a history of the property written by local journalist Randy Boswell.

During the late 1860s and early 1870s, Mr. Cartier’s “modest brick house” was reportedly the social centre of the Confederation-era capital, where politicians of all stripes – as well as writers, musicians and other artists – gathered on Saturday nights to dine, drink, sing and dance, Mr. Boswell wrote.

A YMCA was later constructed on the site and became the one-time home of acclaimed photographer Yousuf Karsh took up residence.

In early 1970, Ottawa construction contractor and property developer Rupert McClelland bought the property for $393,645 and opened The Bytown, which was sometimes known as the Bytown Hotel or Bytown Inn.

Slightly more than a decade later, the hotel underwent substantial renovations and became The Roxborough. It changed ownership again in the 1990s, operating for several years as part of the international Howard Johnson chain.

http://www.obj.ca/Local/Tourism/2017-01-17/article-4720834/Hotel-Indigo-no-more%3A-Downtown-lodging-drops-IHG-to-become-Metcalfe-Hotel/1

[rocketphish]

Lord Elgin Hotel completes $12M renovations

Craig Lord, OBJ
Published on January 20, 2017

The Lord Elgin Hotel has completed its multimillion-dollar renovations in time for what management hopes will be a record year in 2017.

The overhaul began last year while the hotel was celebrating its 75th anniversary, with hopes of capitalizing on the highly-anticipated Ottawa 2017 festivities.

“In terms of renovating hotels, this was, without question, an accelerated timeline to have a hotel renovated to the extent that we’ve had,” says general manager David Smythe.

The original timeline called for work to be wrapped up by early December, but Mr. Smythe says he isn’t discouraged by the mid-January completion.

“We have the right product at the right time with the right team to make the most of this,” Mr. Smythe says. “We’re ready to welcome the world to Ottawa in 2017.”

The total cost of renovations to the Lord Elgin came in at $12 million, which includes $2 million worth of extensive improvements to the hotel’s air conditioning system done in advance of this overhaul.

This works out to around $30,000 worth of renovations in each of the hotel’s 355 rooms. Improvements included a full stripping down of the rooms, as well as the installation of new marble tile floors, showers and vanities. Hotel corridors and meeting rooms for the hotel’s business clientele were also refurbished and received updated Wi-Fi capabilities.

The renovation process moved floor-by-floor through the Lord Elgin, which allowed the hotel to maintain service while changes were implemented. Mr. Smythe attributes the smooth process to the expertise of owners Gillin Engineering & Construction, and their ability to work closely with contractor Lundy Construction.

This is the first major renovation to the hotel since 2004 when construction completed on two eight-storey towers on the north and south sides of the building.

http://www.obj.ca/Local/Tourism/2017-01-20/article-4722934/Photos%3A-Lord-Elgin-Hotel-completes-%2412M-renovations/1

[rocketphish]

Ottawa hoteliers look to Toronto for guidance to stop Airbnb 'abuse'

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: March 8, 2017 | Last Updated: March 8, 2017 3:50 PM EST

Ottawa’s hotel lobby group will wait to see what happens in Toronto before pushing for regulations targeting Airbnb, but the hoteliers already know what they want from city hall.

Steve Ball, president of the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association, said a municipal licensing system should restrict hosts to posting on Airbnb only their principle residences to avoid the proliferation of hotel-like investment units across Ottawa.

“Just stop the abuse,” Ball said. “All we care about is the abuse going away.”

The City of Toronto is expected to develop a regulatory strategy for short-term accommodation market within months. Whatever Toronto adopts will surely be considered in Ottawa.

However, an Airbnb manager is warning against simply copying short-term rental regulations between cities.

“It really depends on what the city is interested in, what their concerns might be if there are any and what is appropriate,” according to Alex Dagg, Airbnb’s public policy manager in Canada. “Just because Toronto is regulating doesn’t necessarily mean what Toronto does is relevant or appropriate for Ottawa.”

While the hotel organization decries Airbnb hosts renting out multiple properties as a quasi-commercial operation, Airbnb says 80 per cent of its hosts are using their primary residences for the accommodations.

Fairbnb, a coalition of which the Ottawa hotel association is a member, offered up a recent Toronto-focused paper that suggests there’s minimal, pure “home-sharing” happening through the Airbnb platform.

Dagg questioned outside organizations making conclusions about Airbnb’s operations when they don’t have Airbnb’s internal data, citing one recent case of a third-party researcher making an error regarding the Vancouver market.

Airbnb says there 1,600 hosts in Ottawa and the typical host is earning just under $4,000 annually. In 2016, some 85,000 people stayed in Ottawa using Airbnb and their total spending while in the nation’s capital was $32 million, the company says.

“It’s a significant contributor to the local economy,” Dagg said.

Ball said the hotel industry must follow property-use rules and pay commercial taxes, so it isn’t fair for Airbnb and some hosts to provide hotel-like services and skirt the regulations.

“If Airbnb is allowed to function under the radar or as an underground economy, and if that becomes the new norm, then great. I think hotels would love to participate in that economy,” Ball said. “Hotels could drop their rates and compete with Airbnb if they didn’t have the health and safety regulations and taxation and zoning and commercial taxes.”

Airbnb officials say it has no problem with being regulated, but not in a one-size-fits-all approach.

“We do believe in regulations because to be regulated is to be recognized and we really think that’s an appropriate measure for cities to take,” Dagg said. “If Ottawa wants to look at regulating home sharing, then we just want to be part of that conversation.”

In fact, Airbnb has already started the conversation at Ottawa City Hall. Consultants working for the company have had lobbying activities with the mayor’s office dating back to October 2015. Dagg characterized the meetings as sharing information with the city, such as forwarding an economic impact report.

The Ottawa hotel association was eager to get moving on possible regulations last fall before Canada’s 150th birthday year kicked off in January 2017.

The competition for accommodations is expected to heat up in this year. That also makes the market attractive to homeowners looking to make a good buck off tourists as the big Canada Day party draws near.

Ball said Ottawa city officials have indicated they aren’t in a position to address the Airbnb issues right now, which is fine with the hotel association since it’s curious to see how Toronto sorts them out.

“If Toronto gets most of it right, then it’s easy for Ottawa to make a decision to follow suit,” Ball said.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ottawa-hoteliers-look-for-torontos-guidance-in-airbnb-regulations

[YOWetal]

There are a lot of units that are solely used for Airbnb. It can be annoying to have as neighbours.

It looks like a one bedroom will be well over $500 a night on Aribnb over the July 1 weekend. Nice chunk of change if you live downtown and are willing to get out of town for the weekend.

[gjhall]

"should restrict hosts to posting on Airbnb only their principle residences to avoid the proliferation of hotel-like investment units across Ottawa."

Hard to argue with for condos, but I would think for duplexes or secondary dwelling units that they should also be allowed to operate as short term rentals if the other unit is the owners principle residence.

[McC]

If they do bring forward this regulation, as a bare minimum, I hope that they spell "principal" correctly ;-)

[rocketphish]

Council approves new hotel tax, Southminster Church redevelopment

Matthew Pearson, Ottawa Citizen
Published on: December 13, 2017 | Last Updated: December 13, 2017 10:19 PM EST

Bed and breakfasts will be spared a new four-per-cent tax on guest accommodations, council ruled Wednesday.

But the tax will be collected from Airbnb hosts and from any establishment in Ottawa that uses a third-party home-sharing listing service to issue its invoices. Airbnb could be on the hook for $300,000.

The move comes a week after owners of small inns pleaded with Mayor Jim Watson and councillors to be exempted. It’s not fair to make those small businesses, already operating under small margins, collect a mandatory tax from guests to pay for tourism programs that rarely include bed and breakfasts, the owners said.

Since 2004, many Ottawa hotels have voluntarily collected a three-per-cent “destination marketing fee” from guests. The money goes to the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association, which gives the funds to Ottawa Tourism. Between $8 million and $9 million has been sent to Ottawa Tourism each year.

About half of Ottawa hotels, representing 90 per cent of all the rooms, charge the destination marketing fee.

The 2017 Ontario budget allows municipalities to collect a mandatory accommodation tax from businesses providing accommodations for consecutive nights under 30 days. That includes bed and breakfasts and Airbnb hosts.

The City of Ottawa proposes to begin the four-per-cent accommodation tax on Jan. 1.

Michael Crockatt, president and chief executive of Ottawa Tourism, said the mandatory tax “levels the playing field” and allows the organization to attract more tourists to Ottawa by marketing the city around the world.

Crockatt said bed and breakfast operators always have a chance to work on Ottawa Tourism initiatives. But some of the bed and breakfast owners pointed out the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association, the industry’s main lobby group, which would effectively become the tax collector in the proposed scheme, doesn’t accept members who have fewer than 50 guest rooms.

Small bed and breakfasts generally only have up to three bedrooms.

Bed and breakfast operators will be able to apply for an exemption if the establishment is occupied and operated by the property owner, and is classified in the residential property tax class.

<snip>


mpearson@postmedia.com
twitter.com/mpearson78

http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/council-approves-new-hotel-tax-southminster-church-redevelopment

[rocketphish]

Kanata’s Brookstreet Hotel opens $12M expansion

By Brier Dodge, OBJ
Published: Jan 24, 2018 3:03pm EST

http://www.obj.ca/sites/default/files/styles/article_main/public/2018-01/BH_1033712final_web.jpg

Two years ago, the sales team at the Brookstreet Hotel was trying to book conferences for a brand new space – sight unseen – to clients. Hotel general manager Nyle Kelly had construction boots sitting under his office desk on a full-time basis.

Now, the new 20,000-square-foot expansion is officially open after a corporate banquet last Friday christened the 500-person capacity ballroom.

With 11,000 square feet in additional meeting space, plus the foyer area, Brookstreet now has 30,000 square feet in total meeting space.

It’s allowing the hotel to market to larger clients, said Brookstreet marketing manager Sharon Ravnas.

“Before this expansion, our biggest problem was we just weren’t big enough,” Ravnas said.

Large conferences need both a large meeting space, smaller meeting spaces as well as another large area where participants can eat. Before, the Brookstreet’s one large ballroom with a 300-person capacity presented limitations for some larger conferences.

The new space was added to the back of the property towards the golf course, and includes a new ballroom with a capacity of 500 people as well as a smaller ballroom that can fit 120, and several small meeting rooms.

The two-storey addition has a large foyer on both levels, with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking The Marshes Golf Club, and the outdoor pond that’s used for ice skating in the winter.

Kelly said the lower foyer is his favourite part of the project because of the cool parties and weddings he can see being hosted in the space.

The idea for the $12-million project was first conceived in 2005, two years after the hotel opened. But with the success of the hotel so closely tied to the success of the technology sector and neighbouring companies in the business park, it was put on hold when the economy took a downturn.

“But the business park right now is very healthy; there are more than 500 active businesses in Kanata North, and occupancy at the park itself is the highest it’s been since 2008-09,” Kelly said.

He anticipates a 12-per-cent increase in banquet revenue this year and a similar growth in staff numbers because of the new space. The first three months of 2018, compared to the first three months of 2017, show a 22 per cent increase in conference and meeting bookings for the hotel.

“We’re ahead of where we were last year, obviously the new conference space is helping,” he said.

Ravnas expects quite a few wedding bookings to come in for the new space, especially given the resort style of the hotel with the outdoor wedding space, onsite spa and neighbouring golf club.

The resort aspect of the hotel is a draw for conferences and customers who want to have the additional amenities, which makes the hotel compete less with the downtown giants and attract more of their own specific clientele, staff said.

“We’re all competing for the business that comes to the Ottawa region, but people make the choice to come downtown, or Kanata, or to come to the resort,” Kelly said. “So we really target our customers that want that resort-type experience. There’s nothing like this in the west end – I could argue there’s nothing like this in the city.”

While the hotel looks to continue to book more large trade shows and conferences, the next phase of the hotel’s expansion will be building another tower of rooms.

Kelly said he’d like to see another 80 hotel rooms added to the existing 276 in the next five years.

http://www.obj.ca/sites/default/files/inline-images/BH_1033782final_web.jpg

http://www.obj.ca/article/kanatas-brookstreet-hotel-opens-12m-expansion

[J.OT13]

Didn't even know they were expanding the meeting space.

[kevinbottawa]

Ottawa's iconic downtown Westin Hotel up for sale

Vito Pilieci
Published: January 30, 2018
Updated: January 30, 2018 5:40 PM EST

The owners of the Westin Ottawa have placed the high profile hotel on the market as they continue to sell off several Canadian properties.

Starwood Capital has retained commercial real estate brokers Cushman & Wakefield to oversee the transaction. The company will also be overseeing the sale of Westin Hotels in Calgary and Edmonton.

The agent listing the properties refused to estimate the value of the hotels.

The move follows Starwood’s sale of Westin properties in Toronto and Vancouver in recent years.

The company collected between $350 million and $400 million for the Westin Harbour Castle in downtown Toronto at the foot of Yonge Street. It’s been reported that the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver sold for $290 million.


Starwood reportedly bought all five of the Canadian properties in 2014 for $765 million.

The hotels all have long-term management contracts which will see them continue on as Westin properties even after the sale to a new owner is complete.

The Westin Ottawa is a 492-room property that is connected to the city’s largest shopping centre, the Rideau Centre, as well as the Shaw Convention Centre. The property, which was built in 1983, has had about $50 million worth of renovations in recent years to update its foyer, meeting rooms and convention space.

It’s also located on the city’s soon to be opened Light Rail Transit (LRT) line, adding to its value to potential investors.

http://ottawasun.com/news/local-news/iconic-downtown-westin-hotel-hits-the-market/wcm/9ef98b97-e395-4e75-9cc0-cb6a2d6ce373

[sleye]

The property, which was built in 1983, has had about $50 million worth of renovations in recent years to update its foyer, meeting rooms and convention space.

I was really hoping they would reclad the building to match the new rooftop addition. As it is right now it looks extremely dated next to the renewed Shaw and Rideau Centres.

[kevinbottawa]

I was really hoping they would reclad the building to match the new rooftop addition. As it is right now it looks extremely dated next to the renewed Shaw and Rideau Centres.

Agreed. I've never been impressed with the Westin. The best thing about it is its views of Parliament. The exterior looks horrible. They don't have much competition when it comes to higher end downtown hotels in the 500 room range so they can afford to sit back and look dated. Hopefully a large, higher end hotel gets built at Lebreton Flats that gives them some competition and forces them to make more changes, like recladding the exterior.

[J.OT13]

I don't mind the tower portion. In fact, I kind of like it. It's the podium that needs to be completely re-done IMO.

[HighwayStar]

Agreed. I've never been impressed with the Westin. The best thing about it is its views of Parliament. The exterior looks horrible. They don't have much competition when it comes to higher end downtown hotels in the 500 room range so they can afford to sit back and look dated. Hopefully a large, higher end hotel gets built at Lebreton Flats that gives them some competition and forces them to make more changes, like recladding the exterior.

??? To each his/her own... but I'm curious as to what you find so offensive about the exterior? I don't mind it at all... Monster windows, angles and non-boxy design... what exactly is "horrible" and/or "dated" ?

[kevinbottawa]

??? To each his/her own... but I'm curious as to what you find so offensive about the exterior? I don't mind it at all... Monster windows, angles and non-boxy design... what exactly is "horrible" and/or "dated" ?

You don't see a problem with this being our premiere downtown hotel? If this was just a random downtown hotel it's fine, but if this is the best we have to offer, that's sad. I personally hate precast concrete, or whatever the exterior is made of. It almost looks dirty. I also don't like the Delta.

https://i.imgur.com/Pydlfq8.jpg?1

[citydwlr]

This has probably been covered in the Gatineau board, but I haven't seen it in the Ottawa boards. So, here goes...

As per a job opportunity on indeed.com (https://www.indeed.ca/jobs?q=opening%20soon&l=Ottawa%2C%20ON&limit=20&ts=1518482193198&rs=1&fromage=last&vjk=60a3cf3e36db440f), the Wakefield Mill's "OBrien House" boutique hotel will be opening soon:


Wakefield Mill Hotel & Spa is expanding! We are opening a second, intimate boutique hotel, including a high end cuisine by Executive Chef Pat Marion, set to open shortly…


* News of the purchase of The O'Brien House by the folks at The Wakefield Mill was first mentioned in a CBC article from September 2016 (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/o-brien-house-meech-lake-hotel-ncc-1.3758284) among other news outlets (probably mentioned somewhere on the O/G SSP boards).


https://i.cbc.ca/1.3758324.1473694225!/fileImage/httpImage/image.png_gen/derivatives/16x9_620/o-brien-house-overlooking-meech-lake-in-gatineau-park.png
(Photo: National Capital Commission via CBC (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/o-brien-house-meech-lake-hotel-ncc-1.3758284))


Here's the website for the hotel: http://www.theobrienhouse.ca/

[rocketphish]

Former Crowne Plaza GM Denis Gilles returns to Ottawa to lead new Hilton properties

By: David Sali, OBJ
Apr 3, 2018 7:30am EDT

After spending decades living the nomadic lifestyle so typical of a top-level hotel manager, Denis Gilles feels like he’s finally where he’s meant to be.

“Ottawa is home,” says the new general manager of Hilton’s first two downtown properties in the nation’s capital, the Garden Inn and Homewood Suites.

Gilles, who officially assumed his new post on March 5, is back in Ottawa following a seven-year absence. After overseeing the former Crowne Plaza’s conversion to the Delta Ottawa City Centre, he criss-crossed the country with the SilverBirch Hotels & Resorts chain, managing properties in Sainte-Hyacinthe, Que., Fort McMurray, Alta., Halifax and finally, for the past year, Regina.

“I was on the road for seven years and now basically I’m back home,” says Gilles, who was born in Paris and grew up in Quebec City but now considers the capital his city. “It was the perfect opportunity.”

The new Hilton lodgings are set to open this fall at the site of the former National Hotel & Suites at 361 Queen St. The chain is pouring $40 million into a full-scale makeover of the Morguard-owned property, which will be home to a 175-room Garden Inn geared toward leisure travellers and the 171-unit Homewood Suites catering to extended-stay guests.

Gilles, who spent 15 years at hotels in Vietnam, the Philippines and China before returning to North America in 2008 to manage the Crowne Plaza’s downtown Ottawa property, says Hilton – which operates nearly 600 hotels and resorts in 85 countries – was long overdue to establish a presence in the heart of Canada’s capital.

“For the brand, it’s very high exposure,” he says. “It’s very high-profile. Wherever you turn (in Ottawa), it’s a Marriott property. We need to be able to compete. There is only room for Hilton to grow.”

The new facilities will have all the amenities tourists would expect from one of the world’s most famous hotel brands, including 4,500 square feet of conference space, a bar, restaurant, pool and fitness facility. But Gilles says he’s also hoping to inject a quality that’s harder to define into the guest experience at the new properties, which are expected to employ about 130 people.

“I’ve been around long enough to know that it’s not possible for anybody to be the best (in all facets),” he explains. “I want the properties to be memorable – when (guests) come, they say, ‘Hey, I don’t know what it is in here, but it’s different.’”

Gilles, who left Ottawa in 2011, says he feels a bit like that when he strolls the central business district and sees how projects such as light rail, Lansdowne Park, Zibi and the pending redevelopment of LeBreton Flats are poised to transform the city’s core.

“When I left Ottawa, there was no construction anywhere,” he recalls. “Everything, day after day, was the same. Now, when you go anywhere, there’s construction everywhere. It’s moving. You feel some evolution in Ottawa. It’s not the sleepy town that it is used to be known as. You feel that something is happening.”

The new Hiltons aren’t the only hotel properties slated to make their Ottawa debut this year. Le Germain is gearing up for its grand opening at the new ArtHaus complex on Daly Avenue later this month, while three more new lodgings are expected to be completed near the airport before the year is out.

All told, the region’s total room inventory could jump by more than 1,000 in 2018, an increase of 10 per cent. Steve Ball, the head of the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association that represents more than 50 properties throughout the region, says it remains to be seen how quickly the industry can absorb the addition of so many extra rooms in such a short span of time.

“Does the pool get any deeper or do we just share more clients among more properties?” he says. “Who knows?”

Ball says he’s encouraged by what he’s hearing from local hoteliers, who seem to have dodged the much-dreaded “hangover” following a record year for the city’s tourism industry in 2017.

“January (occupancy) this year was better than January last year,” he says. “We’ve got nice momentum. Hopefully, it’s the carryover halo from (the Canada 150 celebrations in) 2017. There’s optimism that we’ll maintain the momentum for sure. February was also a good month. March, I’m hearing, is a little softer, but there is great optimism that we’ll hold our numbers going into the summer.”

http://www.obj.ca/article/former-crowne-plaza-gm-denis-gilles-returns-ottawa-lead-new-hilton-properties

[rocketphish]

Embassy Hotel & Suites turns heads at Ottawa relaunch party
Downtown Ottawa hotel spends $7 million on room renovations, improving food and beverage services

By: Caroline Phillips, OBJ
Published: Jan 27, 2019 12:15pm EST

I can't tell you how many times I've scurried past the Embassy Hotel & Suites without taking much notice of it. Not anymore. Not after attending its fabulous winter launch party Friday night to show of its latest renovations.

The invite-only reception, held at the downtown Ottawa hotel, attracted a diverse crowd, served great food and drinks, and created an electric party atmosphere through music, lighting and live installations. The only thing missing was an epic pillow fight.

Guests spotted at the party ranged from Steve Ball, president of the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association, to Redblacks defensive back Antoine Pruneau, to media personalities and fashion and social media influencers.

The reception took place over two floors, allowing for people to also mingle upstairs in one of the suites.

The Embassy Hotel is located at 25 Cartier St., at the corner of Cartier and Cooper streets in the city’s central Golden Triangle neighbourhood. The 14-storey building is a stone’s throw away from City Hall, the National Arts Centre and the Rideau Canal.

In the days leading up to the Canada 150 celebrations held in 2017, the independent hotel opted for a major refurbishment. Last summer, it completed improvements to its food and beverage services, spending $500,000 on its commercial kitchen and its restaurant, Cooper’s Gastropub.

The Embassy, which invested a total of $7 million on renovations, decided to bring attention to its new and improved look by throwing a party. It chose January — a month that can always use some jazzing up.

“What we’re looking to do is open people’s eyes to what Embassy is today,” hotel general manager Colin Morrison told OBJ.social. “A lot of people have walked by the building and not even noticed that we’re here. We are a relatively nondescript building on the outside. We’re a lot of fun on the inside.”

James Jefferson and Daniel Mackinnon, owners of boutique PR agency Blackbook Lifestyle, worked their party magic that night. The pair has coordinated many unforgettable functions over the years, such as the star-studded Genie Awards Official After-Party at Arc The Hotel, back when Morrison was manager. He joined Embassy Hotel & Suites in July 2014, bringing with him some of his staff, including executive chef Jason Duffy, a past finalist in Ottawa's Gold Medal Plates culinary competition.

The Embassy Hotel has been around since the 1960s. It was originally a converted apartment building and, for the longest time, an extended-stay hotel. Said Morrison: “Not much happened with it. It existed and not much more than that.”

That is, until the hotel recognized its potential, with its very spacious rooms and its quiet yet central location, continued Morrison, who’s also board chair of the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association. “It was a bit of a diamond in the rough.

“The owners decided that they wanted to dress it up a little bit, and that’s what we’ve done,” he said of the new bathrooms, kitchens, wall and floor coverings and furniture. The rooms — of which 120 of the 140 are suites — were gutted back to concrete and rebuilt. “It’s hard to say if there’s anything that hasn’t been touched.”

Morrison said the hotel is less focused now on the long-term-stay market. It welcomes all guests, particularly those wanting to drop their luggage down in a room with a small kitchen to do a little cooking, store restaurant meal leftovers or keep their drinks cold.

Since the renovations, the hotel has upped its room prices to $200-plus per night (not exclusively). Business “is very strong,” said Morrison, adding that their occupancy rates are in line with other the hotels in the downtown core. “We’re enjoying very healthy revenues.

“We did something that is somewhat unusual in the hotel industry: We completely changed our market. The rooms are, in my opinion, on par with anything the city offers, including The Westin and the Château (Laurier).”

caroline@obj.ca

https://obj.ca/article/embassy-hotel-suites-turns-heads-ottawa-relaunch-party

[DavefromSt.Vital]

Residence Inn Downtown has de-flagged from Marriott and is now the Carleton Suite Hotel

[DavefromSt.Vital]

While the press release is focused on Niagara Falls, there are some Ottawa properties mentioned;

2020 - Hyatt Place Ottawa Bells Corners

2022 - Hyatt Place/Hyatt House Ottawa Byward Market

https://newsroom.hyatt.com/news-releases?item=123839

[J.OT13]

The new Market Hyatt is probably the proposed tower attached to Andaz.

https://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=203360&page=22

[OTSkyline]

I doubt it. I'm pretty sure the new tower would just become an expanded Andaz Hotel.

My bet is this might be the hotel part of Claridge District proposal for the Metro Site on Rideau St.

This one: https://ottawascondominiums.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/New-Development-Royale-01-5-1200x675.jpg

[J.OT13]

Hadn't even thought of that one. Good catch.

[ryan1]

I doubt it. I'm pretty sure the new tower would just become an expanded Andaz Hotel.

My bet is this might be the hotel part of Claridge District proposal for the Metro Site on Rideau St.



You mean Claridge Royale at Rideau & Cumberland! :)

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=208587&page=9

[Flemay]

Looks like the SANDMAN SIGNATURE OTTAWA AIRPORT HOTEL on Hunt Club Rd. is FINALLY open.
(After being under construction for over 5 years now???)

[rocketphish]

NCC looking to lease historic O'Brien House, again

Luke Carroll, Ottawa Citizen
Updated: October 2, 2019

https://postmediaottawacitizen2.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/ottawa-06-02-05-obrien-house-jerome-muller-project-manage.jpeg?quality=80&strip=all&w=600

Less than two years after opening as a boutique hotel in Gatineau Park, the O’Brien House is back on the market.

What was once the getaway of the industrialist owner of the Montreal Canadiens became an intimate 11-room boutique hotel after Wakefield Mill Developments Inc. took over the property in March 2018.

Wakefield Mill general manager Robert Milling said his organization will continue leasing the property from the National Capital Commission until Oct. 31.

The NCC’s board of directors approved the use as a hotel in September 2016 and gave its staff the authority to approve the design of a $3.9-million rehabilitation. The lease was for five years with the option of a 20-year renewal. Milling said he couldn’t comment on why the lease ended early.

In July, the O’Brien House Facebook page made a post that the facility would focus on events, as hotel bookings weren’t “financially sustainable.”

An NCC spokesperson said in an email that rent for the O’Brien House continues to be paid by the current operator and all bookings made until Oct. 31 will be honoured.

One of the first homes in Gatineau Park, the O’Brien House sits imposingly atop a winding road, but the materials — granite, log siding and cedar — link it to the Canadian wilderness, according to the NCC, which acquired the property in 1964.

The O’Brien House is now in need of a new tenant, and has already garnered some interest from the hospitality industry, the NCC said.

A lease fact sheet (http://ncc-website-2.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/OBrien-House-Brochure.EN.pdf?mtime=20190920142435#asset:8271) said the annual rent is $150,000 along with eight per cent of revenues over $1 million.

– With files from Megan Gillis

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ncc-looking-to-lease-historic-obrien-house-again

[rocketphish]

Best Western is proposing a two-storey addition above the north wing of their existing hotel at 1272 Carling Avenue.

Development application:
http://app01.ottawa.ca/postingplans/appDetails.jsf?lang=en&appId=__BN27LJ

Streetview:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.38633,-75.7333401,3a,33.3y,159.18h,90.13t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1smVc8tJv8e-vPLR4RFPr1TQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656


https://i.imgur.com/Zk1mtRf.png

https://i.imgur.com/z4fEbKq.png

[rocketphish]

Many hotels could remain closed for good, Ottawa hotelier says
Half of all hotels in the Ottawa-Gatineau region are closed, thousands out of work

Ryan Patrick Jones · CBC News
Posted: Apr 14, 2020 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 8 hours ago

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought tourism to a halt in Canada — guest rooms are empty and thousands of employees are out of work.

One Ottawa hotelier says the situation is so bad he fears many hotels will remain closed for good if the federal government doesn't step in with targeted financial support for the industry.

"They will have absolutely no reason to reopen because financially they won't be able to," said Denis Gilles, general manager of the Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites in downtown Ottawa.

"It will never be back to the way it was," said Gilles, who also sits on the board of directors of the Ottawa-Gatineau Hotel Association.

The Hilton Garden Inn is still open, but has seen a huge drop in business since mid-March, Gilles said.

The decline coincided with travel restrictions and physical distancing measures implemented by the federal and provincial governments to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

"We were at 85 per cent [occupancy] in March … [Now] we have an average of 30 to 40 rooms on any given day, which means 20 to 25 per cent occupancy on a 346-room hotel," said Gilles.

The Hilton Garden Inn is not the only hotel suffering during the pandemic.

Fifty hotels in the Ottawa-Gatineau region are closed which works out to half of the area's hotels, according to data from the Hotel Association of Canada. On top of that, around 5,000 hotel employees are out of work.

Nationally, more than 4,000 hotels are closed and 250,000 workers are affected.

Jessica Lefebvre, who still has a job at the Hilton Garden Inn, considers herself one of the lucky ones. While she's had her hours reduced, Lefebvre continues to work part time cleaning rooms and attending to guests.

"Since the pandemic, it's a complete change," said Lefebvre. "The hotel, it's very quiet ... So we do our best to try to stay positive and uplifting for the guests."

Despite the fact that she continues to work, Lefebvre continues to worry about her job security.

"Right now, I'm just taking it day by day and I'm trying not to think too far in the future," she said.

The federal government has announced a series of measures meant to support businesses through the economic downturn, including a 75 per cent wage subsidy, easy access to credit and tax payment deferrals.

Gilles said the support programs announced so far aren't enough for most hotels to meet their financial obligations — from utility bills to taxes to mortgage payments. He said the government should tailor its assistance to the unique needs of the tourism industry.

"We would like for the government, for [Finance Minister Bill] Morneau and his team, to look at the hotel industry a bit separate from from the rest of the manufacturing, transports, groceries," said Gilles. "We do need a different type of help."

Gilles fears that it will take years for the tourism industry to bounce back to its pre-crisis levels.

In an emailed statement, Economic Development Minister Mélanie Joly said the federal government recognizes the economic impact on the hotel industry and said it would support businesses both during and after the crisis.

"We are on the ground every day, listening to the sector, taking the pulse of the situation, identifying needs and adapting measures in real time," the statement said.

The statement encouraged businesses impacted by the economic downturn to contact their regional development agency, including the Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED) or FedDev Ontario, for help determining what kind of support they may be eligible for.

With files from Radio-Canada's Jérémie Bergeron

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-hotelier-covid-19-1.5531213

[Kitchissippi]

The silver lining might be that this kills the Chateau Laurier expansion.

[OTownandDown]

I feel for the truly independent hotels.

However those 'boutique' hotels or otherwise owned by a chain hotels. I feel no sorrow for them. Perhaps it's time that their billionaire owners start spreading some of their own money around rather than hoarding it like they've been doing these past 100 years. No government should have to bail out a company owned by a person with a net worth more than $1B.

Many hotels could remain closed for good, Ottawa hotelier says
Half of all hotels in the Ottawa-Gatineau region are closed, thousands out of work

Ryan Patrick Jones · CBC News
Posted: Apr 14, 2020 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 8 hours ago

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought tourism to a halt in Canada — guest rooms are empty and thousands of employees are out of work.

One Ottawa hotelier says the situation is so bad he fears many hotels will remain closed for good if the federal government doesn't step in with targeted financial support for the industry.

"They will have absolutely no reason to reopen because financially they won't be able to," said Denis Gilles, general manager of the Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites in downtown Ottawa.

"It will never be back to the way it was," said Gilles, who also sits on the board of directors of the Ottawa-Gatineau Hotel Association.

The Hilton Garden Inn is still open, but has seen a huge drop in business since mid-March, Gilles said.

The decline coincided with travel restrictions and physical distancing measures implemented by the federal and provincial governments to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

"We were at 85 per cent [occupancy] in March … [Now] we have an average of 30 to 40 rooms on any given day, which means 20 to 25 per cent occupancy on a 346-room hotel," said Gilles.

The Hilton Garden Inn is not the only hotel suffering during the pandemic.

Fifty hotels in the Ottawa-Gatineau region are closed which works out to half of the area's hotels, according to data from the Hotel Association of Canada. On top of that, around 5,000 hotel employees are out of work.

Nationally, more than 4,000 hotels are closed and 250,000 workers are affected.

Jessica Lefebvre, who still has a job at the Hilton Garden Inn, considers herself one of the lucky ones. While she's had her hours reduced, Lefebvre continues to work part time cleaning rooms and attending to guests.

"Since the pandemic, it's a complete change," said Lefebvre. "The hotel, it's very quiet ... So we do our best to try to stay positive and uplifting for the guests."

Despite the fact that she continues to work, Lefebvre continues to worry about her job security.

"Right now, I'm just taking it day by day and I'm trying not to think too far in the future," she said.

The federal government has announced a series of measures meant to support businesses through the economic downturn, including a 75 per cent wage subsidy, easy access to credit and tax payment deferrals.

Gilles said the support programs announced so far aren't enough for most hotels to meet their financial obligations — from utility bills to taxes to mortgage payments. He said the government should tailor its assistance to the unique needs of the tourism industry.

"We would like for the government, for [Finance Minister Bill] Morneau and his team, to look at the hotel industry a bit separate from from the rest of the manufacturing, transports, groceries," said Gilles. "We do need a different type of help."

Gilles fears that it will take years for the tourism industry to bounce back to its pre-crisis levels.

In an emailed statement, Economic Development Minister Mélanie Joly said the federal government recognizes the economic impact on the hotel industry and said it would support businesses both during and after the crisis.

"We are on the ground every day, listening to the sector, taking the pulse of the situation, identifying needs and adapting measures in real time," the statement said.

The statement encouraged businesses impacted by the economic downturn to contact their regional development agency, including the Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED) or FedDev Ontario, for help determining what kind of support they may be eligible for.

With files from Radio-Canada's Jérémie Bergeron

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-hotelier-covid-19-1.5531213

[J.OT13]

The silver lining might be that this kills the Chateau Laurier expansion.

Hadn't thought of that. Though the expansion was supposed to be larger suites for medium to long term stays, probably targeted at MPs, so don't wager your life savings on that just yet.

[J.OT13]

Road-trippers trigger uptick in downtown Ottawa hotel traffic

David Sali, OBJ
July 20, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic may have decimated his industry, but a new wave of leisure travellers drawn to Ottawa’s greenspace, outdoor patios and other attractions has hotelier Wayne Day seeing a few rays of hope on the horizon.

The new general manager of the Hilton Garden Inn and Homewood Suites took the reins of the downtown Ottawa lodgings back in May, when coronavirus fears and travel restrictions meant only a couple dozen of the properties’ combined 346 rooms were occupied, creating a gloomy outlook for the summer holiday season.

Almost three months later, the hotels are now running at about 40 per cent capacity ​– still well below the mark of 85 per cent in March and nowhere near the usual level of occupancy for peak summer holiday season, but still at least a bit of reason for optimism, Day says.

Business has been better than expected thanks to a few factors, he explains.

The hotel managed to land a couple of corporate bookings that brought extended stays, including a group from Amazon that is doing training sessions at the e-commerce giant’s distribution centre on Boundary Road.

In addition, Day says he’s seeing an uptick in car traffic from nearby centres such as Montreal, Toronto and Quebec City as stir-crazy urbanites look to escape their immediate surroundings for a few days after months in lockdown.

“I guess we’ve been pretty fortunate, actually,” says the hospitality industry veteran, who previously worked for the Casino du Lac Leamy before joining the Hilton as hotel manager two years ago. “We can’t really complain that much. A lot of people are in worse situations than us.”

The hotel recently launched a promotion with reduced rates on rooms, parking and breakfast that seems to be paying off, Day says. He says many guests are making snap decisions to hit the road, cutting the typical booking window from almost three weeks down to three days.

“It’s all last-minute (reservations),” he says.

More tourists are bringing their bikes to take advantage of the capital’s trails and explore the city while physically distancing, he adds, in addition to seeing its sights on foot.

“There’s so many places to walk around in the city,” he says. “You can still go to the ByWard Market, go to the patios.”

More hotels reopening

At the Chateau Laurier, which reopened on Canada Day after being closed since late March, the venerable lodging is also “seeing nice traction,” says director of public relations Deneen Perrin.

“We are starting to see the phones ringing,” she says. “Obviously, it’s not the usual summer traffic, but there is some pickup.”

Like Day, Perrin says a hefty chunk of the hotel’s customers are from Toronto, Montreal and other places within easy driving distance, and many of them are coming with their bicycles in tow.

“That seems to be a trend now,” she says, adding sales are being buoyed by a current promotion that’s offering guests one free night’s stay for every night they pay to stay in the hotel until the end of the year.

About two-thirds of the region’s hotels are now in operation, up from about 50 per cent at the height of the lockdown, says Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association president Steve Ball.

The capital’s overall average occupancy rate is “inching its way up slowly,” he adds, and now stands at about 20 per cent. While that’s more than double what it was in the spring, it’s still a long way from summer norms of about 80 per cent.

Ball remains hopeful that Ottawa’s location in a geographic sweet spot between the country’s two largest urban areas and the capital’s array of natural attractions that allow for plenty of physical distancing will encourage residents in nearby cities to hop in their cars and pay Canada’s capital a visit.

“That’s why we believe short road trips … staying in a hotel and doing a patio or going to a museum or the national gallery is a desirable opportunity for people as an option to get a little travel in this summer,” he says.

Back at the Hilton, Day says he and his fellow hoteliers need to do whatever they can to boost business in a dry summer for tourism. He recently opened a 40-seat patio at the Queen Street property that’s now drawing thirsty customers from the surrounding neighbourhood as well as the hotel itself, and his employee headcount has bounced back from a low of 11 a few months ago to about 50 today.

“You have to almost reinvent yourself every week,” Day says.

Still, with the Canada-U.S. border closed to car traffic and 50-permit limits on indoor gatherings scuttling virtually all meeting and convention business, Ball says many hotels can expect to struggle for some time to come.

“I just think it’ll be a fairly long, slow road ahead of us to recover to the numbers that we were at in 2019,” he says.

https://obj.ca/article/road-trippers-trigger-uptick-downtown-ottawa-hotel-traffic

[kwoldtimer]

I wonder how long some of these hotels can stay afloat at 40% occupancy? Normally, they’d be running at more than double that, no?

[OTownandDown]

LOL that Chateau Laurier 'Deal' reminds me of One-for-One Pizza..

oh wait, no, Two-for-One pizza ;) One for One is a downtown Ottawa thing! At least at one-for-one you know what you're getting.

You pay for two, while buying just one, and we'll give you the second one FREE!

Seriously though, the two-for-one deal at the Chateau is over $450 per 'night' with a second night absolutely FREE! What a deal!

Edit: I should also say that I've known several people who've stayed here in the last 12 months for less than $100/night!

[mykl]

LOL that Chateau Laurier 'Deal' reminds me of One-for-One Pizza..

oh wait, no, Two-for-One pizza ;) One for One is a downtown Ottawa thing! At least at one-for-one you know what you're getting.


You're really making me miss Three For One Pizza. That was the best deal on anything ever.

[OTownandDown]

You're really making me miss Three For One Pizza. That was the best deal on anything ever.

I like the honesty of a One-for-One. Italian accent: "You want a-one? You get a-one! You pay, I give-a you-a one!"

[mykl]

I like the honesty of a One-for-One. Italian accent: "You want a-one? You get a-one! You pay, I give-a you-a one!"

I like the joke of it for sure, but their pizza is warm cardboard*

*I'd still eat it though haha

[YYCguys]

Looks like the SANDMAN SIGNATURE OTTAWA AIRPORT HOTEL on Hunt Club Rd. is FINALLY open.
(After being under construction for over 5 years now???)

And it’s a very nice hotel inside! And close to shopping and restaurants! I didn’t mind my stay there at all!

[rocketphish]

Despite hospitality downturn, backers of new Kanata Wingate hotel eager to open doors

By: David Sali, OBJ
Published: Jul 27, 2020 4:57pm EDT

https://www.obj.ca/sites/default/files/styles/article_main/public/2020-07/IMG_5090_3.JPG

One of the major local investors behind a new hotel in Kanata says the group is champing at the bit to open the new property – despite the city being in the throes of what’s likely the worst year for tourism in decades.

“There is uncertainty, but we know that we have a good product,” said Denis Shank, a local real estate broker and one of the financial backers of the new Wingate by Wyndham Kanata West Ottawa hotel. “We’re excited.”

The 122-room lodging on Campeau Drive, just a few slapshots west of the Canadian Tire Centre and a block from the Tanger Outlets mall on the north side of Highway 417, is slated to open soon – although exactly when is still not set in stone.

“We’re really trying to find the right timing,” Shank said, adding the ownership group is now aiming for a late-summer launch date. “We want to get going.”

Shank says he’s been constantly monitoring occupancy rates in the Ottawa region, which have gradually risen from around five per cent at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to above 20 per cent recently. He said the owners remain confident the local hotel market is once again on an upswing that will pave the way for a late-summer or early-fall opening.

“There’s no (playbook) that’s been written on this,” he said. “We are hopeful that the (occupancy) trend will continue climbing. We want to get into the action sooner than later.”

Shank said Ottawa’s steady-as-she-goes government-driven economy has managed to hold its own during the pandemic, with the tech sector in particular showing resilience that bodes well for a bounceback.

“We’ll get through this,” he said. “This is Ottawa – the most stable economy in the country. The tech world is on fire. We know the market is there.”

With seasoned hotel executive Ken Kirby at the helm as general manager, Shank said he expects the new project – which features a 2,000-square-foot meeting space and a full-service fitness centre as well as an indoor pool and jacuzzi – to navigate through the current economic turbulence and come out on the other side relatively unscathed.

“We’re not expecting great numbers (right away), but we’re confident that before the end of the summer, there will be some business traction,” he said.

“We’re going to start out slowly like other ventures that are in this industry. We’re confident that in no time … things will continue gradually climbing back, and we want to be ready for that.”

While Shank, the managing partner of Ottawa’s Capworth Commercial Realty Brokerage, wouldn’t give an exact price tag for the project, he said similar hotels typically cost in the “twentysome-million-dollar” range. The hotel’s other backers include Boreal Hospitality Group, which owns and manages Wyndham-branded properties across Eastern Canada.

Under ordinary circumstances, such a project would probably be considered a sound investment.

In addition to its proximity to shopping and NHL hockey ​– whenever it returns to the city – the new property is also a just a few minutes’ drive from Taggart Realty’s burgeoning Kanata West Business Park.

The new 300,000-square-foot commercial development across from the CTC is attracting a number of big-name tech tenants, including fast-growing software firm Kinaxis, which is moving its headquarters to a building now under construction on the site.

On nearby Palladium Drive, meanwhile, auto giant Ford operates a major R&D facility next door to the headquarters of another locally based corporate powerhouse, Calian Group. With the Bell Sensplex rink complex in the same neighbourhood, Shank and his partners figure it’s a good bet that the new hotel will attract business travellers in town for meetings from Monday to Friday, then draw families with kids taking part in hockey tournaments and other events on weekends.

But as the veteran real estate executive knows all too well, these are not normal circumstances. The COVID-19 lockdown dealt a crippling blow to tourism in the National Capital Region this summer, forcing the cancellation of virtually every major festival and event.

While occupancy at some downtown hotels has crept up in the past couple of weeks on the strength of domestic road-trippers from Toronto and Montreal, the local industry as a whole continues to suffer, with overall occupancy rates far below the 80 per cent levels normally seen in peak summer season and about a third of all lodgings in the region still shuttered.

With the Canada-U.S. border closed to car traffic and 50-person limits on indoor gatherings scuttling virtually all meeting and convention business, industry leaders concede many hotels in the capital will likely continue to struggle for some time to come.

“I just think it’ll be a fairly long, slow road ahead of us to recover to the numbers that we were at in 2019,” Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association president Steve Ball told OBJ last week.

https://www.obj.ca/article/local/tourism/despite-hospitality-downturn-backers-new-kanata-wingate-hotel-eager-open

[rocketphish]

Shady south-end crime 'haven' motel will be closing
The motel, the city has argued in court filings, is a "haven for heavy drug use, prostitution and other illicit activities."

Jon Willing, Ottawa Citizen
Publishing date: Aug 28, 2020 • Last Updated 20 hours ago • 2 minute read

https://smartcdn.prod.postmedia.digital/ottawacitizen/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/72771206-20190719009-w.jpg?quality=100&strip=all&w=650

A notorious motel in south Ottawa could be checking out for good.

The New Highway Inn at 2279 Prince of Wales Dr. has been in city hall’s regulatory crosshairs for more than a year as it tries to close the motel in a rare attempt of using judicial force to stomp out a community nemesis.

The motel, the city has argued in court filings, is a “haven for heavy drug use, prostitution and other illicit activities.”

Word started to spread through neighbourhoods around the motel this week that the seedy property could be fenced off within days.

During a short phone conversation Friday, motel owner Noorali Adatia said he intends to close the motel but wasn’t certain of exactly when it would happen.

Knoxdale-Merivale Coun. Keith Egli said bylaw staff were recently at the property responding to a complaint when a representative of the motel indicated the building would be vacant and closed down by the beginning of September.

Bylaw Chief Roger Chapman also indicated that a motel rep told his branch that the motel was in the process of closing operations.

“It is certainly my hope that this comes to pass as the situation has been going on far too long and the surrounding community has been more than patient,” Egli said

The two-storey motel south of Hunt Club Road became such a problem for law enforcement, paramedics and building officials that the city filed an application in Superior Court in summer 2019 to have the place closed, at least on a temporary basis.

The city is relying on a section of the Ontario Municipal Act that allows a judge, after considering an application from a municipality, to shut down a premises because of “public nuisance.”

It was the first time the city attempted to use the legislation to shut down a problematic property and there were only two other times that municipalities made similar applications to the courts since the section of the Municipal Act came into force in 2006. The law allows a maximum closure of two years.

The city’s court application chronicled years of police calls to the motel and cited 353 police records related to the property. There had been an “endless cycle of drug overdoses and crime” at the motel in the three years before the court received the city’s request, according to the court document.

Activities at the motel “continue to have a spillover effect on the surrounding community and it has created a real concern for public safety and nuisance,” the city said in its application.

The city has also expressed concerns about the building’s safety after a fire in 2016 damaged a large part of the motel.

A judge hasn’t tested the city’s application. A hearing is scheduled in November.

At the time of the city’s application to the court the motel was only renting rooms for long-term stays.

Adatia, who bought the motel more than 35 years ago, has been interested in redeveloping the property, which stretches from Prince of Wales Drive to the Rideau River. He has said he knows nothing about the criminal activity at the motel alleged by the city.

jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/buzz-is-the-notorious-hooker-haven-hell-motel-on-prince-of-wales-drive-is-going-to-close-in-september/wcm/0b93eeb7-779f-4f15-b0bb-c2a4ec4ee929/

[Proof Sheet]

“haven for heavy drug use, prostitution and other illicit activities.”

Surely those kinds of activities have some sort of land use protection :cheers::cheers:

[le calmar]

Speaking of new hotels, I noticed the Hilton Garden Inn on Moodie is nearing completion.

[Norman Bates]

Speaking of new hotels, I noticed the Hilton Garden Inn on Moodie is nearing completion.

Where dat?

[rocketphish]

Where dat?

https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=238412

[daud]

Speaking of new hotels, I noticed the Hilton Garden Inn on Moodie is nearing completion.

The brand will actually be a Hyatt Place. A business colleague I've known for a few years is the new GM there.

https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/canada/hyatt-place-ottawa-west/yowzo?src=vanity_hyattplaceottawawest.com

While the hotel industry is at rock bottom right now, technology like keyless entry, contactless checkin etc.. will go a long way for smaller properties like this one in this environment and whatever unfolds. Just drive up and walk into your room.

The bigger hotels attracting more national and international conferences have a long difficult ride back to profitability and I would not be surprised to see a conversion or 2 of a downtown property to longer stay or other use.

The whole travel and events sector (business and leisure) has been obliterated by Covid. MGM just announced permanent layoffs of 18 thousand workers at their properties.

[phil235]

Two downtown hotels converting to apartments - the Best Western on O’Connor and the Albert at Bay.

https://obj.ca/article/local/tourism/albert-bay-best-western-plus-downtown-hotels-being-converted-long-term

[J.OT13]

Two downtown hotels converting to apartments - the Best Western on O’Connor and the Albert at Bay.

https://obj.ca/article/local/tourism/albert-bay-best-western-plus-downtown-hotels-being-converted-long-term

Albert at Bay, Best Western Plus downtown hotels being converted to long-term rentals after sale

David Sali, OBJ
Oct 28, 2020

https://obj.ca/sites/default/files/styles/article_main/public/2020-10/Albert%20at%20Bay%20hotel%20-%20Edited.jpg?itok=pBDpdKKf
The Albert at Bay Suite Hotel was recently sold to a new owner who is planning to convert the property into rental apartments. Photo by David Sali

In a move that some observers say could become increasingly common as hospitality property owners look to wring more value out of their investments during the pandemic, two major downtown Ottawa hotels are being converted into long-term rental complexes.

The Albert at Bay Suite Hotel at 435 Albert St. and the Best Western Plus at 377 O'Connor St. shut their doors earlier this month after being sold to a new ownership group. On Wednesday, the head of the city’s main hotel industry organization confirmed to OBJ that the buyer plans to turn both lodgings into rental apartments.

“They’re particularly suited for that because they were suite hotels,” said Steve Ball, the president of the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association. “They've got kitchens, they’ve got laundry facilities in each suite.”

Jake Levinson, a member of the Levinson Group of Companies that previously owned both hotels, wouldn’t say who purchased the properties and refused to divulge any financial details of the transaction.

The sale marked the end of an era for the family-owned business. Jake’s grandfather, Jacie Levinson, originally developed the Albert at Bay as a rental apartment property before it gradually transitioned to a suite hotel in the mid-1980s. The family later opened the Best Western on O’Connor Street in the early 1990s.

Levinson told OBJ the new owner initially made an “unsolicited offer” for the hotels in February, before widespread measures aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus crippled the industry.

'It made a lot of sense'

“What was a good deal for us forgetting about COVID became an even better deal as time went on,” he said. “It made a lot of sense to move forward with the deal.”

Levinson said the hotels ​– which relied heavily on business travellers and employed a combined 120 people at their peak ​– have been as much as 95 per cent empty over the past few months, making it virtually impossible to run a viable operation.

“Five to 10 per cent (occupancy) doesn't pay the bills,” he explained. “We just really didn’t know what the future held for us or for the Ottawa tourism industry or the hotel industry at large.”

With real estate firm CBRE and other analysts predicting the hard-hit hotel industry won’t return to last year’s levels until 2023 at the earliest, Ball said he wouldn’t be surprised to see other owners of suite hotels convert their properties into rentals – at least in the short term until the hospitality industry gets back on its feet.

Ottawa’s rental vacancy rate was below two per cent in 2019, making a shift to apartments the obvious pivot for landlords looking for a steadier income stream, he explained.

“There's some real logic in doing that right now,” Ball said. “There’s demand for downtown rentals. An owner facing those kinds of challenges might decide, let’s take advantage of long-term rental for a while.”

Veteran Ottawa hotel executive Ross Meredith agreed. The general manager of the Westin and Delta Ottawa City Centre said landlords at virtually deserted hotels will likely be “willing to get a little bit creative” to find new sources of revenue as a long winter looms for the industry.

“I think hotels that have kitchens and any sort of laundry facilities, they could be easily converted into a different use for a period of time,” Meredith said. “Every owner is going to be looking at how they pay their bills and how they cover their costs through this difficult time.”

Ball said the next few months could be a make-or-break period for many hotel operators. He said most lodgings in Canada are owned by small and medium-sized companies rather than large hotel brands.

Heavily leveraged

“A lot of them are quite heavily leveraged,” he said, pointing to a recent industry study that suggested as many as four in 10 hotels across Canada might not survive the winter without significant financial aid. “They’re the ones that are at risk unless we get some liquidity breaks for them.”

Occupancy is currently hovering around 10 per cent in Ottawa, Ball said. He said about 75 per cent of the capital region’s hotels are still open, but he’s not sure how many will stay in operation through the winter.

“Certainly, the next five to six months are going to be critical for a number of properties,” he said. “There’s no committed demand.”

Ball said the industry is hoping that COVID-19 infection rates in provincial hot spots fall enough to warrant an easing of public health measures and make would-be travellers more comfortable with taking a road trip to the nation’s capital.

“I think Ottawa has some opportunities from a leisure perspective this winter,” he said. “We have Winterlude, we have Christmas lights, we have a lot of outdoor activity that ​– if the province would just suggest that a road trip from Toronto to Ottawa on the weekend is probably as safe as anything ​– we could probably pick up on some leisure travel this winter.

“As long as the province keeps telling everybody to stay home, our industry is going to stay hurting. I’m not sure how much longer a lot of people can hang on.”

https://obj.ca/article/local/tourism/albert-bay-best-western-plus-downtown-hotels-being-converted-long-term

[kwoldtimer]

That's quite a few apartments coming on market in the core. Any signs yet that rents in Ottawa are going down? Or that landlords are offering free months for new/renewed leases?

[gjhall]

Quick look at Holmstead and Minto, both are offering free months and free parking as an incentive at some properties - but with vacancies starting at rock bottom 2%, there's lots of room for more units to be absorbed into the market.

[J.OT13]

Yesterday at the FEDCO meeting, during the public delegations on the Market public realm, the head of the Ottawa-Gatineau Hotel association mentioned that we have 24 hotels within a 10 minute walk from the ByWard Market (5,000 rooms) and that we had 27, but lost a few over the last few months. Which hotels closed? I know there's one on O'Connor (Ottawa Downtown Suites) and one on Bay (Albert at Bay Suites Hotel), but both are further than 10 minutes from the Market.

[AuxTown]

Yesterday at the FEDCO meeting, during the public delegations on the Market public realm, the head of the Ottawa-Gatineau Hotel association mentioned that we have 24 hotels within a 10 minute walk from the ByWard Market (5,000 rooms) and that we had 27, but lost a few over the last few months. Which hotels closed? I know there's one on O'Connor (Ottawa Downtown Suites) and one on Bay (Albert at Bay Suites Hotel), but both are further than 10 minutes from the Market.

Hotel Association members walk like this:

https://media.giphy.com/media/9bT1NQwPgzTHO/giphy.gif

Bonus Rideau St sink hole for effect

[phil235]

Yesterday at the FEDCO meeting, during the public delegations on the Market public realm, the head of the Ottawa-Gatineau Hotel association mentioned that we have 24 hotels within a 10 minute walk from the ByWard Market (5,000 rooms) and that we had 27, but lost a few over the last few months. Which hotels closed? I know there's one on O'Connor (Ottawa Downtown Suites) and one on Bay (Albert at Bay Suites Hotel), but both are further than 10 minutes from the Market.

If he means temporarily, it could be the Lord Elgin, Metcalfe and Residence Inn.

[J.OT13]

If he means temporarily, it could be the Lord Elgin, Metcalfe and Residence Inn.

Could be.

[J.OT13]

Sheraton Ottawa Hotel to permanently lay off 70 employees, union says

OBJ Staff, March 22, 2021

https://obj.ca/sites/default/files/styles/article_main/public/2021-03/yowsi-exterior-9192-hor-clsc%20%281%29.jpg?itok=3-YPLV1Y
About 70 workers at the Sheraton Ottawa Hotel are being laid off this week, their union says. Photo via Sheraton Ottawa Hotel

The Sheraton Ottawa Hotel is permanently laying off about 70 workers starting this week, the union representing the employees says.

In a statement posted to its Facebook page late last week, UNITE HERE Local 261 said the affected workers have been on temporary layoff since last year due to the pandemic. The union said it has been trying since last October to reach a deal with Sheraton management to recall the employees.

“Despite the pending vaccine rollout and signs the industry will begin recovery this year, the hotel unexpectedly refused to extend recall rights,” the statement said, adding many of the employees “have served for decades.”

The union said the Sheraton Ottawa is the only hospitality employer represented by UNITE HERE Local 261 that decided to terminate employees.

Sheraton Ottawa general manager Yolaine Charette did not immediately respond to requests for comment from OBJ on Monday.

Hard-hit sector

At 236 rooms, the Sheraton is one of the city’s largest downtown hotels. According to the union, the building is owned by Hong Kong-based Keck Seng Investments.

The move comes as Ottawa’s hard-hit hospitality industry struggles to keep its head above water during the pandemic.

Many industry analysts say they don’t expect the hotel business to bounce back until 2023 at the earliest as travel has plummeted across the country in the wake of widespread shutdowns aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19.

Here in the nation’s capital, most hotels are barely hitting double-digit occupancy rates. Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association boss Steve Ball told OBJ last month the industry won’t start to recover until a much bigger chunk of the population has been vaccinated against the coronavirus and feels comfortable travelling again.

“As long as we’re promoting stay-at-home, hotels are going to continue to stay empty,” he said.

The downturn has also caused some local hotel owners to exit the business entirely. Last fall, two prominent downtown lodgings, the Albert at Bay Suite Hotel and the Best Western Plus on O’Connor Street, were sold to an unidentified buyer that plans to convert the properties into long-term rentals.

https://obj.ca/article/local/tourism/sheraton-ottawa-hotel-permanently-lay-70-employees-union-says

[J.OT13]

$4.5M development to add short-term rentals, remote workspaces at Mont Ste. Marie

Construction of 15,000-square-foot building, designed by Linebox Studio, slated to start this August

Caroline Phillips, OBJ
March 16, 2021

https://obj.ca/sites/default/files/styles/article_main/public/2021-03/04%204.jpg?itok=E9BM5ryF
Architectural rendering of The Saint Marie Hills to be built at Mont Ste. Marie ski resort, about an hour north of Ottawa.

One of the reasons that downhill ski resort Mont Ste. Marie is such a popular destination for day-trippers is because visitors have little choice but to head back to the city once their day is done. There's just nowhere to stay, really.

Ottawa businessman Max Damour, with the backing of investors, is looking to help address that problem with the construction of The Sainte Marie Hills, a new building at the ski hill that will not only offer short-term rental pads but also bring much-needed amenities to the area, located an hour north of Ottawa-Gatineau.

The $4.5-million investment will offer ski-in, ski-out units, an après-ski lounge/restaurant, private work/meeting spaces and a rooftop patio with a hot tub or two for soaking tired limbs after a day of pounding the powder, bike pedals or golf balls.

The land, located directly behind the main lodge at MSM, was purchased last year by Damour, owner and founder of successful boutique brokerage Blue Panda Realty. He saw an opportunity to offer more places to hang one's toque, based on his own visitor experience at MSM.

“I’d have a beer after skiing but then be stuck driving back an hour to Ottawa,” he said. “It was just really hard to find a good spot to stay there.”

Damour is working with Ottawa real estate consultancy Caber Group. Its managing partner, Josh Gibson, is the owner’s representative on the project. Gibson is a 20-year veteran in the real estate and construction industry, previously serving as director of development for MP Lundy Construction and project manager with Minto Developments.

'Not our first rodeo'

Shovels are slated to hit the ground this August, with the building to be completed by next spring.

“We’re working with aggressive timelines but it’s not our first rodeo,” said Gibson. “I think we have the right team here, the right amount of experience. We’re still young enough that we’re pretty enthusiastic.”

The 15 units at The Sainte Marie Hills will be studio efficiency suites for short to medium stays, with the exception of a couple of two-bedroom rental apartments. The rooms could go a long way toward helping organizers of ski, golf, mountain biking and other seasonal events accommodate the regular influx of tourists and visitors to the area, he said.

They’ve hired Linebox Studio, an award-winning Ottawa-based architectural firm. It’s been designing high-end recreational homes for clients at MSM. Linebox owner and principal architect Andrew Reeves skis at the resort regularly with his family and is very aware that all eyes will be on the construction of the new building.

“We definitely, like everybody up there, want to make sure this is done right,” said Reeves, who tried to create a design that’s “as interesting as possible” without having it stick out “like a sore thumb.”

Linebox has made sure the design is respectful of the neighbours’ sightlines and privacy, and is complementary to its surroundings, said Reeves. It's using CLT (cross-laminated timber) panel and modular building materials.

The restaurant plans are still being worked out but the resort could stand to have options beyond a cafeteria and a pub, said Reeves.

“We all know Mont Sainte Marie needs more of a supporting cast, such as a cool wine bar or another place to have a bite to eat or a place to work. Those things are very much needed and I think this is just the start of Mont Sainte Marie’s future. We’re definitely happy to be part of it.”

The original design of MSM was inspired by the Alps, with Swiss-style wooden chalets and roads named after Swiss ski resorts. Reeves feels it’s important to protect the spirit of the place, and not turn MSM into a cookie-cutter resort, with designs that feel too controlled.

'Respect the hill'

“You don’t want what I call ‘Disneyland-like,’ where you end up with a fake feel,” said Reeves. “I think you need to have enough flexibility, so these buildings can have their own expression but there’s still some kind of overriding thought process that ties itself together, as buildings pop up and more cottages pop up.

“You have to take the time and effort, and respect the hill, versus plopping buildings everywhere.”

https://obj.ca/sites/default/files/inline-images/02%202%20%281%29.jpg
Architectural rendering of The Saint Marie Hills.

In recent years, MSM has been undergoing a renaissance, following years of stagnation, even decline. The area has become increasingly appealing to young families who find it more affordable and convenient than Tremblant, as well as more safe, familiar and comfortable. The pandemic has fuelled its popularity even further as more people work remotely from their cottages or chalets.

MSM is evolving, said Gibson, who grew up skiing at MSM.

“It’s a different time, it’s a different mountain. There’s a lot more personal money being invested here, in cottages and the like, so we’re excited to be part of it.

“It has the potential to be a four-season destination resort.”

MSM, which is owned by Bob Sudermann, has also become a hotspot among Ottawa entrepreneurs and business owners.

“You can walk into that lodge on any given weekend and pick out a who’s who,” said Gibson, who’s hoping The Sainte Marie Hills might inspire other enterprising individuals to develop new projects.

“If we can show the way, and show that it works, there are a lot of other people who have been sitting on the sidelines with ideas of what to do up there that might follow suit.”

The Sainte Marie Hills project also involves Cleland Jardine, an Ottawa-based structural engineering firm, and Canadian consulting engineering firm Smith + Andersen.

— caroline@obj.ca

https://obj.ca/article/real-estate/non-residential/45m-development-add-short-term-rentals-remote-workspaces-mont

[YOWetal]

That's quite a few apartments coming on market in the core. Any signs yet that rents in Ottawa are going down? Or that landlords are offering free months for new/renewed leases?

In the Byward market rents are now much lower. I see places listed (in same buildings) less than I paid in 2007. There are also. There are also more listings than I have ever seen in March. I guess this is the lack of students and will disappear when they return.

[rocketphish]

'A plethora of empty rooms': No Winterlude, no February, hoteliers lament
Hundreds of bookings disappear after annual event put on ice again

By: David Sali, OBJ
Published: Jan 19, 2022 2:45pm EST

From Colin Morrison’s perspective, the past few days have pretty much summed up the last two years for Ottawa hoteliers, who’ve been riding a constant rollercoaster of emotions during the pandemic.

On the downside, on Jan. 11, Canadian Heritage announced that in-person Winterlude activities were being scrapped for the second year in a row due to the rampant spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Then, on the upside, on Jan. 13, the National Capital Commission opened the whole Rideau Canal skateway, the earliest the green flag has gone up along the entire 7.8-kilometre stretch in decades.

As Morrison, the general manager of the Embassy Hotel and Suites, watched hundreds of skaters pack the canal last Thursday morning, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the realization that the city’s biggest winter tourism event had been iced, despite what’s shaping up to be a banner year for its central attraction.

In the end, he’s chosen to try to make the best of yet another devastating blow to an industry that’s been dealt perhaps the worst hand of any during the pandemic.

“We’ve done enough crying,” Morrison said. “We’ve been crying for the last 21 months. We have to be positive, we have to look forward, we have to do everything we can to ensure that doors don’t close permanently in restaurants and hotels around the city.”

Still, the longtime hospitality executive knows it won’t be easy to keep his chin up for the next few weeks.

His 140-room property was banking on an influx of out-of-towners flocking to the canal and nearby venues to check out the ice sculptures and other attractions during Winterlude. The festival, which draws an average of 600,000 visitors a year, typically provides a much-needed shot in the arm to Ottawa’s tourism and hospitality businesses during their slowest season.

But, once again in 2022, that won’t happen. All Morrison and his fellow hotel managers can do is grin and bear it.

“There are a plethora of empty hotel rooms in the city of Ottawa,” he said. “Absent Winterlude, we don’t have a month of February. That’s not trying to be dramatic about it – it’s an absolute. You remove Winterlude, you remove all leisure business from Ottawa in the month of February.”

With almost no convention traffic on the horizon and corporate business “virtually non-existent,” Morrison expects February’s revenues at the Embassy to be less than 20 per cent of pre-pandemic levels. The hotel’s workforce, which typically numbers about 65 in good times, has been slashed to less than 10.

Trying to look on the bright side, Morrison notes that all those vacancies have allowed hotels like his to offer rooms at drastically reduced rates to COVID-positive health-care and other essential workers who are forced to self-isolate.

It’s a slim consolation.

“We are helping out the community, but that doesn’t pay the bills,” he said.

A few blocks north at the Lord Elgin Hotel, general manager David Smythe can only lament what might have been after what had promised to be a bonanza of bookings during Winterlude was wiped out in a matter of hours.

The veteran GM said the hotel expected to be filled to capacity during the first three weekends of February with tourists itching to have some winter fun. After Winterlude was called off, the Lord Elgin saw 150 room nights canceled in one 24-hour period.

“We were enthusiastic about February,” Smythe said, adding the 355-room hotel was on track to be “well above break-even” for the month.

“That’s over. How are we supposed to pay our bills? I wish somebody could tell me that.”

Meanwhile, BeaverTails founder Grant Hooker was wrestling with conflicting emotions.

As the former president of the Canadian Tulip Festival, the longtime entrepreneur understands that organizers of major events have to make tough calls that aren’t always popular. He doesn’t envy the Canadian Heritage officials who were forced to weigh whether Winterlude could be staged safely with Omicron still raging and ultimately determined it could not.

“I know the choices they have to make, and I have to respect them,” said Hooker. “We’ve become accustomed to the world turning in a way we’re not happy with because of COVID and because of the decisions that organizers have to make.”

His business typically generates between 30 and 40 per cent of its winter sales during the festival. BeaverTails will still operate four kiosks on the canal throughout the skating season, but Hooker knows a big chunk of his expected revenue stream has likely dried up.

“That’s a disappointment and it certainly will affect the bottom line,” he said.

A frustrated Smythe at the Lord Elgin questioned why all of Winterlude’s in-person activities were wiped out even though provincial guidelines still allow for outdoor public gatherings, albeit with strict capacity limits.

“There’s a disconnect between what the federal government is saying and what the Ontario government is saying,” he said. “There should be some consistency for everybody.”

Meanwhile, Morrison, who’s also the current chair of Ottawa Tourism, said there’s little the marketing agency can do to promote the capital to visitors when most of the city’s main attractions are shuttered.

He says many hospitality businesses were caught off-guard by the latest clampdowns and he’s calling on the province to give the industry more advance notice of future reopening plans to allow hotels, restaurants and marketing agencies like Ottawa Tourism enough time to kickstart their campaigns.

“When we find out on a Tuesday that restaurants are going to close on a Wednesday and we find out on a Monday that they’re going to reopen on a Tuesday, there’s no ramp-up time,” Morrison said.

“We really would benefit as an industry, as a community, from a plan that would say, ‘OK, this is what we’re looking at, this is the lead time you’ll have, these are the milestones that we have to achieve to get there.’ The challenge is right now we know (the restrictions will last) 21 days, but that’s all.”

Asked how much longer cash-strapped hotels can hang on in the current business climate, Morrison responded with a bit of gallows humour.

“That’s the $64 question – and that’s about all I can pay for it,” he said with a chuckle. “It is as dire a situation as it can be.

“If we watch our pennies, we’ll make it through.”

https://www.obj.ca/article/local/tourism/plethora-empty-rooms-no-winterlude-no-february-hoteliers-lament

[J.OT13]

No actual news, just hope to start a discussion.

Are there any areas you would think could benefit from hotel development. Here are the areas I think could benefit, and why:

Lansdowne Park: an important entertainment district, home to four sports teams (at least 67 home games with visiting teams likely looking for a place to stay), and a few dozen other events (with staff from outside of town needing rooms) per year, it seems like a no-brainer to include a 100-200 room hotel.
Dow's Lake: with tourist attractions like Dow's Lake (Tulip Festival, Winterlude and other events, along with skating and boating) and the Experimental Farm, the future Civic Hospital (out of town patients and families) and a great mix of restaurants on one of Ottawa's great main streets.
Bayview: the Innovation Yards, nexus of our transit system and future LeBreton development.

I think Ottawa needs to promote parts of town outside of the traditional Downtown and National Museums. We have some great urban neighbourhoods that are mostly unknown by out-of-towners and could benefit from some hotel space. Maybe tourist would want to stay in a less touristy area with good access to the traditional destinations via transit.

[Truenorth00]

Do any of the areas you mention actually attract enough tourists to sustain a hotel? Especially once AirBnB takes a chunk of their demand?

Hotels tend to work on multiple streams of traffic. Business travelers during the week. Tourists on weekends. Conventions in the winter. Weddings on summer weekends. Etc. That's how they maintain high average occupancy. What do those streams look like at Dow's Lake or Lansdowne Park? Part of the reason we have so many hotels in the core is that business travel gives them a consistent base of business. Outside the core, hotels prioritize access. That's why you see hotels near highway exits (like at St Laurent) or right at the airport.

[OTSkyline]

I agree, not everyone needs or even wants to stay downtown, but I find many of our other alternatives are suburban Holiday Inns in places like Orleans or St-Laurent - seems like a missing middle.

On the topic of hotels, I've seen ads online and on Facebook/Instagram about The Metcalfe Hotel reopening and looking to hire. That's exciting and welcoming news. The hotel, which had gone through a whole reno a few years before, closed during the pandemic; many of which thought for good.

It's a very nice building and great location downtown so I'm happy to hear it's not going to sit empty.

[J.OT13]

Do any of the areas you mention actually attract enough tourists to sustain a hotel? Especially once AirBnB takes a chunk of their demand?

Hotels tend to work on multiple streams of traffic. Business travelers during the week. Tourists on weekends. Conventions in the winter. Weddings on summer weekends. Etc. That's how they maintain high average occupancy. What do those streams look like at Dow's Lake or Lansdowne Park? Part of the reason we have so many hotels in the core is that business travel gives them a consistent base of business. Outside the core, hotels prioritize access. That's why you see hotels near highway exits (like at St Laurent) or right at the airport.

In the case of Lansdowne, I do think that the sports leagues and events alone could go a long way in sustaining a hotel. At Dow's Lake, maybe once the new Civic opens, it may have enough draw to support a hotel. Bayview itself is not a destination (at the moment) but is an excellent location with transit connection to the Airport and Downtown.

Zibi is another spot. The Board Mill is supposed to have a hotel component. Should offer the best views in town.

[SL123]

Zibi and Bayview/Lebreton Flat West would be my top pick

[J.OT13]

Zibi and Bayview/Lebreton Flat West would be my top pick

No doubt the new arena (if it's built) will include a hotel component, so you may get your wish. Just like the Ice District in Edmonton, a high end hotel to house the visiting teams should be part of the project.

[Harley613]

No actual news, just hope to start a discussion.

Are there any areas you would think could benefit from hotel development. Here are the areas I think could benefit, and why:

Lansdowne Park: an important entertainment district, home to four sports teams (at least 67 home games with visiting teams likely looking for a place to stay), and a few dozen other events (with staff from outside of town needing rooms) per year, it seems like a no-brainer to include a 100-200 room hotel.
Dow's Lake: with tourist attractions like Dow's Lake (Tulip Festival, Winterlude and other events, along with skating and boating) and the Experimental Farm, the future Civic Hospital (out of town patients and families) and a great mix of restaurants on one of Ottawa's great main streets.
Bayview: the Innovation Yards, nexus of our transit system and future LeBreton development.

I think Ottawa needs to promote parts of town outside of the traditional Downtown and National Museums. We have some great urban neighbourhoods that are mostly unknown by out-of-towners and could benefit from some hotel space. Maybe tourist would want to stay in a less touristy area with good access to the traditional destinations via transit.

This 110%. Ottawa is SO missing out but ready to bring visitors into Hintonburg/Westboro, the Glebe, Little Italy/Chinatown, especially with the homelessness and crime in the Byward Market these days.

[Harley613]

No doubt the new arena (if it's built) will include a hotel component, so you may get your wish. Just like the Ice District in Edmonton, a high end hotel to house the visiting teams should be part of the project.

It's funny that a lot a visiting teams in the early years of the Palladium/Corel Centre used to stay at the Luxor Hotel (now Days Inn) in Bell's Corners. Back in my youth when I lived out of town but worked at Bayshore I would stay there sometimes after drinking too much to drive at Moxy's after work. One time I ate breakfast there with the Detroit Red Wings, and another time I ate breakfast with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

[Truenorth00]

Is there anything stopping anybody from opening hotels in those neighbourhoods? Seems to me it's just that investors may not see the business case yet. These are rather expensive areas in which to build hotels. Usually, in such cases, they need some business travel to make the case. I can see that with Zibi. I'm not as sure about Lansdowne and Dow's Lake.

Also, AirBnB. Takes a large chunk out of the peak demand for a lot of hotels these days.

[Harley613]

Is there anything stopping anybody from opening hotels in those neighbourhoods? Seems to me it's just that investors may not see the business case yet. These are rather expensive areas in which to build hotels. Usually, in such cases, they need some business travel to make the case. I can see that with Zibi. I'm not as sure about Lansdowne and Dow's Lake.

Also, AirBnB. Takes a large chunk out of the peak demand for a lot of hotels these days.

It's coming, even with Airbnb eating a lot of demand. Boutique hotels are successful in Boutique neighbourhoods in large cosmopolitan cities. We are becoming a large cosmopolitan city very rapidly at this moment. I think we are currently experiencing the second paradigm shift in this city, the first being the moment Queen Victoria chose it as the capital of Canada. A downtown arena, 70+ construction cranes, a new block in Parliament, HUNDREDS of highrise buildings in the development pipeline, increased immigration, economic refugees moving from the GTA, a new logistics hub forming in the middle of the Quebec City-Windsor corridor, a world class airport ready and waiting for it's moment in the sun, a massive rapid transit system about to go online, and on and on and on....

[YOWetal]

Airbnb is basically gone from Ottawa from what I understand.

[Truenorth00]

Airbnb is basically gone from Ottawa from what I understand.

AirBnB listings have exploded everywhere over the last two years. Cities aren't enforcing much in the way of rules.

I hope it gets killed. Ruins neighbourhoods. Kills hotels. Relies on skirting the law.

[Kitchissippi]

AirBnB has basically been legitimized in Ottawa. The city now collects occupancy tax through every booking. Owners have to apply for permits every two years subject to inspection, which are only given if the rental unit is within a principal residence. AirBnB even remits HST on behalf of owners. Revenues are also taxed through the owners income tax. In short, AirBnB has become a revenue stream for the governments and taxed just like hotels.

There is absolutely nothing bad about AirBnB once it’s regulated. Just like Uber, it gives the general public an opportunity for entry-level enterprise in an environment that has been made hostile to entrepreneurship by big business and government bureaucracy. Most AirBnB owners I know are doing it to cope with rising property tax and utilities amid stagnant or declining income. It isn’t exactly “fun” having other people in your house, most of those left doing AirBnB since the regulations which came into effect in May are doing it to survive.

[Truenorth00]

It'd be fine, if AirBnB was just people renting out basements. But it's not. It's people renting out entire houses. And this is terrible on so many levels. It's bad for neighbourhood cohesiveness and safety, just having randos rotate through every night. It's terrible for housing affordability as regular people now get to compete with the revenue stream of a wannabe hotelier. It's also terrible fire actually attracting hotels to Ottawa.

[Kitchissippi]

It'd be fine, if AirBnB was just people renting out basements. But it's not. It's people renting out entire houses. And this is terrible on so many levels. It's bad for neighbourhood cohesiveness and safety, just having randos rotate through every night. It's terrible for housing affordability as regular people now get to compete with the revenue stream of a wannabe hotelier. It's also terrible fire actually attracting hotels to Ottawa.

Thant is simply not the case in Ottawa right now, the rules have changed. In order to have an AirBnB /short term rental (STR) permit, you have to prove that it is within your principal residence, and you have to have insurance that covers such activity. AirBnB will not list your place if you do not have that permit.

I’d rather local home owners get revenue opportunities than billionaire hoteliers from elsewhere. If you’re happy with your cushy government or corporate salary and shop in chain stores that’s fine, but I prefer to live in a world where kids can still set up lemonade stands, moms can sell cookies and farmers are free to sell produce in roadside shacks. One of the reasons we live in an mediocre environment of big box stores and ubiquitous franchises is we’ve basically strangled entrepreneurship and vernacular mom-and-pop businesses.

LOL at “ It's bad for neighbourhood cohesiveness and safety, just having randos rotate through every night.” I’ve stayed in AirBnBs and spent money in neighbourhood stores and restaurants without endangering the lives of residents. Are hotel districts which are full of rotating randos unsafe areas?

[Truenorth00]

Thant is simply not the case in Ottawa right now, the rules have changed. In order to have an AirBnB /short term rental (STR) permit, you have to prove that it is within your principal residence, and you have to have insurance that covers such activity. AirBnB will not list your place if you do not have that permit.

Just search AirBnB for Ottawa and put in a large number of adults. You'll find whole homes. The rules may say something. But enforcement is rather lax.


I’d rather local home owners get revenue opportunities than billionaire hoteliers from elsewhere. If you’re happy with your cushy government or corporate salary and shop in chain stores that’s fine, but I prefer to live in a world where kids can still set up lemonade stands, moms can sell cookies and farmers are free to sell produce in roadside shacks. One of the reasons we live in an mediocre environment of big box stores and ubiquitous franchises is we’ve basically strangled entrepreneurship and vernacular mom-and-pop businesses.

That's a lot of words to say you don't care about housing affordability.

But in recent years the impact of Airbnb’s service on local economics and rental markets has come under the spotlight. And analysis conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, a non-profit, non-partisan American think tank, found that the economic costs of Airbnb likely outweigh the benefits.

While the introduction and expansion of Airbnb into cities around the world carries large potential economic benefits and costs, the costs to renters and local jurisdictions likely exceed the benefits to travellers and property owners.’

The ‘Airbnb effect’ is to some extent remarkably similar to gentrification in that it slowly increases the value of an area to the detriment of the indigenous residents, many of whom are pushed out due to financial constraints.

Cities, popular ones especially, seem to fare the worst. In major cities such as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Edinburgh, and Los Angeles, studies on the ‘Airbnb effect’ have found that over-tourism facilitated by platforms such as Airbnb negatively impacts on house prices and communities.

The short-term rental sector is just as affected. Research conduced by the Harvard Business Review across the US found that Airbnb is having a detrimental impact on housing stock as it encourages landlords to move their properties out from out of the long-term rental and for-sale markets and into the short-term rental market.

A separate U.S. study found that a 1% increase in Airbnb listings leads to a 0.018% increase in rents and a 0.026% increase in house prices. It might not seem like much on the surface but there’s a cost creep for those looking to rent long-term or buy.


https://www.forbes.com/sites/garybarker/2020/02/21/the-airbnb-effect-on-housing-and-rent/?sh=56ed934a2226

No amount of evasive nonsense about not allowing lemonade stands can hide the fact that there's massive externalities with AirBnB that are usually borne by our most vulnerable. I'm glad cities are coming around to outright banning them. And if we aren't going to actually enforce the rules we set (and a single search will show you how lax enforcement is), that should be the next step.


LOL at “ It's bad for neighbourhood cohesiveness and safety, just having randos rotate through every night.” I’ve stayed in AirBnBs and spent money in neighbourhood stores and restaurants without endangering the lives of residents. Are hotel districts which are full of rotating randos unsafe areas?

You know what you're getting if you choose to live in a hotel district. Most people aren't up for their actual neighbourhood to just become a hotel district. And for actual business development, it sucks. Instead of getting cool boutique hotels, we'll have nice neighbourhoods filled up with AirBnBs instead of actual people who live there.

AirBnBs were actually cool a decade ago when it was somebody's basement and you had a real host. Today it's a way for real estate investors to avoid the need for long term tenants and avoid having to comply with all those pesky rules (like stricter fire codes and commercial zoning) that we impose on hotels.

[Kitchissippi]

You probably think farmers markets are a threat to Loblaws and food trucks undermine McDonalds. If you want to make the Marriott and Hiltons richer on your steady salary that’s fine but as someone who has been self-employed for decades I’d rather support like minded small entrepreneurs.

I know a lot of people who have been able to keep their homes because of STR, so it’s actually made housing affordable for them. If you actually talk to them, most of the clientele in Ottawa is mostly visiting friends and family who want to stay close to whoever they’re visiting, and new people moving to Ottawa who want to try out neighbourhoods. The media keeps on spotlighting the rare cases of party houses to get the Karens all riled up.

I did a lot of backpacking when I was younger and back then in Europe and Asia people would actually go out to the train station and offer rooms in their houses for rent. This has been going on longer than AirBnB. Heck, a lot of tourist offices in Europe even acted as agents for private rooms. Again a lot of so-called studies have blamed STRs for affecting housing affordability in touristic cities, when the problem really is over-tourism. We don’t even have that problem in Ottawa. Our housing affordability issues are due to the fact that there are enough people who are willing and able to afford the higher prices on a finite number of properties and NIMBYs wanting to preserve “neighbourhood character” for all eternity.

[Truenorth00]

You probably think farmers markets are a threat to Loblaws and food trucks undermine McDonalds. If you want to make the Marriott and Hiltons richer on your steady salary that’s fine but as someone who has been self-employed for decades I’d rather support like minded small entrepreneurs.

You're making a lot of assumptions about me. All to defend a large gig economy foreign corporation. I assure you that AirBnB shareholders neither know of or care about your service.

For the record, I'm fine with food trucks and farmers markets. They don't destroy affordability. They improve it.


I know a lot of people who have been able to keep their homes because of STR, so it’s actually made housing affordable for them.

So they bought property beyond their means and are relying on rentals for income? Why can't they just rent out to long term tenants? We know why....


If you actually talk to them, most of the clientele in Ottawa is mostly visiting friends and family who want to stay close to whoever they’re visiting, and new people moving to Ottawa who want to try out neighbourhoods. The media keeps on spotlighting the rare cases of party houses to get the Karens all riled up.

It's the not media driving protests against AirBnBs in other cities or driving buildings to put in clauses against STRs by unit owners.

Also, like I said, this would be less of an issue, if the city actually enforced the rules This is the part you seem to be ignoring in your reflexive zeal to defend AirBnB. It's hard to feel sympathy when whole houses and condos are available for rent. So the rules are a joke.


I did a lot of backpacking when I was younger and back then in Europe and Asia people would actually go out to the train station and offer rooms in their houses for rent. This has been going on longer than AirBnB. Heck, a lot of tourist offices in Europe even acted as agents for private rooms.

Still talking about rooms while ignoring that these people put entire homes for rent. Do you think people in Barcelona are fighting back against AirBnB because some grandma is renting out a spare room? Are you really that naive?


Again a lot of so-called studies have blamed STRs for affecting housing affordability in touristic cities, when the problem really is over-tourism. We don’t even have that problem in Ottawa. Our housing affordability issues are due to the fact that there are enough people who are willing and able to afford the higher prices on a finite number of properties and NIMBYs wanting to preserve “neighbourhood character” for all eternity.

All added to by a chunk of housing stock ending up as rentals to tourists instead of housing residents.

On topic, anybody dreaming of boutique hotels. This is what you're up against. Why build a hotel at Dow's Lake when somebody who owns a house or condo there will move to Barrhaven and put the whole place on AirBnB? Hard for any hotel to make a business case then.

[Kitchissippi]

You're making a lot of assumptions about me. All to defend a large gig economy foreign corporation. I assure you that AirBnB shareholders neither know of or care about your service.

For the record, I'm fine with food trucks and farmers markets. They don't destroy affordability. They improve it..

As you are quick to make a lot of assumptions about me and others here.

Farmers markets and food trucks are “affordable”? If you like to pay $10 for 6 potatoes and $15 for a hotdog they are. Those farmers markets are setup just like AirBnB in a microcosm. It’s little guys needing exposure.



So they bought property beyond their means and are relying on rentals for income? Why can't they just rent out to long term tenants? We know why....
.

Uh no. Property taxes have gone up 4-fold in some pats of the city over the last couple of decades while incomes have barely gone up .Upkeep on an older home is a bitch on a stagnant pension. Beats getting a part-time job working for somebody else to make ends meet.


Also, like I said, this would be less of an issue, if the city actually enforced the rules This is the part you seem to be ignoring in your reflexive zeal to defend AirBnB. It's hard to feel sympathy when whole houses and condos are available for rent. So the rules are a joke.

Still talking about rooms while ignoring that these people put entire homes for rent. Do you think people in Barcelona are fighting back against AirBnB because some grandma is renting out a spare room? Are you really that naive?

Most drivers over speed despite posted speed limits. Nobody talks of banning large engines because they are capable of breaking the rules. The problems of Barcelona and Paris have existed before AirBnB and those conditions of over-tourism don’t exist in Ottawa—we’d love to have some of it.

The Glebe and Ottawa South were far more interesting neighbourhood in the mid-1980s when I was a student at Careleon. They were chock full of student housing, interest rates were over 10% but three guys and I could shell $200 a piece every month for a semi-detached. That was affordable housing. Fastforward after decades of historically low interest rates and first-time buyers incentives, all those houses have been bought out by NIMBYs who think their neighbourhoods have always been such gentrified bastions and should forever remain that way. Student housing should only be provided by corporations who put up Envie. Maybe, just maybe, it’s the economic policies and incentives that have backfired to make housing less affordable. Policymakers won’t admit to their mistakes, so it must be the little guy renting out houses who’s at fault.

You seem to be focused on the investors who buy properties. There are ways of weeding them out. The rules are new, don’t expect instant enforcement. There are also ways of honing the regulations without killing entrepreneurship entirely.


On topic, anybody dreaming of boutique hotels. This is what you're up against. Why build a hotel at Dow's Lake when somebody who owns a house or condo there will move to Barrhaven and put the whole place on AirBnB? Hard for any hotel to make a business case then.

Instead of embracing platforms like AirBnB and VRBO that help keep the tourism industry vibrant and more equitable to the local population, let’s favour somebody else, preferably big money to put up a hotel. Someone else who’ll pay low wages for menial labour to people who won’t afford housing. Packaged and contrived chic-ness over local vernacular. Yay.

Hotels didn’t invent the hospitality industry, it was Joe Blow in some village who statred offering rooms to travellers.

[YOWetal]

Thant is simply not the case in Ottawa right now, the rules have changed. In order to have an AirBnB /short term rental (STR) permit, you have to prove that it is within your principal residence, and you have to have insurance that covers such activity. AirBnB will not list your place if you do not have that permit.

I’d rather local home owners get revenue opportunities than billionaire hoteliers from elsewhere. If you’re happy with your cushy government or corporate salary and shop in chain stores that’s fine, but I prefer to live in a world where kids can still set up lemonade stands, moms can sell cookies and farmers are free to sell produce in roadside shacks. One of the reasons we live in an mediocre environment of big box stores and ubiquitous franchises is we’ve basically strangled entrepreneurship and vernacular mom-and-pop businesses.

LOL at “ It's bad for neighbourhood cohesiveness and safety, just having randos rotate through every night.” I’ve stayed in AirBnBs and spent money in neighbourhood stores and restaurants without endangering the lives of residents. Are hotel districts which are full of rotating randos unsafe areas?

Yes and maybe it is the crazy hotel prices and demand right now but from what I understand there is no availability on Airbnb in Ottawa. The rules are being followed. Maybe it is condo corps chasing them out also which isn't being done in Toronto for example.

There is certainly two sides to it though no? Clearly it does push up rents. We only need to look what happened early in pandemic when a flood of Airbnbs were listed for longterm rent.

[Truenorth00]

Short term rentals were and are fine when they were/are about shared spaces. Not so much when they become regulatory arbitrage by real estate investors looking to skirt the whole pile of rules we make for hotels. And many of these investors love to use the image of "Mom and Pop" renting out their basement to defend against statistics that show how much of the activity is anything but. AirBnB hasn't been about renting out basements for nearly a decade. And CBC found Ottawa was worse than Toronto or Vancouver in 2019:

In all, there are 210 listers in Ottawa offering more than one property for rent. Otherwise known as "multilisters," they manage a total of 789 properties, representing 48 per cent of the city's listings.

That's well ahead of Toronto, where 42 per cent of listings are managed by multilisters, and Vancouver, with 32 per cent.

Gatineau, Que., has 79 hosts with multiple listings and they manage 52 per cent of the city's listings.

"Most of what's happening on Airbnb isn't home sharing," said David Wachsmuth, a McGill University urban planning professor who has studied the company for several years.

"Instead, it's something much more like commercial short-term rental operations.

"[These hosts] with multiple listings, they're the ones who are actually in this as a business who are renting their properties out year round," Wachsmuth said.

The CBC analysis shows up to 0.41 per cent of all Ottawa homes are listed on Airbnb.

Wachsmuth said if just one per cent or less of a city's housing is converted into short-term rentals, that can have a "really serious" impact on housing stocks.


Heck, we even have new terms for this: "ghost hotel (https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/condo-owner-violated-airbnb-ghost-hotel-1.5122219)".

On topic, there's no way for these urban neighbourhoods to attract boutique hotels if STRs are allowed to run rampant in these areas. It's a massive risk for an investor to fund a boutique hotel that has all kinds of higher building standards, maintenance and staffing requirements, zoning and taxes, while competing against somebody who lies about what they are doing with their property to the city and insurance companies. So even aside from the debate of whether STRs are beneficial to a city, everybody here should understand that this vision of boutique hotels in our trendy neighbourhoods isn't feasible when they are up against STRs in those same areas.

[acottawa]

Part of the problem is there is no way to rent out a place in Ontario on a non-permanent basis. If you’re going to be away for 6 months you can’t sign a lease (because you can’t evict someone for a year and even then you have to pay compensation). Same thing on the tenant side, if you need a place for 6 months during a renovation or for a temporary job you can’t get out of a lease for a year without significant costs.

[rocketphish]

Ottawa’s hotel industry still faces ‘big hurdles’ to return to pre-pandemic levels, leaders say

By: David Sali, OBJ
Sep 15, 2022 4:46pm EDT

Hotel revenues in Canada’s major cities are expected to return to pre-pandemic levels by next year, according to a new report from a major real estate firm – but that rosy outlook is cold comfort to local industry officials who say Ottawa’s hospitality sector is still lagging other major centres.

The report from CBRE released Thursday says Canadian hotels made a “rocket-fuelled recovery” in 2022, thanks largely to a bigger-than-expected bounceback in domestic leisure travel and soaring inflation that pushed up average room rates.

The firm predicts the upward trajectory will continue over the next 12 months. CBRE is projecting that revenue per available room – a key metric in the hotel industry – will rise 11 per cent nationally from this year’s levels to $107 in 2023, about where it was in 2019, before COVID upended the hospitality sector.

The report is even more bullish on Ottawa’s year-over-year recovery. CBRE expects average revenue per available room at local hotels to jump 14 per cent next year compared with 2022, from $95 to $108. The overall occupancy rate, meanwhile, is projected to rise from 59 per cent to 65 per cent over the same period.

But the leader of Ottawa’s largest industry association argues that while the sector is on the right track, a closer look at the numbers suggests it’s a long way from hitting its stride.

“It’s better, but we still have some work to do,” Steve Ball, the president of the Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association, told OBJ on Thursday. “There needs to be recognition that we’re in a little bit of trouble and we need some help.”

Ross Meredith, general manager of the Westin Ottawa and the Delta City Centre, echoed Ball’s assessment.

“It’s been the slowest market in Canada among major cities to respond,” Meredith said.

Ottawa’s projected revenue per available room, for example, is below CBRE’s overall projected average of $114 for the province as a whole.

Ball said the local industry’s current rate of $95 is a “fairly low number” due to a mix of factors, so the projected hike of 14 per cent in 2023 still doesn’t get it back to where it needs to be for local hotels to be on sound financial footing.

“Although (revenues) are improving, we are lagging way behind other major markets in Canada in our competitive set in terms of how well they’re performing,” he said.

Ball and other industry officials cite several factors for Ottawa’s failure to recover as quickly from the pandemic-fuelled slump as other big Canadian cities.

February’s Trucker Convoy protests dealt a crippling blow to the sector just as it was hoping to capitalize on the return of events like Winterlude, Ball said. His organization calculated that downtown hotels lost at least $18 million worth of bookings due to cancellations as a result of the protests.

“It damaged our reputation,” Meredith said, adding he believes some tourists are still wary of visiting the city after witnessing media coverage of the weeks-long demonstrations.

Ball and Meredith also noted that the No. 1 driver of local economic activity, the federal government, is still conducting most meetings and conferences remotely, meaning fewer people are travelling to the capital for in-person gatherings.

“Ottawa is in a bit of a unique position in that we’re so dependent on the federal government, and the federal government is changing the way they do business,” Ball said.

While a couple of major conventions gave downtown hotels a big boost last month – “We had an amazing August, no doubt,” Ball said – this fall’s meeting and events docket is nowhere near as full as it was in pre-COVID times, he added.

“There aren’t a lot of (conventions) on the books,” Ball said. “We’ll see a slowdown pretty quickly.”

Other hoteliers agree that despite a strong summer, the local industry’s outlook is far from certain.

Nyle Kelly, the general manager of Kanata’s Brookstreet Hotel, said his property had its highest July occupancy rate ever at 84 per cent, fuelled mainly by a surge in pent-up demand for domestic leisure travel.

But he said corporate bookings – which typically account for the majority of reservations at his lodging in the heart of the Kanata tech park – are still “really low” and showing no signs of an imminent rebound.

“The next six to eight months will be the true test of where our business truly is at,” Kelly explained.

Meredith also pointed to another factor for the industry’s struggles – the fact that air travel to the capital has been slow to regain altitude, due in part to the lack of international routes serving the city.

Passenger traffic at Ottawa International Airport is projected to reach just 50 per cent of pre-pandemic levels this year, a much lower percentage than in most other major Canadian cities, he said.

“We need to get past those … big hurdles for us to get back to what would be typical 2019 volumes and activity,” Meredith said. “There’s no reason to believe that we will be performing at the same level as the other Canadian cities.”

Ball said all levels of government must make reviving Ottawa’s tourism industry a top priority. With the city’s other two main economic drivers – the federal government and the high-tech industry – scaling back travel in the wake of the pandemic, it will be up to out-of-town leisure travellers to pick up the slack, he argued.

“If we’re going to move tourism to the top of the list, we have a lot of work to do,” Ball said, citing projects such as the redevelopment of LeBreton Flats, the revamp of Lansdowne Park and the revitalization of the ByWard Market as essential to the industry’s recovery.

“If we end up with a downtown core that’s got a lot of boarded-up businesses and doesn’t display well or provide the experiences tourists want, we’re up against it. It’s not just one easy fix. It’s so critical that we get all of the elements correct.”

https://www.obj.ca/article/local/tourism/ottawas-hotel-industry-still-faces-big-hurdles-return-pre-pandemic-levels

[J.OT13]

Crown Plaza in Hull closed when the pandemic started and remains closed. Apparently, it needs a lot of work so it won't open until at least 2023.

https://www.ledroit.com/2022/09/12/lhotel-crowne-plaza-gatineau-ottawa-ferme-encore-pour-plusieurs-mois-6a2c8eb0835bd1c334b9aa3535d17405

[J.OT13]

The basement conference level of the Marriott has some serious "Shining" vibes with those carpets.

Marriott Ottawa hotel sold to Toronto-based firm

David Sali, OBJ
August 1, 2023

Ottawa’s second-largest hotel has a new owner.

The Marriott Ottawa has been sold to Toronto-based Manga Hotels Group in a deal that closed last week. The purchase price was not released.

“This strategic acquisition further strengthens our position of owning and operating high-quality properties in diversified markets throughout Canada and the U.S.,” Manga president and CEO Sukhdev Toor said in a statement.

The 489-room property was previously owned by another Toronto firm, InnVest Hotels. The deal is the first major hotel transaction in the National Capital Region since the Westin was sold in 2019, and it also marks Manga’s first foray into the Ottawa market.

“They’ve got some big, big hotels that they own across the country, and I think Ottawa was a logical market for them to add to their portfolio,” said Alam Pirani, executive managing director of Canada and Caribbean for Colliers Hotels, which brokered the sale. “It makes sense from a strategic point of view. It was a natural market for them to enter.”

With its revolving rooftop room that is now an event space, the Marriott is one of downtown Ottawa’s most recognizable buildings. Opened in 1971 as a Holiday Inn, it later operated under the Radisson banner before being taken over by Marriott.

It’s the second time the property has changed hands in the last decade. InnVest acquired the hotel in 2014 from Vancouver’s Larco Investments.

Pirani said InnVest – which owns more than 80 lodgings, including Les Suites Hotel in downtown Ottawa as well as a pair of hotels in Kanata and a Comfort Inn in the east end – decided to divest the property as part of a major “rationalization” of its portfolio.

The Marriott last underwent significant renovations in 2010. Pirani said the new ownership group plans to modernize the hotel’s guest rooms and public areas, which include more than 36,000 square feet of meetings and events space.

“They’re definitely going to be spending capital on this,” he said. “I think Manga’s got some great ideas on what they want to do there. That’s an iconic hotel in that market and (the changes) will be well-received.”

Manga executives did not respond to requests for comment.

Ottawa Gatineau Hotel Association president Steve Ball said the deal represents a show of confidence in the region’s hospitality sector, which is still getting back on its feet after all but shutting down completely during the pandemic.

“When someone either invests in a purchase or a build, they wouldn’t do that if they didn’t think that the future of tourism was … going to remain strong,” he said. “All of that bodes well for our industry.”

Ball said the hotel industry in Ottawa is still lagging behind recoveries in many other Canadian cities because of its reliance on government clientele that has been slow to return.

“We’re not seeing the same number of corporate travellers that came here to do business with the federal government that we have had in the past,” he explained.

But he’s seeing signs of encouragement. Leisure travel to the capital was “very strong” in the spring, Ball said, adding that occupancy rates, while not back to 2019 levels, have been healthy so far this summer.

New builds

Hotel developers are also showing faith in the industry’s future. Three new Marriott-branded properties built by Montreal’s Rimap Hospitality – the AC Marriott on Rideau Street, the Moxy on York Street and the Marriott Renaissance on Slater Street – are expected to open downtown next year, and development applications have recently been filed for new hotel projects in Nepean and Orléans.

“We did have some inventory come out of the market over the pandemic,” Ball said. “It’s important to have the right balance. These new builds will help to replace some of the inventory we lost, and I’m optimistic that we are going to see growth in tourism.”

Pirani, who closely follows the local hotel industry, agrees it is on the rebound.

“If you look at the type of projects that are being built, they’re unique assets,” he said. “Ottawa’s always been a highly sought-after market from an investment perspective since not a lot of property comes to market.

“We’re bullish on Ottawa. If you look at operating performance across the country, Ottawa was probably a little slow out of the gate, but we’re seeing very strong numbers in the latter half of the second quarter and into the summer. It’s been positive.”

https://obj.ca/ottawa-marriott-hotel-sold-to-toronto-firm/

[J.OT13]

Delta Hotel ripping out the grass on the podium terrace roof. Wonder what's up.

[SL123]

The old Capitol Hill Hotel at 88 Albert St has been "renovated" and is now under the brand Sonder

https://www.sonder.com/en-ca?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_term=sonder&utm_campaign=14223142794&gad=1

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53257490736_463f27fb7c_b.jpg

[J.OT13]

Why always charcoal? It was way nicer as mid century buff brick.

I see they only painted the front, not the side.

[zzptichka]

The old Capitol Hill Hotel at 88 Albert St has been "renovated" and is now under the brand Sonder

https://www.sonder.com/en-ca?utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_term=sonder&utm_campaign=14223142794&gad=1

That streetscape is pretty sad. Can't wait for Albert street rebuild.

[J.OT13]

That streetscape is pretty sad. Can't wait for Albert street rebuild.

Oh yes. Ridiculously narrow sidewalks.