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Originally Posted by Donovanf
Is this a common occurance?
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It looks to be that way, for a short while anyway.
No room at Saskatoon's inns
October busy month for conventions, meetings
Darren Bernhardt, The StarPhoenix
Published: Saturday, October 20, 2007
Finding room at the inn is becoming a challenge in Saskatoon, prompting another wave of hotel construction that will add about 500 rooms in the city.
"No question the economy has cranked up here. It's certainly interesting times," said Andrew Turnbull, general manager of the Delta Bessborough and past-president of the Saskatoon Hotels Association.
A reporter covering the provincial election campaign this week phoned more than a dozen Saskatoon hotels and found no vacancy. October, as it turns out, is one of the busiest months of the year for conferences and conventions, according to Turnbull, noting the Bessborough is pretty much booked all next week as well.
"There's still peaks and valleys but we've had a significantly busier year than last and 2006 was busier than 2005," he said. "If you use that back-to-back comparison, then people are going to say, 'Maybe it makes sense that I build a hotel here.' "
That's exactly what's happening with three projects presently being discussed. A full-service Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites is slated to be built on the old Pacific Cinemas site on 22nd Street. A Four Points Sheraton has been identified as a possibility in the city's south end near Stonebridge.
The most high-profile of the bunch comes from Calgary-based Lake Placid Developments, which is planning to build an "urban village" consisting of a 20-storey condo tower, a four-level office and retail building and an eight-storey boutique hotel clustered around a public plaza at River Landing. The $125-million project has an intended 2011 opening date.
The city experienced a similar hotel boom at the start of the decade when a Days Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Sandman and Super 8 opened for business. At the same time, the Travelodge and Park Town Hotel underwent major expansions.
"The same things said about the market then are being said now. That's why we're seeing this (talk of new hotels) again," said Turnbull.
There are about 3,300 rooms in Saskatoon. Trying to fill an additional 500 over 365 days of the year is asking a lot, but "there's optimism for sure," said Turnbull.
The expansion of TCU Place has brought bigger conventions to the city and the red-hot economy has contributed to the vacancy crunch.
Still, some hoteliers aren't so convinced the demand is there for new construction. In the spring, Remai Ventures backed out of building a spa-hotel at River Landing, saying it wasn't economically viable anymore.
"We still have weak days in the market," said Darryl Caudle, rooms division manager for the Sheraton Cavalier. "December and January are still soft months. It's an off-corporate time and we're not that busy at all. The extra supply (of rooms) might hurt a bit.
"It might be a Darwin-type theory that only the strong will survive. Those hotels that are not of the best quality could suffer."
He questioned whether some of the hotel projects would even get off the ground because of the expense to build and find labour. The plan for the Four Points Sheraton looks good on paper, "but when the real numbers come out these ideas may not fly," Caudle said.
If the hotels are built, their rates will have to be quite high to recoup the costs, he added.
To rely less on the fluctuating corporate segment, 13 city hotels have partnered to create a destination marketing fund that will be used to sell the city as a destination for travellers and tourists. The fund contains about $1.2 million at present and the group is working with Tourism Saskatoon on the marketing, said Turnbull.
dbernhardt@sp.canwest.com
At least you are close to downtown/riverbank and the Broadway area.
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