[Dmajackson]

New hotel coming to Bayers Lake

The Canadiana Restaurant and Lounge in the Bayers Lake Business Park is expanding to include a new Comfort Hotel and Suites.

Work on the four-storey complex is underway, and should be complete by early February, says restaurant owner, and new hotel franchisee, Peter Giannoulis.

Giannoulis said the 80-room hotel will include a swimming pool, meeting rooms and a lounge. The Canadiana Restaurant, which itself has undergone an exterior facelift, will serve as the restaurant for hotel patrons.

Market research, Giannoulis said, has concluded there’s plenty of opportunities still for new hotel development in the Halifax-metro area.

While Giannoulis expects to attract mainly business clientele to his Lakelands Boulevard hotel, its location near 100-series highways and Peggy’s Cove would be ideal for tourists, too.

“So, we’ll see,” he said.

The Canadiana Restaurant, which offers all-day breakfast, serves family-cooked meals, he said.

“We do most of the cooking in the restaurant, and we don’t buy institutional-type items,” he said.

The restaurant currently employs between 18 and 25 full and part-time employees.

Giannoulis expects to hire about 15 new employees for the hotel initially.

“It will depend on business,” he said.

Last week, the province’s tourism department said Nova Scotia welcomed 1,142,400 visitors in the first seven months of the year, up three per cent compared with the same time last year.

Tourism is an important contributor to Nova Scotia's economy. In 2008, the industry employed more than 31,000 people and generated revenues of $1.82 billion.

kmoar@hfxnews.ca