Hospitality Inn pool on 500 Columbia Street.
Image Credit: Hospitality Inn
November 19, 2015 - 6:30 PM
KAMLOOPS – Kamloops could see not only its first five star hotel, but its first hotel-condo hybrid in as few as five years.
The Hospitality Inn at 500 Columbia St. was acquired last year by Pacific Hospitality Hotel Group, who own six other properties in in Kamloops including the Hampton and Comfort Inns.
“It was an original hotel built when the main highway went through town,” the hotel group's spokesperson Steve Earl says.
He says it's in a very good central locations and has some of the best views in town. Plans for development are still in the initial phases.
Earl figures the hotel will have roughly 100 rooms and the condo development will have a similar number of suites. Depending on what the city allows, the complex could be built as a hotel with condos on the top floors or two separate wings with an adjoining lobby space.
He says the Sparkling Hill Resort outside of Vernon is an example of the level of opulence he’s hoping for in the new facility. The project will cost roughly $100 million and boasts a full spa with pools, steam rooms, saunas and a fitness studio.
As the Hospitality Inn was known for its pool, he hopes to build an even grander, infinity style pool to capitalize on the location’s views.
Earl says Kamloops is an evolving town and there is a desire for both upscale hotels and hotel-condo hybrids, and uses the Rocky Mountaineer tour groups as an example.
“The guests have been staying in hotels like the Banff Springs… they are definitely looking for that high end… quality product," he says. “Kamloops has a lot of motels and hotels, but not any five stars. Mostly three and just pushing four star facilities.”
Condo owners who live in a split building can take advantage of hotel amenities, like front desk concierge or room service.
Earl estimates construction could start, at the very earliest, in two to three years. With 18 to 24 months to build, he figures the luxury complex could be a reality by 2019 or 2020.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Dana Reynolds at dreynolds@infonews.ca or call 250-819-6089. To contact an editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015