Hotel 540 Kamloops will be closing for the winter to undergo renovations with plans to reopen in April 2019 under a new name, Delta Kamloops.
Image Credit: FILE PHOTO
October 31, 2018 - 3:02 PM
KAMLOOPS - A well-known downtown Kamloops hotel will close their doors for five months to undergo multi-million dollar renovations and change their name under a new franchise agreement.
Hotel 540 Kamloops on Victoria Street will become the Delta Kamloops after the hotel signed an agreement with Marriott Hotels in late December 2017. Because the hotel is entering into a franchise agreement with Marriott, it will continue to be owned and operated independently.
The hotel is closing tomorrow, Nov. 1, and the target date for reopening is April 1, 2019.
"It's a little surreal for us today," Hotel 540 Kamloops general Manager Bryan Pilbeam says.
Pilbeam says the hotel will undergo extensive renovations including updating all guest rooms and hallways to the new hotel standards and specifications.
"They will be very updated and modern," he says, adding that the exterior of the hotel will also go through a little bit of work as well.
"The most noticeable piece will be the public areas; the lobby, the food and beverage concept which is changing significantly for us," he says.
The new hotel will have a restaurant, a destination bar and a grab and go cafe which will be open to hotel guests and the public.
"The bar will feature the best of the region, like craft beers, and an extensive wine list, and wine library," he says.
The general manager says most of the management team and the sales team will continue to work as the renovations take place, however, the rest of the employees have been relocated to other hospitality companies.
"We have got a number of employees going in a number of different directions...some are going to Mike Wiegele's, we have some going to Sun Peaks, a couple of other different locations and some have found employment on their own," he says. "So it's really a wide variety of things, we hope to welcome back as many of them as we can but we understand there's never a guarantee in that."
Pilbeam says the cost of the renovations has a moving target of $8 million.
"We will look different and be operating under a different name but really I think it's going to be a great fit for Kamloops," he says.
Hotel 540 Kamloops also operates Centrepoint; a business centre located at 500 Victoria St. Pilbeam says the meeting centre will continue to operate as usual while the hotel is closed through the winter.
To contact a reporter for this story, email Karen Edwards or call (250) 819-3723 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.
We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.
News from © iNFOnews, 2018