TUESDAY
K A M L O O P S
THIS WEEK
Tuesday, December 4, 2012 X Volume 25 No. 96 www.kamloopsthisweek.com X 30 cents at Newsstands
HOTEL DAYS By Andrea Klassen STAFF REPORTER andrea@kamloopsthisweek.com
I
N NOVEMBER OF 2011, A traveller who landed in downtown Kamloops would have had to put more than the normal amount of effort into finding a bed. Two Victoria Street hotels had closed for renovations during the shoulder season. On St. Paul Street, the Coast Canadian Inn had shut its doors permanently, its owners citing financial issues. Fast forward 12 months and the downtown hotel scene has stepped up its game. At Hotel 540 on Victoria Street, a doorman greets guests in a sleek new porte-cochère. Down the road, the Plaza Heritage Hotel has overhauled its decor and is angling to bring in locals and tourists alike with a new restaurant general manager Shatha Al-Reihani has called Kamloops’ “premier steakhouse.” The Coast Canadian building, too, is on its way back, with a new name. In September, city council approved a development permit for a multi-million-dollar renovation that will see the hotel converted into a Doubletree by Hilton — a brand that is best known for its practice of presenting guests with a warm chocolate-chip cookie on arrival. While Bob Mandair of Blue Light Hotels, which owns the vacant building, was light on details in a conversation with KTW, he said more news on the hotel’s future will likely come in the spring of 2013.
Hotel 540 doorman/bellman Philip and general manager Bryan Pilbeam (rear) have helped raise the bar in the hotel industry in Kamloops. The Victoria Street hotel is just one of many in the city to have invested millions as the sector enjoys a renaissance. Dave Eagles/KTW
X See 540 A22
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