REOPENINGS, SALES & RENOS June 23, 2020

JW Marriott Muskoka is open for business

MINETT, Ont. — Experience nature on your terms at JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka Resort & Spa. This year-round destination resort on the shore of Lake Rosseau offers great summer activities, unique winter experiences and special arts and wellness programming in fall and spring. Renew your spirit at Spa Rosseau, golf at The Rock. Enjoy exquisite dining overlooking Lake Rosseau. This extraordinary destination resort is just two hours north of Toronto.

A summary of the new procedures undertaken at JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka in order to keep guests and associates safe and healthy this summer.

On Friday, May 29, the resort reopened its doors to overnight guests once again, ToDo Ontario reported.

Visitors are now able to enjoy Muskoka’s breathtaking views, expansive scenery and starry skies while relaxing in the luxurious surroundings of JW Marriott The Rosseau Muskoka. The resort’s two private beaches are available. Bicycles, canoes, stand-up paddle boards and kayaks are ready for active duty. Restaurants, bars, fitness centre, pools and Spa Rosseau will remain closed until they are permitted to open, but in the meantime, executive chef Shaun Crymble’s culinary team has designed special menus for guest room delivery and take-out.

Rigorous planning has been done to ensure the health and safety of all guests and associates. A list of distancing measures can be read here.

FARO opens at Oak Bay Beach Hotel

VICTORIA, B.C. — Oak Bay Beach Hotel near Victoria, B.C., has opened a new restaurant, FARO, offering access to the hotel’s enviable wine collection, craft beer, pizza and tasting room. This is alongside its fine dining, poolside sushi offerings and the renowned SNUG pub.

FARO is anchored by its Wood Stone pizza oven and a seasonally changing menu that includes handcrafted pizzas, a variety of fresh salads and small bites, cocktails and local wines, all to be enjoyed in a stunning modern room, at the tasting bar or on the outdoor patio with fire features.

FARO is open Wednesday to Sunday, with cafe hours from 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., and lunch and dinner from noon until 8:00 p.m. Currently, FARO is offering take-out and patio service.

Set on the shores of the Pacific Ocean minutes from downtown Victoria, BC, The Oak Bay Beach Hotel offers one of Vancouver Islands’ most favourite staycation getaways. Oak Bay is a wealthy Victoria neighbourhood and while the hotel underwent a complete rebuild six years ago, a hotel has sat on the oceanfront property for almost 100 years. Just minutes away from quaint boutique shops, cafes, and galleries of Oak Bay Village, the hotel features world-class services such as a full-service spa and heated seaside mineral pools.

Lodging Econometrics: Canada’s hotel pipeline is still robust

Canada’s hotel pipeline is still robust, Lodging Econometrics reported last month. Analysts at Lodging Econometrics (LE) report that at the close of the first quarter of 2020, the total construction pipeline in Canada remains strong with 304 projects and an all-time high of 40,291 rooms. The construction pipeline is up an impressive 15 per cent by projects and 22 per cent by rooms, year-over-year (YOY).

A driving force of the pipeline’s double-digit growth is the surge in projects in the early planning stage at an all-time high of 103 projects/15,964 rooms, up 29 per cent and 41 per cent YOY, respectively. Projects under construction, also at record highs, are at 101 projects/12,563 rooms, up 9 per cent by projects and 20 per cent by rooms, YOY. Projects scheduled to start construction in the next 12 months stand at 100 projects/11,764 rooms and are up 10 per cent by projects and 5 per cent by rooms, YOY.

The top province in Canada with the most projects in the pipeline is Ontario with 154 projects/20,447 rooms. This is a record-high for the province and accounts for 51 per cent of the projects in Canada’s total pipeline. Next is British Columbia with 50 projects/6,730 rooms and Alberta with 31 projects/4,810 rooms. Together the three provinces account for 79 per cent of the rooms in Canada’s pipeline.

The top five cities are led by Toronto with 61 projects/8,468 rooms; at a record high and claiming 21 per cent of all the projects in Canada’s total construction pipeline. Following distantly is Montreal, also at record counts, with 18 projects/2,406 rooms, Niagara Falls with 14 projects/3,781 rooms, Vancouver with 14 projects/1,849 rooms, and Ottawa with 10 projects/1,761 rooms. These five cities combined account for 45 per cent of the rooms in the total pipeline.

The top franchise companies in Canada’s construction pipeline are Marriott International with 67 projects/8,430 rooms and Hilton Worldwide with 65 projects/7,738 rooms. Both of these franchise company pipelines are at all-time highs in Canada. InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) follows with 56 projects/5,402 rooms. These three franchise companies claim 62 per cent of the projects in the total pipeline.

The top brands in Canada’s pipeline are IHG’s Holiday Inn Express with 34 projects/3,385 rooms, and Hampton by Hilton with 30 projects/3,369 rooms. TownePlace Suites by Marriott follows with 16 projects/1,726 rooms and is at an all-time high.

Other notable brands in Canada’s pipeline are Hyatt Place with 14 projects/2,197 rooms, Courtyard by Marriott, at a record high, with 13 projects/2,020 rooms, and Home2 Suites by Hilton with 12 projects/1,270 rooms, also reaching an all-time high.

*COVID-19 (coronavirus) did not have a full impact on first quarter 2020 Canada results reported by LE. Only the last 30 days of the quarter were affected. LE’s market intelligence department has and will continue to gather the necessary global intelligence on the supply side of the lodging industry and make that information available to our subscribers. It is still early to predict the full impact of the outbreak on the lodging industry. We will have more information to report in the coming months.