Work is scheduled to start during the first week of May and wrap up in September, says Chimo sales director Lucy Ramos. The hotel will remain open while renovations are underway.
The project will increase the amount of meeting room space to approximately 10,000 square feet from 7,100 square feet. The hotel restaurant, bar, common area and lobby will all be overhauled, as will the guest bedrooms and bathrooms, Ms. Ramos says.
The new Holiday Inn will continue to be owned by Royal Host Hotels and Resorts.
The 256-room Chimo Ottawa Hotel was constructed in 1979 and has undergone various renovation projects over the years, says Ms. Ramos.
Once one of the lone hotels in Ottawa’s east end, the Chimo Ottawa started facing new competition when the 63-room Quality Inn Orleans opened in 2011.
Ms. Ramos says the newer facility has taken “a little bit” of business from the Chimo - mainly sports teams who want to be close to the Ray Friel Recreation Complex - but has not had a significant impact on her bookings.
More broadly, she says business is down slightly in the first quarter, an observation Ms. Ramos says she hears echoed when speaking to other Ottawa hoteliers.
She says group travel - namely government, associations, corporate and sports teams - continued to be a strong segment. However, she says she is seeing softness in the market for individual leisure and business travelers.
“People are doing business by (videoconference or teleconference) rather than travelling,” she says.
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