Should Oakville Get a Luxury Boutique Hotel?

Halton | Oakville | Ontario | Latest News |

Published September 24, 2018 at 8:07 pm

Mayoral candidate Julia Hanna recently brought up an interesting idea to revitalize downtown Oakville…by bringing in a boutique hotel.

Mayoral candidate Julia Hanna recently brought up an interesting idea to revitalize downtown Oakville…by bringing in a boutique hotel.

“Attracting a hotel for Oakville in the trend of the beautiful boutique hotels that are popping up across North America and the world would help attract people and help bring people to our downtown, help support arts and culture and offer welcome accommodation for residents’ invited guests,” the candidate said on her website.

Saying that attracting visitors has been deprioritized, Hanna said as mayor she would work through Town Council to instruct the Planning Committee to find the best way to attract a hotel that “builds on the character and appeal of the downtown.”

Oakville downtown needs something, practically anything, to put some life back into it. Inhalton.com previously asked whether Oakville’s downtown was thriving or dying, and the prognosis isn’t good. With a vacancy rate of 18 per cent in commercial space, stores close too early, sometimes as early as 6 p.m. Although there are plans for pop up stores, that is not a permanent solution.

Popularized during the 1980s to 1990s, boutique hotels don’t stem from major hotel chains such as your Hilton’s, Marriott’s or Radissons. Rather, they are smaller, usually between 10 to 100 rooms, located in unique settings with upscale accommodations.

We’re not talking about an AirBnB here; those are residences owned by ordinary people converted for the purposes of renting out. These are establishments set up for the business of providing luxury comfort amidst idyllic scenery away from the ‘hustle and bustle’ of everyday life.

Some of the luxury boutique hotels across Ontario include Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Oban Inn in Niagara-on-the-Lake and Angelines in Prince Edward County.

Does Oakville’s downtown fit this category? It could, if the right decisions and conditions manifested themselves.

Would you like to see a luxury boutique hotel in the heart of downtown Oakville?

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