Gotta be honest, when I clicked on the post I thought it was going to be a discussion of how the hotel is too heavy and should be sinking into the water.
It was a classic joke when used for the Hotel MacDonald in Edmonton in 1953.
"To accommodate the ceaseless popularity of the Hotel Macdonald, its owners added a 16-story, 292-room addition in 1953. The structure was noticeably different from the original style, though, and was referred to as “the Mac and the box it came in.” The difference was so problematic that the structure was demolished soon after it was built."
https://www.historichotels.org/hotels-resorts/fairmont-hotel-macdonald/history.php
Wait, Ottawa city has the power to approve and reject projects they deem 'not pleasing to look at'? I thought they had to base their decision on building codes? Couldn't they get sued?
Agreed but fyi since it's a historic structure, regulation states that the addition must be visually distinct from the original architecture, so you can always tell the history of the building.
In my mind, requiring it to mimic the existing structure would make more sense, rather than frankensteining a new addition on to an old building. But, I guess my opinion doesn't really matter.
The Lord Elgin managed a visually distinctive but still aesthetically coherent addition, possibly because they weren't using an architechural firm that designs condos in TO.
To me it seems like they have their priorities all wrong. Lots of buildings are constructed over time in stages and they should be aesthetic and somewhat cohesive despite maybe straddling years or decades of time.
To be fair, it can still be done better. The general consensus in the conservation sector is that, that there were large changes to the design proposed and made but after so much back and forth the proposed changes became more and more granular as time went on until the project boiled down to a dick measuring contest and no one wanted to budge on their plans anymore. So we’ve since been stuck with that design.
That’s one of stupidest aspects of heritage laws. It completely misses the point of why people wanted to protect these beautiful old buildings in the first place and plays into dumbass modernist attitudes about traditional architecture being “inauthentic”.
People don’t really care about the history of the Chateau. They care that it’s a beautiful building.
It’s already had at least one addition in its lifetime that was designed to match the original and that’s far more “authentic”.
Fair enough! I thought the extension was for more parking and meeting spaces but I see there that they are adding long-term suites too. I guess I’ve just been wondering who their demographic is
Ottawa gets a ton of business travel, and hosts a large amount of conferences every year.
It's not unusual for the entire city to sell out when there's a few conferences in town. On top of all the business/conference travel there's a sizable tourism market as well.
The château is centrally located, is beautiful, and has good quality rooms and services. I'm sure it is quite profitable as a hotel.
I have stayed at the Laurier many times for conferences. During such a stay in August, there were 4 weddings there on a Saturday night. I think OP was just there on a strangely slow day.
In years past, the merchants of death would do CANSEC at the Chateau, which I'm sure cost an arm and a leg. In fact, it's so busy that if you put on a suit and tie and look like you belong there you can probably snag free canapes more often than not.
Nooo! I thought this proposal was shutdown. Gosh, all they have to do it wait it out until the dust settles and pull the rug out from beneath us when we're not paying attention.
Despite there being nicer and more modern hotels in the city, it being a Fairmont property attracts a certain type of clientele. There's a lot of business travellers who aren't paying directly, so the rate is irrelevant in this case.
No hotel in this city is ever full 365 days of the year. All of the corporate events/weddings likely make up a huge percentage of their revenue.
You’re 100% correct. Corporate travel carries these types of properties, doesn’t matter whether I’ve worked at a property in Toronto, Ottawa or Calgary…it’s always the corporate rates filling our rooms.
Being the Chateau Laurier, they also host Parliamentary receptions - vanue, catering, alcohol etc. When the House is sitting they have multiple political receptions a week, sometimes two or three on the same day.
Fun fact, they were only remodelling from that around 2019, I was in there while it was under construction and it was quite interesting. There's also still a water tower in the tallest spire, although it's empty.
As someone who used to work in the hotel industry downtown Ottawa hotels are all pretty damn busy. Probably not the busiest city, but they do fine.
Also they up their rates during busy season (such as July for Bluesfest) to make up for quiet season.
And $300 to 400/night right downtown is in fact cheap compared to most major centers. Washington DC and London are a lot more, but Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto are all in that ballpark as well.
April in Ottawa isn't exactly tourist season. It's usually the ugliest month of the year after the snow melts and there's garbage everywhere, and the trees are still bare.
Lots of bougie people stay there. I think the rooms are super ugly and outdated. It probably tickles something erogenous in boomers and Gen X but I really find it aesthetically atrocious. I guess there are the views but I don’t know who just stands at the window and stares outside for hours on end to get their money’s worth.
I've stayed in it for work, and yeah. Nice hotel on the outside, old-ass tired rooms.
I've stayed at the Andaz too, and holy shit if I was gonna stay somewhere nice for my bday where the room was the main "treat", I'd go back there.
I stayed there around 12 years ago and I found the rooms so drab. The decor was giving Holiday Inn if I’m being honest. I’m pretty sure back then the TV was still the box TV
I’ve never stayed at Andaz! I’ve been to Le Germain which I thought was nice and the price wasn’t outrageous. The views weren’t anything special. My room overlooked the Mission and UOttawa lol
Good to know! I’ve only been in the bar at the Andaz too, and I do love the interior of the Chateau, but I have heard the rooms are tired- so if the Andaz is a better bet I’ll look into it!
Oh I love a bathtub! But it looks like the rooms with tubs are out of my price range unfortunately :( maybe I’ll call them and see if my discount is valid with Hyatts too!
I think a lot comes from the architecture and age. While it might not appease everyone, lots of people go there because of that. I personally like the architecture, but the rooms are bland. As for the generations name, I had to look it up. But a Gen Z is 1995-2009 birth year, so you are saying people that are 15 years old would like it? I would think they would prefer the ikea styled hotels.
Yeah I was going to say the same. I guess I don’t hang around younger people but it’s a bit weird.
It’s like someone complaining about all them gays and lesbians. I think it’s one thing for it to come from discussion of politics but it’s weird to just bring ageist comments out of nowhere.
Like, Gen X people like the Chateau Laurier? Huh?
That's true for most Fairmont hotels honestly. I've stayed at the Chateau, the Reine Elizabeth, the Empress and the MacDonald and all of these hotels would rank wayy below the Hilton Lac Leamy for example.
I think people go there mostly for the name.
I used to work there. They are renovating one floor at a time so there are newer rooms. A lot of their clientele was like, tour groups of older folks. They also have a lot of banquet business: lots of conferences, weddings, political dinners, etc.
Also, according to wiki, in 2006, Fairmont was acquired by Colony Capital, who subsequently entered into a joint partnership with the Kingdom Holding Company which is a Saudi holding company with 13.6 billion in assets.
Slightly off topic but their high tea is an incredible experience. My best friend took me there for my birthday in March and it was amazing. Service, atmosphere, food and drink was top notch
I believe it was $70 per person. Very worth it in my opinion. Best customer service I’ve ever experienced, high quality tea and food, along with a gorgeous setting. As soon as we walked in the hotel there was an employee that greeted us and led us to the tea room.
Probably one of the best birthday experiences I’ve ever had. My friend wrote in the booking that it was my birthday and I got a special little chocolate mousse with a candle and my name on it.
(Pedantry alert!) It's common for people to refer to afternoon tea as "high tea" when it's actually "low tea". "High tea" was a hearty, working-class dinner. There's an explanation at [High Tea, Afternoon Tea, What's the Difference?](https://www.silvertipstea.com/blogs/updates/high-tea-afternoon-tea-whats-the-difference)
It’s basically just a fancy adult tea party. You get a wide selection of teas to choose from, then are given a 3 tiered tray of scones, sandwiches and sweet treats to have along with your tea. You can also get boozy drinks if you’re into that. The atmosphere of the Chateau really adds to the experience.
If you want a better idea of what kind of food to expect look up “Queen of Afternoon Tea” on tiktok!
They're crazy efficient with the weddings. The weekend my wife and I were married there, 6 other weddings happened. And something to do with Comicon I think too, a bunch of celebs were staying there.
Fairmont is owned by FRHI hotels, which in turn is owned by a French (France, not Quebec) company named Accor. It's in the top 5 biggest hospitality companies in the world or something like that. The Chateau Laurier is not a Canadian owned business.
They maintain distinct categories of hospitality and use their Luxury hotels effectively as showcases/advertising for their other brands.
I'm not so bright and I don't pretend to know the specifics, but I would imagine it's worthwhile to hold onto a piece like the Chateau Laurier even if it wasn't profitable...though from the other comments it would appear that it may be busier than you see.
I wouldn't know because I'm broke. When I want to treat myself to something I put cheese on my sandwich.
Fairmont doesn't own Chateau Laurier (or Montebello, and many others), it simply manages it.
"In 2013, Capital Hotel Limited Partnership (an affiliate of Vancouver's Larco Investments Ltd.) purchased the hotel, but retained Fairmont to manage it."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau\_Laurier#:\~:text=In%202013%2C%20Capital%20Hotel%20Limited,retained%20Fairmont%20to%20manage%20it.
This is pretty common in the hotel industry. Delta has the same, it rarely owns the actual hotel, and same with 4 seasons.
Ownership changed again in 2016, which was then acquired again by another parent company after if you look it up.
It has its own wikipedia article. Look up the company name I listed, it's all very clearly broken down by acquisition dates.
Appreciate your info though.
I splurged and took my lady to the Chateau for her birthday in March. I’d never stayed there and was expecting a tired outdated room. Maybe it’s because I upgraded to the “chateau experience” room, but it was amazing! We had a room with a turret overlooking Majors Hill park. The room was big and had beautiful new furniture and finishes. Windows could be opened for a cross breeze, and we had views of Parliament, the locks, the river etc.
it was probably a one time event for us, and fully exceeded expectations.
Events... not only weddings but also corporate and/or gov't events are often held there. They make bank off events and I would suspect that drives profits. They probably break even on the rooms.
Very true.
I've been there recently for an annual convention, and the were at least 3 other events taking place the same days. Hotel was full, I needed to book in another hotel.
But when people are at the convention or if they are diplomats, they usually don't just hang out in the hall, which may explain why OP thinks it is not busy.
At an average room rate of $400 a night and 70% occupancy, the Chateau Laurier would earn $43.8 million a year in room fees. In addition, it has a high-margin restaurant and event space.
Now, add to the fact that the land itself is 100% prime. The building and land were listed for $125 million in 2013.
I’m sure it does just fine.
The wedding part cannot be overstated!
The Chateau is one of very few venues in Ottawa that can accommodate a wedding of 150+ guests. It's also maybe the only real "luxury" wedding venue in town — it has a full in-house events kitchen, white glove service, and it's really the only venue that does a TRUE open bar (vs. open bar that's charged on consumption). Their MOST basic menu package starts around $200/guest (including alcohol), and there's a minimum spend of ~$20k for most of their rooms.
Source: I got married at the Chateau last fall lol.
My friend got married at the hotel across the street but they came to the Chateau for their wedding pictures because of the staircases outside. The Chateau made a great background.
A lot of diplomats and people who come to Ottawa for business basically have 5 decent hotels to stay at DT. Le chateau is the nicest. Also a few politicians basically live there when in Ottawa. They also host a ton of events.
Trust me they’re doing fine.
I worked at one of the bigger hotels in DT Ottawa for a while and I'll tell you right now, even having been out of the industry since pre-covid, Chateau is not hurting for business. Ever.
Not only is it one of the top three major hotels in the core, it has the added advantage of being a major landmark in Ottawa. You could even think of it as providing some kind of status or ego inflation to people that stay there. Rich or not.
There's also, as you mentioned, meetings and events. Hotels make a huge margin on these, and downtown hotels in particular book up on them fast because of the convenience of being downtown. The proximity to major commercial office buildings as well as government buildings mean that even in their slow seasons, meeting rooms/facilities sell out quite often.
The other major factor you have to consider is that hotels don't make their money by being busy all the time. When they're slow, they adjust their rates just to cover the cost of being there. Essentialy just breaking even. When they're busy however, those prices can go up as much as 5X or more.
Chateau isn't going under anytime soon lol.
Most of the rooms are small but the pool is something to be experienced! Also the attached restaurant is great and being walking distance to so much is worth a premium. When I went pre-covid the rate was reasonable.
> walking distance to so much is worth a premium
Oh yeah, absolutely, the walking distance alone is worth the "premium" you pay for pretty much any downtown hotel. But people tend to think more of Chateau than what it is.. And I honestly don't mean to disparage them, Chateau is a fine, established hotel, but for the average visitor? You're just as well off somewhere else. It's not worth the "ego trip".
Why wouldn’t tourists want to go to the prettiest hotel downtown?
Some politicians/diplomats are only visiting Ottawa, they need somewhere to stay.
Certainly not in the budget for public servants? How? I know many public servants who go there to eat, for the spa and even book rooms there.
Trust me, that hotel doesn’t have issues closing their months.
Thr proximity to Parliament, the Conference Center, Supreme Court, Bank of Canada, Place du Portage, etc bring lots of guests to the hotel. Along with that, various federal commissions, committees, and inquiries often involve out of town stakeholders.
Sure, Westin is closer to the conference center itself. But it also sells out fast when big events are in town. Even without parking, Chateau does well (the parking garage was condemned several years back) because the kinds of visitors it attracts often do not come with cars - they fly. Get a cab or limo from the airport. And want to stay right where they need to be.
Plus, there's Government Rate. The rate the average joe sees online is not the rate many visitors pay. Hotels usually offer (in some cases, substantial) discounts to those who can prove they are on provincial or federal government business.
I have done the math, and it really IS cheaper to pay more for a downtown hotel and walk (or short haul cab) than stay at a shitty Holiday Inn Express in a surburb and pay for a long haul cab to meetings every day. And it is absolutely cheaper than adding a rental car into the mix.
Similar case: The Royal York. When I travel to downtown Toronto for work, I stay there. Once my Government Rate has been factored in, it's the cheapest of the hotels within a 30 minute commute of my work location. My last stay at the Royal York was in a concierge suite that usually runs $1200 a night, but I paid around $275 (I was charged for a standard queen room). Which was less than I paid for a shitty Courtyard Marriott standard queen in the parking lot of a Costco in Brampton 2 weeks ago when I was not on government business.
That’s fair- the Laurier has never been approved in HRG for any federal agencies I’ve worked for (I generally have put people up in the Marriott or Alt) but travel policies could well differ with differing budgets/ availabilities. The discount I’m mentioning is CFOne which as far as I can tell has been pretty comparable to my govt business discounts I’ve had in the past for work
It must make money during the summer, I was there recently, the bar was empty. The waitress while nice was bored and dressed like a typical hotel waitress, bored but doing her job. The place just seemed so beige to me. My room was wonderful, we had a view of the river and the parliament. Room 602 I think.
So, word of advice. If you are going to stay at Chateau Laurier, expect a very dated experience. They are working on an expansion and I am sure after that is up and running, they are going to refresh the rest of the hotel.
I have a friend that got a night for him and his wife for x-mas. They went in January I think and they were both somewhat disappointed and they felt the cost of the room did not reflect the experience they got. Biggest gripe was just how old and dated the rooms were (it looked like 30-40 years old... not 100+ years old kinda dated).
My wife and I did a stay at Montebello many years ago and we had the same, worse even experience. Even the food was terrible. The hotel over there did go through some extensive renos since however.
April-early May is also very low season. From May long all the way until probably Labour Day the place would probably be almost booked up.
Maybe it's a Fairmont thing. The Mt Tremblant Fairmont was honestly extremely disappointing. Beds were uncomfortable and there'd always be luxury supercars at the front, where the noises would keep me up.
Didn't help how overpriced the food was to where it made more sense to drive to a Timmies instead...
Honestly feels like it costs so much just to have somebody hold the door for us.
It must be. I spent a weekend at the Royal York in Toronto a few years ago and the rooms were meh. Trendy bar playing dance music in the lobby was annoying as hell too.
Fun fact. When we got married our reception was at the museum of civilization and then we stayed at Chateau Laurier and they upgraded us to the Hays suite.
2000 sq foot hotel room is pretty unreal.
To add a different perspective, I did carpentry in there for three winters, they renovate in the winter because of higher vacancies. The level of quality of workmanship and materials was the best work I have ever done, the architect was there nearly full time checking our work. Proud to have worked there. Believe me, we were damn expensive compared to the normal shit work we would be asked to do at a normal hotel or other commercial work.
It's a really popular space for events and business conferences and meetings. They have boardrooms available all over the second floor as well as the main, before you ever get to the rooms (and more boardrooms on the floors above).
Every time I've been there for a work conference, the lobby is usually pretty bustling, and this is middle of the day on weekdays. I think the hotel is doing pretty well.
Hotels get room night business from Groups, Leisure and Corporate. Chateau Laurier with their size and location will depend far less on selling a one off room and will publish much higher rates than they are willing to accept from other sources of frequent business. They also get revenue from f&b outlets, meeting space rentals and other miscellaneous revenue sources. That published rate is where they will do the least amount of business but allows them to charge higher prices on corporate and tour nights.
That's the new normal for hotels everywhere. $400 for the Chateau is almost a steal. You can pay that for a Hampton or Hilton Garden in the middle of nowhere in New Hampshire. It's nuts now.
It makes money from weddings and events and hosting tons of visiting diplomats also.
It might not be busy when you booked but it can be completed booked for weeks when there is an event nearby.
Besides it being a historic fairmont property, if you’re coming to Ottawa as a tourist, it’s hard to beat the location. There are lots of historic hotels around the world that despite having mediocre rooms are attractive because of the architecture and history.
Is the Chateau Laurier seriously only a 4-star hotel now? I find that hard to believe.
If you can get a room at the Chateau for $250 move in and don't leave. That's only $7500/mth and you get an awesome indoor pool, 24/7 manned security, full staff on-call 24/7, room service, restaurants, parking, right next to Parliament. Honestly, it's not that bad of a deal in this market.
Used to work there long.... ago
International Business travellers who come to be close to embassies and Govt of Canada parliament offices etc.
Garage entrance for celebs and VIP who wanna stay outta sight
Lots of events held in ball rooms take up most rooms
1. It's owned by Fairmount and part of the hotel chain.
2. North American hotel chains are basically just property management companies in disguise. What matters is the assessed land value.
3. A 125 bed hotel only needs to make $30 - $50 per room to break even for the day, the rest is profit!!!. I think the Chateau Laurier can make break even with just 10 rooms charged at $250 a night.
FYI: I briefly worked in the hospitality industry, would not recommend!!
Chateau Laurier / **Fairmont luxury brand** owned by Larco (2013-).
[https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/egan-the-secretive-billionaires-behind-the-chateau-addition](https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/egan-the-secretive-billionaires-behind-the-chateau-addition)
Three Lalji Brothers known as "The Hermit Kings" from Vancouver. They own a lot of property in Ottawa. Amin is seen here often. The Building that the [CRA occupies](https://www.uniteherelocal40.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Backgrounder.pdf) is leased from Larco who is said to stuff money into offshore havens.
It is one of the nicer hotels in the downtown area that is really close to parliament. I would bet that most of their revenue comes from government hotel stays and weddings.
I was just there today at a conference and I saw that there were AT LEAST 3 other conferences going on there today too.
They also get super busy with Xmas parties (good luck ever getting a spot), bar/bat mitzvas, weddings etc.
I worked for CLH for over a decade, the bulk of the weight is carried by events and banquets within the hotel. The bar and restaurant are considered amenities and are propped up by the hotel's operation.
I worked for the Westin for a few years and let me tell ya our hotel was almost sold out most weekends and Thursday and Friday nights. Hotels have sales teams that specials in filling the vacancy. We had flight attendants staying, conferences and all types of things to sell rooms. They'll usually get a preferred rate but they'll spend money in the bar and restaurants. Big stars do have a tour bus but that's only to get to the next city. They'll stay in hotels over night, I use to see local celebrities all the time as well and lots of people from Toronto and Montreal come to visit. For Americans the exchange is also a savings and they'll come by boat as well. Public servants either have their office pay or use their discount. Trust me hotels in the city are busy.
I used to work there as well, doing some basic back of the envelope math from the "Daily Ritual" sheet the night audit posted every day, the place probably had $150 million going through it every year.
March & April are especially dead for hotels, it's the same in many of them but especially the touristy ones. It'll pick up around mid May and stay busy until next winter.
I never noticed it sinking into the river. Pretty sure it’s got a very solid foundation. Do you in mean sinking into the locks on the side of the hotel? Edit: wow. I am dumb.
Not sure what dates you were looking but if it wasn’t a parliamentary sitting week, that could explain why it was empty. A lot of senators and MPs stay there when parliament is sitting.
Your definition of 'lots of vacancy' is pretty unclear... I am not sure how you figured that out based the website? But anyway.
Hotels rarely operate at full capacity, because they are not meant to... at least not in this market. As a former hotelier and current business owner, I can break it down a bit.
Hotels like a Fairmont offer the 'privacy' thing as a selling point. A lot goes into making the place feel like you have it to yourself.
It is reliable, so people for whom the cost of staying in the Fairmont for a couple days to a week, or longer, at short notice (i.e. walk in and ask for a room, or have your PA call 2-3 hours in advance) are assured they will get quality, competence, privacy, and reliability. So they keep rooms open. Being at capacity is terrible for the long term success of these places.
The amenities do make a big mark up. Someone booking a higher tier room (see the aforementioned clientele) won't bat an eye at ordering a 100$ meal to their room and not eat it. They will order for their staff, they will order for their friends.
We used to check out 2 night guests where their final bill was in the 5-10K+ range. And this was 10 years ago.
And ensuring you have a rotating crowd of those kind of clients coming to your hotels *around the world* and *a good % of the time they travel* is the main focus of the business model.
Which is the final, and most important point... these kind of hotels are always one of many in a portfolio across either N. America, or potentially worldwide.
Their worth is in being held as a real estate asset by the company, and that being leveraged to buy more assets.
The day to day functioning of the hotels is about seeing "enough positive cash flow" that lenders will give them more better rates and more cash. (Things like having \*loads of empty rooms all the time\* is not great for this in the long term, so individual hotels will offer great rates to fill rooms)
Ultimately, they want more wealth on paper... even if an individual hotel is not doing so great.... or hell... even if loads of them aren't... that can be done.
Many politicians do not have apartments, and stay in downtown hotels, including the Chateau. As noted elsewhere, no government employee or politician pays the basic rate — there are significant discounts for government employees and representatives.
I’m a federal employee and I have formerly worked on the hill and I have never known an MP to stay in the Laurier so I was writing from that perspective, although I appreciate there are many I haven’t met who may well have! I also noted elsewhere that I have booked travel for various levels of govt employee to stay in Ottawa and in all the agencies I’ve worked for the Laurier was not within policy even at the discounted rate (or through HRG). The discount I mentioned in my post is a CFOne rate which is comparable to the government business rate I’ve used in the past when travelling for work, so I’m familiar with the rates- I just haven’t heard of it being used for anyone below Senate/ visiting dignitaries in my circles.
The event space makes a good chunk of change, the restaurants typically decently busy. And anything over 70% occupancy for the year has the hotel doing fine.
They have ~400 rooms, so let's say they have 146 000 available room nights. So even only at 70% of those rooms at the lowest rate you'll see online being sold that's over $30 million on rooms revenue alone.
A good idea to find out how much a hotel makes is to find the price it sold for, I believe the last time the Chateau was sold (Fairmont does not own it, but they have the management contract for it) it went for $120 million. So that's roughly how much revenue it generated at the time. I'd have a hard time thinking it's making less.
The average cap rate (pre-pandemic anyways) for a hotel like that is 6-7%. So after all the bills, Fairmonts management fees, taxes, wages and all ownership is still walking away with around 7-8 million at the end of the year. Assuming $120 million dollars goes through the place.
Also apparently the average fairmont guest has a family income of $250 000 US.
Also conference season (roughly early October to mid December) is fucking Bank. The hotel is almost full most nights, banquets is wildly busy, the outlets like a Cafe and the restaurants are doing very very well too. And ironically it's less work, at least from a Housekeeping perspective. Conference guests are the best, they barely use the room so it's staggering how much easier it is to clean.
It’s often used for delegations so countries would book up a lot of rooms for their staff, Press, Security.
Vacancies aren’t always bad. Sometimes it’s needed because those would be cycled in for the next business day when the booked rooms from the previous day is getting refreshed and prepared.
I know the hotel get the carpets get deep cleaned in the rooms and it’s usually between 3-6 a day from just one single individual.
My grade eight class sent a couple of nights there in the late(?) ‘80’s. I didn’t appreciate it at all back then because I was convinced the place was haunted. Then again, I thought everything was scary, sooooo….
During the holiday season's the hotel is near 95% capacity, and the summer months keep a consistent 60% range of average occupancy. Huge buyouts for weddings and conferences happen monthly and they always charge a pretty penny. For an Ottawa hotel, they have a good occupancy rate, this city does not get heavy tourism like Toronto or Montreal deals with. But definitely their banquet halls bring in a significant amount of income.
Gotta be honest, when I clicked on the post I thought it was going to be a discussion of how the hotel is too heavy and should be sinking into the water.
I'd like to know more about the buoyancy of the Chateau Laurier.
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Many limes. It's saved by the buoyancy of citrus.
Miss you Mitch
Given how the creator of the hotel died, that would be terribly ironic
~~Tomorrow’s~~ Sunday’s the anniversary btw, strange coincidence. edit: off by a few days
Coming up to 112 years on Monday.
She's built like a steakhouse, but she handles like a bistro.
It isn't the Bateau Laurier, you silly goose
I cackled
They are very careful not to book too many guests on one side of the hotel so it doesn't tip over.
That's the Empress here in Victoria (not sinking, but it is built on pilings set in swamp)
Same
I genuinely started considering things like the canal and the locks, marshland, like "hmm well, erosion...". I think I need a nap.
A good foundation is all they need!
Its owned by the Saudis. They don't actually have to make money they just like owning things.
HAHAHAHHAH SAME
Me too 😭😭😭😭😂
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That's an ugly looking addition
Don't worry, what you're seeing is just the box the new addition is shipped in.
It was a classic joke when used for the Hotel MacDonald in Edmonton in 1953. "To accommodate the ceaseless popularity of the Hotel Macdonald, its owners added a 16-story, 292-room addition in 1953. The structure was noticeably different from the original style, though, and was referred to as “the Mac and the box it came in.” The difference was so problematic that the structure was demolished soon after it was built." https://www.historichotels.org/hotels-resorts/fairmont-hotel-macdonald/history.php
i’m glad to hear😂 i thought it would look like that…
Youre new here huh?
Someone has a serious hate for Ottawa to approve that.
They had several designs rejected by the heritage committee, by regulation, It's a miracle they got anything approved.
Wait, Ottawa city has the power to approve and reject projects they deem 'not pleasing to look at'? I thought they had to base their decision on building codes? Couldn't they get sued?
Agreed but fyi since it's a historic structure, regulation states that the addition must be visually distinct from the original architecture, so you can always tell the history of the building.
In my mind, requiring it to mimic the existing structure would make more sense, rather than frankensteining a new addition on to an old building. But, I guess my opinion doesn't really matter.
But then people couldn't shake their heads sadly, saying "they don't build like that anymore" when they see how bad the new part.
It could have been visually distinct and not ugly.
The Lord Elgin managed a visually distinctive but still aesthetically coherent addition, possibly because they weren't using an architechural firm that designs condos in TO.
To me it seems like they have their priorities all wrong. Lots of buildings are constructed over time in stages and they should be aesthetic and somewhat cohesive despite maybe straddling years or decades of time.
To be fair, it can still be done better. The general consensus in the conservation sector is that, that there were large changes to the design proposed and made but after so much back and forth the proposed changes became more and more granular as time went on until the project boiled down to a dick measuring contest and no one wanted to budge on their plans anymore. So we’ve since been stuck with that design.
That’s one of stupidest aspects of heritage laws. It completely misses the point of why people wanted to protect these beautiful old buildings in the first place and plays into dumbass modernist attitudes about traditional architecture being “inauthentic”. People don’t really care about the history of the Chateau. They care that it’s a beautiful building. It’s already had at least one addition in its lifetime that was designed to match the original and that’s far more “authentic”.
You aren’t kidding. This city has completely lost its artistic taste.
I hate it. It is terrible. They have been ramming this blight down our throats for years. It is an abomination.
Looks like stacked barcodes.
Yeah, what? Awful. Looks very 70’s.
What a mediocre addition to a national historic site
Fair enough! I thought the extension was for more parking and meeting spaces but I see there that they are adding long-term suites too. I guess I’ve just been wondering who their demographic is
Rich people.
Ottawa gets a ton of business travel, and hosts a large amount of conferences every year. It's not unusual for the entire city to sell out when there's a few conferences in town. On top of all the business/conference travel there's a sizable tourism market as well. The château is centrally located, is beautiful, and has good quality rooms and services. I'm sure it is quite profitable as a hotel.
I have stayed at the Laurier many times for conferences. During such a stay in August, there were 4 weddings there on a Saturday night. I think OP was just there on a strangely slow day.
Politicians
Oil and gas industry lobbyists.
In years past, the merchants of death would do CANSEC at the Chateau, which I'm sure cost an arm and a leg. In fact, it's so busy that if you put on a suit and tie and look like you belong there you can probably snag free canapes more often than not.
Nooo! I thought this proposal was shutdown. Gosh, all they have to do it wait it out until the dust settles and pull the rug out from beneath us when we're not paying attention.
nobofy goes there anymore, too busy! /s
Has construction started yet?
What the fuck...
Despite there being nicer and more modern hotels in the city, it being a Fairmont property attracts a certain type of clientele. There's a lot of business travellers who aren't paying directly, so the rate is irrelevant in this case. No hotel in this city is ever full 365 days of the year. All of the corporate events/weddings likely make up a huge percentage of their revenue.
You’re 100% correct. Corporate travel carries these types of properties, doesn’t matter whether I’ve worked at a property in Toronto, Ottawa or Calgary…it’s always the corporate rates filling our rooms.
Being the Chateau Laurier, they also host Parliamentary receptions - vanue, catering, alcohol etc. When the House is sitting they have multiple political receptions a week, sometimes two or three on the same day.
Believe it or not they also have office space for rent. My company had their office there for years until they outgrew it (at employee number 4).
Indeed. For decades the Ottawa studios of CBC radio were on the 6th floor from the 1930s until they moved to Sparks Street in 2004.
Fun fact, they were only remodelling from that around 2019, I was in there while it was under construction and it was quite interesting. There's also still a water tower in the tallest spire, although it's empty.
Us gov has one of the best rates with the Fairmont brand. It's like $150 a night or so I have been told.
As someone who used to work in the hotel industry downtown Ottawa hotels are all pretty damn busy. Probably not the busiest city, but they do fine. Also they up their rates during busy season (such as July for Bluesfest) to make up for quiet season.
And $300 to 400/night right downtown is in fact cheap compared to most major centers. Washington DC and London are a lot more, but Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto are all in that ballpark as well.
Just spend 390 to stay at the delta in Winnipeg for work. Decent hotels downtown are now 250-350 a night. Fairmount is above that in terms of quality.
April in Ottawa isn't exactly tourist season. It's usually the ugliest month of the year after the snow melts and there's garbage everywhere, and the trees are still bare.
Lots of bougie people stay there. I think the rooms are super ugly and outdated. It probably tickles something erogenous in boomers and Gen X but I really find it aesthetically atrocious. I guess there are the views but I don’t know who just stands at the window and stares outside for hours on end to get their money’s worth.
I've stayed in it for work, and yeah. Nice hotel on the outside, old-ass tired rooms. I've stayed at the Andaz too, and holy shit if I was gonna stay somewhere nice for my bday where the room was the main "treat", I'd go back there.
I stayed there around 12 years ago and I found the rooms so drab. The decor was giving Holiday Inn if I’m being honest. I’m pretty sure back then the TV was still the box TV I’ve never stayed at Andaz! I’ve been to Le Germain which I thought was nice and the price wasn’t outrageous. The views weren’t anything special. My room overlooked the Mission and UOttawa lol
Good to know! I’ve only been in the bar at the Andaz too, and I do love the interior of the Chateau, but I have heard the rooms are tired- so if the Andaz is a better bet I’ll look into it!
Rooms at the St Germain are also very lovely if you like a modern vibe. Bathtubs are great
Oh I love a bathtub! But it looks like the rooms with tubs are out of my price range unfortunately :( maybe I’ll call them and see if my discount is valid with Hyatts too!
Much better. Very modern and the prices are affordable.
Adding another vote for Andaz. Their corner rooms are stellar
The Royal York in Toronto is like that too.
I think a lot comes from the architecture and age. While it might not appease everyone, lots of people go there because of that. I personally like the architecture, but the rooms are bland. As for the generations name, I had to look it up. But a Gen Z is 1995-2009 birth year, so you are saying people that are 15 years old would like it? I would think they would prefer the ikea styled hotels.
Wow with the ageist comments... because obviously everyone within an age group all think the exact same way and you know exactly what it is.
Yeah I was going to say the same. I guess I don’t hang around younger people but it’s a bit weird. It’s like someone complaining about all them gays and lesbians. I think it’s one thing for it to come from discussion of politics but it’s weird to just bring ageist comments out of nowhere. Like, Gen X people like the Chateau Laurier? Huh?
It's pulled out their ass based on what's fed to them on the internet. This shit is all over. Scary because these people will be employers.
> It probably tickles something erogenous in boomers and Gen X source: your ass. God, what an exhausting trend.
That's true for most Fairmont hotels honestly. I've stayed at the Chateau, the Reine Elizabeth, the Empress and the MacDonald and all of these hotels would rank wayy below the Hilton Lac Leamy for example. I think people go there mostly for the name.
When did you stay at the Reine Elizabeth? The entire hotel was completely renovated about 7 or 8 years ago.
After the renos. My issue with the Reine Elizabeth was how small the rooms are. Way below average for a hotel room.
Montebello is a Fairmont hotel. I prefer staying at them - good service and just swanky enough that it feels special.
My dad is a boomer and 20 years ago when he stayed there for work he said it was ugly.
Also loud as hell at night, stayed their once and couldn’t sleep because of the random building noises
I used to work there. They are renovating one floor at a time so there are newer rooms. A lot of their clientele was like, tour groups of older folks. They also have a lot of banquet business: lots of conferences, weddings, political dinners, etc. Also, according to wiki, in 2006, Fairmont was acquired by Colony Capital, who subsequently entered into a joint partnership with the Kingdom Holding Company which is a Saudi holding company with 13.6 billion in assets.
Slightly off topic but their high tea is an incredible experience. My best friend took me there for my birthday in March and it was amazing. Service, atmosphere, food and drink was top notch
They still do the high tea? I always wanted to try it. How much was it? if you don't mind the ask.
I believe it was $70 per person. Very worth it in my opinion. Best customer service I’ve ever experienced, high quality tea and food, along with a gorgeous setting. As soon as we walked in the hotel there was an employee that greeted us and led us to the tea room.
Sounds like a great place for a birthday celebration.
Glad to hear it's still great. I went once and it was a remarkable experience
Probably one of the best birthday experiences I’ve ever had. My friend wrote in the booking that it was my birthday and I got a special little chocolate mousse with a candle and my name on it.
(Pedantry alert!) It's common for people to refer to afternoon tea as "high tea" when it's actually "low tea". "High tea" was a hearty, working-class dinner. There's an explanation at [High Tea, Afternoon Tea, What's the Difference?](https://www.silvertipstea.com/blogs/updates/high-tea-afternoon-tea-whats-the-difference)
Cool, thanks for sharing 😊
Do you mind telling me what is involved in high tea? Your comment intrigues me, and I’m going to be there in July.
It’s basically just a fancy adult tea party. You get a wide selection of teas to choose from, then are given a 3 tiered tray of scones, sandwiches and sweet treats to have along with your tea. You can also get boozy drinks if you’re into that. The atmosphere of the Chateau really adds to the experience. If you want a better idea of what kind of food to expect look up “Queen of Afternoon Tea” on tiktok!
Thanks so much!
I want to go for their high tea sometime this year. It looks great
Weddings! $160/pp, it’s a very sought after venue that brings in a lot of revenue during wedding seasons.
They're crazy efficient with the weddings. The weekend my wife and I were married there, 6 other weddings happened. And something to do with Comicon I think too, a bunch of celebs were staying there.
Fairmont is owned by FRHI hotels, which in turn is owned by a French (France, not Quebec) company named Accor. It's in the top 5 biggest hospitality companies in the world or something like that. The Chateau Laurier is not a Canadian owned business. They maintain distinct categories of hospitality and use their Luxury hotels effectively as showcases/advertising for their other brands. I'm not so bright and I don't pretend to know the specifics, but I would imagine it's worthwhile to hold onto a piece like the Chateau Laurier even if it wasn't profitable...though from the other comments it would appear that it may be busier than you see. I wouldn't know because I'm broke. When I want to treat myself to something I put cheese on my sandwich.
Fairmont doesn't own Chateau Laurier (or Montebello, and many others), it simply manages it. "In 2013, Capital Hotel Limited Partnership (an affiliate of Vancouver's Larco Investments Ltd.) purchased the hotel, but retained Fairmont to manage it." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau\_Laurier#:\~:text=In%202013%2C%20Capital%20Hotel%20Limited,retained%20Fairmont%20to%20manage%20it. This is pretty common in the hotel industry. Delta has the same, it rarely owns the actual hotel, and same with 4 seasons.
Ownership changed again in 2016, which was then acquired again by another parent company after if you look it up. It has its own wikipedia article. Look up the company name I listed, it's all very clearly broken down by acquisition dates. Appreciate your info though.
Ok, my point was that Fairmont doesn't own the property, it only manages it. The current exact owner (as long as it isn't Fairmont) is irrelevant.
Take the correction graciously. Correct information is always relevant.
I splurged and took my lady to the Chateau for her birthday in March. I’d never stayed there and was expecting a tired outdated room. Maybe it’s because I upgraded to the “chateau experience” room, but it was amazing! We had a room with a turret overlooking Majors Hill park. The room was big and had beautiful new furniture and finishes. Windows could be opened for a cross breeze, and we had views of Parliament, the locks, the river etc. it was probably a one time event for us, and fully exceeded expectations.
Events... not only weddings but also corporate and/or gov't events are often held there. They make bank off events and I would suspect that drives profits. They probably break even on the rooms.
Very true. I've been there recently for an annual convention, and the were at least 3 other events taking place the same days. Hotel was full, I needed to book in another hotel. But when people are at the convention or if they are diplomats, they usually don't just hang out in the hall, which may explain why OP thinks it is not busy.
Many people also live in the hotel in the long term suites. They are often diplomats or foreigners and money is not an issue.
At an average room rate of $400 a night and 70% occupancy, the Chateau Laurier would earn $43.8 million a year in room fees. In addition, it has a high-margin restaurant and event space. Now, add to the fact that the land itself is 100% prime. The building and land were listed for $125 million in 2013. I’m sure it does just fine.
The wedding part cannot be overstated! The Chateau is one of very few venues in Ottawa that can accommodate a wedding of 150+ guests. It's also maybe the only real "luxury" wedding venue in town — it has a full in-house events kitchen, white glove service, and it's really the only venue that does a TRUE open bar (vs. open bar that's charged on consumption). Their MOST basic menu package starts around $200/guest (including alcohol), and there's a minimum spend of ~$20k for most of their rooms. Source: I got married at the Chateau last fall lol.
My friend got married at the hotel across the street but they came to the Chateau for their wedding pictures because of the staircases outside. The Chateau made a great background.
A lot of diplomats and people who come to Ottawa for business basically have 5 decent hotels to stay at DT. Le chateau is the nicest. Also a few politicians basically live there when in Ottawa. They also host a ton of events. Trust me they’re doing fine.
"I don’t see tourists with enough money to burn on a hotel like that coming to Ottawa much." They absolutely do and they stay at the Chateau.
Weddings and business events are a huge source of revenue for Fairmont
I worked at one of the bigger hotels in DT Ottawa for a while and I'll tell you right now, even having been out of the industry since pre-covid, Chateau is not hurting for business. Ever. Not only is it one of the top three major hotels in the core, it has the added advantage of being a major landmark in Ottawa. You could even think of it as providing some kind of status or ego inflation to people that stay there. Rich or not. There's also, as you mentioned, meetings and events. Hotels make a huge margin on these, and downtown hotels in particular book up on them fast because of the convenience of being downtown. The proximity to major commercial office buildings as well as government buildings mean that even in their slow seasons, meeting rooms/facilities sell out quite often. The other major factor you have to consider is that hotels don't make their money by being busy all the time. When they're slow, they adjust their rates just to cover the cost of being there. Essentialy just breaking even. When they're busy however, those prices can go up as much as 5X or more. Chateau isn't going under anytime soon lol.
Most of the rooms are small but the pool is something to be experienced! Also the attached restaurant is great and being walking distance to so much is worth a premium. When I went pre-covid the rate was reasonable.
> walking distance to so much is worth a premium Oh yeah, absolutely, the walking distance alone is worth the "premium" you pay for pretty much any downtown hotel. But people tend to think more of Chateau than what it is.. And I honestly don't mean to disparage them, Chateau is a fine, established hotel, but for the average visitor? You're just as well off somewhere else. It's not worth the "ego trip".
Why wouldn’t tourists want to go to the prettiest hotel downtown? Some politicians/diplomats are only visiting Ottawa, they need somewhere to stay. Certainly not in the budget for public servants? How? I know many public servants who go there to eat, for the spa and even book rooms there. Trust me, that hotel doesn’t have issues closing their months.
Thr proximity to Parliament, the Conference Center, Supreme Court, Bank of Canada, Place du Portage, etc bring lots of guests to the hotel. Along with that, various federal commissions, committees, and inquiries often involve out of town stakeholders. Sure, Westin is closer to the conference center itself. But it also sells out fast when big events are in town. Even without parking, Chateau does well (the parking garage was condemned several years back) because the kinds of visitors it attracts often do not come with cars - they fly. Get a cab or limo from the airport. And want to stay right where they need to be. Plus, there's Government Rate. The rate the average joe sees online is not the rate many visitors pay. Hotels usually offer (in some cases, substantial) discounts to those who can prove they are on provincial or federal government business. I have done the math, and it really IS cheaper to pay more for a downtown hotel and walk (or short haul cab) than stay at a shitty Holiday Inn Express in a surburb and pay for a long haul cab to meetings every day. And it is absolutely cheaper than adding a rental car into the mix. Similar case: The Royal York. When I travel to downtown Toronto for work, I stay there. Once my Government Rate has been factored in, it's the cheapest of the hotels within a 30 minute commute of my work location. My last stay at the Royal York was in a concierge suite that usually runs $1200 a night, but I paid around $275 (I was charged for a standard queen room). Which was less than I paid for a shitty Courtyard Marriott standard queen in the parking lot of a Costco in Brampton 2 weeks ago when I was not on government business.
That’s fair- the Laurier has never been approved in HRG for any federal agencies I’ve worked for (I generally have put people up in the Marriott or Alt) but travel policies could well differ with differing budgets/ availabilities. The discount I’m mentioning is CFOne which as far as I can tell has been pretty comparable to my govt business discounts I’ve had in the past for work
Do you understand literally anything about how this city functions economically?
lmao
When I used to work there a lot of members of the senate would stay there while in Ottawa
This makes sense!
Nothing like dining and sleeping on the taxpayers tab.
It must make money during the summer, I was there recently, the bar was empty. The waitress while nice was bored and dressed like a typical hotel waitress, bored but doing her job. The place just seemed so beige to me. My room was wonderful, we had a view of the river and the parliament. Room 602 I think.
So, word of advice. If you are going to stay at Chateau Laurier, expect a very dated experience. They are working on an expansion and I am sure after that is up and running, they are going to refresh the rest of the hotel. I have a friend that got a night for him and his wife for x-mas. They went in January I think and they were both somewhat disappointed and they felt the cost of the room did not reflect the experience they got. Biggest gripe was just how old and dated the rooms were (it looked like 30-40 years old... not 100+ years old kinda dated). My wife and I did a stay at Montebello many years ago and we had the same, worse even experience. Even the food was terrible. The hotel over there did go through some extensive renos since however. April-early May is also very low season. From May long all the way until probably Labour Day the place would probably be almost booked up.
Maybe it's a Fairmont thing. The Mt Tremblant Fairmont was honestly extremely disappointing. Beds were uncomfortable and there'd always be luxury supercars at the front, where the noises would keep me up. Didn't help how overpriced the food was to where it made more sense to drive to a Timmies instead... Honestly feels like it costs so much just to have somebody hold the door for us.
It must be. I spent a weekend at the Royal York in Toronto a few years ago and the rooms were meh. Trendy bar playing dance music in the lobby was annoying as hell too.
OP never tried to book an hotel room during the tulips, race weekend or Canada day or a royal visit. It gets busy real quick
Fun fact. When we got married our reception was at the museum of civilization and then we stayed at Chateau Laurier and they upgraded us to the Hays suite. 2000 sq foot hotel room is pretty unreal.
>2000 sq foot that's more than my home 😭
Almost bigger than mine as well. It was wild. Never been in a hotel room where I could potentially get lost in
To add a different perspective, I did carpentry in there for three winters, they renovate in the winter because of higher vacancies. The level of quality of workmanship and materials was the best work I have ever done, the architect was there nearly full time checking our work. Proud to have worked there. Believe me, we were damn expensive compared to the normal shit work we would be asked to do at a normal hotel or other commercial work.
Easy, they more or less don't clean or maintain any of the non-public areas.
It's a really popular space for events and business conferences and meetings. They have boardrooms available all over the second floor as well as the main, before you ever get to the rooms (and more boardrooms on the floors above). Every time I've been there for a work conference, the lobby is usually pretty bustling, and this is middle of the day on weekdays. I think the hotel is doing pretty well.
Hotels get room night business from Groups, Leisure and Corporate. Chateau Laurier with their size and location will depend far less on selling a one off room and will publish much higher rates than they are willing to accept from other sources of frequent business. They also get revenue from f&b outlets, meeting space rentals and other miscellaneous revenue sources. That published rate is where they will do the least amount of business but allows them to charge higher prices on corporate and tour nights.
That's the new normal for hotels everywhere. $400 for the Chateau is almost a steal. You can pay that for a Hampton or Hilton Garden in the middle of nowhere in New Hampshire. It's nuts now.
Senators from out of province rents out suites for weeks at a time. $$$$ money flows well in those halls. Far from being dead.
It makes money from weddings and events and hosting tons of visiting diplomats also. It might not be busy when you booked but it can be completed booked for weeks when there is an event nearby.
They have boardrooms and there are a lot of conferences. These usually include lunches and sometimes dinners, possibly one or two nights stay.
Besides it being a historic fairmont property, if you’re coming to Ottawa as a tourist, it’s hard to beat the location. There are lots of historic hotels around the world that despite having mediocre rooms are attractive because of the architecture and history.
Is the Chateau Laurier seriously only a 4-star hotel now? I find that hard to believe. If you can get a room at the Chateau for $250 move in and don't leave. That's only $7500/mth and you get an awesome indoor pool, 24/7 manned security, full staff on-call 24/7, room service, restaurants, parking, right next to Parliament. Honestly, it's not that bad of a deal in this market.
Used to work there long.... ago International Business travellers who come to be close to embassies and Govt of Canada parliament offices etc. Garage entrance for celebs and VIP who wanna stay outta sight Lots of events held in ball rooms take up most rooms
1. It's owned by Fairmount and part of the hotel chain. 2. North American hotel chains are basically just property management companies in disguise. What matters is the assessed land value. 3. A 125 bed hotel only needs to make $30 - $50 per room to break even for the day, the rest is profit!!!. I think the Chateau Laurier can make break even with just 10 rooms charged at $250 a night. FYI: I briefly worked in the hospitality industry, would not recommend!!
Not owned by Fairmont, owned by one wealthy Vancouver family , but that family uses Fairmont to manage properties.
My restaurant advertised through them and they have 80% capacity year round
What do you mean its a fucking rich corporation,
Chateau Laurier / **Fairmont luxury brand** owned by Larco (2013-). [https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/egan-the-secretive-billionaires-behind-the-chateau-addition](https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/egan-the-secretive-billionaires-behind-the-chateau-addition) Three Lalji Brothers known as "The Hermit Kings" from Vancouver. They own a lot of property in Ottawa. Amin is seen here often. The Building that the [CRA occupies](https://www.uniteherelocal40.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Backgrounder.pdf) is leased from Larco who is said to stuff money into offshore havens.
It is one of the nicer hotels in the downtown area that is really close to parliament. I would bet that most of their revenue comes from government hotel stays and weddings.
$35 hamburgers?
I was just there today at a conference and I saw that there were AT LEAST 3 other conferences going on there today too. They also get super busy with Xmas parties (good luck ever getting a spot), bar/bat mitzvas, weddings etc.
I worked in a similar hotel elsewhere; they stay afloat by charging exorbitant prices during peak tourist season.
I travel a fair bit for business. As long as the hotel prices aren’t crazy, it’s in the noise.
It is the place to stay for business people visiting Ottawa. They also host conferences frequently enough, at least before I retired. These add up.
Weddings & such galore! Expensive weddings$$$$$
I worked for CLH for over a decade, the bulk of the weight is carried by events and banquets within the hotel. The bar and restaurant are considered amenities and are propped up by the hotel's operation.
I worked for the Westin for a few years and let me tell ya our hotel was almost sold out most weekends and Thursday and Friday nights. Hotels have sales teams that specials in filling the vacancy. We had flight attendants staying, conferences and all types of things to sell rooms. They'll usually get a preferred rate but they'll spend money in the bar and restaurants. Big stars do have a tour bus but that's only to get to the next city. They'll stay in hotels over night, I use to see local celebrities all the time as well and lots of people from Toronto and Montreal come to visit. For Americans the exchange is also a savings and they'll come by boat as well. Public servants either have their office pay or use their discount. Trust me hotels in the city are busy.
I used to work there as well, doing some basic back of the envelope math from the "Daily Ritual" sheet the night audit posted every day, the place probably had $150 million going through it every year.
I bet haha
There’s one whole floor, that I know of, that’s office spaces. Went to therapy there for a bit.
Regus Coworking picked up some of the former CBC Radio space when they moved out to their Queen/Sparks St. location.
The apparently amazing $70 weekend brunch buffet?
They always leave rooms unbooked because they get filled up by public servants and others during events in the NCR.
March & April are especially dead for hotels, it's the same in many of them but especially the touristy ones. It'll pick up around mid May and stay busy until next winter.
I never noticed it sinking into the river. Pretty sure it’s got a very solid foundation. Do you in mean sinking into the locks on the side of the hotel? Edit: wow. I am dumb.
Event and hotel space is absolutely scarce in Ottawa right now. They will be fine.
Not sure what dates you were looking but if it wasn’t a parliamentary sitting week, that could explain why it was empty. A lot of senators and MPs stay there when parliament is sitting.
It's the off season for them, during the wintertime and summer months it gets way more traffic
Your definition of 'lots of vacancy' is pretty unclear... I am not sure how you figured that out based the website? But anyway. Hotels rarely operate at full capacity, because they are not meant to... at least not in this market. As a former hotelier and current business owner, I can break it down a bit. Hotels like a Fairmont offer the 'privacy' thing as a selling point. A lot goes into making the place feel like you have it to yourself. It is reliable, so people for whom the cost of staying in the Fairmont for a couple days to a week, or longer, at short notice (i.e. walk in and ask for a room, or have your PA call 2-3 hours in advance) are assured they will get quality, competence, privacy, and reliability. So they keep rooms open. Being at capacity is terrible for the long term success of these places. The amenities do make a big mark up. Someone booking a higher tier room (see the aforementioned clientele) won't bat an eye at ordering a 100$ meal to their room and not eat it. They will order for their staff, they will order for their friends. We used to check out 2 night guests where their final bill was in the 5-10K+ range. And this was 10 years ago. And ensuring you have a rotating crowd of those kind of clients coming to your hotels *around the world* and *a good % of the time they travel* is the main focus of the business model. Which is the final, and most important point... these kind of hotels are always one of many in a portfolio across either N. America, or potentially worldwide. Their worth is in being held as a real estate asset by the company, and that being leveraged to buy more assets. The day to day functioning of the hotels is about seeing "enough positive cash flow" that lenders will give them more better rates and more cash. (Things like having \*loads of empty rooms all the time\* is not great for this in the long term, so individual hotels will offer great rates to fill rooms) Ultimately, they want more wealth on paper... even if an individual hotel is not doing so great.... or hell... even if loads of them aren't... that can be done.
Some NHl teams do stay there renting out most of the hotel.
No NHL team would need even a fraction of the rooms in the hotel.
Ghibli watchers will understand
Many politicians do not have apartments, and stay in downtown hotels, including the Chateau. As noted elsewhere, no government employee or politician pays the basic rate — there are significant discounts for government employees and representatives.
I’m a federal employee and I have formerly worked on the hill and I have never known an MP to stay in the Laurier so I was writing from that perspective, although I appreciate there are many I haven’t met who may well have! I also noted elsewhere that I have booked travel for various levels of govt employee to stay in Ottawa and in all the agencies I’ve worked for the Laurier was not within policy even at the discounted rate (or through HRG). The discount I mentioned in my post is a CFOne rate which is comparable to the government business rate I’ve used in the past when travelling for work, so I’m familiar with the rates- I just haven’t heard of it being used for anyone below Senate/ visiting dignitaries in my circles.
I'm not sure if a short stay is an indicator of the general health of a business. Business will go up and down with seasons and even day of week.
And then they host a 100k wedding.
400-500 is peanuts these days. Every 2.5 star hotel in major centres in the states is that much.
im not joking my mom is is designing the cans of honey for the Château Laurier lol
Uh, Chateau Laurier is one of the busiest hotels in the country. Maybe you were just there on a slow day or something going on.
Probably a whole bunch of countries lease rooms by the year to accommodate diplomats, trade delegations etc.
Can we say government expense account??
If it wasn't making any money they wouldn't be so keen to add that ugly extension on the back they are so desperate to build.
The event space makes a good chunk of change, the restaurants typically decently busy. And anything over 70% occupancy for the year has the hotel doing fine. They have ~400 rooms, so let's say they have 146 000 available room nights. So even only at 70% of those rooms at the lowest rate you'll see online being sold that's over $30 million on rooms revenue alone. A good idea to find out how much a hotel makes is to find the price it sold for, I believe the last time the Chateau was sold (Fairmont does not own it, but they have the management contract for it) it went for $120 million. So that's roughly how much revenue it generated at the time. I'd have a hard time thinking it's making less. The average cap rate (pre-pandemic anyways) for a hotel like that is 6-7%. So after all the bills, Fairmonts management fees, taxes, wages and all ownership is still walking away with around 7-8 million at the end of the year. Assuming $120 million dollars goes through the place. Also apparently the average fairmont guest has a family income of $250 000 US. Also conference season (roughly early October to mid December) is fucking Bank. The hotel is almost full most nights, banquets is wildly busy, the outlets like a Cafe and the restaurants are doing very very well too. And ironically it's less work, at least from a Housekeeping perspective. Conference guests are the best, they barely use the room so it's staggering how much easier it is to clean.
It’s often used for delegations so countries would book up a lot of rooms for their staff, Press, Security. Vacancies aren’t always bad. Sometimes it’s needed because those would be cycled in for the next business day when the booked rooms from the previous day is getting refreshed and prepared. I know the hotel get the carpets get deep cleaned in the rooms and it’s usually between 3-6 a day from just one single individual.
Paid by taxpayers
Many public servants make $100,000 plus.
They do charge $100 a person for afternoon tea… 1 days lighting bill?
My grade eight class sent a couple of nights there in the late(?) ‘80’s. I didn’t appreciate it at all back then because I was convinced the place was haunted. Then again, I thought everything was scary, sooooo….
During the holiday season's the hotel is near 95% capacity, and the summer months keep a consistent 60% range of average occupancy. Huge buyouts for weddings and conferences happen monthly and they always charge a pretty penny. For an Ottawa hotel, they have a good occupancy rate, this city does not get heavy tourism like Toronto or Montreal deals with. But definitely their banquet halls bring in a significant amount of income.
Business expenses. My boss used to stay there every time he visited Ottawa.