A six-storey, 245-room hotel, in addition to a 1,000 stall parkade, is in the works Kelowna’s airport.
Sutton Place Hotels announced on Wednesday it was planning to build a signature luxury hotel and parking structure next to the new terminal building expansion at YLW.
The hotel chain, owned and operated by BC-based Northland Properties, will offer guests and locals access to amenities such as business conference facilities, an indoor leisure and fitness centre, full-service valet, bell-hop, and concierge, along with an onsite full-service restaurant positioned to feature locally grown food and drink with a roof-top viewing lounge.
“Kelowna and the Okanagan Valley is an increasingly more important economic region,” said Tom Gaglardi, CEO of Northland Properties. “The addition of The Sutton Place Hotel and new airport parkade speaks to the vibrancy of the region.”
“The Sutton Place Hotel and parkade at YLW are vitally important to our region’s economic expansion and to our position as a premier destination in Canada for tourism and business travel,” said Kelowna mayor Tom Dyas.
Dyas said the airport should see an increase in passengers from 2 million a year to 3.5 million, and this week’s news will accommodate that growth.
“This will make YLW an even more convenient landing spot for those with a short layover, those arriving with plans to stay and explore the Okanagan Valley, and for those departing from YLW and wanting to avoid the early morning rush to the airport.”
In October 2021, YLW advertised the expression of interest for a long-term land lease to build a hotel and parkade through HM Commercial, a Kelowna-based commercial real estate company.
YLW used HM Commercial to ensure the opportunity was broadly and extensively advertised through a neutral entity. The Kelowna International Airport underwent a robust multi-stage process to select the preferred proponent.