The $365 million Trump International Hotel & Tower is expected to open January 7, 2017, in Vancouver and, like its namesake, the first luxury hotel built in B.C. this decade has defied its critics.
Started four years ago during a lull in the hotel sector, the Trump tower is now leading a rush of developers trying to muscle into the most highly valued hotel sector in the country.
The Trump name is emblazoned across the shiny new structure, and hotel officials insist politics are not negatively affecting reaction to the skyline’s newest tower.
“The political situation for Mr. [Donald] Trump is out there, but we really don’t get involved in the campaign or politics,” said Philipp Posch, general manager of the hotel. “Clients are embracing us.
“Large American and Canadian companies are booking space for conferences and some people rescheduled their weddings so they could host it at the new hotel,” Posch said.
The Trump name was already a world-renowned brand when Vancouver’s Holborn Group joined with Trump Hotels to open what the partners promise will be “the new Vancouver icon.” The striking, twisting Trump International Hotel & Tower boasts a number of new-to-the-city amenities. The hotel is home to the prototype for a reimagined spa experience across the Trump Hotels chain. The Spa by Ivanka Trump will eventually be the standard in all the Trump Hotels.
While the food and accommodations are billed as top-notch, Wendy Patriquin, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing, said service is what really sets the Trump experience apart.
Trump Attaché is something beyond a conventional concierge, she said.
“Trump Attaché meticulously records individual preferences to ensure that no stay feels like the first and no request is left unfulfilled,” she said. “If you said you only drink Coke, you would only find Coke in your room. It wouldn’t be unknown for us to go and buy a diamond ring for someone that’s going to propose to his fiancée.”
Pets will be equally pampered, Patriquin said. “Pets will receive whatever special treatments their owners request, including chef-prepared meals on fine china and bottled water in silver bowls if that’s what they’re accustomed to.”
Spending big is also on the menu for Vancouver’s hotel scene.
A 2016 hotel evaluation index by HVS International, an industry analyst, found that Vancouver’s downtown will see the strongest increase in Canadian market value for the second year.
Vancouver’s valuation growth is projected at 25.3 per cent and Vancouver retains its first-place position with a price of $288,471 per room.
This year, Toronto’s downtown squeaked into second place in terms of growth, overtaking Vancouver airport with a 23 per cent increase in per-room value, at $226,862.
At the other end of the spectrum, Calgary suffered the largest decrease in hotel value in 2015 with a drop of 16.9 per cent, and Edmonton saw a 13.8 per cent decline. The average Calgary hotel sells for around $164,500 per room. It is $134,000 per room in Edmonton.
Meanwhile, a hotel building mini-boom is underway across B.C.
Four hotels have opened in the last 12 months: Holiday Inns in Victoria and Terrace; a Sandman in Abbotsford; and a Home2 Suites in Fort St. John. Hotels under construction include the Douglas in Vancouver, theJW Marriott Parq, a Vancouver casino hotel next to BC Place stadium; a Best Western in Fort St. John; and a Marriott in downtown Prince George.
“The lift in hotel investment in B.C. is because the market is performing really well,” said analyst Carrie Russell of HVS International. “RevPAR [revenue per available room] is up throughout the province.”
