Coast Hotel in Oliver holds official grand opening

Oliver Mayor Ron Hovanes was beaming like a proud new father at Thursday afternoon’s board meeting of the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen (RDOS) after informing members he had just attended the official grand opening of the Coast Hotel in downtown Oliver.

While the hotel has been open for business since June, the management team from Mundi Hotel Enterprises Inc. held off on the grand opening until Thursday morning, said Hovanes.

The hotel is located just off Main Street in downtown Oliver only metres away from the Okanagan River channel that winds through town.

“It was a very, very exciting morning for Oliver as our 83-room Coast Hotel had its grand opening this morning,” he said. “It’s a big thing. I know you guys (in Penticton) have all the hotels in the world here, but for us, it’s a big, big deal.

“We had a huge crowd out. The hotelier is absolutely fantastic. From start to finish (erecting the hotel) was smooth as anything. It took 18 months … modular construction. Don’t be scared of it. The whole hotel went up in just over seven days. It took six months to complete it.”

Watching crews put the modular blocks into place in only a matter of days was amazing to watch and seeing the hotel open to the public and doing well has been exciting, he said.

“It’s a gorgeous hotel,” he said. “So, anyway, it was very exciting and I had to be there and I wanted my entire Council to be there because they worked really hard on this.”

Hovanes said he expects the new hotel to be very busy this coming weekend as the Oliver Roots and Fruits Expo offers family fun from Friday to Sunday.

The Roots and Fruits festival is replacing the Oliver Sunshine Festival.

The event will feature a downtown parade Saturday afternoon and will include events at Oliver Community Park and Hall.

Some other events include live entertainment, including Mexican Folklore Dancers, Oliver’s Got Talent show, the band Just Us Too, singer-songwriter Kristi Neumann and the band Judy and the Diamonds.

There will also be food trucks, an agriculture and heritage exhibition, barrel train rides, waterslides, pie eating contest and pony rides.

For full event details, visit www.oliverrecreation.ca.

“It’s a really fun event, so please if you’re looking for something to do and want to check out the new hotel, go in and the front end staff are absolutely lovely local people and they will give you a tour.”

For more information about Coast Hotel in Oliver, click here.