It's official. The North Gateway area hotel that's been in the works for a few years now, the one built on a former South Okanagan Events Centre overflow parking lot, the one that permanently closed the north end of Alberni Street, and the one that City Community Services GM Anthony Haddad in 2021 called "the convention hotel we've wanted for the last three or four years" is now open.
So we dropped by for a look. After all, just by location alone, never mind the fact that it's brand new, it’s now one of the obvious frontrunners for out-of-towners attending events at either the SOEC or the Trade and Convention Centre.
And considering how much the City of Penticton treasures that SOEC/PTCC combo – its North Gateway strategy is essentially structured around it – the new hotel is a pretty big deal.
It's called the "Four Points by Sheraton Penticton at the Convention Centre," and yes, that’s a very long name.
So, what do you get?
You get a pet-friendly facility, to a maximum of two per room. But more importantly, you get a sub-three-minute walk to either the PTCC or the SOEC, and just a slightly longer stroll to Okanagan Lake Beach.
You also get to choose from 121 modernistic rooms spread over six storeys, some of which feature very useable kitchenettes and some that are multi-room suites.
It's the latter in particular that are the obvious stars of the show.
They're wonderfully spacious, with big living rooms, huge bedrooms with a couple beds, massive washrooms with double sinks and tons of counter space, and dedicated kitchen areas with amenities like full-size fridges, two-burner cooktops, microwaves and plenty of cupboards.
The décor throughout the facility is probably best described as a blend of modern and mid-century modern. It's a style that's recently gained quite a bit of traction.
Back down on the ground floor, you'll find perks like a fitness room – a big fitness room with quality gear and lots of it, including a ton of free weights and a gaggle of beefy cardio machines with touchscreens – and a mid-size pool in the adjacent space that remained hidden from photos as it was undergoing some rather serious renovations.
It'll apparently be ready to go by the end of the month.
There's no breakfast bar, so that puts the kibosh on freebie DIY waffles. But there is a full-service two-storey restaurant called Palmer's Steakhouse Casual. It's run by MacKenzie Hospitality (which handles Summerland's Shaughnessy's Cove, among others) and it's open from 7 am to mid-evening every day of the week.
Inside, you'll find stuff like "Crab Cake Benny" and "Banana Bread French Toast" for breakfast/brunch and steak, salads, pasta and more for dinner. This is definitely not a bargain basement eatery.
The lobby is airy and spacious and features a "Pantry" with a small selection of munchies and two of the prettiest leather armchairs we've seen in awhile.
Granted, we're really into that mid-century modern look.
There's an ultra-wide-screen TV in the adjacent sitting room with an even wider electric fireplace underneath it and a slick retro-futuristic ceiling light fixture hanging above. Next door to that is a meeting/conference space.
One amenity we didn’t get to see because it was covered in snow was the rooftop deck. The hotel staged a flashy deck grand opening last year, but has kept it closed since. It'll reappear again for the 2024 season this spring.
Something that won’t open this spring – or ever perhaps – is the enclosed, climate-controlled pedestrian walkway to the Convention Centre the City was pumping three years ago.
"One of our big gaps has been the lack of a connected hotel," said Anthony Haddad in early 2021, pointing to a "direct pedestrian connection" as a potential solution.
But now, that idea's been shelved.
"The original budget of $600,000 (allocated in the City's capital plan) was intended to provide a climate-controlled walkway from the new hotel to the convention centre," he said.
"But ultimately spending 600K on a walkway of that distance would not be practical given future considerations of that land. Other options in the future may make more sense once designs are completed."
In the interim, a substantially less sophisticated painted pedestrian walkway that Haddad says will be illuminated and improved upon at some point in the near future has been installed. It doesn’t run all the way to the hotel though – it culminates before the property line, forcing pedestrians bound for the PTCC to navigate a few tall curbs along the way.
Room rates at the Four Points by Sheraton Penticton at the Convention Centre are commensurate with the hotel's location, age and level of amenities.
Nightly rates for standard rooms in January start in the $140 range for a double queen. Kitchenette rooms are approximately $50 more while suites are hovering at the $250 mark.
But don’t expect to pay that in the heart of the tourist season. By mid-July, standard rooms are $350 and up, kitchenette rooms are in the $400 range and suites are $500-ish. Non-refundable prepaid and member deals are available.
For more info, turn to the hotel website here.
