The property manager behind the city’s new Moxy Ottawa Downtown says boutique hotels are becoming more popular among travellers and the capital could see an influx of the unique properties over the next several years.
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The property manager behind the city’s new Moxy Ottawa Downtown says boutique hotels are becoming more popular among travellers and the capital could see an influx of the unique properties over the next several years.
On Wednesday, Montreal-based Rimap Hospitality opened its second property in the city, Moxy Ottawa Downtown, in the ByWard Market. Located at 126 York St., the 22-storey tower has 224 guest rooms and incorporates a 58,800-square-foot former warehouse, built in 1913, into its design.
Regional general manager Stéphane Pelletier said the goal was to take advantage of the location to create a hotel experience for “the next generation of travellers.”
“We’re very excited to be bringing the Moxy brand into Ottawa,” he told OBJ. “It’s an energy brand. It’s an upbeat brand, an extension of what you’re going to experience in the (ByWard Market). You can continue to have that party, that fun, that energy in the Moxy Hotel.”
Moxy is one of 30 brands operated by Maryland-based Marriott International, the world’s largest hotel chain by number of rooms. Marriott runs more than 100 hotels under the Moxy banner in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific. The brand says it offers a “non-traditional” experience that includes allowing guests to check in at the hotel bar.
The Moxy Ottawa Downtown is the second of three Marriott-branded projects that Rimap is working on in the city. In April 2025, the company opened the first, the AC Hotel by Marriott Ottawa Downtown, a 159-room tower also located in the ByWard Market at 201 Rideau St.
“It’s going very well,” said Pelletier. “We’ve ramped up very quickly. The hotel is achieving some very high occupancies in the market … The AC has really become a local area for tourists to come and visit. Ella Langley was here during Bluesfest recently. The city had a lot of tourists from everywhere across Canada and the United States and our location gave us that edge to take advantage of that.”
The third property, Renaissance Hotel Ottawa Downtown, is under construction and scheduled to open in 2027. Located at the corner of Bay and Slater streets, the tower is expected to be 35 storeys tall with 230 hotel rooms.
All three projects incorporate residential units alongside hotel guest rooms. According to Pelletier, the Moxy has 350 rental apartments.
“In the Ottawa market there’s a need for additional housing,” he said. “It makes sense for us, because we are a multi-purpose builder. We look at opportunities where we can have not just one type of business model but a dual business model, so we can be available to two types of markets.”
For Rimap, Pelletier said Ottawa’s evolution as a tourism market has made the city a solid bet for this kind of investment.
“The tourism industry in Ottawa is growing every year. Ottawa is becoming a world‑renowned destination. It has a very strong corporate presence, it has a national association presence. You see a lot of investment in entertainment, in attractions around us,” he said.
“There’s going to be an excess of tourism demand within this city and that’s the reason why we wanted to position ourselves in the city because we do believe that the city will continue to grow.”
Rather than build more traditional Marriotts, Pelletier said the decision to take the boutique approach with the three Ottawa projects was in response to changing needs among a growing number of travellers looking for more authentic and personalized experiences.
“They’re looking for something different,” he said. “They’re looking for an environment where they feel comfortable, where they know they can either be productive or have fun … The boutique (approach) allows us to be a smaller facility that gives you more intimacy and the opportunity of being with a specific crowd of people. Those are all the values that people are looking for when they select and choose hotels today.”
Each new hotel takes a slightly different approach to cater to different clientele, he said, adding that those differentiators also set the properties apart from more traditional accommodations and the expected influx of other boutique hotels.
“There will be more coming up,” he said. “There’s more development, different brands that are boutique-style or boutique-size hotels. There’s more slated for the ByWard Market and they are currently being proposed.”
Pelletier, who has been the lead on all three projects over the past three years, said seeing the company’s efforts come to life has been “a privilege.”
“As a hotelier, I’ve been in the industry for more than 30 years and it’s exciting for me to be part of developing these properties and bringing them to market,” he said. “Now the big part is, I just want our customers to be able to see and feel what these hotels are and how they can make their stay and their visit to Ottawa memorable, exciting and unforgettable.”
