Marriott Ottawa upgrades to include ‘revamped’ restaurant with new concept, hotel says

February 28, 2025

The owners of the Marriott Ottawa hotel said this week the 489-room property on Kent Street – which opened in 1971 and last underwent significant renovations 15 years ago – will receive a “sweeping overhaul.”

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A “revamped” restaurant and a new-look facade are among the changes coming to Ottawa’s second-largest hotel as Ottawa’s hospitality industry braces for new competition. The owners of the Marriott Ottawa hotel said this week the 489-room property on Kent Street – which opened in 1971 and last underwent significant renovations 15 years ago – will receive a “sweeping overhaul.” Work on the project, which is expected to be completed next year, has already begun. Ash Wilby, the hotel’s director of sales and marketing, told OBJ this week the hotel’s top two floors have been gutted and the fitness centre has been upgraded with new equipment. “It used to be you could renovate a hotel, you know, once every 10, 20 years,” Wilby said on Thursday. “Now, you almost have to do it every five or six. Although the hotel has always been very well kept, it is a little past due for a renovation and really a modernization of the product itself.” The renovation comes as a number of new hotels are poised to enter the Ottawa market in the months ahead. Three new Marriott-branded properties built by Montreal’s Rimap Hospitality – the AC Marriott on Rideau Street, the Moxy on York Street and the Marriott Renaissance on Slater Street – are in various stages of construction, and the new Hard Rock Hotel and Casino is slated to open in the city’s south end later this year. With competition for the tourism dollar more fierce than ever, Wilby said the owners of the Ottawa Marriott – which was acquired in 2023 by Toronto-based Manga Hotels Group from another Toronto firm, InnVest Hotels – felt the time had come to give the 54-year-old property a makeover. “I think the modern traveller has high expectations these days,” he said. “There’s a lot more options, there’s a lot more properties out there. If you want to compete, you really have to offer a product that’s conducive to the rates that these markets are demanding nowadays.” Wilby didn’t provide an exact price tag for the project, but pegged it in the “eight-figure” range. All suites will get a complete overhaul, with new furniture and lighting as well as hardwood floors in place of the existing carpets. In addition, the building’s water filtration and HVAC systems will be replaced. All common areas will also be redesigned, and the hotel’s facade will be updated. “Yes, there will be some disruptions here or there and some inconveniences, but we think it will really be very limited,” Wilby said.

Restaurant revamp

The main restaurant, now called Spin Kitchen and Bar, will be “revamped,” he added. “It’ll be a completely different look and feel, like the entirety of the property,” Wilby said. “We’re not sure if we’re going to stick with the name Spin or change it to something else. We will be updating our menus and coming up with a concept for that restaurant, which we haven’t quite ironed out yet.” Like many hotels, the Marriott has had a bit of a lumpy start to 2025. Wilby said there’s been a bump in leisure travellers as more Canadians opt to stay home rather than go south amid a brewing trade war with the U.S. Meanwhile, the Rideau Canal Skateway has had its longest season in years, leading to an uptick in visitors for events like Winterlude. On the flip side, however, Wilby said the prorogation of Parliament until March put a dent in bookings from business and convention travellers. “I think that the short-term local business that we would get has definitely been down in terms of group and corporate travel coming into the city, because typically the corporations coming out of Toronto and Montreal are coming to lobby the government,” he explained. Overall, he said, occupancy in the first quarter is trending down compared with last year. “I think going into March and April, if things don’t turn around, that’s where we’re going to see the real challenge.” Wilby said he remains optimistic about the long-term outlook for the hospitality industry. “I think you have to avoid a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he said. “We’re at a time that’s somewhat unprecedented, but you kind of have to sell through it a little bit. “The last couple of months have been a little uncertain, and we’re not as busy as we would like to be or we would typically be during this period. I think, like all businesses, we’re feeling it a little bit. But at the end of the day, people still need to travel. I don’t see hotels going out of business.”