Downtown Victoria hotel on the market for second time in 10 years
The Dalton Hotel & Suites at Blanshard and Yates streets is on the market once again. Photo © VibrantVictoria.ca.
Downtown Victoria’s Dalton Hotel & Suites, located at the corner of Blanshard and Yates streets, is up for grabs for the second time in less than a decade.
Originally known as The Dominion Grand Hotel, the historic 88-room, five-storey building completed in 1876 may be the City’s oldest hotel, although not quite its grandest. The aging Dominion Grand sold earlier in the decade and underwent a rebranding effort that brought several improvements to the property, including some $1.5-million in renovations. Those improvements, however, were not enough to make the operation a money maker.
The present owner estimates that $1-million is required to renovate the currently inoperative second floor. The sales listing document released by commercial real-estate firm Avison Young of Vancouver states that due to the inoperative floor, the “hotel is currently operating inefficiently, and the current economic climate has further reduced the revenue potential of the hotel operation.”
With annual revenues of $1-million, the property is operating at “near breakeven levels,” according to Avison Young, and should renovation of the second floor be completed, the revenue could increase “significantly.” The sales document also hints at the possibility of converting the property from transient use to residential, a trend that has proven popular among buyers and real-estate developers in Victoria.
The asking price for the hotel is $7.9-million. In addition to the property, buyers are eligible to purchase a liquor store on the hotel’s ground floor and an adjacent restaurant, dubbed The Office, for an additional $3.35-million.
For more information on Victoria’s tourism industry, including news related to hotel operations throughout the region, refer to the Tourism discussion thread in the VibrantVictoria.ca forum. To view the official Dalton Hotel & Suites website, click here, and to access the sales listing document, click here.
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Responses to this Headline or Article
The five most recent replies to VibrantVictoria.ca's discussion forum's Tourism thread, the most relevant thread to the above headline or article:
Bingo
Oct 24, 2011 at 7:11 pm
WASHINGTON - A trip to the United States just got more expensive for Canadians travelling stateside by air or water thanks to the passage on Capitol Hill of a free-trade agreement between the United States and Colombia.
A provision in the new pact, signed into law on Friday by U.S. President Barack Obama, contains a clause that does away with an exemption of a $5.50 "passenger inspection levy" on visitors to the United States from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
Nparker
Oct 24, 2011 at 9:03 pmQuote:... the passage...of a free-trade agreement between the United States and Colombia...does away with an exemption of a $5.50 "passenger inspection levy" on visitors to the United States from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean...
So if it's a
sebberry
Oct 24, 2011 at 9:24 pmA family friend owns an antique shop downtown and said that since the new passport rules, business has dropped significantly. Many Americans don't have passports since they don't tend to travel internationally as much as Canadians.
More border fees, etc.. just hurt even more.
Ginger Snap
Oct 24, 2011 at 10:24 pmQuote: The problem with our tourism marketing is we're not marketing the city, we're marketing a few cliche establishments within the city.
New York markets New York, Vancouver markets Vancouver, Seattle markets Seattle. Victoria markets Butchart Gardens. Fix this and we might have a winner.
Sorry, I think you are way off base with your criticism. Tourism Victoria does not pander to the tourism cliches - in fact, the folks in charge there are working very hard to change the perception of Victoria as a 'little bit of olde England'. Perceptions change, but slowly. Therefore there are still many travel stories that reflect the cliches, but not all. You would be amazed at the amount of travel stories now that feature Victoria as a craft beer haven, a burgeoning wine region, a gateway to west coast wilderness tourism, a culinary destination, an emerging art/culture region, a 'learning vacation' hot spot... you name it.
I wholeheartedly agree that the old cliches have got to go, but you are mis-assigning the blame.
Ginger Snap
Oct 24, 2011 at 10:28 pmQuote: It would probably help immensely if Tourism Victoria et al didn't insist on constantly pushing images of the Empress Hotel or the legislature: for the unitiated no doubt from their perspective "Victoria" is comprised of a) an old hotel and b) a government building that looks suspiciously like dozens of provincial or state capitol buildings in their own province/states.
It wouldn't hurt at all if marketing literature actually showed "other" buildings indicative of the fact that is, um, well....you know.....a real honest to goodnessCITY . But I suppose that would forever shatter the oh-so-carefully crafted facade of Ye Olde English Crumpets and Tea. Sheesh......
Rinse, lather, repeat. What I just said, above. It's not Tourism Victoria. Most of the tourism icons you are talking about produce a fair amount of marketing and advertising materials, and it is in their best interest, for the most part, to keep that image alive. So... they do, or they try their best to, at least. As do the buses with the union jack, and so on. But as for your critique of the official tourism marketing of the Victoria... I think you are barking up the wrong tree.
