A new hotel will soon be built just outside of downtown Bracebridge.
Sandip Patel, who owns the Travelodge Motel at 320 Taylor Road and the nearby Shell Gas Bar, is finalizing the necessary permits he needs before shovels go in the ground by the end of May.
He expects the five-storey, 84 room, 10,000 square foot hotel to be open by the summer of 2023.
The Travelodge will be demolished to make room for the new hotel. Patel says they will push back the gas bar to give builders enough space for the hotel and parking spaces.
“Tru by Hilton is designed to appeal to younger, tech-minded, design-savvy travellers on a budget and I think it will be a great addition to the Bracebridge hospitality sector,” Patel explains about the offshoot brand introduced in 2016. “Hilton came up with a new concept called the Millenium brand. It’s completely different from the traditional Hilton brands. It’s something new and in this area, it doesn’t have anything like this.”
According to the Hilton’s website, this will be the third Tru by Hilton hotel built in Canada and first in Ontario.
“I had a dream to build up this lot when I moved to Bracebridge,” he added. Patel has owned the Travelodge since arriving in August 2013. The gas station was opened in 2019.
He says owning both businesses has been part of a “slow build” to this.
Noble Design Build & Renovate Ltd. will oversee the construction once it begins. Patel says a groundbreaking ceremony will be held in late May ahead of shovels going into the ground.
Patel says the price point for the rooms hasn’t been decided yet but did say they will be comparable to what it costs to stay at a Best Western or Holiday Inn.