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Cambridge Hotel in Red Deer has new ownership group

‘They’re making an investment in this iconic hotel for the future,’ says general manager Gil Vallee
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The Cambridge Hotel and Conference Centre in Red Deer has new owners. (Photo by Sean McIntosh/Advocate staff)

The Red Deer Cambridge Hotel and Conference Centre has a new owner.

On Nov. 2, O’Chiese Hospitality Limited Partnership took over the ownership and operations of the business, hotel general manager Gil Vallee said on Thursday.

“They retained all the staff – they were all part of the deal. Everybody came across,” Vallee said, adding the hotel’s name will stay the same as well.

“We’re excited we have a local owner that is very excited about having the ownership and the property. They’re making an investment in this iconic hotel for the future. The associates who work in the hotel are very excited about having a new ownership group.”

Vallee said it was a “very smooth” transition into the new ownership group.

“But with the limited resources we have on staff, because we have a lot of associates who are still laid off (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), there was a lot of work to do for the associates who are still employed at this time,” he said.

Like many other businesses in the hospitality industry, the Cambridge Hotel has faced some hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Vallee.

“We’re substantially lower than we have been in previous years,” he said.

“I thought I saw a little light (at the end of the tunnel), until I saw the premier’s message yesterday, seeing the widespread vaccine won’t be available until the fall or winter of 2021.

“The Cambridge Red Deer relies a lot on group business … and larger conferences. It doesn’t sound, from the way I interpreted the message yesterday, that we’ll be resuming those large-scale type meetings quite soon.”

O’Chiese Hospitality Limited Partnership purchased the hotel, located at the corner of Gaetz Avenue and 32 Street, from Temple Hotels Inc.

In 2019, the Sheraton Hotel was rebranded as the Cambridge Hotel.

The hotel originated as the Capri Motel Inn in 1961, with Al Pasutto buying it three years later. A number of expansions occurred over the years, including the addition of the hotel’s tower in 1981.



Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
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