Yellowknife’s newest hotel targets tech-savvy travellers

Yellowknife’s latest hotel received its business licence on Monday. The Slave Lake Inn, on Franklin Avenue heading toward Old Town, plans a soft launch later in January.

The Nova Group of Companies, which owns the inn, is waiting for a final delivery before opening its doors, chief operating officer Debbie Hannah told Cabin Radio on Tuesday.

“It’s a small unit, with only 31 suites,” said Hannah. The Nova Group also operates Yellowknife’s Chateau Nova Hotel.

“It’s a tech-y hotel,” she continued, saying the Inn will cater to guests who want to come in and hook up their own devices.

The hotel will have the highest available bandwidth and download speeds, said Hannah, to offer guests a level of online service comparable to other cities.

“I think it’s something that’s a problem in Yellowknife – good internet,” she said. “Everyone coming from the south is used to it.”

The rooms won’t have phones – there will be communal phones in hallways – but will have smart TVs allowing guests to watch their own Netflix or Amazon Prime shows, in addition to cable television channels.

Turning the TV off automatically logs guests out of their streaming accounts.

The Slave Lake Inn will offer a European-style continental breakfast – cold cuts, cheeses, croissants, breads, jams, espresso, and cappuccino – instead of “cereals and the standard everyone is used to,” Hannah said.

Eventually, check-in is planned to take place online, allowing guests to receive a passcode for their room and the hotel’s front door without the need to visit the front desk.

“We feel we have to try something different in Yellowknife,” Hannah said of the business plan, adding the company can always “add things back” if its plan to target young, tech-savvy travellers doesn’t pan out.

Suites at the Slave Lake Inn will be priced in line with lower-end rates at the Chateau Nova chain, as the hotel doesn’t have a restaurant or bar. Exact rates have yet to be determined, said Sylvie Lachapelle-Leggett, the inn’s general manager.

She wrote she “personally cannot wait for the opening” but noted there will be no photos to share of the hotel’s interior until the last few projects are completed. 

Preparations were set back when, on October 22, the hotel was broken into.

Police confirmed the incident late last year. A person on-site at the time told Cabin Radio a computer and other items were stolen.