Wondering what a second hotel right next to Yellowknife’s Explorer Hotel might look like? We now know a little more about the plans.
Last week, Explorer owner Nunastar announced it is beginning work on a new hotel on the same site as its existing one, which has operated in Yellowknife for just over half a century.
More detailed plans have now been filed with the City of Yellowknife, while Nunastar chief operating officer Ben Cox took questions from Cabin Radio about his company’s proposal.
Cox said the new 150-room hotel will be designed so that it offers something unique to attract people used to the existing facilities, while also trying to cater to all tastes.
“Every hotel needs to be able to offer something to a family, it needs to be able to offer something to a tourist, it needs to be able to offer a unique meeting space for governments,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to take care of everyone in the North, because it’s not a big market.”
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Here’s what Nunastar has to say about its project.
This interview was recorded on April 2, 2026. The transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Ollie Williams: Give me a picture of demand for hotel space in Yellowknife right now.
Ben Cox: Let’s say there’s slow growth in the tourism industry. That bounced back. It is a seasonal business. As the town grows and tourism grows, it is going to become more seasonal, so that’s the risk with all of this new development.
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You can’t just serve one group, that’s what we said. You’ve got to serve families, serve government. It’s not going to be a year-one success project. These are all generational or long-term investments that we make. If we weren’t here for the long haul, we wouldn’t be making this decision.
If you compared it to the Explorer Hotel, what separates this new proposal from the one you have?
We’re still exploring the amenities. We want this hotel to have a reason that people will be willing to go to it. Hopefully we get repeat guests, and hopefully everyone will have a favourite.
You’ve got the Trapline Lounge at the Explorer, maybe you like heading down to it for a drink. Then if we can make the logistics of a rooftop patio at the new hotel happen, they’ll want to go over there, or maybe people prefer the new gym at the new place.
A lot more details will follow after we get city council’s approval, but we will be looking to make it special and unique from the Explorer.
Every hotel needs to be able to offer something to a family, it needs to be able to offer something to a tourist, it needs to be able to offer a unique meeting space for governments. You’ve got to be able to take care of everyone in the North, because it’s not a big market.
You’ve got a parcel of land to work with that sits up against a residential area of town. It backs onto green space with a trail going through it over the top of a hill toward Niven Lake. What are you anticipating some of the challenges might be in terms of getting everybody on board with this proposal and making sure it works for the people who live near and around it?
Traffic will continue to enter the Explorer’s current entrance. There are luckily no residential units right at that entrance there, so it’s on a main arterial in that way. We don’t anticipate traffic impacts because people won’t be driving from the Old Town area through that residential, it’ll just be right off the four-way stop there.
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Other than that, the location of where it is on the rock – it’s not going to be towering over any nearby residential or anything like that. The same way that the current Explorer doesn’t interfere with any sort of residential nearby at all, the project’s being set up so it’s of the same nature.
It’ll still be close enough to walk downtown and support those businesses, and very much be a part of the city and benefit the local restaurants and everything nearby.
Why did Nunastar decide to pull a trigger on this now?
There’s a lot of factors Canada-wide. We wouldn’t move ahead if we didn’t have a great deal of confidence that it’s the right move eventually. The federal government’s renewed focus on the North is certainly a positive.
I think everyone in Yellowknife was a little bit worried about the closure of the diamond mines and what that means for the future of the territory, but we wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t have a long-term focus on Yellowknife and a generational mindset as to what we’re building here.
What is the timeline that you as a company would like to have for this in terms of when it actually opens up?
We need to hear from the city, hear their feedback. Once we respect that process and get through that process, then through fall and into the next year is the earliest that people would start seeing action on the site. From then, you’re looking at a couple of years out for ultimate opening.
You can’t build fast in Yellowknife. You’ve got to respect the seasons and what Mother Nature thinks about your development as well.
