Downtown hotels in NHL bubble to get welcome economic boost

Four downtown Edmonton hotels inside the NHL hub city bubble will be busy with guests for months, but business for hotels outside that bubble may remain slow.

NHL teams are expected to arrive in the city on Sunday, while some staff and media have arrived already.

The JW Marriott, Delta Hotel, Sutton Place, and The Matrix are included in the NHL bubble in Edmonton as NHL players, media, and staff are expected to come to the city as it hosts the Western Conference playoffs and the Stanley Cup final.

Three of the four hotels included in the bubble are connected to Rogers Place by pedways, with the Matrix being the exception.

"First of all, all three are high quality hotels," said Tim Shipton, Oilers Entertainment Group senior vice president of communications. 

"But second, the proximity to Rogers Place is to be able to create a really efficient and effective bubble for the players to keep, obviously, the public safe and the players safe."

• Edmonton hotels open but empty as pandemic devastates hospitality industry

Since March, the Delta Hotel in City Centre Mall has been getting about ten percent of its usual occupancy.

Management have been preparing for the possibility of Edmonton becoming an NHL hub city for more than a month.

"For us it was exciting that we could bring our staff back to work for the first time in three and a half months and be able to give them some hours," said Barnie Yerxa, general manager of the Delta Hotel.

While the NHL bubble will keep the four hotels busy with guests, those blocks away and outside the bubble will not be hosting any of those guests.

Dave Kaiser, president of the Alberta Hotel and Lodging Association, expects that hotels outside the bubble could get extra business as the hotels in the bubble will have to turn away the general public.

"They will pick up potential business that would have gone to those hotels, had they not locked down for the bubble," said Kaiser.

At the Courtyard by Marriott along Jasper Avenue, general manager Chris Short doesn't expect too much of a bump. Instead he's focusing on the hotel's patio that overlooks the river valley as a place where local fans can come to watch games.

"We're certainly hoping to get some big screens out there, hoping to get some locals that are going to come down, look to get out on the patio and have some food and drink," said Short.

• Hub city buzz and buzzkills: Economic benefits vs. health risks as NHL decision awaited

The bubble will only bring business until the NHL playoffs wrap up in October when the Stanley Cup is awarded in Edmonton.

A vaccine isn't expected any time soon, but hotel managers like Yerxa are hoping people will become more comfortable with the precautions in place.

"Group travel may start up again and people may have a little more confidence in travel," he said.

"All we can do is make sure that we're ready for everyone and make sure that we have the right health and safety protocols in place to welcome them in our hotels when they do return."