Scott's Inn and Restaurant in Kamloops (Photo via Tourism Kamloops)
The Scott’s Inn and Restaurant in downtown Kamloops has been bought by Invictus Properties, who plan to use it as staff accommodation for Rocky Mountaineer employees during the seven month long operating season.
Invictus Properties – like the Rocky Mountaineer – is part of the Armstrong Group of companies.
Chief Operating Officer Bryan Pilbeam tells NL News the luxury train company has been a close partner of the Scott’s Inn for the past three decades.
“Over the last few years, Rocky Mountaineer has put most of their onboard attendants or their guest service attendants at the Scott’s and we wanted to see that continue,” Pilbeam said on NL Newsday.
“So we wanted to make sure that the Rocky Mountaineer employees have a home here in Kamloops and that is going to be Scott’s from April to October every year over the next number of years.”
Pilbeam says the Scott’s Inn property will operate as a nightly hotel during the Rocky Mountaineer’s off-season, and that the existing hotel and restaurant operations teams will remain in place.
“It is still a very well positioned modest, mid-scale leisure property so we’ll continue to operate it as a nightly hotel for people that are there,” Pilbeam said. “There are a lot of regular guests just like the regular customers at Scott’s Family Diner.”
“We expect to run it as the great institution its been as the family diner and as the Scott’s Inn and Suites through the rest of the year outside of Rocky Mountaineer season.”
The City of Kamloops is home to the Rocky Mountaineer’s maintenance facility, employing about 80 workers. The City is also the mid-point overnight stop on two Rocky Mountaineer rail routes – First Passage to the West from Vancouver to Banff and Journey Through the Clouds from Vancouver to Jasper.
“Rocky Mountaineer has been a strong partner in the Kamloops area for over 30 years,” Tourism Kamloops CEO Monica Dickinson added, in the release.
“We are thrilled by this further investment of Invictus Properties in our hospitality industry and the benefits it will bring to both visitors and community members.”
