Hyatt severs ties with Alberta hotel

EDMONTON — The Hyatt hotel chain says it has cut ties with a nearly two-year-old Edmonton hotel that was recently ordered to clean up a pigeon infestation and repair a number of water leaks.

The company says in a statement that as of Sept. 4, it was no longer affiliated with Hyatt Place Edmonton, but it doesn’t say why the split occurred.

Word of the change came days after a report from Alberta Health Services that said an Aug. 24 inspection of the hotel had turned up pigeons and their feces in nine separate heating and ventilation units in a semi-enclosed area on the roof.

The report also said there was evidence of water damage on ceiling tiles, on walls throughout hallways only accessible to staff, on walls and floors in parkade storage rooms and in part of a public stairwell.

The hotel had until Aug. 28 to provide the names of a cleaning contractor and pest control company hired to deal with the problems, with the work to begin by Aug. 31.

Hotel owner Prem Singhmar did not respond Thursday to a request for comment on the loss of Hyatt’s branding.

On Thursday, the location was no longer listed on the hotel chain’s website, although the Hyatt sign remained on the building and the hotel’s phone greeting continued to say Hyatt Place Edmonton Downtown.

The hotel welcomed its first guests in the fall of 2016 and opened early last year in an area known as The Quarters, just east of the downtown core.