After more than four years of development and construction, the Cambria Hotel at 311 Rainbow Blvd. is accepting reservations.
The $20 million seven-story, 120-room hotel operated by Plati Niagara Inc. held its grand opening on Monday morning, showing off the new modern accommodations where guests can stay when visiting Niagara Falls.
“We’re one of the wonders of the world,” said Frank Strangio, Plati Niagara’s co-owner, with the hotel down the road from the Niagara Falls State Park entrance. “This wonder of the world deserves a beautiful hotel like this and other attractions like this.”
The project has been in the works since 2019 when it faced construction delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic and changing contractors due to the one they hired progressing slowly and walking off the job. It also adds to the number of hotel options in the downtown area.
“I think Niagara Falls has a lot of quality hotels to offer,” Strangio said. “We think bringing an upscale brand to the city offers a great product.”
The block of Rainbow Boulevard has come a long way in the past 10 years, where a house and a closed souvenir shop greeted visitors.
While the grand opening festivities took place on Monday, the hotel officially opened on March 28. General manager Melissa Harrison said since that was when they started booking rooms, it was just in time for the solar eclipse on April 8 which they sold out for.
“Cambria focuses on having larger spaces, taller ceilings, and wider hallways to make it more convenient and upscale for the travelers,” Harrison said. Each of the seven floors features a different backdrop related to Niagara Falls in the hallway and each room.
The ground floor has a restaurant called Amala that serves a la carte breakfast in the morning and Italian-inspired dishes at night. Breakfast goes on from 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on weekends. Dinner will be served from 5 to 10 p.m., with its bar open until 11 p.m.
Dinner options are open to all visitors, offering a 716 discount where residents who eat there get 15% off.
The three additional buildings housing short-term rental units are on the property facing Buffalo Avenue. Each one has two apartments, one upstairs and one downstairs, with two bedrooms holding a maximum of six people.
Funding for this included $2.5 in incentives from the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency, approved back in 2019, $1.7 million from USA Niagara, and $250,000 from the NFC Development Corp.
This is the third hotel Plati Niagara opened in Niagara Falls, the others being the Wingate by Wyndham located next door at 333 Rainbow Blvd. and the Quality Inn at 7708 Niagara Falls Blvd.