RIU Hotels & Resorts global expansion includes a Canadian property. The Spanish company intends to invest around $100-million in the construction of a hotel in Toronto.

According to a press release, the project is designed in a sophisticated avant-garde style, as a part of the Riu Plaza line. “The building, a newly-built modern tower block, will be located in the city’s financial district and is mixed use. RIU’s investment in the part intended for the hotel will have 350 rooms, meeting rooms, a gym, bar and restaurant; while the upper floors will be for residential use.”

RIU currently has six Riu Plaza hotels worldwide, as well as three under construction: Riu Plaza España, Riu Plaza London and the second location in New York set to open in the next three years. The first city hotel opened its doors in Panama in 2010 and has since been joined by the Riu Plaza Guadalajara hotel in Mexico, Riu Plaza Miami Beach and Riu Plaza New York Times Square in the USA, Riu Plaza Berlin in Germany and Riu Plaza The Gresham Dublin in Ireland.

Luis Riu, CEO of RIU Hotels & Resorts, said opening RIU’s first hotel in Toronto “is a big step forward in our commitment to expanding the Riu Plaza hotel line in the world’s key cities, establishing the RIU brand beyond more traditional vacation destinations.”

Toronto’s location is now near the end of the design phase and is set to open in 2021.