Coliseum-like hotel brings first rooftop restaurant to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario

Niagara-on-the-Lake, best known for its expansive vineyards and historic downtown, recently welcomed a sprawling new hotel that bucks the quaint trend and adds something decidedly contemporary to Ontario’s historic (if not slightly sleepy) ode to the Dickens era.

“Yes, the locals were very apprehensive,” Laura Townsend, a fellow local and director of marketing at the brand-new Clayfield Hotel, tells YourCityWithIN.

The apprehension comes as no surprise in a town that’s, rightfully, protective of its historic aesthetic. The Clayfield Hotel, part of Hyatt Hotels’ Unbound Collection, is a four-storey modernist hotel developed by David Feldberg and John Hawley that looks distinctly 21st-century.

The exterior of the Clayfield

Feldberg, who founded Stratus Vineyards, partnered with Hawley, who had been working to develop the overall (and continuously evolving) Clayfield Commons community, in 2019.

Townsend says operators hosted an open house before Clayfield officially opened its doors to guests and diners earlier this fall. The sneak peek offered more skeptical residents the chance to step inside the earth-toned lobby designed by the Montreal-based Sid Lee Architecture firm and see that the property, inspired by the Niagara escarpment, isn’t quite so out of place–especially since the Commons is about a 30-minute walk from the historic downtown.

“John [Hawley] stood at the door welcoming and greeting everybody and just seeing everyone’s jaws on the floor as they left; they really didn’t expect or anticipate it to look the way it did. I was so happy for him because a lot of people just assumed it was going to be this completely out-of-place modern mish-mash,” Townsend says.

The interior of the Clayfield

The hotel is certainly one of the more contemporary accommodations to sprout up in the iconic tourist destination.

Once known as Butlersburg (named after Colonel John Butler) and eventually Newark, modern-day Niagara-on-the-Lake (or NOTL) officially became a municipality in 1781 and functioned as a British military site and home for British loyalists who left the United States after the American Revolution. Nestled in a picturesque region that was the first capital of Upper Canada (modern-day Ontario), the town is known for its well-preserved 19th-century homes and buildings, along with historic sites and landmarks.

But while the town is a perfect backdrop for any performance of A Christmas Carol, it’s not a sprawling outdoor museum frozen in time. NOTL is also Ontario’s wine capital and it boasts close to 40 wineries, many of which offer vintages that have earned international accolades and awards.

The Clayfield, which calls itself a one-of-a-kind boutique wine-and-wellness hotel inspired by its setting, leans into the location by offering residents and visitors local food and wine, homegrown art, and regionally inspired architectural touches.

It also gives residents and visitors something less common: modern luxury.

View of a guest suite in the hotel

Townsend says that Feldberg, who also owns workplace furniture manufacturing and design company Teknion, thought the region could use an establishment that brings a thoughtful touch of the big city to the area.

“He has all these world-class clients, and his offices are in Toronto, but when he brings them to Niagara-on-the-Lake, there’s nowhere that’s a bit more modern to take clients,” she says. “Something that’s a little bit different.”

The hotel does indeed seek to please business travellers as much as foodies and wine aficionados. The property, which boasts 102 guest suites (42 of which are spacious, condo-style units equipped with kitchens, living rooms and other amenities necessary for longer-term stays), also offers over 5,400 square feet of meeting and event space. Beyond the sleek lobby bar and on-site restaurant, the hotel boasts a ballroom with high-end audiovisual equipment (Vintner’s Hall), as well as smaller boardrooms.

While the hotel offers business travellers a chic, comfortable suite with pillowy bedding, deep soaker tubs, and a compact oven that doubles as an air fryer, it also offers day-trippers a trendy place to sling back a cocktail and a higher-end restaurant for seasonal cuisine and VQA vintages.

The Clayfield’s culinary anchor is Terrain, a contemporary restaurant operated by the Toronto-based Ascari Group and helmed by executive chef Joel LaBute, who previously toiled in the kitchens of Scaramouche and Langdon Hall.

Brioche with thyme-infused butter at Terrain, photo by YCW

The hotel is also home to The Rooftop, an Ascari Group-run cocktail and small plate hotspot that is, believe it or not, the first rooftop patio in NOTL.

Gesturing towards the 25-seat lobby bar, Townsend says the space offers guests a place to linger late into the evening.

“There’s nothing quite like it in Niagara-on-the-Lake, where everything shuts down around 9:00 or 10:00 p.m. It’s nice because we are open until the last bill is paid. So there’s a new chic, cool place that you can go and grab a drink for date night or girls’ night,” Townsend says.

Lobby Bar

The hotel is also home to a full-service spa that offers clay- and wine-derived treatments, such as facials and massages.

Townsend also says the hotel, and the growing community it calls home, is part of the company’s plan to emphasize that visits to wine country need not be confined to the warmer months.

“We are going into the winter, and one of the things that we really want to emphasize and help educate people coming into Niagara-on-the-Lake is we’re not just a spring through fall town. [We want to] really position Niagara as a four-season destination,” she says.

The idea of re-positioning the historic town–one that already leans a little posh, in an old-world sort of way–is an interesting one because while the Clayfield is a stark visual diversion from the Old England feel of the downtown, Townsend is onto something when she says it’s really a representative of another part of the region: elegant wine culture.

The Rooftop, which is closed for the season

While the quaint main street is frequently traversed by horse-drawn carriages, the hotel–and the Commons–boasts an aesthetic in line with some of the more luxe and established wineries such as Jackson Triggs, Stone Eagle Winery and, of course, Stratus.

“Here, it’s a bit more modern if you look at Jackson Triggs and Stratus. It’s also the gateway to downtown,” she says, adding that the Clayfield Commons community, which is already home to a mix of new, upcoming and pre-existing grocers, restaurants and retailers, is becoming a destination in its own right.

“So we’re really trying to be like, ‘Okay, I’m downtown, but now I’m going to head uptown.’ It’s a destination, which I think is going to be really cool.”

As of now, Clayfield Commons features a grocery store, bank, drugstore, and medical center, along with a growing roster of independent retailers, restaurants, and a landscaped public green. Open retailers on the site include Garrison House Restaurant, Organic House Chocolate Co., Bloom & Co., and Oliv Tasting Room.

More shops are expected to open in 2027 and sometime within the next three-to-five years, a new auditorium is expected to take shape.

Townsend says the community is expected to continue to showcase local and regional businesses.

“It’s going to be a curation of local and Ontario/Canadian businesses. We own everything here, so we’re able to curate very intentionally,” she says, adding that smaller retail units also appeal to up-and-coming entrepreneurs.

The Clayfield team also envisions the Commons as not just an auxiliary space for existing events such as the Niagara Icewine Festival, but also a place for new events–especially since the recent Halloween event attracted a number of visitors.

“The kids just did laps of the space, and we had a bunch of different activities for them to do. That’s just one example of how we really want to bring the community together.”

All photos courtesy of The Clayfield