Opening a new hotel in the middle of a pandemic is not for the faint of heart, said the general manager of Sudbury’s Hilton Garden Inn.
However, Lisa Jones said she has an A-team in place as the city’s newest hotel opened its doors on Feb. 23.
“The building is beautiful, the location is stellar, but to me, at the end of the day, it’s the team that makes the difference,” said Jones. “Hospitality is either in your blood or not, and for us, it’s definitely in our blood.”
Hilton Garden Inn is located at 475 Barrydowne Rd. in the city's east end, and boasts more than 100 guest rooms, an indoor salt-water pool and a fully equipped fitness centre.
“After 22 months in the making, it feels amazing,” said Jones. “We’ve been waiting for this day a long time. We wanted to make sure that when we opened, we were firing on all cylinders. It was worth the wait to open properly.”
Hilton Garden Inn has been a food and beverage leader in the upscale hotel category for more than a decade, said Jones.
The Garden Grille Restaurant offers elevated comfort food and twists on the modern classics, as well as all in-house-made desserts.
Executive chef John Brown has opened 48 restaurants around the world, said Jones.
“We’re lucky to have him, and his staff will be serving up a menu that ranges from something as simple as chicken wings to tomahawk steak and everything in between,” said Jones.
Additionally, guests have access to The Shop, a 24-hour, grab-and-go retail space, offering healthy, indulgent and fresh foods, including salads, gourmet snack items and artisanal food offerings, beverages and a self-serve specialty coffee bar.
For business conferences and special events, the hotel features more than 1,600 square feet of flexible meeting space that can accommodate up to 80 people. The hotel’s three meeting rooms are service-focused with full audio/visual capabilities and customized in-house catering.
Hilton Garden Inn Sudbury is owned by RIR Developments Ltd. and operated by Ironwood Management Corp.
