Hotel properties in Sault Ste. Marie are getting facelifts and being rebranded as more convention traffic picks up in the city.
One of the landmark hotels on the city’s waterfront now waves a new flag.
Built in 1974, the former Holiday Inn, was starting to look its age.
It re-opened in January under the banner of Delta Hotels following a $6.5-million renovation footed by the hotel owners, Algoma Central Properties, with upgrades to the hotel lobby, bar and restaurant to sport a more contemporary look.
It’s the premiere hotel’s first footprint in Northern Ontario.
The location of the 195-room hotel is certainly prime. Situated on the St. Mary’s River, it’s within line of sight to the city’s largest shopping centre, the downtown core, the Essar Centre, city hall, and the Robert Bondar government building.
The Delta chain is geared to the business traveler and conference-goer with its upgraded amenites and loyalty programs.
Staff say there’s been a noticeable difference with the Delta way of doing things regarding the attention to detail in the meeting and conference packages and a strong emphasis on employee recognition, empowerment and service excellence.
With some hands-on help from Delta’s head office, the complete renovations were done over an eight-month period, while staying open for the peak summer business.
Renovations began in June 2009, four floors at a time, before the hotel was completely shut down after the Thanksgiving weekend to ensure everything was ready for re-opening on Jan. 18.
Staff had to hit the ground running under the new banner. The hotel was the host site for Scottie’s Tournament of Hearts, housing the women’s provincial curling teams, event sponsors, VIPs and the TSN production crew, who all arrived in late January.
After New Year’s, a Delta transition team moved in to oversee everything from housekeeping to the food and beverage service. Staff returned for two weeks of orientation and training with some mock service in the restaurant before the doors opened.
“We went through substantial training with them,” said sales manager Dominique Eckhardt.
“They have specific programs that they like to see every hotel follow for consistent service across the board.”
The changes brought 30 additional servers, bartenders, room attendants and banquet staff to boost the full- and part-time staff to 120.
“The restaurant is extremely busy, especially with the local crowd and it’s really created a name for itself over the last few months,” said Eckhardt.
Eckhardt, a hotel employee since 1998, said the national sales office has brought new accounts and Delta-loyal customers that didn’t frequent the city in the past.
“Working with the brand has obviously been a huge benefit for us.”
At 5,200 square feet, the Algoma Ball Room is the largest of their 14 meeting rooms, seating 550 theatre-style and 320 for banquets. New carpeting, wall covers and light fixtures were added.
“We’re excited about the renovations and are happy to show them off,” said Eckhart.
The Delta will be a host hotel again for the Finnish Grand Festival in early August, which is expected to attract 5,000 attendees.
The city’s beefed-up tourism department and the local hoteliers have worked together to attract more conferences and sports events, with the four-year-old Essar Centre, the Sault’s downtown multi-purpose arena, as a drawing card.
Rosalie Graham, Tourism Sault Ste. Marie’s coordinator of meetings, convention and film, said the city isn’t adverse to bidding on any size sporting event or conference, providing a meeting planner or organization doesn’t mind spreading the event over multiple venues.
Placing 1,000 delegates in a major conference centre or hotel is out of the Sault’s league.
“If it happens to be under one roof, we can’t bid on it.”
Graham said they sell the benefits of 1,600 hotel rooms in renovated properties, free and plentiful parking, and the Sault’s access to outdoor attractions like the Agawa Canyon train excursion.
“Often times (annual) conferences like to move around to different cities and want a unique experience, and I think we offer that.”
The Sault has had success booking major musical acts, national conferences and sports tournaments but Graham said they also target municipal associations and alternative energy conferences which fit with the city’s economic development profile.
Following the trend of hotel upgrades is the Quality Inn, which has pumped in more than $2 million in renovations to their downtown Bay Street location.
General Manager Bruce LaFleur said the entrance, lobby and restaurant have been redone and a new business centre has been installed. Complete renovations have been done on all 108 guest rooms in the last few months, and the building’s exterior was given a facelift with a Dryvit insulated cladding system.
Being located within a block of the Essar Centre events has meant steady year-round traffic through his lobby doors.
“Sports tourism has definitely increased with a number of basketball tournaments in here, with indoor soccer (tournaments) in the future and the 2012 CARHA (recreational hockey tournament) will bring 120 teams for a week from across the street from the Essar Centre.”
Under the same Marriott umbrella as the Quality Inn is a new property coming online this summer.
The 82-room Fairfield Inn and Suites is nearing completion on Great Northern Road on the city’s north end.
LaFleur anticipates a soft opening in late July after a week of staff training and a final inspection from Marriott staff.
The hotel will have one 1,000-square-foot meeting room that can be divided into two with a capacity of 45-50 people each. Located on the city’s commercial and retail strip, it will not have a restaurant but there will be a pool and fitness centre.
At the downtown Travelodge, renovations to their 61 guest rooms is underway with new bedding, mattresses, linens, furniture and bathroom granite counter tops and sinks.
With the closing of a call centre in an adjoining space, manager Dominic Ruscio said the 16 new suites that have been added this summer could be expanded to 24 by November.
The hotel was awaiting approval from city engineers to remove a wall separating the two spaces so they can finish the project.
The lobby was renovated two years ago and will be refinished again this fall with new lighting and large-screen TVs. The building’s exterior was redone with siding being replaced with stucco and stone.
Also in the cards is the addition of a third meeting room to accommodate groups of 125.
“I’m really getting tired of losing groups to the larger hotels around us,” said Ruscio.
Another property undergoing top-to-bottom renovations is Algoma’s Water Tower Inn and Suites. Refurbishments were made from the front lobby clear back to the rear Pavilion area of meeting rooms and open banquet space.
“In the last two years, we’ve spent about $4 million starting with Casey’s Restaurant and upgrading 120 rooms. Now all of our 176-room inventory is newly minted with wall covering, carpeting and beds,” said general manager Donna Hilsinger.
The popular McGuffin photo gallery has been relocated to a main corridor and the front reception desk has been reconfigured to a more open concept with a video wall of seasonal photography.
“It really was coincidential,” said Hilsinger about the spate of hotel renovations and construction.
“It all happened at the same time. “It’s fantastic for their community. We have beautiful properties and we’re looking forward to the tour train being upgraded.”
Interior renovations are also going on at the Great Northern Hotel and Conference Centre in the city’s north end. The former Ramada Inn has remained closed most of the year with plans to re-open as a Comfort Suites sometime this summer.
