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T H E M A G A Z I N E F O R H O T E L E X E C U T I V E S / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 $ 4 

THE 2018 

PINNACLE 

AWARDS 

ISSUE 

CHRISTIANE AND 

JEAN-YVES GERMAIN 

CO-PRESIDENTS OF 

GROUP GERMAIN HOTELS 

CANADIAN PUBLICATION MAIL PRODUCT SALES AGREEMENT #40063470 

Family 

Affair 

THIS BROTHER AND SISTER DUO IS TAKING THEIR 

HOME-GROWN BRAND ACROSS THE COUNTRY 

hoteliermagazine.com

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STRONG PARTNERSHIPS ARE THE KEY TO OUR SUCCESS 

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We are the world’s largest hotel franchise company* 

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This is not an offer. Certain provincial laws regulate the offer and sales of franchises. An offer will only be made in compliance with those laws and regulations, which may require we provide you with a disclosure document, a copy 

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independently owned and operated with the exception of certain hotels managed or owned by an affi liate of the company. © 2018 Wyndham Hotel Group Canada, ULC. All rights reserved.

Volume 30, Number 8 | December 2018 

Contents 

Features 

8 LEGACY OF LEARNING 

Friends, family and colleagues celebrate the 

life and legacy of Serge Simard 

By Rosanna Caira 

THE 2018 PINNACLE AWARDS 

10 COMPANY OF THE YEAR FAMILY FORTUNE 

Group Germain Hotels is taking its home-grown brand 

nation-wide By Danielle Schalk 

16 REGIONAL COMPANY OF THE YEAR 

DOING IT RIGHT 

Manga Hotels has built its reputation on exceeding 

expectations By Sarah Hood 

28 HOTELIER OF THE YEAR STAYING POWER 

Robert Housez is leading the charge at the Chelsea 

Hotel, Toronto By Jordan Maxwell 

47 BOUTIQUE MYSTIQUE 

A look at the continued 

popularity of the boutique-hotel 

segment By Robin Roberts 

50 LOYAL FOLLOWINGS 

Why hotel chains are 

retooling loyalty programs 

By Rebecca Harris 

55 THROUGH THE GRAPEVINE 

A taste of wine wisdom from 

properties across the country 

By Sarah Hood 

59 A DIFFERENT POINT 

OF VIEW 

Hotels are embracing 

immersive technologies 

By J. Lynn Fraser 

32 SUPPLIER OF THE YEAR BRAND BUILDERS 

Destination Canada is bringing the world 

to Canada By Danielle Schalk 

COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY EMILIE NADEAU 

36 BE OUR GUEST 

New program aims to get young workers hooked on 

hospitality By Sarah Hood 

39 THE MILLENNIAL FACTOR 

Hotels are gearing marketing efforts to Canada’s largest 

demographic By Laura Pratt 

Departments 

2 EDITOR’S PAGE 

3 CHECKING IN 

60 HOTELIER: Tim Terceira, 

St. Regis Hotel, Toronto 

hoteliermagazine.com 

DECEMBER 2018 HOTELIER 1

EDITOR’S PAGE 

THE WINNERS’ CIRCLE 

Why is it that the arrival of 

December always seems to 

catch many of us off guard? 

And why does the time between Labour 

Day and the holiday season seem to elapse 

before our eyes? How could another year 

have already passed, when it seems as if we 

were just lamenting the end of summer? 

As 2018 winds down and the anticipation 

of the holiday season takes hold, the hotel 

industry readies itself for its busiest season, 

filled to the brim with luncheons, holiday 

parties and seasonal rituals. 

Ironically, while many of us mark the holiday season with myriad social 

gatherings, and look forward to winding down after a busy year, for the hotel 

industry, it’s a time when employees and managers work tirelessly to help 

create special moments and memories for us as consumers. 

At KML, the holiday season is heralded by the arrival of the Pinnacle 

Awards, which this year celebrates its special 30th-anniversary edition. 

What began as a small intimate luncheon at the Windsor Arms Hotel in 

Toronto for 25 industry executives has blossomed into a celebration for 500 

guests at the Fairmont Royal York. During that time, we’ve fêted close to 

180 individuals and companies in categories that include Company of the 

Year, Regional Company of the Year, Hotelier of the Year and Supplier of 

the Year. 

I like to think of the awards program as our gift of the season to the 

industry — a way for us to celebrate excellence and thank the countless 

individuals for all they do to make this industry vibrant, dynamic and 

successful. As hoteliers and suppliers, your journeys have been punctuated 

by hard work, perseverance and passion. 

Every day that same story unfolds across the country in an industry 

that rarely sleeps. And regardless of the challenges, the frustrations and 

sometimes the limitations that are part and parcel of every business 

endeavour, when the doors open, the show begins anew. As a collective, 

you deliver top-notch service and help create incredible experiences for 

your guests — in the process, helping them create cherished memories. 

Along with your teams, you strive to refine, adapt and innovate — all in 

the pursuit of excellence. 

While our winners don’t set out to garner awards, the recognition is 

validation for the long hours they’ve invested in the industry. As an industry, 

we are stronger for it. Congratulations to this year’s winners. And, 

on behalf of the entire KML team, may the holiday season be filled with 

health, happiness and, as always, a touch of magic. 

FOLLOW US: 

ROSANNA CAIRA 

Editor and Publisher 

rcaira@kostuchmedia.com 

ADVISORY BOARD 

David McMillan, AXIS HOSPITALITY INTERNATIONAL; 

Bill Stone, CBRE HOTELS; David Larone, CBRE HOTELS; 

Anthony Cohen, CRESCENT HOTELS — GLOBAL EDGE INVEST- 

MENTS; Charles Suddaby, CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD LTD. — 

HOSPITALITY & GAMING GROUP; Christiane Germain, GROUPE 

GERMAIN HOSPITALITE; Michael Haywood, THE HAYWOOD 

GROUP; Lyle Hall; Ryan Murray, THE PILLAR + POST HOTEL; 

Geoffrey Allan, PROJECT CAPITAL MANAGEMENT HOTELS; 

Stephen Renard, RENARD INTERNATIONAL HOSPITAL- 

ITY & SEARCH CONSULTANTS; Anne Larcade, SEQUEL HOTELS 

& RESORTS 

ROSANNA CAIRA | 

AMY BOSTOCK | 

DANIELLE SCHALK | 

JORDAN MAXWELL | 

DEREK RAE | 

COURTNEY JENKINS | 

JHANELLE PORTER | 

CHERYLL SAN JUAN | 

MARIA FAMA VIECILI | 

ELENA OSINA | 

WENDY GILCHRIST | 

DANIELA PRICOIU | 

TAL ROZIN | 

CIRCULATION | 

EDITOR & PUBLISHER 

rcaira@kostuchmedia.com 

MANAGING EDITOR 

abostock@kostuchmedia.com 

ASSOCIATE EDITOR 

dschalk@kostuchmedia.com 

SPECIAL PROJECTS EDITOR 

jmaxwell@kostuchmedia.com 

MULTIMEDIA MANAGER 

drae@kostuchmedia.com 

DESIGN 

cjenkins@kostuchmedia.com 

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER 

jporter@kostuchmedia.com 

ACCOUNT MANAGER 

csanjuan@kostuchmedia.com 


mviecili@kostuchmedia.com 


eosina@kostuchmedia.com 

SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER 

wgilchrist@kostuchmedia.com 

CONTROLLER 

dpricoiu@kostuchmedia.com 

ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISSTANT 

trozin@kostuchmedia.com 

PUBLICATION PARTNERS 

kml@publicationpartners.com 

(905) 509-3511 

HOTELIER is published eight times a year by Kostuch 

Media Ltd., 23 Lesmill Rd., Suite 404, Toronto, Ont., M3B 3P6, 

(416) 447-0888, Fax (416) 447-5333. All rights reserved. 

Subscription rates: Canada: $25 per year, single issue $4, 

U.S.A.: $30 per year; all other countries $40 per year. Canadian 

Publication Mail Product Sales Agreement #40063470. 

Member of Canadian Circulations Audit Board, the American 

Business Media and Magazines Canada. We acknowledge the 

financial support of the Government of Canada through the 

Canadian Periodical Fund for our publishing activities. Printed in 

Canada on recycled stock. 

Return mail to: Kostuch Media Ltd., 23 Lesmill Rd., Suite 404, 

Toronto, Ont., M3B 3P6. Member of CCAB, a Division of BPA International. 

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government 

of Canada, through the Canadian Periodical Fund (CPF) 

of the Department of Canadian Heritage. 

For daily news and announcements: @hoteliermag on Twitter Hotelier magazine on Facebook and @hoteliermag on Instagram 

2 DECEMBER 2018 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com 

PHOTOGRAPHY BY NICK WONG, LOCATION PROVIDED BY VIA CIBO

Checking In 

THE LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS FOR HOTEL EXECUTIVES FROM CANADA 

AND AROUND THE WORLD 

GAINING 

GROUND 

Choice Canada Celebrates 

25th Anniversary at the 2018 

Conference 

BY DANIELLE SCHALK 

with an idea that was really special for 

this conference that recognized the 

history of the company.” 

The book, titled Strength Through 

Diversity, was written by Dr. Ulrich 

Frisse of Kitchener-based Historical 

Branding Solutions, who travelled 

across the country to meet featured 

franchisees. “Ultimately, what we 

did was break down the corporate 

identity into its human elements — 

the stories of the people behind the 

organization — and that allowed 

us to talk about the foundational 

dreams behind these different 

hotels, to talk about the passion, to 

talk about the sacrifices that were 

made in building these different 

hotel entities,” he explained. 

Choice Hotels Canada (CHC) 

recently held its 2018 Fall 

Conference at Fallsview 

Casino Resort in Niagara Falls, Ont. 

The three-day event brought together 

approximately 300 attendees, 

including more than 70 first-time 

participants. 

During the conference’s opening 

address, Brian Leon, president, CHC, 

highlighted the company’s recent 

growth and achievements. “We’re 

gaining ground on many fronts… 

overall, we continue to experience 

strong RevPAR growth across the 

country. This is our ninth-consecutive 

year of RevPAR growth,” he said. 

Brendan Gibney, senior director, 

Franchise Services, also highlighted 

feedback-driven initiatives within 

the company, including a more 

Canadian-focused qualified-vendor 

program and new online-education 

offerings being launched through a 

partnership with U.S.-based 

management-services company 

Franklin Covey. 

“Ongoing professional development 

is one of the best ways to keep 

leaders engaged and Choice Canada 

wants to be the franchisor that can 

help owners with their team’s professional 

development,” Gibney said. 

“With our footprint extending across 

Canada, we believe an e-learning 

platform is the best way to provide 

this support.” 

The conference featured keynote 

speakers General Rick Hillier, former 

Chief of the Defence Staff of the 

Canadian Forces and technology and 

marketing expert Amber MacArthur. 

It also offered a variety of education 

sessions covering topics such 

as new-build development, co-op 

marketing, the industry’s labour 

shortage, conversion projects, 

and managing online reputations. 

During the conference, the 

company also unveiled a book 

celebrating Choice Hotels Canada’s 

25th anniversary, which profiles 30 

Choice franchisees. 

“[This] is something I’ve been 

looking forward to for a long time,” 

said Leon. “We wanted to come up 

AWARDING 

EXCELLENCE 

Choice Hotels Canada announced the 

national winners of its APEX Awards 

(Awards for Property Excellence) during 

its 2018 Choice Hotels Canada Fall 

Conference. The awards recognized the 

12 national APEX-Award winners at a gala 

dinner held at Ravine Vineyard Estate 

Winery, which also celebrated Choice 

Hotels Canada’s 25th anniversary. 

This year’s winners included The 

Champlain Waterfront Hotel, an Ascend 

Hotel Collection member, Orillia, Ont. 

and Comfort Inn & Suites, North Battleford, 

Sask., which won Best New Entry 

awards in the Ascend Hotel Collection 

and New Build Mid-Market Brands 

categories respectively. 

The APEX Awards recognize stellar 

performance, ongoing commitment to 

guest service and community leadership. 

Regional awards were also presented, 

recognizing customer satisfaction and 

loyalty, as well as revenue growth. 



COMING 

EVENTS 

GOING MICRO 

Dec. 4: Annual ILHA Luxury Hospitality 

Summit, Gaylord National Resort & 

Convention Center, Washington D.C. 

Website: luxuryconference.org 

Dec. 13-14: ILHA Inspire Summit, 

Four Seasons Las Vegas. Tel: 

561-440-7975; email: info@luxuryhotelassociation.org; 

website: 

luxuryhotelassociation.org/inspire 

Jan. 20-23: Impact Sustainability 

Travel & Tourism Conference, Victoria 

Conference Centre. Tel: 250-361-1000; 

website: tourismvictoria.com/impact 

Jan 28-30: American Lodging Investment 

Summit (ALIS), JW Marriott & 

Microsoft Theatre, Los Angeles, 

Calif. Tel: 714-540-9300; email: 

marketing@burba.com; website: 

alisconference.com 

Feb. 27-28: Hotel Association of 

Canada’s National Conference, Delta 

Hotels by Marriott Toronto Airport, 

Mississauga, Ont. Tel: 416-924-2002, 

ext. 233; email: jodylarose@bigpictureconferences.ca; 

website: 

hacconference.ca 

FOR MORE EVENTS, 

visit http://bit.ly/Hotelierevents 

Hilton has unveiled Motto by Hilton, a new 

lifestyle brand designed to offer affordable 

accommodations in the world’s most soughtafter 

cities. Motto by Hilton is described as a 

micro-hotel inspired by the emerging lifestylehostel 

model and influenced by research 

indicating travellers often book hostels with 

friends or family. The brand experience will 

focus on clever design, technology — featuring 

Hilton’s Connected Room technology 

— and superior sleep. Guestrooms will have 

an average footprint of 163 sq. ft. and boast 

space-saving features such as wall-beds, lofted 

beds and multi-functional furniture. Motto 

will also give guests the option to book 

multiple connecting rooms in advance and 

split payments between travellers at the time 

of booking. A 100-bed Motto by Hilton in 

Marylebone, London is set to start construction 

in January 2019, targeting a 2020 opening 

as one of the brand’s first properties. 

SOURCE OF 

CONCERN 

The Hotel Association of 

Canada (HAC) recently 

released new research 

indicating Canadians have 

reservations about the 

impact of short-term rentals, 

such as Airbnb, on their 

communities. The study 

revealed more than 60 

per cent of Canadians are 

concerned or somewhat 

concerned about a neighbouring 

home being 

regularly rented out through 

these platforms.. 

As the largest procurement organization 

in North America, we support more than 

5,000 hospitality operators in Canada 

and strive to deliver exceptional value 

year over year. 

Our innovative and data-driven 

procurement system successfully aligns 

our partners with our network of national 

and regional suppliers, ensuring access 

to the products and services they need 

when they need them. 

www.foodbuy.ca 

We are honoured to be recognized 

as a supplier of the year by 

Hotelier Magazine.

TOTAL TRANSFORMATION 

InnVest Hotels’ Hilton 

Quebec is set to undergo 

major renovations in 

2020, which will represent 

one of the largest 

investments ever made 

in a single hotel in 

Canadian history. The 

hotel’s transformation 

will touch all aspects 

of its appearance, 

including the exterior 

of the building, hotel 

infrastructure, guestrooms 

and all public 

areas, including lobby, 

restaurants, fitness 

centre and pool. Given 

the magnitude of the 

project, the hotel will 

be closing January 1, 

2020, and reopening 

later that year. 

InBrief 

Silver Hotel Group has announced plans 

to convert the Radisson Admiral Hotel 

Toronto-Harbourfront to a Radisson Blu — 

a move that would make it the brand’s first 

Canadian property. The conversion is expected 

to be completed in June 2019…The Malcolm 

Hotel and Event Centre is now open in 

Canmore, Alta. Named after King Malcom 

III of Scotland, the four-star hotel is the first 

of three hotels set to open in the city’s Spring 

Creek community…The Tourism Industry 

Association of Ontario (TIAO) and Indigenous 

Tourism Ontario (ITO) have signed 

a memorandum of understanding to support 

each organization’s initiatives to bolster 

tourism in Ontario over the next three years… 

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) and 

the IHG Owners Association are launching 

the Renovation Donation Initiative, which 

will allow U.S. and Canadian IHG-branded 

hotels undergoing renovations or property 

CONGRATULATIONS 

HOTELIER OF THE YEAR 

ROBERT HOUSEZ | THE CHELSEA HOTEL, TORONTO 

COMPANY OF THE YEAR 

GROUPE GERMAIN 

FROM YOUR PARTNERS AT:

improvements to donate furniture, 

equipment and fixtures to non-profit 

organizations. The program is set to 

launch in early 2019…The Annex 

Hotel has opened in Toronto’s 

Annex neighbourhood. A hybrid 

between an Airbnb and a design 

hotel, the property boasts the key 

markings of a boutique hotel with a 

few small nuances: no room service, 

televisions, phones, parking lot, 

gym or front desk. The hotel’s onsite 

food hall features well-known local 

vendors…IHG has committed to 

eliminating plastic straws at its more 

than 5,400 hotels, which will eliminate 

an average of 50-million singleuse-plastic 

straws each year. IHG 

also plans to introduce bulk-size 

bathroom amenities to several hotel 

brands in the Americas…AccorHotels 

has announced the completion 

of its acquisition of a 50-per-cent 

stake in New York-based SBE 

Entertainment Group. Through 

this partnership, AccorHotels will 

expand its offering in the luxurylifestyle 

hospitality segment and its 

presence across North America. SBE 

will also accelerate its international 

growth with expansion into new 

markets outside of the U.S…Hyatt 

Hotels Corporation has entered an 

agreement to acquire Two Roads 

Hospitality, a Denver-based international 

lifestyle hotel-management 

company, for approximately $600 

million. Through the addition 

of Two Roads, Hyatt will expand 

its brand presence into 23 new 

markets, while enhancing its offerings 

in lifestyle-hotel experiences 

and wellbeing…Hôtel Le Crystal 

has announced a major renovation 

project in a tribute to the hotel’s 

10th anniversary. Expected to be 

complete in the spring, the hotel 

will renovate all suites and introduce 

new suite categories…Hard Rock 

International has launched Reverb 

by Hard Rock — the company’s first 

select-service brand. The first Reverb 

property, set to open in Atlanta in 

February 2020, will feature stateof-the-art 

technology, fan-inspired 

artwork and signature showers. 

People 

Atlific Hotels 

has named 

Gordon 

Johnson 

vicepresident 

of Operations. 

In this 

role, he will 

oversee all 

Gordon Johnson operational 

aspects 

of Atlificmanaged 

hotels across Alberta and 

British Columbia. Johnson boasts 

more than 30 years of management 

experience in the hospitality 

Drake Mini Bar 

Toronto, ON 

YOUR HOSPITALITY 

BUILDING PARTNER 

416.755.2505 x22 

bltconstruction.com 

Toronto - Vancouver 

Photography: Steve Tsai

industry, having served as regional 

vice-president at Delta Vancouver 

Airport and Delta Burnaby Hotel 

& Conference Centre, where he 

was also the general manager. As 

vice-president Operations for Revera 

Retirement, Johnson oversaw a 

portfolio of 47 residences…Choice 

Hotels Canada has announced the 

upcoming retirement of hospitalityindustry 

veterans, Marc St-Gelais 

and Ian Sharp. Their roles will be 

filled internally, with Juan Duran 

moving into Sharp’s role as director, 

Franchise Development for 

Western Canada. Rob Alldred and 

Eric Normand will transition from 

their roles as franchise-performance 

consultants to director, Franchise 

Development roles. Alldred will 

focus on growing Ascend Hotel 

Collection membership, while 

Normand will step into St-Gelais’s 

role in Eastern Canada…Ken Hall 

is the new general manager of 

Fairmont Le Château 

Frontenac, succeeding Robert 

Mercure, who was recently appointed 

to the Palais des Congrès de Montréal. 

Originally from Montreal, Hall 

has more than 25 years of experience 

in hospitality, including 11 years as 

hotel manager...Scott Hart is the 

new general manager of the Drake 

Devonshire Inn. Following many 

years of leading successful awardwinning 

teams in the British Virgin 

Islands, the Bracebridge, Ont.-native 

brings a wealth of experience to 

the hotel. Hart has been part of 

multiple highly decorated teams, 

most recently as the general manager 

of one of the British Virgin Island’s 

most iconic luxury destinations, 

Peter Island Resort and Spa…The 

Canadian Franchise Association’s 

(CFA) Board of Directors has named 

Sherry McNeil president & CEO 

of the association. A long-standing 

member of the CFA Board of Directors, 

McNeil has more than 20 years 

of franchise experience. 

SupplySide 

Royal Design Inc. recently celebrated 

the grand opening of its new office and 

showroom in Richmond Hill, Ont. The 

interior-design firm also took the opportunity 

to mark its 15th anniversary with 

clients and industry professionals… 

China’s largest mobile-payment service, 

Motion Pay Technology Inc., has 

partnered with Chelsea Hotel, Toronto 

to allow Chinese tourists to access their 

WeChat Pay and Alipay accounts. 

Chelsea Hotel is one of the first 

downtown-Toronto hotels to offer this 

option…Amadeus has completed the 

US$1.52-billion acquisition of Travel- 

Click from Thoma Bravo. TravelClick 

will become part of Amadeus’ Hospitality 

customer unit. Initially TravelClick 

will be a distinct entity within the unit, 

maintaining the acquired company’s 

brand, which will be known as ‘Travel- 

Click, an Amadeus company.’ 

ALL THE FASHION, 

ALL THE FUNCTION 

@ChefWorksCAN 

@ChefWorksCanada 

@ChefWorksCanada 

1.888.640.2433 • www.chefworks.ca • orders@chefworks.ca

IN APPRECIATION 

FOLLOWING IN HIS FOOTSTEPS 

The foodservice-and-hospitality industry honours Serge Simard with an endowment fund to build on his legacy 

BY ROSANNA CAIRA 

Over the course of his 

extensive career in 

the foodservice-andhospitality 

industry, 

Serge Simard’s name 

was synonymous with being a champion 

of Canadian cuisine. But he was 

also inspirational, attracting people to 

him with a magnetic pull and effusive 

personality, melded with a downto-earth 

approach to business. In 

October, family, friends and colleagues 

of Simard —who passed away at the 

age of 63 after a lengthy battle with 

cancer — gathered at the Fairmont 

Royal York in Toronto, where he 

worked for many years, to celebrate his 

life and honour his legacy. 

More than 150 guests came together 

to pay tribute. Emcee John Nadeau, 

president and CEO of Emjen Market 

Strategies Corp and long-time friend 

of Simard, kicked off the evening — 

which also featured a silent auction 

— regaling the audience with recollections 

of Simard. 

Emcee John Nadeau, president and 

CEO of Emjen Market Strategies 

Corp. and long-time friend of Simard 

shared stories and memories 

Simard’s career is the stuff of 

legends: he started as a dishwasher 

with Delta Hotels in Vancouver 

and rose to the position of Global 

VP, Food and Beverage at Fairmont 

Hotels & Resorts, ending his career as 

regional VP, Quebec region and GM 

of Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth. 

As F&B director, Simard championed 

Canadian food and wine at every 

turn, advocating for the Vintners 

Quality Alliance regulatory and 

appellation system (VQA). His impact 

on the hospitality industry is legendary: 

he was recognized by the Confrérie 

de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, the 

Canadian Restaurant & Foodservices 

Association, the International Food 

& Beverage Forum, Cuisine Canada 

and the Ontario Hostelry Institute. 

To honour his legacy, Simard’s 

closest family and friends created 

an endowment fund in his name 

for those studying at George Brown 

College’s Centre for Hospitality 

and Culinary Arts (CHCA). “The 

Fairmont Serge Simard Endowment 

Fund for Global Hospitality Learning 

will give CHCA students opportunities 

to participate in hospitality placements 

abroad to gain the insights 

into the international hospitality 

sector that Serge valued so deeply,” 

said Lorraine Trotter, dean of George 

Brown’s Centre for Hospitality and 

Culinary Arts. 

To date, a total of $136,000 has 

been raised, which will be earmarked 

for students enrolled in GBC’s 

culinary program or in a work placement 

abroad. The first of these awards 

will be presented in spring 2019. 

Asked to describe Simard, Heather 

McCrory, EVP, Operations, North 

& Central America at AccorHotels 

noted, “His zest for life always pushed 

everyone to do their best and give just 

a little more. His passion for 

Canadian food and wine, combined 

with his noteworthy career with 

Fairmont Hotels, would have inspired 

any student who crossed his path.” 

Kevin Frid, COO, North & 

Central America, AccorHotels 

echoed those sentiments. “I can’t 

think of a more fitting way to 

celebrate his life and contributions 

than through this new endowment 

fund, which will inspire and 

meaningfully assist others to follow 

in his footsteps.” 

For Nadeau, “Serge was always 

focused on giving back and leaving 

a place better than when he had 

arrived. The endowment created in 

his name will ensure more students 

will be able to experience hands-on 

learning opportunities that will better 

set them up for success down the 

road. Serge would be so proud to see 

this type of support made available to 

eager and passionate students.” 

Simard leaves his wife Nimi, his son 

Ludovic and daughter Christelle. ◆ 

8 DECEMBER 2018 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com



COMPANY OF 

THE YEAR 

FAMILY 

FORTUNE 

Group Germain Hotels continues to 

take its home-grown brands across 

the country 

STORY BY DANIELLE SCHALK 

PHOTOGRAPHY EMILIE NADEAU 

Since opening their first hotel in 1988, 

Christiane and Jean-Yves Germain have 

established themselves as innovators and 

leaders within the Canadian boutiquehotel 

landscape. From a single independent, 

family-run hotel in Quebec City to 

a burgeoning company with three brands 

and 16 properties in six provinces, Group 

Germain Hotels’ strong values and focus 

on superior service have helped shape its success and establish 

a loyal following. 

The company, which the sibling duo co-founded and share 

presidency of, takes a guest-centric approach to its hotels, 

offering unique perks such as no fixed check-out times across 

its portfolio and a unique flat-rate pricing strategy on its Alt 

brand. In Jean-Yves’ eyes, it’s “the attention we are providing 

our guests and the personality of our service staff” that sets 

Group Germain’s hotels apart from the competition. Staff 

are given “the latitude to make decisions to make the guest 

more comfortable,” he explains. “We [also] try to have [our 

staff] serve starting with a ‘yes.’ When the guest is [requesting] 

something, we like to say ‘yes, we will try’ or ‘yes, it’s possible.’” 

The company also leverages social media to enhance the 

guest experience — using it as a customer-service tool to 

respond to the needs of potential, current and past guests, as 

well as an opportunity to interact with guests and enhance 

their stay. 

TRAILBLAZERS 

Steve Gupta, president, 

DRIVING 

and Reetu Christiane Gupta, COO and Jean-Yves 

INNOVATION 

take Easton’s Germain, Group co-presidents, of 

Airline Hotels is led by 

Hotels and Group The Germain Gupta Hotels 

Dan Folk, co-COO (left); 

Group into new territory 

Betty Anne Latrace- 

Henderson, president; and 

Jaret Waddell, co-COO 




Beyond service, the company’s distinctly Canadian-first 

approach has undoubtedly helped it put down deep roots 

in the communities it enters. “We are a truly Canadian 

brand, not only because we have our name on the building, 

but because we [feature] completely Canadian 

content,” says Christiane. 

Group Germain uses Canadian architects and designers, 

sources its uniforms from Canadian designers/brands and 

its properties offer locally sourced amenities, such as Ruby 

Brown and Bella Pella bath products. The company’s localprocurement 

policy also extends to its art programming, 

which showcases original works by local artists in guestrooms 

and public spaces, including works by Julie Couture, 

Jason Cantoro, James Lahey and Matthew Plexman. 

“If we want to be part of the community, we have to work 

with it — it’s a no-brainer,” says Jean-Yves. “At the end of 

the day, Christiane and myself are hoteliers and the real 

focus is on our guests, our product, our staff, our [partners] 

and, on that side, we are really different.” 

Within the last year, the company has made significant 

strides toward its goal of having 20 hotels across the country 

by 2020, with the opening of three hotels in 2018, including 

Le Germain Hotel Ottawa — the company’s first new 

Le Germain hotel in almost eight years — an Alt Hotel in 

Calgary and the launch of the new Alt+ brand at Quartier 

DIX30 in Brossard, Que. With three more properties in 

various stages of development, the team is currently only 

one project shy of reaching its goal. 

When originally conceived, Alt+ Quartier DIX30 was 

set to be a one-off hotel designed to take advantage of an 

opportunity brought forward by the project’s developers. As 

Quartier DIX30 is already home to the company’s original 

Alt hotel, the Group Germain team came up with a concept 

that complemented the site, offering a four-star product 

that reflected the spirit of the Alt brand, but with elevated 

amenities and larger rooms designed for slightly longer stays. 

“The Alt we have there is doing very well and the developers 

wanted to have another property — more of a fourstar 

type of property — so we elevated the Alt [concept] 

and brought it to another level,” Christiane explains. “After 

opening the hotel, we came to the conclusion that there are 

other opportunities in Canada for Alt+.” 

And, no time was wasted in seizing such an opportunity. 

Hot on the heels of the brand’s debut in April, a second 

Alt+ is already in the works for Edmonton’s Ice District, 

which will be the company’s first property in the city. 

“It could have been an Alt, but we decided to go with 

an Alt+ because the city can [support] the higher rate,” 

notes Christiane. 

In addition to this and projects underway in Saskatoon 

and Calgary (slated to open in 2019 and 2020, respectively), 

the company is also undertaking a major renovation of its Le 

We are a truly Canadian brand, not only because we 

have our name on the building, but because we 

[feature] completely Canadian content 

- CHRISTIANE GERMAIN 

Textiles Gauvin Inc. would like to 

express their sincerest congratulations 

for your Company of the Year Award. 

This high honour crowns your 

determined efforts well deserved. 

www.zenima.ca | 1-866-356-2529 | info@zenima.ca

If we want to be part 

of the community, we 

have to work with it — 

it’s a no-brainer 

- JEAN-YVES GERMAIN 

Germain Hotel Montreal. The transformation will include 

work to both the exterior of the building and the interior of 

the hotel. When complete, the hotel will feature an outside 

marquee, refurbished lobby, restaurant and bar, ’70s-inspired 

guestroom design and additional meeting rooms. 

This summer also marked the launch of a new partnership 

with Air Canada Vacations. Through the partnership, 

Group Germain properties are now featured in Air Canada 

Vacations’ Go Canada Collection as part of “urban-chic 

getaway” packages bundling airfare and accommodations, 

designed to encourage travellers to explore Canada. 

When asked what has allowed their 

company to achieve its current level 

of growth and success, the co-founders 

immediately cite staff and company 

culture. “Our employees are absolutely 

wonderful; they’re very proud to work 

for us,” Christiane says. “We try to 

select the people that have [an affinity] 

for service — the attitude is so 

important.” 

And, in recognition of the pivotal 

role its staff plays, the company also 

puts an emphasis on employee engagement 

and development. This is achieved 

though weekly employee surveys 

through Gsoft’s Office Vibe platform, 

monthly newsletters, a private company 

Facebook group and an internal leadership-development 

program. 

“When we identify people who are 

interested in continuing in this industry 

and want to stay with us, we provide 

them with training programs so they 

can learn more and become better,” 

Christiane explains. 

The company’s dedication to its guests 

and staff has proven effective. All of 

Group Germain’s eligible properties hold 

a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence and this year also 

marked the 13th-consecutive year the company has been 

recognized in Canadian Business’ Canada’s Best Managed 

Companies list. 

As Christiane notes, being a family business has shaped 

the company’s approach. “I’m sure Jean-Yves has days where 

he thinks I’m a pain…but, overall, respect is a very important 

part of our relationship and adds a colour to [our operations]. 

It can be felt by the team,” she explains. “Not only 

are we in the hospitality business, dealing with people, we, 

as a company, are real people and try to be very close to 

everyone. At the end of the day, it makes a difference.” 

It has also allowed the co-presidents the opportunity to 

work alongside their children, Jean-Yves adds. “My son and 

daughter and Christiane’s daughter are working with us and 

we know we have people that are really dedicated to the 

group — they have the brand imprinted on their bodies.” 

Group Germain is also committed to making a difference 

beyond the scope of the hospitality industry. Both 

Christiane and Jean-Yves chair charitable organizations 

(Musée National des beaux-arts du Québec and L’Orchestre 

Symphonique de Quebec and Fondation Mérici collégial 

privé, respectively) and participate in several other initiatives, 

such as the Fondation CERVO, which focuses on 

brain-related research. In fact, in 2017, Christiane was 

named Most Socially Committed CEO by Les Affaires. 

“It’s very important for us to be involved — it’s another 

part of our [community] involvement and values,” 

explains Christiane. 

Congratulations! 

MajesticRobe.com 1-800-361-0385 


DECEMBER 2018 HOTELIER 13 

Majestic_TS.indd 1 

2018-10-25 11:34 AM

Not only are we 

in the hospitality 

business, dealing 

with people, we, as 

a company, are real 

people and try to be 

very close to everyone. 

At the end of 

the day, it makes 

a difference 

- CHRISTIANE GERMAIN 

Group Germain also supports the Grand Defi Pierre 

Lavoie — a charity race with a mission to encourage 

young people to adopt healthy life habits. Each year, the 

company also sponsors a school in a region it operates 

in, providing funding for sports equipment and facilities 

to help encourage the development of healthy lifestyles. 

Since 2012, the company has raised approximately 

$385,000 for this initiative, which has impacted nearly 

10,000 children across the country. 

As Group Germain seeks to continue its growth and 

pursue its vision of becoming a truly nationwide company, 

Jean-Yves notes the company hopes to expand west to 

B.C. “Vancouver is a must for Group Germain,” he says. 

“We are not in Vancouver and that is, for sure, a market 

where we’d like to be. It’s a market we’ve monitored for 

the last 15 years.” 

And, with its goal of reaching 20 hotels nearly 

complete, the company contemplates the next chapter 

of its expansion. “The next goal [may] be we try to 

double the number [of hotels] by 2025 — we will try to 

accelerate the speed of development and add new hotels 

to our portfolio. Exactly how will it work? It could be 

ownership, it could be development and maybe we will 

see more management of properties in specific markets,” 

notes Jean-Yves. “Our brands have much better recognition 

in the market than, say, 10 years ago.” ◆ 


Groupe Germain on winning Hotelier ’s 2018 

Company of the Year Pinnacle Award 

Congratulations to Groupe Germain for the 

Hotelier’s Company of the Year Award. 

is proud to be associated to such a great 

& successful organization. Merci! 

www.marieloie.com | 450-431-5050 

YOUR INDUSTRY EXPERTS FOR: 

Hotel TV, Commercial Display, 

Appliance & Electronic 

Philippe Landry, National Sales Manager 

plandry@cesdistribution.com 


Marie l'Oie.indd 1 

2018-10-30 3:42 CES_QV.indd PM 2 

2018-11-20 4:37 PM

REGIONAL 

COMPANY OF 

THE YEAR 

DOING 

IT RIGHT 

Manga Hotels has built its hotel 

portfolio on exceeding expectations 

STORY BY SARAH B. HOOD 

PHOTOGRAPHY DANIEL ALEXANDER 

It’s a Canadian Horatio-Alger story: a new 

immigrant with no prior experience in the 

hospitality industry steadily and gradually 

acquires and builds a stable of successful hotels; 

eventually he’s managing top properties in 

partnership with some of the most prestigious 

names in the business, such as Marriott, Hilton 

and InterContinental. That’s the true-life 

success story of Mississauga, Ont.-based Manga 

Hotels, which is named for the great-great grandfather of 

company founder, president and CEO Sukhdev Toor. 

The secret to 30 years of success? “Most important, 

number-1, we’re a family company and a private 

company,” says Toor. In addition, “we go beyond the 

brand requirements.” 

Toor was born in India, where he received a degree 

in civil engineering before immigrating to Canada in 

1983. “Times were tough,” he recalls. “I came to Canada 

with high hopes, but Canada was going through a very 

deep recession.” In 1984, he entered a postgraduate MBA 

program at the University of Waterloo, where “I was going 

to university five days and working two days.” 

Within a few years of graduation, he drifted into hospitality 

with the acquisition of a few small motels, beginning 

with the Royal Victorian Inn in Victoria, B.C. “From there, 

I just carried on,” he says. “I spent time in British Columbia. 

The economy was booming here in Ontario at that time, 

but British Columbia was down; that was an opportunity to 


(left to right) 

Gourvjit Toor, 

Development manager; 

Avneet Toor, Business 

Operations/HR manager; 

Neelu Toor, director; 

Sukhdev Toor, president 

and CEO 



move there and find a better place. Then Ontario crashed 

a year after, in 1990/’91, and went into recession. It took 

three or four years to come out.” 

In 1993, Toor moved back to Ontario and acquired 

properties in Niagara Falls, Kitchener and Saint 

Catharines. By 1997, he had collected nine hotels: six 

Comfort Inns, two Howard Johnson’s and a Travelodge. 

In 1999, the time was right to undertake the company’s 

first new build: the 70-room Hampton Inn Edwards 

Boulevard in Mississauga, Ont. — the first Hampton Inn 

in Canada. 

“There’s a time to build and a time to buy,” says Toor. 

“I took a chance at that time. I was lucky to buy a good 

piece of land and new brands were emerging; Hilton and 

Marriott were coming into the market.” 

But new construction has its challenges, he admits. 

“It’s certainly not easy, but since I am a civil engineer, I 

wanted to do it. Now we do it all the time; we’re building 

continuously. As with anything you do, you learn all the 

time. Most of the time there are challenges, but you need 

to be able to come out of the challenges.” 

To rise above the pitfalls of new building, he says, 

“you need a good team to execute the plan and a good 

construction company that can meet the timelines.” 

Once the property is up and running, “we have a good 

team and look after our people. We also strive to exceed 

the brand requirements.” 

This simple formula evidently works: Manga’s portfolio 

now includes 18 properties in British Columbia, Ontario, 

New Brunswick, Newfoundland and New York State, and 

shows no signs of slowing down. 

In 2008, Manga embarked on one of its most ambitious 

projects to date: the construction of the 224-room Hilton 

Garden Inn Toronto Airport, which would become the 

first LEED-certified hotel in Canada. An acronym for 

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, LEED is 

an internationally recognized rating system that measures 

environmental sustainability and health impacts in building 

construction and management. It takes into consideration 

numerous factors, ranging from the types of materials 

used in construction and the distance they must travel 

to the site, to water and waste handling, energy efficiency 

and sustainable landscaping. 

“It was costly; it’s quite a process,” says Toor. “It was a 

personal decision, actually. I was willing to spend more 

money to do it right. It was my thinking that we should 

do it right and it pays out in the end, because you save 

on energy costs.” He notes that LEED certification 

makes the most sense with dense and compact highrise 

developments. 

Manga currently operates two U.S.-based properties 

as well: the 153-room Aloft and the 101-room Hampton 

Inn & Suites, both situated at the Buffalo Airport in 

New York. “We don’t have further plans to expand into 

the U.S.,” says Toor. However, the company is continuing 

to grow in Canada. 

The Hilton Garden Inn in downtown St. John’s, Nfld., 

which has been planned for some time, is on the cusp of 

opening and in the first quarter of 2019, construction of 

a 196-room Hyatt Place at Toronto’s Pearson Airport is 

expected to be underway. 

There are also a number of projects in downtown 

Toronto itself, including a new build at Jarvis and Dundas 

streets, just east of Yonge, which is slated to become 

a 32-storey mixed-use hotel and residential property. 

(“We’re still debating the brand,” Toor says.) 

Manga is currently working its way through the 

zoning process for two other Toronto projects, both in 

the vibrant and upscale King-Spadina district, which 

has in recent years become a hub of clubs and bistros 

and a site for several luxe boutique hotels — not to 

mention the headquarters for the Toronto International 

Film Festival (TIFF). 

“We’re adding almost 750 rooms to the downtown 

core,” he says. 

Manga puts a high priority on investing back into 

JLL | Hotels & Hospitality 

beyond 

AMBITION 

JLL would like to congratulate 

Manga Hotels on winning Hotelier 

Regional Company of the Year. 

jll.com 

© 2018 Jones Lang LaSalle IP, Inc. All rights reserved. All information contained herein 

is from sources deemed reliable; however, no representation or warranty is made to the 

accuracy thereof.

the communities where it operates. “It’s important for 

us to be involved in the community, especially in the 

Atlantic regions,” says Manga’s vice-president of Sales 

and Revenue, Shahzad Cokar. “About two-thirds of our 

portfolio is in Atlantic Canada; it’s very important that 

we give back there. We have a very big presence.” 

One way Manga gives back is through its support 

of the Children’s Miracle Network and IWK Foundation. 

Projects such as the annual Delta Fredericton Golf 

Classic, hosted by Delta Hotels by Marriott Fredericton, 

further the IWK Foundation’s mission to champion excellence 

in healthcare for women and children across the 

Maritimes. It raises about $15,000 per year. 

Manga also works with Dreams Take Flight, a charity 

dedicated to providing the trip of a lifetime to medically, 

mentally, physically, socially or emotionally challenged 

children in eight cities across Canada. In December 2017, 

Manga also raised funds for the Leo Hayes Feed-the-Lions 

program and Fredericton community kitchen through 

donated proceeds from a pasta-bar lunch. In addition, 

employees volunteer once per month with a schoolbackpack 

program that provides take-home meals for 

families in need. 

The company is also hard at work on a bigger project: 

the creation of its own charitable foundation, set to 

launch in 2019, which will extend the impact of its 

community support to a new level. 

Toor remains optimistic about the future of hospitality 

in Canada. “It’s a good industry and it will keep growing,” 

he says. “People have more money and they’re doing more 

travelling. The important thing is to look at the long term; 

don’t take shortcuts. Look after your people. Look after 

your associates and they’ll be able to keep people happy.” 

While some operators lament the advent of the disruptive 

sharing economy, Toor doesn’t fear it. “Airbnb is a 

different market,” he says. “We have business people travelling. 

Younger people are looking at a different market 

niche. That segment of the market is very small overall.” 

In order to remain competitive, “you need to stay on the 

cutting edge of technology,” Toor says. “People demand 

more. We have to be sure we’re [keeping up] with new 

trends. You can check in with your iPhone now — it’s your 

key; you don’t have to wait in line. We’re going to 50-inch 

smart TVs; you can plug in any gadget you want. We have 

LED lighting you can turn on with from your bed.” 

Toor doesn’t expect this thirst for tech novelties to 

wane anytime soon. “They keep evolving all the time, 

like anything in life,” he says, “so we have to provide 

better than what people have in their homes to keep them 

coming to us.” It’s a plan that has worked for Manga for 

the past three decades and it seems poised to keep the 

business successful for decades to come. ◆ 

Congratulations to Manga Hotels 

Hotelier magazine’s Regional Company of the Year. 

© IHG – InterContinental Hotels Group. All rights reserved. Most hotels are individually owned/operated.

CONGRATULATIONS MANGA HOTELS 

Hyatt is thrilled to celebrate your recognition as Hotelier’s 2018 Regional Company of the Year. On behalf of 

everyone at Hyatt, we congratulate you on your continued success. We look forward to growing together. 

Hyatt and related marks are trademarks of Hyatt Corporation. © 2018 Hyatt Corporation. All rights reserved.

40 Henry St., St. John’s - Rental Apartments 

Congratulations to Sukhdev Toor and 

Manga Hotels for a well-deserved award! 

CFO Capital provides competitive financing from 

construction, repositioning, acquisition, to refinancing 

for Hotels, Apartments and other Commercial 

asset classes. 

Hilton Garden Inn, St. John’s 

Hampton Inn & Homewood Suites by Hilton, Halifax 

MARK KAY 

Principle Broker/President 

M: 647.889.4809 E: mark.kay@cfocapital.ca 

TREVOR SCOTT 

SVP Business Development Western Canada-Consultant 

M: 604.828.3971 E: trevor.scott@cfocapital.ca 

Delta Frederiction 

cfocapital.ca 

Broker License #10210 

CFO_TH.indd 1 

2018-11-20 4:39 PM 

Congratulations 

to Manga Hotels on being honoured as 

Hotelier’s “Regional Company of the Year” 

eastlinkbusiness.ca

CONGRATULATIONS! 

Samsung Canada extends its congratulations 

to Manga Hotels on receiving the prestigious 

2018 Pinnacle Award for Regional Company 

of the Year from Hotelier magazine. 

Best wishes for continued success!

Congratulations to Manga Hotels for the 

Hotelier’s Regional Company of the Year Award. 

is proud to be associated to such a great 

& successful organization. 

YOUR INDUSTRY EXPERTS FOR: 

Hotel TV, Commercial Display, 

Appliance & Electronic 

Philippe Landry, National Sales Manager 

plandry@cesdistribution.com 


CES_QV.indd 1 

ASSA ABLOY Hospitality 

2018-11-20 4:37 PM 

Pinnacle Award Winner 

Regional Company of the Year 2018! 

We look forward to your 

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by Hilton, St. Johns 

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assaabloyhospitality.com 

API_QV.indd 1 

2018-11-08 2:38 PM

Congratulations to 

MANGA HOTELS 

on your 2018 Pinnacle Award 

HVS congratulates 

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on the well deserved achievement 

of the Pinnacle Award Hotelier’s 

Regional Company of the Year 2018 

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Untitled-2 1 

2018-11-13 1:18 PM 

COLLIERS INTERNATIONAL HOTELS 

is pleased to congratulate the following 

leaders for their outstanding achievements 

in the CANADIAN LODGING INDUSTRY. 

COMPANY OF 

THE YEAR 

REGIONAL COMPANY 

OF THE YEAR 

SUPPLIER OF 

THE YEAR 

collierscanada.com/hotels 

BEST WISHES FOR CONTINUED SUCCESS!


Regional Company of the Year 

Proud to have served you since 2006 

ARCHITECTS • CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS 

www.chamberlainipd.com 

Congrats 

Congratulations to 

Sukhdev Toor and Manga Hotels 

on their outstanding achievement 

as the 2018 Pinnacle Award 

Winner for Regional Company 

of the Year. 

TO THE WINNERS OF THE 30TH- 

ANNUAL PINNACLE AWARDS 

COMPANY OF 

THE YEAR 

REGIONAL COMPANY 

OF THE YEAR 

ROBERT HOUSEZ 

HOTELIER OF 

THE YEAR 

SUPPLIER OF 

THE YEAR 

www.grouplockhart.com 

Group Lockart_QV.indd 1 

2018-11-20 10:19 AM

Kohler Canada is pleased to 

congratulate Manga Hotels 

on its well-deserved 2018 

Pinnacle Award.

HOTELIER OF 

THE YEAR 

STAYING 

POWER 

Robert Housez is a transformative 

figure for Chelsea Hotel, Toronto 

STORY BY JORDAN MAXWELL 

PHOTOGRAPHY DANIEL ALEXANDER 

Robert Housez believes in the Golden 

Rule — treat others the way you 

want to be treated. It was hammered 

into him by his father, his role model 

and his mentor, and the guiding 

principle still remains with him 

today. Since joining Chelsea Hotel, 

Toronto in 1999, Housez has seen the 

property undergo a series of renovations 

and developments. 

Originally opened in 1975 as Canada’s largest hotel, the 

Chelsea Hotel, Toronto has been a downtown destination 

for tourists and business players for decades. Under Housez’s 

careful eye, the hotel is expecting 83 per cent occupancy 

for 2018 at an Average Daily Rate of $170 and RevPAR of 

$141 — representing year-over-year growth of 13 per cent 

from 2017. In 2016, the hotel grew its RevPAR by 22 per cent. 

With 1,590 guestrooms and suites on 26 floors, managing the 

enormous property is no easy feat. 

For a hotel that’s endured plenty of change over the years, 

Housez — a more than 30-year veteran of the hotel industry 

— has remained the one constant, carrying the torch for his 

guests and employees through the Delta years (1975 to 2013) 

and now, under an independent-ownership group with Great 

Eagle Holdings Ltd (1996 to present). In both instances, he’s 

had to steer the ship, doing what’s best for the hotel to not 

only survive, but thrive. 

“If we think back to 1999, the hotel was doing very well, 

DRIVING 

INNOVATION 

Airline Hotels is led by 

Dan Folk, co-COO (left); 

Betty Anne Latrace- 

Henderson, president; and 

Jaret Waddell, co-COO 


Robert Housez, 

GM, Chelsea 

Hotel, Toronto 



with very high occupancies,” Housez says. “At that time, 

we had a thriving theatre business and we were known as 

Toronto’s downtown theatre hotel through our alliance with 

Mirvish Theatres and LiveEnt — things looked very rosy 

when I first stepped in. And then, shortly after that, things 

changed very abruptly.” 

The impact of 9/11 in 2001, a recession and the SARS 

outbreak in 2003 brought business to a screeching halt 

and things got difficult very quickly. Guests stopped flying 

in, business people stopped booking and patrons stopped 

dining. The once-thriving theatre scene that drew guests 

from Tennessee to Tokyo evaporated. 

“It was a difficult time period, during my first stint here,” 

he recalls. “Everyone is trying to run a reasonable occupancy 

and you want to be doing well enough to provide consistent 

hours for your colleagues. In that sort of environment, 

things get very competitive because there’s not a lot of 

demand. So, instead of capitalizing on demand, it becomes 

more an issue of what share can I steal from my competitors 

and how can I do it and still remain profitable and show 

some growth, even if it’s modest growth year over year?” 

To combat the challenges, the GM dug deep into his talent 

pool to field ideas on how to keep the hotel profitable. Unlike 

a smaller property that focuses on a particular segment, a 

larger hotel forces you to open up your idea pool, he says. 

“You’ve got to spread your focus much wider than if 

you had the luxury of just being a corporate hotel where 

that was your bread and butter and the one segment you 

concentrated on. We found that perhaps the best way to 

get the competitive edge was to continue to be innovative. 

We asked ourselves, ‘What can we do given the business 

climate, which was not the best, to safeguard that?’” 

The answer: a 130-ft. corkscrew waterslide on the 

second floor of the Chelsea Hotel — the first of its kind in 

downtown Toronto. Built in 2003, just prior to the SARS 

outbreak, the apparatus gave the Chelsea a much-needed 

boost, drawing locals to the hotel for a day of leisure. 

“We actually did better than most hotels because of that,” 

Housez says. In recent years, the team also built herb and 

vegetable gardens and put beehives on the roof — a plan 

initiated by the hotel’s Green Committee. 

Seeking outside input and being innovative helped 

Housez gain respect among his colleagues and peers. In 

fact, under his leadership, the Chelsea consistently achieves 

colleague-engagement scores of 90 per cent. And in an 

industry with an average staff turnover rate of 25 per cent, 

Housez’s hotel has only 10.5 per cent turnover. 

Ironically, Housez wasn’t even supposed to pursue a career 

in the hospitality industry. His goal was to be a teacher. A 

graduate of McGill University in Montreal, he planned on 

being a high school social-studies teacher. But, when he 

graduated, there was a surplus of teachers, forcing him to 

look elsewhere for a career. 

However, Housez is no stranger to the hospitality industry. 

As a youngster, he worked at the Jasper Park Lodge and 

a small resort on Vancouver Island. Even back then, he had 

a passion for people. 

“I’m someone who thrives on what I call the greatest 

variable there is, people — be they the guests or colleagues 

you work with,” he says. “I love the challenges and the chaos 

that comes with that and the unpredictability from minute 

to minute to minute. I enjoy working with people, I enjoy 

delivering memorable experiences and good service. I take 

pride in that.” 

Housez applied to the Fairmont Royal York Hotel and the 

Four Seasons Hotel because they were “the biggest names” 

at the time. Four Seasons called first and hired him the next 

day. He started on the frontlines, working the front desk 

before having a chance to progress his career through every 

area of management. 

After 10 years with the Four Seasons, he was promoted 

to general manager before joining what was then the Delta 

Chelsea Hotel in 1999. 

In 2008, Housez left the Delta Chelsea Hotel to manage 

the Delta Meadowvale Hotel and Conference Centre in 

Mississauga, Ont., where he headed up the hotel’s food-and- 

CONGRATULATIONS

everage centre and was in charge of bolstering its association 

business and event bookings. 

After a short stint with the Hilton in Mississauga, Ont., 

an opportunity to work at the Chelsea under new ownership 

— Great Eagle Holdings Ltd. — came calling. He oversaw a 

$10-million renovation, which saw 750 guestrooms updated 

as well as upgrades to the lobby. 

After a career full of successes, and a few failures, Housez 

still appreciates the day-to-day grind, sticking to the Golden 

Rule that got him here. And now, it’s about empowering 

others — and his community. 

“We do a very poor job of marketing ourselves [to candidates] 

as being a choice opportunity in an industry that’s 

exciting and you should look at,” he says. “We’ve got to do 

something about that because there’s a labour shortage. It’s 

getting increasingly difficult to fill junior and mid-management 

jobs, which are good jobs — they’re well-paid 

compared to what they would get in a comparable industry.” 

As a member of the downtown Yonge BIA, which he 

helped form in 2002, Housez has been on the forefront 

of major decisions that have helped shape the downtown 

Yonge-Street neighbourhood. In addition to his work with 

Tourism Toronto and the Greater Toronto Hotel Association, 

he’s also contributed heavily to the Hospital for 

Sick Kids (under Housez’ leadership, Chelsae Hotel has 

committed to raising $100,000/year), the Heart and Stroke 

Foundation and the Special Olympics. 

“Rob is a leader in the hotel industry and has made significant 

contributions, serving more than 10 years on the GTHA 

Board of Directors and two years as chairman,” says Sajni 

Khera, manager of Corporate Communications & Member 

Services at the Greater Toronto Hotel Association. “He’s 

an advocate of the GTHA/Humber College Hotel Management 

Leadership Program, supporting colleagues’ growth into 

leadership roles in hotels across the Greater Toronto Area.” 

According to Johanne Bélanger, president and CEO, 

Tourism Toronto, “Robert is not just a hotel leader, he’s 

an industry leader. Throughout the years, he has offered 

guidance and leadership in marketing Toronto as a global 

destination, giving his time and energy as a member of our 

Marketing committee and Board of Directors. Beyond this, 

he has passionately championed our social-responsibility 

program, Relax, Recharge, Renew, which offers weekend 

getaways for parents of children with complex-care needs 

— and we couldn’t be more grateful for his support.” Last 

month, Housez became chair of Tourism Toronto. 

“It can’t be just about the business,” Housez adds of his 

off-property pursuits. “You’ve got to make sure you’re participating 

in community initiatives, that you’re benefiting 

the whole and that’s a really good way to get involved, to 

know what’s going on, but also to influence what you think 

should be happening out there.” ◆ 

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Congratulations 

Robert Housez on winning the Pinnacle award 

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SUPPLIER OF 

THE YEAR 

BRAND 

BUILDERS 

Destination Canada is bringing 

the world to Canada 

STORY BY DANIELLE SCHALK 

PHOTOGRAPHY COLIN WAY 

David F.Goldstein, 

president and CEO, 

Destination Canada 

Canada is enjoying a place on the world 

stage, coming off a record-breaking 

year for Canadian tourism last year, 

with international arrivals reaching 

20.85 million during the country’s 

sesquicentennial celebrations. This 

level of success was bolstered by the 

efforts of Destination Canada (DC), 

which reported more than 1.4-million 

attributable arrivals and $1.81-billion in attributable 

tourism-export revenue for 2017. 

And, 2018 is on track to be another record year, with 

international arrivals up 1.7 per cent year-to-date for the 

first half of the year. Although attributable-tourism figures 

aren’t yet available for 2018 “the data shows we’re moving 

the needle with the kind of customers we want to bring 

to Canada,” says Destination Canada president and CEO, 

David F. Goldstein, who points to the U.S. market as a 

prime example. “Through aviation data, [we know] that, 

while U.S. [arrivals] are fairly flat, the numbers from the 

airports in the U.S. cities where we’re targeting our marketing 

are actually up.” 

As Canada’s national tourism marketer, DC is dedicated 

to promoting the interests of the tourism industry and 

marketing Canada as a premier four-season tourism destination. 

The organization focuses its efforts on carefully selected 

target markets (currently 10 leisure and five business) to 

increase arrivals and grow Canada’s tourism economy. 


As part of its efforts to grow the Canada brand, DC 

also hosts tourism-marketplace events, such as Rendezvous 

Canada (RVC) and GoMedia Canada, which 

connect Canadian tourism organizations and businesses 

with international tourism buyers and travel media, 

respectively. In fact, RVC 2018 achieved the highest 

attendance levels in the event’s 42-year history, welcoming 

more than 1,900 delegates and facilitating more than 

30,000 face-to-face business appointments. 

And, although increasing visitation is the end goal, it’s 

far from being the organization’s only achievement. 

As Goldstein explains, key changes made within 

the organization over the last three years have played 

a significant role in the current success of the Canada 

brand. “We’ve become a much more efficient organization 

with far lower overhead, so more of our investment is 

handed directly to marketing,” he explains. “And, I’m not 

shy about saying it, we have a much bigger megaphone — 

Destination Canada’s budget has gone up 40 per cent in 

the last [four years].” 

Over the past year, DC has refined the way it targets 

potential travellers, shifted its focus to digital-content 

strategies and put increased emphasis on Business Events 

Canada (its business and incentive-travel platform), as 

well as expanding the country’s seasonality and regionality. 

Many of these initiatives are part of DC’s five-year 

strategic plan, known as NorthStar 22, which established 

a “Team-Canada” approach for the organization’s marketing 

efforts and set the goal of reaching 25-million visitors 

spending $25 billion by the year 2022. 

This team approach brings together provincial, 

territorial and city partners to market Canada to international 

travellers in a unified, coordinated and efficient 

manner — an approach that’s unique within the realm of 

destination marketing. “[This] strong alignment is, frankly, 

envied by a lot of our competitors,” says Goldstein. “My 

friends in Australia, the U.S. and the U.K. think we’ve 

found a unicorn.” 

Another key aspect of the plan includes increasing 

the commercial competitiveness of the country’s tourism 

sector through enhanced consumer data, including 

visitor-spending and audience insights. “We have tools 

at our disposal that we didn’t have five or 10 years ago, 

from a digital and a research perspective,” says Goldstein. 

“We’re working with Statistics Canada to use financialservices 

data to get a better understanding of what travellers 

are actually spending.” 

In 2018, DC also signed new partnerships with the 

Vancouver Airport Authority and Halifax International 

Airport Authority and it recently renewed a partnering 

agreement with the Indigenous Tourism Association 

of Canada (ITAC). These latest additions join existing 

multi-year agreements with industry stakeholders such as 

Air Canada, WestJet and Parks Canada. 

Co-investment is a key element of DC’s approach, 

through which the organization forms industry partnerships 

to help extend its partners’ global marketing reach. 

The largest example is the organization’s “Connecting- 

America” campaign, which counts all provinces and 

territories, as well as several city, resort and commercial 

partners from across the country, as participants. 

The launch of the Connecting-America campaign in 

2016 marked DC’s re-entry into the U.S. leisure market. 

The program showcases unique Canadian experiences to 

prospective American travellers in key cities with direct 

air access to Canada through a variety of channels. 

As of year-end 2017, the program was on track to reach 

its goal of achieving 1.035-million U.S. arrivals to Canada 

by 2018, with arrivals sitting at 924,000. 

“[We’ve also done] some innovative things within the 

direct-to-consumer piece with how we’re targeting [and] 

who we’re targeting using a broader view of publishers — 

not just specifically travel publishers,” Goldstein explains. 

“We [look at it as] not just fishing where the fish are, 

it’s fishing where the fish are and our competitors aren’t 

fishing, which means using brands such as Rolling Stone, 

GQ and The New Yorker…We’ve developed some really 

cool bespoke content across these different publications.” 

But, perhaps the most significant example of DC’s 

exploration of unconventional content marketing came 

this fall when it launched the Vacations of the Brave series 

on Amazon Prime Video. The series follows everyday 

heroes from the U.S. as they are treated to extraordinary 

Canadian travel experiences. The project was informed 

by “a fair amount of research on the U.S. market and 

what motivates travellers,” and leans into growing interest 

in transformational travel. 

With 2018 being the Canada-China Year of Tourism 

(CCYT), the organization has also been putting significant 

focus on the Chinese market, with initiatives targeting 

both business travellers and families, as well as participation 

in a tourism trade mission led by the Government of 

Canada, during which DC signed a new Memorandum 

of Understanding with UTour — a China-based travelservice 

provider — to collaborate on marketing and R&D. 

“We increased our marketing budget for China by 

about 20 per cent last year for CCYT and we’re going to 

continue to invest at that level going forward,” Goldstein 

says. “We always believed that the CCYT is not just about 

one year.” 

Looking to 2019, Goldstein says DC will focus on 

“building on strength, increasing our research capacity, 

launching [new] initiatives and increasing our marketing 

capacity on the Business Events Canada side.” 

And, with the continued growth of the global tourism 

industry, Canadian tourism is expected to continue 

expanding. “We’ve had some independent economic 

analysis done that says [our NorthStar 22 goals are] a 

conservative projection,” notes Goldstein. 

“The Canada brand is strong,” he adds, pointing to 

Canada’s reputation as safe, welcoming and inclusive 

— as well as its authentic Indigenous offerings — as 

the country’s key differentiators. “In working with our 

in-market teams, you can feel it — it’s palpable.” ◆ 


FEATURE 

Opening 

Doors 

Be Our Guest 

program aims 

to get young 

workers hooked 

on hospitality 

BY SARAH B. HOOD 

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DANIEL ALEXANDER 

Hotels 

across the 

country 

are feeling 

the pinch 

of labour 

shortages. The hospitality industry is not 

alone in facing this challenge, but the 

Hotel Association of Canada estimates 

that, with rising demand for accommodation 

service, the national labour 

shortfall could reach 10,000 by 2035. But 

a Toronto-based partnership of hotels and 

educational institutions is working to nip 

the problem in the bud with an innovative 

program called “Be Our Guest.” 

“The idea for this program started two 

years ago,” says Dario Guescini, director 

of Work Integrated Learning at George 

Brown College in Toronto. Previously, 

as chair of the college’s School of Hospitality 

and Tourism Management, he 

brought together a program-advisory 

committee of industry experts, including 

Hani Roustom, general manager at 

Toronto’s Hazelton Hotel. 

“We were seeing a declining trend in 

interest in the industry [and] enrolment 

trends going down,” Guescini says. “We 

started to think about how we could 

position the hospitality industry as an 

industry of choice and show young 

people they could have a very meaningful 

career as part of this industry.” 

At the time, the perception of 

young potential employees seemed to 


(from left to right) 

Ryan Cho, student; 

Konrad Gstrein, GM, 

Four Seasons Hotel 

Toronto; Hani Roustom, 

GM, Hazelton Hotel; 

Nia Thompson, student 

be that hospitality jobs only offer long 

hours at low pay, he says. “We wanted 

to change that perception and elevate 

the profession.” 

“We continuously discuss the labour 

shortage the industry is facing; this is 

something I’ve experienced firsthand and 

it’s a challenge that’s going to continue 

to exist,” says Roustom. “Learning from 

other industries, we wanted to pilot 

an initiative at the Hazelton and, if it 

worked, to engage others in this process. 

Why did we name this initiative Be Our 

Guest? This initiative is about wooing 

the next generation of hospitality professionals, 

inviting them as our guests, to 

experience how exciting our industry is. 

At the same time, we wanted to change 

the mindset of employers towards interns. 

Because we’re addressing the long-term 

labour shortage, we need employers to 

start thinking of those interns as the 

long-term future of the industry.” 

A conference was held to gather 

ideas from hospitality-related educational 

programs and the concept of an 

experiential-learning opportunity for 

high-school students emerged from the 

discussions. “We need to give credit to 

Hani,” says Guescini. “He invested the 

time; he’s the one who was passionate 

about continuing this work and he 

pioneered the Be-Our-Guest program.” 

The program evolved through an 

increasing network of project partners, 

beginning with Toronto’s Jarvis Colle- 



giate Institute, which joined in a 

pilot project that saw high-school 

students rotate through a sampling of 

employment areas over the course of 

several months. 

Seeking to involve others, Roustom 

reached out to the Toronto District 

School Board (TDSB) and connected 

with Helen Ho, co-ordinator of 

Experiential Learning and Student 

Engagement, and Ron Felsen, 

centrally assigned principal: Leadership, 

Learning and School Improvement. 

Other early partners were 

Beth Potter, president and CEO of 

the Tourism Industry Association 

of Ontario (TIAO); Tony Elenis, 

president and CEO of the Ontario 

Restaurant Hotel and Motel Association 

(ORHMA); Erin Haid, director 

of Talent Acquisition (North & 

Central America) for AccorHotels; 

Alexi Hakim, general manager at the 

InterContinental Toronto Centre, 

and Konrad Gstrein, general manager 

at Four Seasons Hotel Toronto. They 

joined Roustom and the other educational 

partners to establish a framework 

that could be implemented 

across the industry. 

“We were approached with the 

idea of the program and felt it 

was something under ORHMA’s 

mandate,” says Elenis. “We’ve had, in 

recent years, some of the best performance 

numbers that we’ve seen and 

it’s critical that we have the employees 

required in years to come. In 

many cases, it’s about breaking down 

and busting myths. There’s a variety 

of careers to choose from and a 

variety of skills involved that perhaps 

our students don’t recognize.” 

“Any way we can give students 

opportunities to explore their 

passions through experiential learning, 

we’re interested in that,” says 

Felsen, noting TDSB already offers 

Specialized Trade Exploration 

Programs — STEP for short — in 

construction and transportation. 

Felsen envisions an ongoing TDSB 

program, provisionally known as 

STEP to Hospitality: Be Our Guest. 

“We’re looking at this as an exploration 

model where students would 

rotate through different aspects of 

the hotel,” he explains. 

“Last year, we had two students do 

a placement at the Hazelton Hotel,” 

Felsen continues. “This year, we have 

18 students in the Be-Our-Guest 

program. We’re experimenting this 

year; we’ve engaged a number of 

hotels.” In the future, the program 

could be designed as a “dual-credit” 

offering, which allows a student to 

earn both high-school and college 

credits at the same time. 

Currently, students in the program 

begin with several weeks of classroom 

learning, covering skills such 

as resumé-writing and a health-andsafety 

component. Then they begin 

to work in a hotel, with a co-op placement 

and a job-shadowing rotation. 

Depending on the specific situation, 

some students will work about three 

or four hours per day. Besides the 

Hazelton Hotel, this year’s cohort has 

been placed with the InterContinental 

Toronto Centre, the Four Seasons 

Hotel Toronto and the Fairmont 

Royal York. 

“In the short term, the Be-Our- 

Guest program aims to provide 

students experiential insight into 

the intriguing and vibrant world of 

hospitality; in the long term, it aims 

to attract a pipeline of future talent,” 

says Gstrein. “Our current students 

are surprised and impressed by the 

scope of opportunity hotels offer. 

Beyond broadening their understanding 

of the workplace, students are 

enriched by the diversity of people, 

cultures and experiences our industry 

uniquely provides. In turn, it will 

encourage their consideration of 

our sector in their educational and 

vocational planning.” 

“What drew us to the Be-Our- 

Guest program is the structure,” says 

Hakim. “We’re currently hosting 

seven students in different departments. 

During their time with us, 

they’ll be involved in our day-to-day 

operation along with planned training 

sessions and orientations. We 

enjoy having the students here and 

exposing them to the many facets 

of our industry.” “As the world of 

travel and tourism evolves on a daily 

basis, the hospitality industry can 

only grow with fresh minds and new 

ideas,” he continues. “A younger 

generation getting involved and 

being passionate about the industry 

will provide endless opportunities 

for growth and continue to keep the 

industry going. In the near future, I 

would like to see the program rolled 

out to all GTA hotels and, eventually, 

expanding across Canada. 

When students are thinking of their 

future, we want to be included in 

those thoughts.” 

“Our goal is very ambitious: to 

try to do something that will help 

the industry collectively and help 

ourselves at the same time,” Roustom 

says. “Working with other industry 

stakeholders and hoteliers in our city, 

and after this successful expansion 

and intake, the vision is to make this 

an industry-wide effort and develop 

it to include other measures such as 

employer-qualification process.” 

“We will be implementing initiatives 

to make sure the employees 

will be engaged,” he says. “Assigning 

the interns to a young mentor 

will help senior management understand 

how to make the internship 

more meaningful.” 

Another component should be 

a practical departmental project 

for students to solve and, ideally, 

managers should “make sure the 

students attend learning and development 

events and, in the hotels 

that can afford it, maybe implement 

departmental shadowing. Also, to 

inspire them, we want to try to give 

the interns an opportunity to have a 

one-on-one with the general manager 

or senior executive of the hotel,” 

says Roustom. 

“What we’re doing is to involve the 

entire community,” says Guescini. 

“This should be driven by hoteliers; 

we need to develop talent and we are 

committed to doing so.” 

“I would encourage the industry to 

get involved and treat these individuals 

as their own, to ensure the 

students have a well-rounded feeling 

for the industry that they hopefully 

will come into,” says Elenis. “It’s the 

best industry in the world, as far as 

I’m concerned.” ◆ 


TRENDS 

MIXING 

WITH 

MILLENNIALS 

Hotels are gearing marketing efforts 

to Canada’s largest demographic 

BY LAURA PRATT 

ISTOCK.COM/BIMBIMKHA007 

When the 

U.S. was 

treated 

to a solar 

eclipse in 

August 

2017, 

everybody 

was 

talking about it. The socialmedia 

channels sizzled with 

anticipation; conversations 

everywhere rumbled about 

plans and parties; and, the 

opportunities for social 

congregation abounded. It 

was an event crying out for 

someone to swoop in and 

organize a celebration. 

Enter Marriott and the 

quick-thinking digital 

specialists it employs to stay 

engaged with millennials — 

currently the most important 

segment of the hotel-patronizing 

public. 

As it happened, Marriott 

was lucky enough to house 

some of its 6,700 hotels 

inside the shadow the 

phenomenon promised to 

cast across the country, 

a burst of serendipity the 

company’s M Live-division 

took full advantage of. The 

lively on-property eclipse 

parties, to which guests at 

these well-placed hotels were 

invited that afternoon, took 

over courtyards, terraces, 

rooftops and, eventually, 

social media. 

It was thanks to modern 

technology that these hotels 

were able to conceive of 

these events. And, it’s via 

modern technology that the 

people who largely benefitted 

from it — millennials — live 

their lives. The coincidence 

is lost on no one. 

THE BIG BULGE 

At 27.5 per cent of the 

population, millennials are 

now the largest generation in 

Canada. As with all the best 

social phenomena, there’s 

some discrepancy around the 

particulars that define this 



cohort. But demographers 

William Straus and Neil 

Howe — widely credited 

with coining the term — 

declare it to be made up of 

people born from 1982 to 

2004. That would makee 

them between 14 and 36 

years old today — a significant, 

important group. 

Consider: they’re the 

fastest-growing travel 

segment and one of the 

largest and most influential 

categories of travellers 

in the world. Each millennial’s 

average annual 3.1 

trips are more than other 

generations (Gen-Xers 

are closest, with 2.8), 

according to Expedia 

Group’s study, Canadian 

Multi-Generational Travel 

Trends. They travel for 26 

days annually — by plane 

more than any other 

generation and by car less 

than any other — to visit 

family, relax and sight-see, 

in that order. 

In 2010, millennials 

generated US$165 billion in 

tourism receipts and made 

187 million visits around 

the world, accounting for 

20 per cent of total global 

travel. Canadian millennials 

travel outside of Canada 

more than any other cohort 

(65 per cent of their trips 

are international) and, as a 

cohort, their international 

trips are set to hit 300 

million a year by 2020. 

According to research 

associated with Destination 

Canada’s Millennial Travel 

Program, this group often 

spends more in destinations 

than other tourists 

because they travel for 

longer periods. They also 

travel more frequently and 

to less-conventional destinations. 

The campaign, 

which focused on inspiring 

Canadian millennials to 

explore their own country 

during Canada 150, 

featured more than 150 

uniquely-Canadian travel 

encounters and enlisted a 

number of social influencers 

to share their real-time 

experiences — ultimately 

increasing millennial travel 

within Canada by 16 per 

cent in 2017. 

Like all cohorts, millennials 

prefer hotel stays to 

any other accommodation 

(56 per cent of them stay 

in hotels and they spend 

26 per cent of their travel 

budget on it). 

In other words, millennials 

are a cohort hotels 

ignore at their peril. 

YOUTH POWERED 

Marriott unveiled M Live 

three years ago. These 

always-on, youth-powered 

nerve centres — with hubs 

in South Florida, Hong 

Kong, Dubai, London 

and the company’s 

Bethesda, Md.-based global 

headquarters — look to 

engage millennial travellers 

by way of their trending 

social stories from around 

the globe. 

The glass-enclosed 

banks of M Live’s screens 

hum with incoming feeds 

overseen by teams of 

digital-content experts — 

millennials themselves. 

They scour the web for 

the conversations that 

are lighting up social 

platforms, then respond 

on a dime with Marriottcentric 

content that 

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Do you have the new and 

improved Hotelier magazine App? 

With the redesigned Hotelier magazine app, you can 

access all the latest issues. View the entire issue page 

by page or jump directly to your favourites. All the 

departments and features you’ve come to know and 

love, all at the tap of a screen. 

Search “Hotelier magazine” 

in the App Store

BECOME AN 

EMPLOYER 

OF CHOICE 

NEW BEST EMPLOYER AWARD PROGRAM 

FOR THE CANADIAN HOTEL INDUSTRY 

Hotelier magazine is proud to announce the “Employer of Choice” Award — the industry's only 

national “Made-in-Canada” best employer recognition for the hotel industry. 

This award program helps address some of the major challenges facing the hotel industry 

today – attracting, retaining and inspiring top talent. 

Along with stiff competition, the seasonal nature of the industry and timetable scheduling 

make it even more challenging to hire and keep staff. To reverse these trends, employers 

need to start developing “employer-of-choice” strategies that, not only attract and retain, 

but also engage their workforce. 

WHY BECOME AN EMPLOYER OF CHOICE? 

Promoting an industry wide employer-of-choice brand that focuses on improving engagement 

and retention sends a positive message to future employees, suppliers, partners and 

customers. Simply put, it’s just good for business. 

Hotelier magazine, Canada’s leading national hotel industry publisher, has partnered with 

CCEOC Inc. to bring this unique award to the market. Winners will receive their awards at 

a special event and will be profiled in a future edition of Hotelier magazine. There will be 

additional recognition through web exposure, social media and e-newsletters. 

REPORTING 

Whether an organization wins the award or not, detailed reporting is available to help management learn 

more about what they are doing right and focus on the key areas that need improvement. Using the survey 

data to develop improvement initiatives will help create a more engaged workforce and a more loyal 

customer base. The Hotelier Employer-of-Choice award program helps employers to position and brand 

themselves in the market to attract the type of employee that best fits into their organization. It provides 

the opportunity to get the recognition they deserve and build a more profitable business. 

Are you an Employer of 

Choice? To find out, here’s 

what you need to do: 

Three-Step Process: 

1. Register online at: 

http://ccemployerofchoice.com/HOTELIER.html 

2. Fill-in and submit the Company Profile 

3. Complete the Employee Commitment 

Survey 

Organizations eligible to take part must 

meet the following criteria: 

• Compete in the Canadian hotel industry 

• Have a physical presence in Canada 

• Have 20 or more full-time employees 

• Have been in business for a minimum 

of one year 

• Private or publicly traded company 

• Government, NGO or non-profit 

To learn more or to register, please call 416-886-7007 

or go to http://ccemployerofchoice.com/HOTELIER.html 

THERE IS NO COST TO PARTICIPATE. CALL TODAY.

M Live by Marriott 

is made up of alwayson-youth-powered 

nerve centres to engage 

millenial travellers 

through trending 

social stories 

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNIE TSANG [DRAKE HOTEL] 

authentically integrates 

pop-culture distractions 

into real-time, two-way 

initiatives with the mostlymillennial 

audience. 

When M Live caught 

the buzz about the eclipse 

a year-and-a-half ago, 

digital-content producers 

sprang into action to create 

meteorological parties 

with operators. Marriott 

also feasted on the socialmedia 

frenzy that was 

the Yanny-Laurel debate 

this past spring, creating 

playful content around this 

ambiguous audio clip that 

had the world comparing 

notes and pushing it onto 

the social channels of its 

Moxy brand. 

And, with geofencing 

— utilizing GPS or other 

digital markers to create a 

virtual boundary around 

a physical space (typically 

to facilitate location-based 

engagement/marketing) 

— hotels that are paying 

STAY 

IN THE 

LOOP 

Sign up for KML’s weekly Newsblast to find 

out everything you need to know about what’s 

happening in the foodservice and hospitality 

industry, as well as fast links to access 

resources and information. 

Newsblast is delivered every Wednesday to 

your email inbox. 

For more information, go to kostuchmedia.com 

and click on the Newsblast icon

The Drake Hotel believes 

the best social-media 

content is guest-generated 

stories 

attention monitor content 

on Instagram and Twitter 

any time a next-gen traveller 

makes a public post from 

one of their properties. 

As much as the millennial 

cohort likes experiences, 

says Matthew Glick, 

vice-president of Content 

Marketing for Marriott 

International, they also like 

to document them. “They 

get back to their rooms at 

night and take to Instagram 

to post a story. We see 

those.” And they acknowledge 

them, connecting 

through their loyalty handle 

and then “surprising and 

delighting” (a Marriott 

pledge) those guests in real 

time — perhaps by sending 

over poolside appetizers to 

the guests who just posted 

a swooning photo of the 

beautiful pool. When the 

guests express their pleasure 

and post more Marriottbased 

shots, says Glick, 

“then they’ve really become 

a brand ambassador.” 

Hotel Arts Group, 

which operates two 

Calgary-based boutique 

hotels, follows millennials 

on social media to find out 

what’s important to them 

and exploits every opportunity 

to enter into digital 

conversations. “We also 

spend a lot of time attending 

social-media conferences, 

talking to them and 

asking them questions,” 

says Fraser Abbott, the 

company’s director of 

Business Development. 

But, for all the research 

and formal outreach, 

marketers at Toronto’s 

Drake Hotel regard content 

that originates in the 

opposite direction as the 

Holy Grail. “There’s no 

marketing that’s more 

authentic than a real guest 

posting a personal story 

about their fabulous experience,” 

says Stephanie Jarvis, 

The Drake’s Marketing 

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CONNIE TSANG [DRAKE HOTEL] 

Fairmont Vancouver Airport 

The Adelaide Hotel 

Kimpton St. George 

InnVest Hotels holds one of Canada’s largest hotel portfolios together with a 50% interest in 

Choice Hotels Inc., one of the largest franchisors of hotels in Canada. InnVest’s portfolio currently 

comprises of over 80 hotel properties, with more than 10,907 rooms, operated under internationally 

recognized franchise brands. The portfolio is well diversified across hotel accommodation 

categories, brands, geography and customers. 

416-607-7100 innvesthotels.com

director. “We love to share 

user-generated content to 

showcase what The Drake 

is all about to our millennial 

audience because 

of how much they value 

authenticity.” 

The property, which 

Vogue magazine declared 

“at the heart of Toronto’s 

hip transformation,” offers 

millennials sharing fodder 

Hotel William Gray 

by, among other things, 

accommodating their taste 

for customization. “We find 

that when we’re creating 

hotel and event packages 

for this group, the more 

personally customizable 

the offering can be, the 

more these guests enjoy it,” 

explains Jarvis. 

For example, The Drake’s 

Tailgate Package invites 

guests to select from custom 

hotel-party features, such as 

a barbecue pit, taco stand, 

DJ, ping pong games and a 

premium bar. 

“As curious cultureseekers 

ourselves, we love to 

create quirky, outside-thebox 

experiences for people 

that blend culinary and art 

and music,” says Jarvis. “We 

highly identify with our 

millennial-guests’ appetites 

for trying new things and 

ensure we deliver the really 

unique, multi-facetted 

experiences we know they’re 

wanting from us.” 

THE HOTEL SERVICE 

As for what matters to 

millennials during their 

hotel stay, wireless Internet 

tops the list, says Abbott. 

“You’ve got to make sure 

they can access it. That’s 

number-1.” 

Design elements are also 

important and if interiors 

broadcast relationships with 

local suppliers, so much the 

better. “Millennials want 

to see their community 

doing well and [for hotels] 

to be economic pollinators, 

spending locally and 

reinvesting their dollars,” 

Abbot adds. 

The local piece is key, 

agrees Maria Antonopoulus, 

Marketing director at Hotel 

William Gray, a boutique 

property in Old Montreal; 

that’s why the art in its 

127 rooms is created by 

local artists — a fact the 

hotel promotes through its 

website and social media, as 

well as in the rooms. 

The learning curve for 

speaking to millennials 

isn’t so steep, says Abbott, 

especially if it’s people from 

the same generation doing 

the speaking. “It’s easier for 

millennials to reach millennials. 

They know you’ve got 

to spend the time listening 

first — not just weigh in 

right away. That’s always 

the secret in social media: 

finding out who the voices 

are what they’re interested 

in. If you come in like a 

bull in a china shop, it’s not 

going to ring true.” ◆ 

COMING IN 

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 

THE FRANCHISE REPORT 

+ BRANDING 

+ PUBLIC SPACES 

(FLOORING, LIGHTING AND MORE) 

+ CANNABIS: HOW DOES LEGALIZATION 

AFFECT HOTELS? 

+ DATA-MANAGEMENT ROUNDTABLE 

+ EXTENDED STAY

JOIN THE CLUB AND UNLOCK 

NEW OPPORTUNITIES 

By joining Key by KML, you will gain 

exclusive access to a series of media 

products designed to help run your 

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Guestroom at 

Toronto’s The 

Anndore House 

SEGMENT REPORT 

Unique Boutique 

BY ROBIN ROBERTS 

A look at the continued popularity of 

Canada’s boutique-hotel segment 

Smaller, yet storied building 

in a trendy neighbourhood: 

check. Personalized 

service: check. 

Individualized furnishings: 

check. Kitschy 

artwork: check. High-concept café: 

check. It’s easy to understand why 

guests would choose a boutique hotel, 

but the appeal to operators and developers 

is equally alluring. The success 

of this segment has also caught the 

eye of chain hotels, many of which 

are lifting some boutique attributes to 

apply to their own brands. 

THE BOUTIQUE MYSTIQUE 

Said to have first emerged in New 

York City in the 1980s with Morgans 

Hotel, which in turn inspired the first 

Canadian boutique property, Quebec 

City’s Hotel Germain-des-Pres, which 

opened in 1988, boutique hotels 

have built on that foundation of a 

non-standardized approach to design, 

decor and service. And it’s proven 

to be a successful format, as the 

sector continues to grow. Lately, that 

growth has been spurred by a shift in 

locale, as well as by other property 

developers’ overlapping interests. 

David Larone, senior managing 

director, Valuation & Advisory at 

CBRE Toronto, says new boutique 

development has drifted from its 

traditional locale in the downtown 

core, where land and development 

costs have become prohibitive, to 

“areas that tend to be their own 

community, where there’s a lot more 

pedestrian traffic.” 

In addition, condo developers, he 

says, have looked to the segment to 

help boost the value of their primary 

properties. “[They’re] thinking, ‘We 

need to add a hotel to this sector 

of the city where we’re developing 

because it’s a needed amenity and 

will help us sell more condos and 

attract more people.’” 

As for regions breaking the most 

boutique ground, Chris Fair, president 

of Vancouver-based Resonance 

Consultancy — advisor to hotel 

developers and tourism destinations 

— says, “Montreal has seen 

the addition of the largest number of 

boutique hotels, while Vancouver has 

seen the least. Of course, Vancouver 

hasn’t seen much growth in hotel 

rooms of any kind, largely [due to] 

real-estate values, which have made 

residential and commercial-office 

development much more attractive.” 



The Anndore House in Toronto 

(left), Opus Vancouver (below) 

Autonomous properties, says Larone, 

offer some advantages over the chains. 

“Independent developers know they 

have to do a lot of work to get that 

business in the door. On the other 

hand, they’re not paying a royalty fee, 

a marketing fee, a reservation fee and a 

loyalty-program fee. On the brand side, 

the fees are 10- to 15-per-cent off the 

top. That’s something the developer 

[must] weigh.” 

But, before developers can weigh 

anything, they’ll need to find 

financing. “Historically, that’s been 

one of the barriers for an independent 

property,” says Larone. “And lenders 

are getting more sophisticated in 

terms of underwriting these types of 

deals. It comes down to: Who’s the 

sponsor? How deep are their pockets? 

What’s their experience? So, if the 

lender gets comfortable on the operating 

side and if they’re comfortable 

with the depth of the equity pool on 

the deal, more of them will [finance] 

a boutique property.” 

MIRRORING THE MODEL 

Hotel companies have long established 

their own boutique properties, 

which, Fair notes, continue to fuel the 

segment’s growth. Examples include 

IHG’s Kimpton Hotels, Starwood’s 

W Hotels, Hyatt’s Andaz, Hilton’s 

Canopy and Marriott’s Autograph 

Collection. “This best-of-bothworlds 

solution helps mitigate the 

risk of launching and managing an 

independent hotel by being able to 

tap into…distribution power and 

loyalty programs while [maintaining] 

the character and positioning of a 

boutique property,” he explains. 

But the big brands have also been 

quietly adopting some of the classic 

boutique attributes, such as lobby 

spaces for work and socializing, the 

loosening of standardized room decor, 

original art, casual dress and relaxed 

attitude from staff. Travel research firm 

Skift reports that these efforts are in 

response to a younger, more educated, 

well-travelled consumer who spurns the 

generic travel experience in favour of 

a more authentic, hyper-local, destination-specific, 

unique experience. 

SMOOTH OPERATING 

Larone says the distinguishing feature 

of today’s boutique hotel is “iconic,” 

pointing to Toronto’s Drake Hotel as 

an example. “Everyone knows it; it’s 

been an iconic meeting place for many 

years…it’s a community-destination 

property. [Same with] the Broadview 

(in Toronto). It’s a larger facility, [but] 

they’ve [hit] an absolute home run 

with food and beverage.” 

Others, he says, have relied on 

the historic aspect of their properties, 

noting the Montreal-based 

Antonopoulos Group’s Place d’Armes, 

Nelligan and William Gray. But, 

regardless of the properties’ heritage, 

he says, “Local, experiential, lifestyle 

are the buzzwords these days.” 

“Experiential” is certainly a widelyused 

word at Toronto’s The Anndore 

House. Holly Medwid, Marketing 

manager for the property and its developer, 

Silver Hotel Group, says, “It’s not 

just about making a profit; we want 

the guest to experience our city and 

what hospitality should be. We are 

the jump-off point of the experience: 

you’re going to get an amazing room in 

a great part of the city, we’re going to 

welcome you into our house and we’re 

going to tell you how to optimize your 

experience in the city.” 

Medwid says it all starts with the 

hotel’s name: The Anndore House, 

with emphasis on the “House.” Indeed, 

the building was constructed in the 

1950s as a combination hotel and 

apartment building and the goal 

remains to make this house a home. 

“Everything that’s gone into the decor, 

design and connectivity was designed 

so you can just relax,” she says. 

To that end, each room includes a 

record player and records (a nod to 

the original owner’s daughter, a jazz 

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MAXIME BROUILLET [THE ANNDORE HOUSE] 


singer), retro Smeg Kettles, rainforest 

showers and a barber shop. The 

open-concept eatery, Constantine, 

is referred to not as a restaurant, but 

the house kitchen which, like the bar, 

draws guests and neighbours. Guests 

can even join the staff for a morning 

run. And, if they want dining or 

sightseeing tips, “We can give you 

that based on what we experienced 

from the city, because we’re all Torontonians,” 

says Medwid. “Branded 

hotels will send you to the traditional 

landmarks, whereas we will [suggest a] 

vantage point to see the entire city.” 

As for chain hotels emulating the 

boutique model, Medwid says, “[They] 

can create Instagrammable moments, 

but for us, it’s more than just a building, 

it’s an experience. Everything we 

do is based on the experience and the 

history, not on what is to spec and 

what’s going to look good online or 

look like a trendy boutique hotel. We 

didn’t have to follow brand standards; 

we could set the brand standard.” 

Katherine Evans, principal at KSE 

Consult, which oversees Opus Vancouver, 

echoes the importance of the 

experience. In addition to distinctive 

style and design, she says the personalized 

service and attention, which she 

believes can only truly be achieved 

with fewer guests, is what sets the 

boutique segment apart. “Staying at a 

property where the front-desk [staff] 

knows your name, the chauffeur 

becomes your personal tour guide and 

housekeepers are your friend, is what 

sets our guest experience apart. Design 

and style is second to the guest experience. 

We all seek out spaces that feel 

like home, [as if] a friend lent you his or 

her flat for the weekend.” 

The Opus bar and restaurant, says 

Evans, has been internationally recognized 

in the media over the hotel’s 16 

years and its large-scale events, such as 

Indy Car Race parties, DJ performers 

and fashion shows, keep it current and 

relevant. She says a second property, 

Opus Versante, scheduled to open in 

Opus Vancouver 

winter 2019 at Vancouver International 

Airport, will be similar in core but 

will have a personality of its own. 

Personality, intimacy, experiential, 

attentive — sounds like home (with 

hired help). And that’s the Holy Grail 

of hotel development. “One of the key 

reasons boutique hotels are becoming 

more popular is because of the rise of 

Airbnb,” says Fair. “While the experiences 

are vastly different, boutique 

hotels are also often located in character 

neighbourhoods, allowing guests a 

similar local experience, but with all 

the comforts and services of a hotel.” ◆ 

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OPERATIONS 

Hotel chains 

are retooling 

loyalty programs 

BY REBECCA HARRIS 

FRESH PERKS 

LOYALTY PROGRAMS aren’t just 

about rewarding customers: for companies, they deliver 

rich rewards to the bottom line. In fact, consumers spend 

37-per-cent more with brands when they are program 

members, according to The Loyalty Report 2018 by Mississauga, 

Ont.-based Bond Brand Loyalty. When a consumer 

is a member of a hotel-loyalty program, their spend increases 

82 per cent, behind the top sector for spend increases — 

gas — at 99 per cent. 

However, the traditional loyalty playbook (earn points, 

get free stuff) isn’t what it used to be, as consumer expectations 

change and technology opens up new opportunities 

for personalization. 

The Loyalty Report 2018 found that consumers spend 

more and remain loyal to brands with programs that offer 

innovative, personalized experiences in addition to points 

and discounts. Moreover, rewards and redemption represents 

only one-third of what drives members’ satisfaction 

with a loyalty program. Two thirds is driven by the userexperience 

elements of the program — those that meet real 

needs, make it easy and enjoyable and make people feel 

special and recognized. 

“The weightiest drivers of program satisfaction are 

the experience elements, not the points,” says Scott 

Robinson, vice-president, Design & Strategy, at Bond 

Brand Loyalty. “Loyalty currency tends to do a good job 

in engaging a new customer for the first time, but the 

experience elements do better work to sustain engagement 

and retain customers over time. So, in terms of 

how consumer preferences and needs are changing, 

they’re continuing to show us that 

the experience counts.” 

To better engage members and 

improve the program experience, 

some major hotel chains have recently 

retooled their loyalty programs. Last 

year, Hilton Hotels & Resorts rolled out new ways members 

of its Hilton Honors program can use points, including 

combining points and money for a hotel stay, pooling points 

with family and friends and extended Diamond status. It also 

launched Amazon Shop With Points, which allows members 

to use any amount of points as currency on amazon.com. 

This year, Hilton made further changes, such as introducing 

milestone bonuses for Gold and Diamond members; 

rollover nights for elite members, allowing them to rollover 

unused nights into the following calendar year; and the 

ability for Diamond members (staying 60 or more nights) to 

gift Gold status to a family member or friend. 

Some of the changes were based on customer feedback 

that indicated less-frequent travellers want to be able to 

use their points in more ways and more quickly. “When 

it comes to loyalty, earning points is not what engenders 

loyalty, it’s the value you feel when you redeem your points. 

And so, getting less-frequent travellers more engaged 

sooner was key,” says Mark Weinstein, senior vice-president 

and global head of Customer Experience, Engagement, 

Loyalty & Partnerships at Hilton. 

At the other end of the spectrum, Hilton found that 

about 40 per cent of its Gold and Diamond members were 

also elite members with competing hotel chains. “What 

was happening is guests would be loyal to us throughout 

the beginning part of the year, reach the mid-point of the 

year, earn Gold status or Diamond status and go stay with 

our competitor for the rest of the year,” says Weinstein. 

“So, we saw a chance to get more engaged with our morefrequent 

travellers.” 

ISTOCK.COM/SCAR1984 


This past August, Marriott International launched 

its new unified loyalty program, which brought together 

Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Starwood 

Preferred Guest (SPG) for the first time since Marriott 

International acquired Starwood Hotels and Resorts in 

2016. The program now operates under one set of unified 

benefits and one currency. The Marriott Rewards, The 

Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) 

names will continue to live on until a new program name is 

introduced in 2019. 

“We continue to have three loyalty brands, but on 

the back end we’ve brought the systems together and it’s 

“IT’S NOT JUST ABOUT 

UNDERSTANDING 

WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS’ 

PREFERENCES AND 

NEEDS ARE, BUT 

ACTING UPON THEM” 

- JENNIFER BRYL, MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL 

CHR Canada Ad Nov 2018 Final with Bleed.pdf 1 11/20/2018 10:19:56 AM 

seamless for our members,” says Jennifer Bryl, Marriott 

International’s director of Loyalty and CRM - Canada. 

“The biggest change for members is that when they go 

onto marriott.com or log into their mobile apps — whether 

that’s a Marriott, Starwood or Ritz-Carlton app — and 

they search a particular city, they’re now able to book and 

redeem at all of our brands.” 

Among the new perks, members earn points and 

achieve elite status faster. They can also choose to receive 

five Suite Night Awards (a one-night confirmable upgrade 

to a standard suite or select premium room) at the Platinum 

level and an additional five Suite Night Awards at 

the Platinum-Premier level. Marriott also expanded its 

“Moments” experiential platform, which allows members 

to redeem points for unique experiences, such as classes 

with top chefs; meet-and-greets with famous 

athletes, actors and musicians; and concert 

tickets with backstage access. 

Internally, Marriott International reworked 

a customer-recognition platform from the 

Starwood program and rolled it out to all 

of its hotels. The new platform enables 

Marriott to have a 360-degree view of each 

guest’s profile, as well as relevant information 

from all channels, so associates can 

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COMBINED FORCE 

This summer, AccorHotels officially incorporated FRHI’s legacy loyalty 

programs into its Le Club AccorHotels program. The move gave 

members of the Raffles Ambassadors, Fairmont President’s Club and 

Swissôtel Circle programs status within Le Club AccorHotels based on 

their original program’s status and stay history for six months leading 

up to the programs’ combination. Fairmont’s e-certificates, Swissôtel’s 

Advantage Awards and other exclusive advantages were automatically 

credited to members’ new Le Club AccorHotels accounts. 

Additionally, through the recent renewal of Le Club AccorHotels’ 

partnership with Aeroplan, former members of FRHI’s loyalty programs 

now have the option to convert Le Club AccorHotels points into 

Aeroplan miles. 

“Extensive research and analysis was completed in order to ensure 

that the combined program would meet and exceed the needs of our 

current and prospective members, as well as preserve the benefits 

members found most valuable from their previous programs,” Ian Di 

Tullio, SVP Guest Services, AccorHotels explained when the program 

integration was announced. “Technology was the single most critical 

driver in ensuring the success of the integration. AccorHotels is in the 

process of rolling out a new proprietary system, which will allow for the 

real-time sharing of guest travel preferences and insights. 

Through the unification of these programs, Le Club AccorHotels 

members can now earn and spend points at Raffles, Fairmont and 

Swissôtel properties. 

— Danielle Schalk 

provide personalized service at every touch point. For 

example, weeks before they check in, loyalty-program 

members can use Apple Business Chat to connect 

with a Marriott call centre to make a special request. 

Then, a day before they check in, they can amend 

the request via the Marriott mobile app. When they 

arrive, the front-desk staff will let them know the 

request has been fulfilled. 

“It’s not just about understanding what our customers’ 

preferences and needs are, but acting upon them,” 

says Bryl. “We’re hoping to do that through this tool 

to provide those seamless experiences and those 

welcoming experiences for our members.” 

Jamie Russo, vice-president of Loyalty Programs 

and Customer Engagement at Choice Hotels International, 

says to earn the right to be the loyalty 

program of choice, members must feel rewards 

are simple and attainable. “We scour a number of 

avenues to hear from our guests on what is important 

to them,” he says. “Our Innovation Lab is a key 

resource, but active listening in our call centres, 

in loyalty forums and through surveys helps us to 

innovate based on those insights.” 

In 2016, Choice Hotels launched a refreshed version 

EXEMPLARY 

LEADERSHIP 

It is with great pleasure that 

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Housez, General Manager, 

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receiving the Hotelier of 

the Year Pinnacle Award. 

We couldn’t be more 

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Cheers to the 

2018 Pinnacle 

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the expected 

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of Choice Privileges (CP) with the aim to 

offer the most value to members starting 

on the first day of their membership. 

For example, the company heard 

that many loyalty programs require 

too much time to achieve rewards. In 

response, it created Your Extras, which 

offers CP members instant rewards 

through credits from popular merchants 

including Amazon and Tim Hortons. 

“So, if you’re a CP member, as soon 

as you check into your hotel, your $5 

Tim Hortons gift card would instantly 

be emailed to you for immediate use, if 

that’s the Your Extras perk you select,” 

says Russo. And, you can collect these 

instant rewards on every weekday stay 

as you save up for a free night.” 

Russo says CP hasn’t just benefited 

guests, but franchisees as well. “Our 

loyalty program drives guests directly 

to our franchisees’ hotels by creating a 

highly-engaged member base,” he says. 

“Choice Privileges members stay at our 

properties more than twice as often 

as non-CP members. This lowers both 

TOP-5 

SATISFACTION DRIVERS 

FOR HOTEL LOYALTY 

PROGRAMS 

1 

Program meets needs 

2 

Members enjoy participating 

in the program 

3 

Program is consistent with 

brand expectations 

4 

Level of effort to earn 

a redemption 

5 

Program makes guests feel 

valued/important 

Source: The Loyalty Report 2018 

by Bond Brand Loyalty 

the owner’s transactional costs through 

more direct bookings and overall 

customer-acquisition costs.” 

Looking ahead, Weinstein says 

currency will continue to be a major 

part of loyalty programs — that’s not 

going anywhere. “But the experiential 

aspect of it — that you feel appreciated, 

welcomed and taken care of when you’re 

on property and it just feels different 

when you stay with Hilton when you’re 

a Hilton Honors member — you’re 

going to see a lot more effort in that 

space,” he says. 

In Weinstein’s view, what used to 

be “nice to have” is now a table stake. 

“People are now being inspired not 

just within the [hotel] category, they’re 

being inspired by Amazon Prime 

delivering to their house in two hours. 

They’re being inspired by Uber and 

Lyft,” he says. With these heightened 

customer expectations, it’s no longer 

good enough to be good enough in the 

loyalty space, adds Weinstein. “We have 

to be really customer-centric.” ◆ 

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2018-11-20 10:19 AM

F&B 

through the 

grapevine 

A taste of wine wisdom from 

properties across the country 

BY SARAH B. HOOD 

ISTOCK.COM/MYTHJA 



HYATT REGENCY CALGARY 

Before arriving at the Hyatt 

Regency Calgary, general manager 

Amy Johnson spent 10 years building 

Hyatt’s corporate wine program. 

“We see the wine program as an 

extension of our food-and-beverage 

brand story: ‘Thoughtfully sourced, 

carefully served,’” she says. 

Part of this means knowing where 

the wines come from, so it makes 

sense to partner with local producers. 

“I brought that knowledge to 

Calgary and said we need to be 

focused first on Canadian wines; 

the majority of our customers are 

Canadian and looking to support 

Canadian products,” says Johnson. 

With groups and conventions 

comprising 65 per cent of the hotel’s 

business, it’s important to stock 

a selection of moderately priced 

French, Italian and Canadian 

wines; however, in the lounge, she 

notes, “a $70 bottle of wine with 

dinner is probably quite standard 

across Canada.” 

“People are looking for the story: 

the restaurant story, the hotel 

story,” she says. Therefore, any 

investment in staff training adds 

value to the entire wine program. 

“We partner with the largest group 

in Calgary, Willow Park Wines and 

Spirits. They do education with our 

sales and service teams, because 

when it gets to the table, being able 

to share the story of the wine adds 

to the experience of your dinner.” 

Johnson also recommends giving 

top servers the chance to visit the 

vineyards, if possible. “Three of our 

people were hosted in the Okanagan 

and they were absolutely blown 

away,” she says. 

Being ready to take chances can 

be good for business, too: “When 

Calgary was going into a terrible 

recession, we only offered a 5-oz. 

glass. I went to 6-oz. and 9-oz. glasses 

— beautiful Riedel glasses — and 

our wine program went absolutely 

gangbusters. People commented on 

the glassware; it’s part of the experience, 

[along with] telling the story 

of Canadian wines.” 

At Hyatt Regency 

Calgary, diners 

are looking for the 

stories behind the 

wines 

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ANDAZ OTTAWA 

BYWARD MARKET 

“Our wine program is a representation 

of our restaurant, which aims 

to represent the local community,” 

says Theresa Finn, assistant restaurant 

manager at Andaz Ottawa 

Byward Market. “We use a lot of local 

products; we’ve moved recently to try 

to represent Canadian wines.” 

Andaz Ottawa offers about 40 

wines, of which roughly half are 

Canadian, including several selections 

from British Columbia and Nova 

Scotia. “Adding the Nova-Scotia wine 

was a big thing for me — Nova-Scotia 

wine has been under-represented in 

the Canadian wine scene,” says Finn. 

“We’re lucky to have Benjamin Bridge 

here. I recently did a tour out there; 

they use varietals that we don’t really 

see in the rest of Canada.” 

In essence, Finn is running two 

different wine programs, because “one 

of the first pieces of advice someone 

gave me was that you have to think 

of what your guest wants and not 

necessarily what you want to drink,” 

she says. 

“Some of the hotel guests want 

something new, but we always make 

sure we have those recognizable 

varietals — the cabernet sauvignons 

from California, the sauvignon 

blancs from New Zealand — so if 

people are hungry and tired and just 

want something they know, we have 

something there for them.” 

On the other hand, she says, “our 

local guests don’t want something they 

could buy at the LCBO. They’re more 

adventurous; they’ll try new varietals 

and new wines they’ve never heard of.” 

To satisfy their curiosity, Finn works 

with various wine agents, as well as 

vineyards, in an effort to source the 

new, the fresh and the unusual — 

since savvy guests know how to check 

LCBO prices on their phone. “But, 

with the agencies and vineyards,” says 

Finn, “it’s not quite as accessible.” 

OMNI KING EDWARD 

HOTEL, TORONTO 

“A few years back, it was all 

California and Australia. Now, my 

clientele is really into Italian and 

French, a lot of sparkling wines and 

Spanish reds. The northern region 

of Spain is very close to the southern 

region of France, so for a fraction of 

the price, they get a similar product,” 

says Dave Han, director of Food & 

Beverage at Toronto’s Omni King 

Edward Hotel. 

His selection is designed for different 

segments: bar clientele, Sunday 

brunches, an assortment of sparkling 

selections for the hotel’s popular afternoon-tea 

program and a shorter list 

for catering and banquet events. 

“This list needs to be high-volume, 

so I can go to LCBO and my distributors 

and order large quantities, and 

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they need to be good quality,” he 

says. “We make sure we have Canadian 

offerings and at the right price 

points. Reif Estate Winery is our 

preferred wine and, for our sparkling, 

we want to make sure we have Henry 

of Pelham.” 

Han points out that guests from 

different parts of the world have 

distinct tastes. “Visitors from the U.K. 

like to see our Canadian offerings. 

Our American visitors try everything, 

but they’re very patriotic, so they 

drink a lot of Californian wines.” 

Asian visitors gravitate towards 

old-world wines, but perceive value 

in certain local products, such as 

icewines. “I worked in Hong Kong 

and, when I was creating a wine list, 

I needed to find wineries with names 

that were easily pronounceable, like 

Grace Vineyards, Latour and Pétrus. 

Otherwise my clientele — and my 

service staff — were not comfortable 

ordering or even selling it,” he adds. 

“Even with our catering menu, 

we do a lot of custom orders,” Han 

says. “We pride ourselves on sourcing 

different wines that [guests] probably 

would never have thought of.” 

POST HOTEL & SPA, 

LAKE LOUISE, ALTA. 

For the past 40 years, George 

Schwarz has co-owned the Post Hotel 

& Spa in Lake Louise, Alta. For most 

of that time, he’s been collecting 

and aging international wines in his 

2,600-label cellar. 

“My program is a work in progress,” 

he says. “We started collecting wine 

in 1980 and I would say 98 per cent of 

our wine in our cellar has been bought 

at release, so these wines have never 

travelled other than into our cellar.” 

Schwarz shops internationally on 

a large scale. “We buy, for example, 

Bordeaux, in futures,” he explains. 

“For instance, the 2017 Bordeaux 

wines: they pressed them and put 

them in barrels last fall and by April, 

May, June this year, these wines are 

offered in futures. I would get offers 

early in the morning and I would 

have to decide by 11 or 12 o’clock 

what I would like to take. I buy these 

wines before they’re even in the 

bottle. You have a full selection, but 

you have to prepay these wines and 

you take delivery two years later.” 

He says wine tastes have developed 

over the years, from German whites 

such as Liebfraumilch in the 1970s, 

to the full gamut of world wines. 

Lately, Schwartz sees great enthusiasm 

for rosé. “It took a while for 

people to find that rosé doesn’t have 

to be sweet.” 

Above all, even with a modest 

wine program, “the most important 

point is that you have wines on 

your list that go with the menu,” 

says Schwarz. “If you have more of a 

theme to your restaurant, then you 

don’t want to have every wine in the 

world. You can buy good wines for 

$10 or $12 — it is going through the 

exercise of tasting it yourself.” ◆ 

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67617-006_AM_HoReCa_HotelierMagazine_86x123 • FOGRA 39 • CMYK • tg: 20.09.2018 DU: 21.09.2018 Kanada

TECHNOLOGY 

A DIFFERENT 

POINt OF VIEW 

Hotels are embracing the benefits 

of immersive technologies 

BY J. LYNN FRASER 

Virtual reality (VR), augmented 

reality (AR) and immersive 

technologies offer guests, 

hoteliers and hotel staff an opportunity 

to expand their engagement 

with a property, its services and brand 

— drawing on a variety of senses, 

emotions and visuals. 

Virtual reality is being utilized for 

guests to ‘pre-view’ rooms and hotels, 

to book and pay for rooms, airline 

tickets and cars. The more detailed 

a hotel’s understanding of a guest’s 

preference, the more customized and 

nuanced the experience of the hotel 

and its brand can be. 

“Anything is possible,” says Keely 

Colcleugh founder and CEO of 

Kilograph, a Los Angeles-based 

creative studio specializing in visual 

solutions and branding. These 

technologies “can craft unique stories 

appropriate to the brand” and create 

“indelible memories.” For marketing, 

virtual tours can include smells 

and sounds, as well as multichannel 

ambient sound. In training staff “any 

degree of unknown” can be addressed. 

Colcleugh, who is also the new VP 

of the American Society of Architectural 

Illustrators, notes some individuals 

have difficulty visualizing building 

developments from photos or images. 

She says immersive technologies “can 

place the person in the environment,” 

which facilitates understanding of 

sightlines, views and rooms. Stakeholders, 

Colcleugh adds, can experience 

the flexibility of spaces for hotel 

events as well. Rooms can also be 

“augmented” to meet the needs of a 

business person or a family. 

At Hilton Hotels there was a recent 

move to simplify and modernize its 

approach to training upper-level and 

frontline staff. VR programs using 

Oculus Rift goggles and a VR-compatible 

laptop were chosen for ease of use 

and portability. The VR training allows 

users to experience the “complexity 

and physicality of operationalized tasks 

like vacuuming and plating tables,” 

explains Blaire Bhojwani senior 

director Learning Innovation, Hilton 

Hotels. With a voice command, users 

can also ask a VR robot concierge, 

named Vic, for help. 

An important takeaway for upperlevel 

staff was the importance of 

sympathy and empathy, as well as 

an increased understanding of the 

complex demands made of hotel staff. 

Bhojwani stresses that, in implementing 

VR training, a business case 

must be made and it’s key to have a 

champion who has tried it. To implement 

a VR approach to training, 

she recommends finding a “learning 

company that has an understanding 

of VR and can produce storyboards 

that are agile and iterative.” Bhojwani 

also notes that the cost to implement 

this technology varies, with production 

and equipment prices ranging 

from $500 to $50,000. 

Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth’s 

newly redesigned John Lennon/ 

Yoko Ono room — renowned for the 

couple’s 1969 “bed-in for peace” — 

offers guests a multi-sensory experience 

with memorabilia, as well as audio and 

video from the week-long event. 

The design and experiential 

components were created in collaboration 

with Quebec-based MassivArt 

and Sid Lee Architecture. A pair of 

VR goggles by the suite’s bed enables 

guests to experience Lennon and 

Ono’s view of the flow of reporters 

and guests during that time. 

“It took 14 months,” notes Joanne 

Papineau, regional director, Public 

Relations, Eastern Canada, Fairmont 

Hotels, to create the room from 

concept to opening. “Visitors love the 

new experience and museum-level 

quality of the new design.” 

Papineau notes the “availability of 

capital funds to support product development 

of these signature suites can 

be a challenge.” However, response 

from local, national and international 

markets has been excellent. Thus, 

investing in the room has paid off in 

terms of marketing and demand. ◆ 



HOTELIER 

TIMELESS 

TRADITION 

Tim Terceira returns to Toronto to 

lead the newly launched St. Regis 

BY ROSANNA CAIRA 

The maxim that you can’t go home 

again clearly doesn’t apply to Tim 

Terceira. Three years ago, the 62-year 

old hotelier left the posh Ritz-Carlton Toronto 

to head to Boston, where he helmed the 

Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common. Today, he’s 

back in Toronto at the recently rebranded St. 

Regis Hotel, where for the past 16 months, 

he’s been overseeing a complete makeover 

and new direction for the former Adelaide 

Hotel (and previously the Trump Hotel). 

The native of Bermuda is no stranger to 

the hotel industry. At the age of 14, he was asked 

to be a beach boy for the summer at a small luxury 

resort in Bermuda. “I loved 

QUICK QUIPS: it,” recalls the Cornell Hotel 

school grad. “I made a lot of 

Personal Status: Married to 

money and enjoyed making 

Karen with two daughters, 

Kimberley and Kelly guests happy; keeping the 

Philosophy: “Be luxury, but beach and dock immaculate 

be different as defined by and servicing guests renting 

the brand” 

sail boats, masks and snorkels.” 

Reasons for success: 

Though he’s a veteran of 

“Emotional intelligence, the hotel industry, having also 

passion, drive, genuine care, served in Market Operations for 

support of an amazing family, Marriott Hotels & Resorts, 

financial acumen” 

this post is different. “The 

entire assumption of management, 

change to and managing an interim brand (The 

Adelaide Hotel) and conversion to the world’s most 

prestigious luxury brand (St. Regis) is unique to any 

project I’ve worked on,” explains Terceira. 

The hotel is Marriott’s first St. Regis property in 

Canada. “At the heart of the brand are the rituals that 

endure at St. Regis hotels today — from the glamour 

of afternoon tea and evening sabrage, to the magic of 

Midnight Supper and the brand’s iconic butler service. 

Each is a modern articulation of a timeless tradition and 

an opportunity to invite guests to experience, not only 

the St. Regis legacy, but also the story of each hotel.” 

The hotel’s condo structure with multiple owners 

has only added to the complexity of the renovation 

process. “Communication is crucial,” says Terceria. 

“We have continued to operate during this entire 

process — it’s like changing the wheels on a car, but 

the car is moving at the same time…and we have to 

transform into a Bentley.” The hotel also assumed 

management of all food-and-beverage and spa services, 

which had previously been operated by a third party. 

Overseeing a staff of 346 and a room count of 258, 

Terceira says his biggest challenge has been “optimizing 

performance for our interim brand to the best possible 

extent while preparing for the conversion to a new brand 

— both physically and culturally. Everything we do is 

laser-focused on being ready to launch the first St. Regis 

Hotel in Canada,” says Terceira. 

Competitive by nature, Terceira is driven to be the 

best. “I’m energized by complex challenges, am positive 

and genuinely care about our owner, my team, guests, 

brand and our company culture,” he says. Having been 

schooled at some of the industry’s leading brands, his 

philosophy is grounded in providing top-notch service. 

“At the moment of truth, we need to ensure we deliver 

on our brand promise,” says Terceira. ◆ 

PHOTOGRAPHY BY JASON GORDON 


O FFER TH E IM AG E O F ABSO LUTE PERFECTIO N 

 

AG U ILA 220

B R A N D S. 

L O Y A L T Y. 

PARTNERSHIPS. 

RESULTS. 

MADE HERE. 

AC HOTEL MONTREAL DOWNTOWN, QC 

With a world class portfolio of brands in 129 countries and territories 

and 1 million new loyalty members added each month, we offer 

brands that fit your investment strategy backed by a powerful global 

infrastructure and a dedicated team of professionals. Harness the 

power of Marriott and make the most of your hotel investment. 

TORONTO MARRIOTT MARKHAM, ON 

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