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InnFocus Fall 2022

InnFocus magazine for hoteliers in British Columbia

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HOTELIER FEATURE:<br />

Angie<br />

Eccleston<br />

General Manager of the Crest<br />

Hotel in Prince Rupert<br />

by Danielle Leroux<br />

Angie Eccleston is the General Manager of the Crest Hotel in Prince<br />

Rupert, a role she took on in October 2021 after being with Prestige<br />

Hotels and Resorts for 10 years.<br />

“I wanted to live by the ocean and had been looking at Prince<br />

Rupert for quite a while,” says Eccleston. She had settled into<br />

Smithers, where she was General Manager at the Prestige Hudson<br />

Bay Lodge, and it didn’t seem like an ‘ocean opportunity’ would<br />

come up to move with Prestige.<br />

But then, “I got a LinkedIn message from a managing director<br />

who was looking for someone to run the Crest Hotel. They were<br />

reaching out within their current network and asked me if I knew<br />

anyone who was interested. I said, ‘please consider me first,’ and<br />

it went from there.”<br />

It was hard leaving a company that had been good to her for so<br />

many years, but there was also the draw of something new. “I would<br />

have to learn how to operate under different circumstances,” she<br />

explains. “The Crest Hotel is an independently owned property. You<br />

just have to go through one layer to make changes. But in other<br />

ways it’s hard. I can’t call on a bunch of other general managers<br />

for advice on how they’ve handled a similar situation.” Fortunately,<br />

Eccleston is still able to lean on the support system she built at<br />

Prestige, while building new relationships with other local operators.<br />

Eccleston had her start in the hotel industry as a night auditor 11<br />

years ago. “I left a manufacturing job that I couldn’t get ahead in,”<br />

she says. “I found the work very tedious and boring. I needed to<br />

try something more engaging, and I thought hotels would be such<br />

a different feeling, so I took a chance.” It paid off and Eccleston<br />

immediately found the work rewarding. She worked for three weeks<br />

as a night auditor, before moving onto the day shift.<br />

“That’s where I really fell in love with the hotel industry. There is<br />

such a variety of unique challenges requiring creative solutions.<br />

It also felt like people were being respected in a way that I wanted<br />

them to be,” describes Eccleston.<br />

She worked her way up from front desk to assistant manager<br />

at Prestige Harbourfront Resort in Salmon Arm and later became<br />

General Manager at Prestige Radium Hot Springs Resort before<br />

moving to Smithers.<br />

In her current role, Eccleston is responsible for a team of<br />

‘incredibly competent and skilled’ managers who look after<br />

different departments. “My role is to act as a support system<br />

for them. I assist them with challenges—doing what I can to<br />

make their jobs easier—and also maintain an active role in the<br />

day-to-day operations.”<br />

Eccleston continues to find the job very rewarding. “Between<br />

our guests and co-workers, I can help people improve their<br />

day and see that a tough minute is not necessarily a tough day.<br />

I get to bring people out of their shells and have an authentic<br />

experience—it’s not all just work. We can also have a good time.”<br />

Eccleston is also learning how to lead leaders. “You don’t stop<br />

learning,” she says. She wants to foster the same environment<br />

for her staff. “People should have the opportunity to learn, grow,<br />

and make mistakes in a safe space.”<br />

Eccleston credits her mentors, like Heather Bodnarchuk<br />

and Tanya Stroinig, as being instrumental in her growth and<br />

development, and encourages other aspiring leaders to seek out<br />

mentors. Eccleston acknowledges the current labour challenges<br />

but tries to inspire future leaders by operating with integrity—<br />

and is clearly doing so.<br />

<strong>InnFocus</strong> 15

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