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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 / J U N E 2 0 1 7 $ 4<br />
CLEAN SLATE<br />
Trends in hotel<br />
housekeeping and<br />
laundry operations<br />
the<br />
SUSTAINABILITY<br />
ISSUE<br />
CONNECTING<br />
THE DOTS<br />
Hotel guests<br />
are demanding<br />
connectivity<br />
above all else<br />
CANADIAN PUBLICATION MAIL PRODUCT SALES AGREEMENT #40063470<br />
ARCHITECT<br />
OF CHANGE<br />
Marriott International's CEO Arne Sorenson on what it takes<br />
to lead the largest hotel company in the world<br />
hoteliermagazine.com<br />
hoteliermagazine.com<br />
JUNE 2017 HOTELIER I
30 years is just<br />
the beginning<br />
We’re excited to be celebrating 30 years of<br />
better journeys, collaboration and innovation
Volume 29, Number 4 | june 2017<br />
Contents<br />
COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY BLOOMBERG/CONTRIBUTOR<br />
Features<br />
9 ON THE WORLD STAGE<br />
Highlights from the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai<br />
By Stephen J. Renard<br />
10 LEADING THE CHARGE<br />
Hotelier sits down with Arne Sorenson, CEO of Marriott<br />
International Interview by Rosanna Caira<br />
19 SUSTAINABLY SPEAKING<br />
How going green can increase your hotel's profitability<br />
By Jennifer Febbraro<br />
26 YOURS TO DISCOVER<br />
Ontario boasts a rich and colourful hotel history<br />
By Chris Powell<br />
33 2017 TECH REPORT<br />
Connectivity is king at Canadian hotels<br />
By Denise Deveau<br />
36 KEEPING IT CLEAN<br />
Trends impacting hotel housekeeping and laundry<br />
departments By Andrew Coppolino<br />
43 DRIVEN BY DESIGN<br />
Why design-driven hotels are attractive to guests<br />
By Jessica Maiorano<br />
49 COMFORT LEVEL<br />
Improving HVAC efficiency for increased guest comfort<br />
By Sherene Chen-See<br />
55 HITEC 2017 PRODUCT PREVIEW<br />
Departments<br />
2 EDITOR’S PAGE<br />
3 CHECKING IN<br />
56 HOTELIER: Ameer Wakil,<br />
White Oaks Resort, Niagara-onthe-Lake<br />
hoteliermagazine.com<br />
JUNE 2017 HOTELIER 1
EDITOR’S PAGE<br />
PRIMED FOR SUCCESS<br />
As we hit the halfway mark of 2017,<br />
hotel pundits continue to define<br />
where the industry is at in terms of<br />
the cycle, with many wondering whether<br />
the industry is, in fact, at its peak.<br />
Notwithstanding problems plaguing<br />
resource-driven markets such as Alberta,<br />
much of the country experienced strong<br />
fundamentals last year, and already the<br />
first quarter of 2017 shows signs of this<br />
year being just as strong, if not stronger.<br />
Occupancy remains solid in most of the<br />
country (averaging 64.5 per cent in 2016)<br />
as does RevPAR (average of $96 last year). Even ADRs have been inching<br />
upward in the past few years ($149 in 2016).<br />
The continued fragility of the globe is also impacting the industry.<br />
Fortunately, many continue to view Canada as a safe harbour in an<br />
increasingly precarious world. Certainly, Donald Trump’s presidency<br />
continues to cause consternation around the world. In fact, a recent report<br />
from the Washington, D.C.-based Global Business Travel Association<br />
(GBTA) projects a loss of more than $1.3 billion in overall travel-related<br />
expenditures in the U.S. in 2017, including hotels, food, rental cars and<br />
shopping expenses that inbound travellers would have spent. That includes<br />
$250 million lost in spending from inbound business travellers from Europe<br />
and the Middle East. The greater concern is that the longer-term impact<br />
on business travel will become larger as companies begin to host meetings<br />
and events in other destinations. In an earlier survey of GBTA’s European<br />
members, 45 per cent indicated their company will be less willing to plan<br />
future meetings and events in the U.S. due to executive orders on travel.<br />
In Canada, the news is better. With BMO forecasting the Canadian dollar<br />
to remain in the low 70-cent range against the U.S. dollar through the<br />
medium term, the tourism industry will continue to be a shining light, with<br />
Statistics Canada reporting that tourism was up by 9.4 per cent in 2016.<br />
But beyond 2017, the federal government's unveiling of its new Tourism<br />
Vision at last month’s Rendez-vous Canada bodes well for the future. As<br />
part of that vision, the government is intent on increasing the number of<br />
international tourists to Canada by 30 per cent by 2021, while doubling<br />
the number of Chinese visitors by the same year. The plan calls for the<br />
government to invest in stronger and more sustained marketing to promote<br />
the country, while addressing issues related to travelling to and within the<br />
country. Those expected changes should help position Canada to compete<br />
for a top-10 destination ranking by 2025, a marked improvement from its<br />
current number 17 status.<br />
ROSANNA CAIRA |<br />
AMY BOSTOCK |<br />
DANIELLE SCHALK |<br />
DEREK RAE |<br />
COURTNEY JENKINS |<br />
JHANELLE PORTER |<br />
CHERYLL SAN JUAN |<br />
MARIA FAMA VIECILI |<br />
ELENA OSINA |<br />
WENDY GILCHRIST |<br />
DANIELA PRICOIU |<br />
DANNA SMITH |<br />
CIRCULATION |<br />
EDITOR & PUBLISHER<br />
rcaira@kostuchmedia.com<br />
MANAGING EDITOR<br />
abostock@kostuchmedia.com<br />
ASSISTANT EDITOR<br />
dschalk@kostuchmedia.com<br />
MULTIMEDIA MANAGER<br />
drae@kostuchmedia.com<br />
GRAPHIC DESIGNER<br />
cjenkins@kostuchmedia.com<br />
SOCIAL MEDIA/EVENTS<br />
CO-ORDINATOR<br />
jporter@kostuchmedia.com<br />
ACCOUNT MANAGER<br />
csanjuan@kostuchmedia.com<br />
ACCOUNT MANAGER<br />
mviecili@kostuchmedia.com<br />
ACCOUNT MANAGER<br />
eosina@kostuchmedia.com<br />
SENIOR ACCOUNT MANAGER<br />
wgilchrist@kostuchmedia.com<br />
CONTROLLER<br />
dpricoiu@kostuchmedia.com<br />
ADMINSTRATIVE ASSISTANT<br />
dsmith@kostuchmedia.com<br />
PUBLICATION PARTNERS<br />
kml@publicationpartners.com<br />
(905) 509-3511<br />
ADVISORY BOARD<br />
David McMillan, AXIS HOSPITALITY INTERNATIONAL; Bill<br />
Stone, CBRE HOTELS; David Larone, CBRE HOTELS; Anthony<br />
Cohen, CRESCENT HOTELS — GLOBAL EDGE INVESTMENTS;<br />
Charles Suddaby, CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD LTD. — HOSPI-<br />
TALITY & GAMING GROUP; Christiane Germain, GROUPE<br />
GERMAIN HOSPITALITE; Michael Haywood, THE HAYWOOD<br />
GROUP; Lyle Hall, HLT ADVISORY; Ryan Murray, THE PILLAR +<br />
POST HOTEL; Geoffrey Allan, PROJECT CAPITAL MANAGEMENT<br />
HOTELS; Stephen Renard, RENARD INTERNATIONAL HOSPITAL-<br />
ITY & SEARCH CONSULTANTS; Anne Larcade, SEQUEL HOTELS<br />
& RESORTS<br />
HOTELIER is published eight times a year by Kostuch<br />
Media Ltd., 23 Lesmill Rd., Suite 101, Toronto, Ont., M3B 3P6,<br />
(416) 447-0888, Fax (416) 447-5333. All rights reserved.<br />
Subscription rates: Canada: $25 per year, single issue $4,<br />
U.S.A.: $30 per year; all other countries $40 per year. Canadian<br />
Publication Mail Product Sales Agreement #40063470.<br />
Member of Canadian Circulations Audit Board, the American<br />
Business Media and Magazines Canada. We acknowledge the<br />
financial support of the Government of Canada through the<br />
Canadian Periodical Fund for our publishing activities. Printed in<br />
Canada on recycled stock.<br />
ROSANNA CAIRA<br />
Editor and Publisher<br />
rcaira@kostuchmedia.com<br />
FOLLOW US:<br />
For daily news and announcements: @hoteliermag on Twitter Hotelier magazine on Facebook and @hoteliermag on Instagram<br />
2 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com
Checking In<br />
THE LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS FOR HOTEL EXECUTIVES FROM CANADA<br />
AND AROUND THE WORLD<br />
SHARING IDEAS<br />
The second-annual Hotelier Housekeeping Forum addresses department<br />
challenges and opportunities<br />
BY AMY BOSTOCK<br />
A<br />
spirit of collaboration was<br />
the order of the day at the<br />
second-annual Housekeeping<br />
Forum, held April 25 in Toronto.<br />
Hosted and presented by Hotelier<br />
magazine, in partnership with Ecolab,<br />
the event drew more than 120 hotelhousekeeping<br />
professionals to One<br />
King West Hotel & Residences.<br />
The event, sponsored by Miele<br />
Professional, Canadian Hotel Supply<br />
and HD Supply Hospitality Solutions,<br />
focused on what it takes to run a<br />
successful housekeeping department — from ensuring staff have the latest tools<br />
and technology to do their jobs properly, to understanding the newest trends in<br />
cleaning methods.<br />
The day kicked off with High-tech Housekeeping, a panel discussion centred<br />
around new trends in housekeeping technology. Brendan Gibney, senior director,<br />
Franchise Operations, Choice Hotels Canada; Bill Nash, Diversey Care, Canada<br />
at Sealed Air Corporation – Sealed Air Corporation; Jason Mcleish, Canadian<br />
Sales Director, Amadeus Hospitality; and Odette Foster, Housekeeping Manager<br />
at The Hazelton Hotel offered insight into what new technology is available and<br />
what the housekeeping department has on its technology wish list.<br />
Next up, Hotelier editor and publisher Rosanna Caira led a discussion around<br />
Keeping the Housekeeping Department Happy: Recruiting, Retaining and<br />
Remuneration. Leading industry experts Bill Pallett, president, WJ Pallet &<br />
Associates; Lis Pimental, president, Unite Here, Local 75; Kevin Porter, GM,<br />
Toronto Don Valley Hotel & Suites; and Rahul Singh Director of Housekeeping,<br />
Royal York Hotel shared their knowledge of where today’s supply of housekeepers<br />
is coming from, the training and development that keeps them knowledgeable<br />
and current and the pay scales that keep them motivated.<br />
The morning sessions wrapped up with a look at risk management in hotels<br />
and the role of the housekeeping department in keeping guests safe and secure.<br />
Graeme McIntosh, director of Business Development – Risk Solutions Inc.;<br />
Kenny Gibson, president, Sunray Group; David Laks, vice-president, Risk<br />
Control Services Manager – Eastern Canada at HUB International; and Kim<br />
Greasley, director of Housekeeping, The Hazelton Hotel addressed some of the<br />
most common risks at hotels — including fire, cyber-threats and safety/security<br />
protocols — and offered training solutions for the housekeeping department<br />
while defining its role in the hotel’s overall risk-management plan.<br />
Attendees were also treated to a look at some of the newest trends in housekeeping<br />
apparel by CMI Uniforms (representing Bragard Uniforms).<br />
hoteliermagazine.com<br />
MEETING OF<br />
THE MINDS<br />
For the first time, the Hotelier Housekeeping<br />
Forum featured an afternoon<br />
of brainstorming, with a challenges-andopportunities<br />
workshop led by Bill Pallett.<br />
Attendees broke off into groups and discussed<br />
problems and solutions to today’s<br />
most pressing housekeeping department<br />
concerns. Each table was presented with<br />
a specific challenge and group leaders<br />
facilitated an interactive session before<br />
presenting solutions back to the group.<br />
WINNING WAYS<br />
At this year’s Hotelier Housekeeping<br />
Forum, the highly anticipated awards<br />
presentations closed off the day, with<br />
Rahul Singh, director of Housekeeping<br />
at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto taking<br />
home the coveted Executive Housekeeper<br />
of the Year Award. Jaya Jameela from<br />
Toronto’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel was named<br />
Junior Room Attendant of the Year.<br />
JUNE 2017 HOTELIER 3
COMING<br />
EVENTS<br />
June 26-29: HITEC 2017, Metro<br />
Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto. Tel:<br />
800-646-4387; email: linnet.baskett@<br />
hftp.org; website: hftp.org/hitec<br />
September 18: Women in Tourism<br />
and Hospitlaity, Park Hyatt Toronto,<br />
Toronto Tel: 416-447-0888 ext. 235;<br />
email:dpricoiu@kostuchmedia.com;<br />
website: kostuchmedia.com/shop<br />
Nov. 17: Hotel Capital Connection,<br />
Arcadian Loft, Toronto. Tel: 416-924-<br />
2002, ext. 233; email: vickiwelstead@<br />
bigpictureconferences.ca;<br />
website: bigpictureconferences.ca<br />
Nov. 26-27: Western Canadian Lodging<br />
Conference, Fairmont Waterfront,<br />
Vancouver. Tel: 416-924-2002, ext. 233;<br />
email: vickiwelstead@bigpictureconferences.ca;<br />
website: bigpictureconferences.ca<br />
Dec. 1: The 29th Annual Pinnacle<br />
Awards, The Fairmont Royal York Hotel,<br />
Toronto, Tel: 416-447-0888, ext. 235;<br />
email: dpricoiu@kostuchmedia.com;<br />
website: kostuchmedia.com/shop<br />
FOR MORE EVENTS,<br />
visit http://bit.ly/Hotelierevents<br />
CANADIAN HOTEL INDUSTRY<br />
PRIMED FOR A STRONG 2017<br />
Canada’s hotel industry is<br />
primed for a strong year —<br />
that was the consensus at<br />
the Canadian Hotel Investment<br />
Conference (CHIC)<br />
held at the Westin Harbour<br />
Castle Hotel in Toronto<br />
last month. More than<br />
500 industry executives<br />
and investors attended the<br />
annual conference.<br />
Susie Grynol, president<br />
of the Ottawa-based Hotel Association of Canada (HAC), kicked off the<br />
day with an address in which she spoke of the need for the industry to work<br />
together to facilitate change. Grynol outlined the five key issues the hotel<br />
industry is facing today: disruption, labour, OTAs, Canadian competitiveness<br />
and the increasing costs of doing business. The HAC president said the<br />
association is building a 12-month strategy to target federal politicians to help<br />
them better understand the issues being faced by the industry. “We need a<br />
united voice when talking to all levels of government,” she said. Grynol also<br />
spoke of the need to raise the profile of entry-level workers and the importance<br />
of selling the notion of working in the industry to millennials.<br />
In the first panel of the day titled “Ever Evolving Hotel Landscape,” a mix<br />
of pundits and operators outlined the operating environment faced by today’s<br />
hoteliers. In breakout sessions held throughout the afternoon, a panel of<br />
operators from across the country examined the preference to build hotels or<br />
deal for them. Many of the operators on the panel stressed the importance<br />
of building in markets that you are familiar with. “It’s important to stick to<br />
what you know in your own backyard and keep it simple,” said Deepak Baring,<br />
Calmcrest Holdings. Steve Gupta, owner of the Easton’s Group of Hotels<br />
echoed the sentiment, adding it’s easier for him to build in Toronto because<br />
he’s based there. He added, however, that high barriers to entry, including<br />
the cost of land, are making it more challenging to build in some markets. At<br />
the end of the day, said Gupta, “I’m an entrepreneur, I take my money and my<br />
expertise where I can get the best return.”<br />
— Rosanna Caira<br />
RETURN TO THE SPOTLIGHT<br />
The executive team of the Omni King Edward Hotel in Toronto unveiled the<br />
revitalized and restored Crystal Ballroom in April. Two years after the ambitious<br />
work began, the design highlights the room’s characteristic features, including<br />
ornate mouldings, eight-metre-high coffered ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows<br />
offering a panoramic view of the city. In debuting the space, Christophe Le<br />
Chatton, general manager told the crowd “The Crystal Ballroom pays tribute<br />
to the past while looking forward to the future.” As part of the restoration, the<br />
room’s unique orchestra balcony was preserved, as well as its oversized chandeliers.<br />
Moncur Design Associates Inc. and Omni Hotels & Resorts (owners of<br />
the historical hotel) led the charge on the new look and design, which cost $6.5<br />
million to complete. The 5,000-sq.-ft. space and new permanent bar are fully<br />
equipped to entertain 300 guests in style. — Rosanna Caira<br />
4 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com
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InBrief<br />
Montreal’s historic George Stephen<br />
House has reopened its doors as the<br />
mansion hotel, Le Mount Stephen.<br />
Owned by the Tidan Hospitality<br />
& Real Estate Group, the property<br />
received a $20-million transformation<br />
to become an exclusive luxury<br />
hotel featuring 90 guestrooms…<br />
The Fairmont Pacific Rim’s new<br />
second-floor restaurant is now open<br />
to the public. Replacing Oru Cuisine,<br />
Botanist offers a fresh culinary<br />
approach reflecting a “new Pacific<br />
Northwest”…Marriott International,<br />
Inc. has announced the expansion<br />
of its initiative to drive adoption of<br />
modular hotel construction in North<br />
America. The company expects to<br />
sign 50 hotel deals in 2017 that incorporate<br />
prefabricated guestrooms or<br />
bathrooms…Hilton Garden Inn has<br />
transformed its food-and-beverage<br />
concept to address consumers’ changing<br />
dining preferences. The upgrade<br />
is the second phase of a large-scale<br />
initiative to amplify the Hilton<br />
Garden Inn global brand…The<br />
Llama is Inn, the fourth book in<br />
Larry Mogelonsky's Llama series was<br />
released last month. The series gives<br />
a detailed picture of the present-day<br />
hotel landscape...Burlington Hotels<br />
Group Inc. has broken ground on the<br />
new Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in<br />
Burlington, Ont. The hotel, which<br />
will be connected to the Burlington<br />
Convention Centre, will offer 135<br />
guestrooms and suites and a Bistro<br />
Plus Restaurant & Bar…Crescent<br />
Hotels & Resorts will manage the<br />
newly opened Courtyard by Marriott<br />
Toronto Mississauga/West. Crescent<br />
will manage the entire operations of<br />
the hotel, including the overnight<br />
guest experience, as well as the more<br />
than 5,000 sq. ft. of meeting and event<br />
space…Realstar Hospitality opened<br />
the 93-room Days Inn & Suites<br />
in Airdrie, Alta. The pet-friendly<br />
hotel boasts more than 840 sq. ft. of<br />
meeting and event space…A new<br />
international awards program has<br />
been launched to recognize women<br />
6 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com
in the travel and tourism industry.<br />
The inaugural Women in Travel and<br />
Tourism International (WITTI)<br />
Awards were presented at the annual<br />
Women in Travel and Tourism brunch<br />
during the IPW conference of the<br />
U.S. Travel Association on June 4<br />
in Washington D.C….InterContinental<br />
Hotels Group has opened<br />
the new-build 79-room Holiday Inn<br />
Express Red Deer North in Alberta.<br />
The hotel boasts an indoor pool, hot<br />
tub, 24-hour fitness center and 24-hour<br />
business center.<br />
Supply Side<br />
Drummonds’ taps and shower mixers<br />
have received IAPMO (International<br />
Association of Plumbing and Mechanical<br />
Officials) certification for use in<br />
North America. The company uses<br />
lost wax casting, a traditional process<br />
involving hand carving in wax and the<br />
creation of unique molds. This method<br />
allows extremely fine detail to be<br />
reproduced exactly as intended…Uber<br />
has added Uber Central to its Uber<br />
for Business platform. Uber Central<br />
is Uber’s first global one-to-many ride<br />
product, allowing organizations to<br />
manage multiple rides at the same time<br />
and from the same dashboard. Guests<br />
who receive rides via Central do not<br />
need to have an Uber account or the<br />
app to take a ride — the organization<br />
handles everything.<br />
PGP_FA22239_CA_After_CampaignAd.pdf 1 4/13/17 3:13 PM<br />
People<br />
Dorothy Dowling, SVP and chief<br />
Marketing officer of Best Western<br />
Hotels & Resorts, is the recipient<br />
of the Silver Stevie Award in the<br />
Marketing Executive of the Year<br />
category. Dowling was selected for her<br />
30-plus years of dedication to hospitality<br />
marketing, and for leading Best<br />
Western’s notable achievements in<br />
2016…Alana Baker is the new director<br />
of Government Relations for The<br />
Hotel Association of Canada (HAC).<br />
C<br />
Baker joins the HAC from Impact<br />
M<br />
Public Affairs, where she served<br />
as director of Public Affairs since Y<br />
2008…Ali Osman is the new resort<br />
CM<br />
manager at Four Seasons Resort and 7.5”<br />
MY<br />
Residences Whistler. A Four Seasons<br />
CY<br />
veteran, Osman has held positions<br />
in Cairo, Toronto, the Maldives, CMY<br />
Thailand, Bahamas and Saudi<br />
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Arabia. He joins the Four Seasons<br />
Resort and Residences Whistler from<br />
his most recent role as hotel manager<br />
at Four Seasons Hotel Alexandria at<br />
San Stefano, Egypt…As part of its<br />
expanded commitment to Canada,<br />
Red Roof has promoted regional vicepresident<br />
of Operations, Neil Scott<br />
to vice-president of Sales and Operations,<br />
a position focused on accelerating<br />
the company’s expansion into<br />
Canada…Four Seasons Hotels and<br />
Resorts has appointed Julia Hartz,<br />
co-founder and CEO of Eventbrite,<br />
Inc., to its Board of Directors —<br />
representing long-term shareholder<br />
Cascade Investment.<br />
hoteliermagazine.com<br />
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JUNE 2017 HOTELIER 7
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SHOW REPORT<br />
HIGHER EDUCATION<br />
Dubai hosts the leading global travel and hotel industry event<br />
BY STEPHEN J. RENARD<br />
© WTM:ARABIAN TRAVEL MARKET<br />
Arabian Travel Market (ATM),<br />
held April 24 to 27, is the<br />
leading global event for the<br />
Middle-East travel and hotel industry.<br />
The annual business-to-business<br />
exhibition — now a quarter-century<br />
old — generates more than $2.5<br />
billion of industry deals and showcases<br />
more than 3,000 products and<br />
destinations from around the world.<br />
More than 50,000 exhibitors, buyers<br />
and travel-trade visitors gather for<br />
four days at the Dubai International<br />
Convention and Exhibition Centre.<br />
Dubai was chosen to host this<br />
event because it has one of the most<br />
stable economies and is one of the<br />
safest places in the world. It also hosts<br />
the world’s largest and busiest airport,<br />
with 84 million travellers in 2016. By<br />
2020, Dubai, with a population of 2.75<br />
million, will have 150,000 hotel rooms.<br />
A BIT OF HISTORY<br />
Historically, Dubai was sustained<br />
by fishing and pearl-diving for<br />
a thousand years, with the first<br />
records of Dubai being made in<br />
1799 when the Bani Yas clan established<br />
it as a dependency of Abu<br />
Dhabi. Dubai became a separate<br />
Sheikhdom in 1833. The invention of<br />
artificial pearls in 1926 and the Great<br />
Depression in 1929 caused a collapse<br />
in the pearl market, which resulted<br />
in Sheikh Saeed looking for an alternative<br />
source of income and Dubai<br />
becoming one of the leading re-export<br />
ports in the world. In 1966, oil was<br />
discovered in Dubai, which changed<br />
the country beyond recognition and<br />
led to it becoming a vibrant, modern,<br />
business-centered city.<br />
Initially, the Arabian Travel Market<br />
started as a result of the growth of the<br />
real-estate market in Dubai, which<br />
has more condominium construction<br />
than Toronto. Dubai has grown to<br />
be one of the foremost modern hotel<br />
cities of the world — every major<br />
hotel brand and most independents<br />
have at least one hotel there. All of<br />
Marriott’s 30 hotel brands are represented,<br />
as well as all of Hilton’s and<br />
InterContinental’s brands.<br />
THE ATM IN 2017<br />
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al<br />
Maktoum opened the show at 1 p.m.<br />
on April 24th. The event is the only<br />
major trade fair in the world that is<br />
free to attend and offers seminars on<br />
topics such as revenue management,<br />
etiquette for the region, et cetera.<br />
The organizers also provided promotional<br />
activities on how to attract more<br />
visitors from two of the world’s biggest<br />
inbound source markets — China<br />
and India. During the event, they<br />
held educational seminars, including<br />
one by Jan Albreck, CEO of Saudi<br />
Arabian Airlines, which featured an<br />
insightful one-on-one interview exploring<br />
Saudi’s considerable investments<br />
in a new airline fleet. There was also<br />
a showcase on sustainability — the<br />
three pillars of sustainability being<br />
economic, social and environmental.<br />
Other panels discussed how technology<br />
— from blogs to podcasts to virtual<br />
reality — are used to virtually transport<br />
the customers to destinations and<br />
sell them products. The Global Halal<br />
Tourism Summit highlighted some of<br />
the world’s leading Halal-friendly destinations<br />
and their success in developing<br />
Muslim-focused tourist offerings.<br />
The topic of blurred lines between<br />
online and offline travel was covered in<br />
a session which took an in-depth look<br />
at the opportunity for forward-thinking<br />
travel businesses to offer and capitalize<br />
on a wide range of touch points.<br />
On the final day, the ATM Travel<br />
Agents Academy was in action. This<br />
popular initiative saw travel agents<br />
receiving invaluable destination<br />
briefings and honing their sales and<br />
presentation skills in a half-day<br />
free workshop. u<br />
Stephen J. Renard is president of<br />
Toronto-based Renard International<br />
Hospitality Search Consultants<br />
hoteliermagazine.com<br />
JUNE 2017 HOTELIER 9
ICONS & INNOVATORS<br />
ARCHITECT<br />
OF CHANGE<br />
CEO Arne Sorenson leads Marriott International<br />
into a new era of industry domination<br />
INTERVIEW BY ROSANNA CAIRA<br />
ROSANNA CAIRA: You didn’t have<br />
the typical hotel trajectory in that you<br />
came from the legal field. How did you<br />
get to where you are today?<br />
ARNE SORENSON: The short answer<br />
is ‘with no plan.’ I am the son of a<br />
Lutheran preacher. Both my grandfathers<br />
were Lutheran preachers. My<br />
father-in-law is a Lutheran preacher.<br />
While I majored in religion, I didn’t<br />
get that call. I went to law school<br />
instead. I practiced law for a dozen<br />
years with a big firm in Washington<br />
and represented Marriott when Host<br />
and Marriott were separating from<br />
each other. I got to know Mr. Marriott<br />
and the team in the context of that.<br />
One thing led to another and I went<br />
there a few years later.<br />
RC: How does it feel to be the first<br />
non-family member to lead the<br />
company?<br />
AS: It’s a huge honour. Marriott has<br />
ANDREA STENSON [ARNE SORENSON & ROSANNA CAIRA]; BLOOMBERG/CONTRIBUTOR<br />
10 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com
As it is, it’s been nothing but fun.<br />
RC: Did being a lawyer help you in<br />
this job?<br />
AS: The big advantage is you get used<br />
to being attacked as a lawyer. I tried<br />
cases, hostile-takeover cases, basically.<br />
In that context, there are brilliant<br />
lawyers on the other side whose aim<br />
is to make you look bad, show that<br />
you don’t understand your facts or you<br />
don’t understand the law. You do that<br />
year after year for a while, you develop<br />
a certain toughness.<br />
RC: I came across a quote from Mr.<br />
Marriott that said when he first hired<br />
you, he was a little concerned about<br />
your people skills because you were a<br />
litigator. He said, ‘Litigation does not<br />
have a primary goal of making people<br />
feel good. When I think about a litigator,<br />
I don’t see someone who is putting<br />
his arms around people, coaching,<br />
counselling and loving them, supporting<br />
and promoting them.’ How did you<br />
feel about that? What kind of adjustment<br />
did you have to make from a<br />
litigator to a hotel president?<br />
“IN MANY RESPECTS, IT’S THE<br />
OPPORTUNITIES THAT PRESENT<br />
THEMSELVES TO YOU THAT YOU<br />
DON’T ANTICIPATE THAT ARE THE<br />
MOST INTERESTING.”<br />
a tremendous legacy, which, in part,<br />
is driven by the family’s philosophy<br />
about taking care of people and<br />
actually putting our people ahead of<br />
our guests — something businesses<br />
seldom say. We know we can’t get<br />
to the customer except through our<br />
[employees]. That legacy is a great<br />
thing to be able to tend to and to try<br />
and maintain as we grow and evolve.<br />
Over [the] 21 years [with Marriott], I<br />
was not the putative successor to Mr.<br />
Marriott the whole time, but there<br />
were years when I think he, Bill Marriott,<br />
anticipated I would follow him.<br />
That natural transition made the shift<br />
from a Marriott CEO to a non-family<br />
member CEO fairly natural. It was<br />
certainly something that Bill Marriott<br />
wanted to have happen. He has been<br />
amazingly supportive throughout. I<br />
can’t step into that job and pretend to<br />
be a Marriott. If I had tried to, maybe<br />
that would have made it more difficult.<br />
AS: In many respects, he was being<br />
deliberate about communicating in<br />
a way…he’s an extraordinarily kind<br />
man. He is a mentor to me; sort of<br />
father-like. He is a wonderful man<br />
and we have a very close relationship.<br />
He is also hesitant to be direct,<br />
face-to-face, with somebody. So,<br />
when you read about the history of<br />
Marriott … he has a book underway<br />
now. You’ll see him talking about ‘I<br />
had so-and-so and I knew they were<br />
bad, but it took me four years to …’<br />
So, I think in some respects, this<br />
was a way of giving me encouragement<br />
to say, ‘don’t forget the people’.<br />
It’s really important.<br />
RC: What was the biggest challenge<br />
for you, stepping into a role in a hotel<br />
company?<br />
AS: The biggest challenge, then and<br />
today, is about priorities and allocating<br />
your time. There is so much that we can<br />
do and nothing is ever finished, liter-<br />
hoteliermagazine.com<br />
JUNE 2017 HOTELIER 11
unique members between the two<br />
programs and they are linked, so<br />
customers can get the most of the<br />
benefits of the two programs — even<br />
before the two programs have merged<br />
into one. We did [that] at midnight<br />
the night [the deal] closed. I think<br />
the other thing that was important<br />
to us was Starwood had staked out<br />
a place in lifestyle and luxury and<br />
parts of the hotel business which are<br />
most inspiring and aspirational to<br />
people. We had great brands, such<br />
as Ritz-Carlton and others — which<br />
were also the kinds of places people<br />
dreamed about staying — but we<br />
wanted to be even stronger in this<br />
part of the industry.<br />
ally. I love being out and seeing what is<br />
happening in the hotels and connecting<br />
with our teams. There is nothing<br />
like it because you really get connected<br />
with them and what is happening with<br />
the customers. But that [takes] a lot of<br />
time. In the midst of all that, we’ve got<br />
a day-to-day balance sheet to run and<br />
deals to do and investment communities<br />
to satisfy and strategies to set. So,<br />
how do you do that? I do average on<br />
setting those priorities, but am blessed<br />
with a team of people who take care of<br />
the places I miss it. If I’m off someplace,<br />
then there is somebody else who is going<br />
to take care of it.<br />
RC: The topic everybody has been<br />
talking about is the acquisition of<br />
Starwood. Were you the architect of<br />
that deal?<br />
AS: Not alone, but certainly a decision<br />
like this doesn’t get made unless I am<br />
supportive of it — and I was.<br />
RC: How long did that deal take?<br />
AS: There are a couple of really<br />
accurate answers to that, but the<br />
facts are 25 days. Over the years<br />
that Starwood has existed, we have<br />
watched them as a competitor and<br />
we have, on a few occasions, done<br />
desktop models of whether or not this<br />
is something we would be interested<br />
in acquiring but it never really worked<br />
and they weren’t for sale. They came<br />
on the market in early ’15 formally<br />
and we, of course, were approached by<br />
the bankers, looked at it quickly and<br />
decided we were not going to pursue it.<br />
RC: Why was that?<br />
AS: A mix of reasons, the biggest<br />
being it seemed like it was expensive<br />
and we could work like dogs and<br />
maybe make it successful, but we<br />
wouldn’t produce enough value for<br />
our shareholders. And then, over<br />
the course of the next three or four<br />
months, we saw the relative values<br />
of the company shift. So, Marriott’s<br />
value was increasing and Starwood’s<br />
was declining, which had a dramatic<br />
impact on the economic aspects<br />
of the deal. We were engaged in<br />
negotiations with OTAs and discussions<br />
with technology partners in<br />
trying to sort out the path to the<br />
future and it became clearer to us<br />
that technology and the loyalty<br />
programs, particularly, were our<br />
key distinguishing features. Those<br />
two things came together [and in]<br />
October of 2015, we said, we should<br />
do this. Twenty-three days later, we<br />
signed binding deals.<br />
RC: Were the loyalty program and<br />
technology the two driving reasons<br />
you wanted to acquire Starwood?<br />
AS: Loyalty being singularly the<br />
biggest. We now have 100 million<br />
RC: With such a large number of guests<br />
tied to their loyalty programs in different<br />
ways, how did you merge the programs?<br />
AS: From the moment we announced<br />
the deal in November of 2015, the<br />
SPG loyalists — Starwood’s loyalty<br />
program — were frightened. The<br />
Marriott rewards [members] are equally<br />
as passionate, but because Marriott<br />
was the acquiring company, they were<br />
less concerned. The first thing we did<br />
before closing was we implemented,<br />
in the Marriott rewards program, late<br />
checkout and room upgrades and<br />
a number of features that were in<br />
the SPG program, because that was<br />
actually the best way to believably<br />
communicate to SPG members that<br />
we’re going to do things to Marriott<br />
rewards, bringing it towards SPG,<br />
as opposed to the other way around.<br />
That was picked up quickly. The<br />
linking and the points-conversion<br />
formula we did the first night of close<br />
was also well-received by them and<br />
comforting. The anxiety level in the<br />
SPG ranks is much less today than it<br />
was, certainly, when we announced<br />
the deal. But it’s still there and it’s a<br />
big program.<br />
RC: How about the other synergies<br />
of this acquisition, purchasing, for<br />
example? Has that changed dramatically<br />
now that you've brought the<br />
companies together? Is that going to<br />
save you a lot of money?<br />
ANDREA STENSON [ARNE SORENSON & ROSANNA CAIRA]<br />
12 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com
AS: Yes, it will. Classic procurement,<br />
cost of systems and any shared services<br />
— all of those are places where we<br />
should be more efficient. The new<br />
procurement platform is being rolled<br />
out as we speak. A number of the<br />
supply contracts we had were put in<br />
place already. So, that is moving very<br />
quickly. In essentially every cost line,<br />
PNL cost line of the hotel, with the<br />
exception of the compensation of our<br />
teams, it should be more efficient as we<br />
go forward.<br />
RC: The downside of any acquisition is<br />
sometimes people have to be let go.<br />
Did you eliminate many positions?<br />
AS: We have talked about $250<br />
million of overhead savings — not<br />
only people, but it includes people.<br />
The fact of the matter is, those people<br />
are almost never property level. So,<br />
immediately, 95 per cent or so of the<br />
people at Starwood are safe and are<br />
continuing their jobs. In fact, the<br />
opportunities for them have increased,<br />
not decreased. You think about a<br />
market like Canada, where we now<br />
have 220 hotels, 100 full-service hotels<br />
across the country, 120 limited-service<br />
— immediately, [people] have more<br />
opportunity in Toronto to grow in their<br />
career — from the Sheraton Centre to<br />
the Delta to the Marriott. That’s really<br />
good for them. In contrast, the top-ofthe-house<br />
is where the impact is most<br />
profound. Those, by and large, are<br />
folks that will, and probably already<br />
have, landed extraordinarily well and<br />
certainly have been well-compensated.<br />
There is a range in the middle, but<br />
we’re in a strong economic environment<br />
for hiring.<br />
RC: This acquisition is going to be the<br />
biggest challenge for this company for<br />
some time. Beyond that, what is the<br />
biggest challenge for you?<br />
AS: There are a thousand things that<br />
we are focused on. The things I worry<br />
about most … one is obvious, and that<br />
is about policy, politics, nationalism,<br />
a global concern about the movement<br />
of people and immigration. Canada<br />
has a special place in that debate. It’s<br />
one of few countries in the world that<br />
seems to continue to have its arms<br />
open. I suspect beneath that there is<br />
some internal debate within Canada<br />
about that, but it doesn’t seem to be<br />
as loud as it is in the rest of the world,<br />
obviously the United States, but the<br />
U.K. and France. People seem to be<br />
saying we want to turn back inward<br />
a little bit; we want to control our<br />
borders more. Some of that is about<br />
security issues, much of that is about<br />
immigration. Travel is not the same<br />
thing as immigration and people<br />
travelling for business or people travelling<br />
for leisure are 99 per cent of the<br />
time, simply going to see the sights,<br />
see family, meet people and have a<br />
good time. We’ve got to make sure<br />
policy evolves in a way that allows [us<br />
to do] business.<br />
RC: With the portfolio now at 30<br />
brands, do you have a few that you<br />
are focusing on in terms of growth in<br />
expansion?<br />
AS: We will try and grow all of them.<br />
Some of the brands are easier in the<br />
sense that they don’t require redefinition<br />
or repurposing in any way. They<br />
will continue to march along. I’m<br />
thinking about some of the legacy<br />
Marriott brands, which have tremendous<br />
RevPAR index numbers. We<br />
put a lot of effort into continuing to<br />
refine and renovate the product, the<br />
core Marriott brand, the Residence<br />
Inn, Courtyard. These brands are<br />
often category killers and they are<br />
going to continue to grow in a way<br />
that is reaffirming. There are a couple<br />
of places where there is close overlap,<br />
such as Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis,<br />
and so we need to figure out what are<br />
the distinctions we want to emphasize<br />
or introduce, produce or service?<br />
Aloft and Element are interesting to<br />
hoteliermagazine.com<br />
JUNE 2017 HOTELIER 13
us — they are dramatically sub-scale.<br />
Aloft has about 100 hotels around<br />
the world; Element, only 20. In a<br />
sense, Element is a lifestyle version of<br />
Residence Inn and Aloft is a lifestyle<br />
version of Courtyard. It’s a bit of an<br />
oversimplification, but we know our<br />
hotel owner partners are attracted to<br />
these brands. If we can make them<br />
perform better, be both less expensive<br />
to build through efficiencies, not quality,<br />
and drive the top line, we should<br />
be able to take both of those brands<br />
to sizes comparable to Courtyard<br />
and Residence Inn. So, that is taking<br />
Element from 20 hotels to 900. There<br />
is good effort that is focused on that.<br />
RC: What role does Canada play in Marriott<br />
International’s growth? Do you see<br />
the country as still fertile for growth?<br />
AS: Absolutely. The most important<br />
piece for Canada is still about the<br />
Canadian economy. A local GDP is<br />
going to, by and large, drive demand<br />
growth among the local population<br />
and Canadian business is still<br />
the most important business in our<br />
Canadian hotels. When we got into<br />
the Delta deal, we thought by putting<br />
Delta and Marriott together, we<br />
actually could be stronger in both [the<br />
U.S. and Canada]. So far, that has<br />
played out pretty well — the hotels<br />
are ramping up well and performance<br />
has been improved in both sets. I’m<br />
not sure we would have bought Delta<br />
if we had done Starwood first, but<br />
I’m thrilled it came in the way it did<br />
because we now have both.<br />
You look longer term and Canada<br />
has a real opportunity in global<br />
travel, particularly out of Asia and<br />
the Canadian West. We have had at<br />
least a handful of instances already<br />
in which we have heard global groups<br />
saying ‘we’re not going to go to the<br />
United States, we’re going to Canada<br />
because we worry less about our<br />
global audience being able to come<br />
in and be welcomed.’ That is a nearterm<br />
opportunity. It may not be an<br />
opportunity long-term, but all of that<br />
is an exciting upside for the Canadian<br />
market.<br />
RC: Corporate culture has always<br />
been a big part of Marriott’s success.<br />
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AS: You remind people that it’s<br />
important and you permit it. You<br />
empower people; give them the ability<br />
to run their own business. You tell<br />
them, of course, you are going to pay<br />
attention to what their culture looks<br />
like. Our culture is as strong as it has<br />
ever been — not because of what I do<br />
or what Don [Cleary] does in Canada<br />
— but because of what the team at<br />
this hotel will do for each other.<br />
RC: What is the most important issue<br />
when it comes to staffing?<br />
AS: It’s really about building careers<br />
for people. You want to take care<br />
of them on a day-to-day basis and<br />
a [company] of this size has a huge<br />
community of associates. For them<br />
to feel good about their work is<br />
about being compensated fairly, of<br />
course, but more than that, it’s about<br />
being respected as an individual<br />
by the team. You immediately see<br />
the way this can work, and when it<br />
works well, it makes all the difference<br />
in the world.<br />
RC: Do you think the industry has<br />
gotten better at taking care of its<br />
people?<br />
AS: We have always been better<br />
than we have sometimes been given<br />
credit for. These are hard jobs — I<br />
talk about housekeepers often as<br />
my biggest heroes. They are almost<br />
always women; they are almost always<br />
immigrants; they are often physically<br />
small and are doing big, physical jobs.<br />
Collectively, we are not at our best<br />
when we stay in hotel rooms. We<br />
leave our clothes on the floor and we<br />
may not clean up after ourselves very<br />
well and that leaves a burden for the<br />
housekeepers. They are not becoming<br />
millionaires through this work,<br />
but if their work is appreciated and<br />
they are paid fairly, so many of them<br />
can transform their lives and their<br />
families lives.<br />
RC: What advice would you offer to<br />
people considering a career in hospitality<br />
in terms of what they should be doing<br />
to achieve success in this industry?<br />
AS: It’s the greatest business in the<br />
world for a lot of reasons. The people<br />
piece is one of the really attractive<br />
parts of the business. In terms of<br />
careers, seize the opportunities that<br />
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are available to you; be curious about<br />
your work; be curious about what is<br />
happening in other departments; ask<br />
people why we’re doing things the<br />
way we’re doing them and try and<br />
understand the business; and don’t<br />
be fearful about coming out and<br />
saying, well, can we do something<br />
differently? You want to make sure<br />
you continue to grow in your career,<br />
obviously, but seize the opportunities<br />
that are available.<br />
RC: During last year’s election<br />
campaign, you wrote an impassioned<br />
letter to President Trump and put<br />
forth your views on the importance of<br />
keeping immigration as strong as it<br />
has been. How do you think this<br />
current administration is going to<br />
impact the hotel business in the U.S.,<br />
but also in Canada?<br />
AS: My personal point of view is<br />
relatively left on these issues, relatively<br />
welcoming. People should globally<br />
be able to pursue opportunities and<br />
pursue a better life. In many respects,<br />
the developed world has a role to play<br />
in that, and a role that is compassionate<br />
and respective of the resources<br />
that we have. Having said that, when<br />
you listen to the debate happening<br />
in places like the U.K. and the U.S.,<br />
people are broadly saying we don’t<br />
understand how immigration works;<br />
we don’t understand what the rules<br />
are; we don’t know how many people<br />
are permitted to come; we don’t know<br />
how they are selected. There is no<br />
consensus around how immigration<br />
should be done. It is perfectly reasonable<br />
for [Trump] and this administration<br />
to say, okay, what are our rules<br />
going to be on immigration? What<br />
are the numbers we’re going to admit?<br />
What is the process that we go about?<br />
Until political leadership of both<br />
parties in a two-party system — or<br />
of a mixed government in a multiparty<br />
system — starts to build a<br />
consensus around ‘where should we<br />
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go with immigration,’ we’re going to<br />
have risk here because we’re going<br />
to have strong disagreements where<br />
we polarize things, and where there<br />
is a risk that that conversation about<br />
immigration actually does bleed over<br />
into travel or into commerce. How<br />
do you separate those issues, travel<br />
and immigration, while the debate is<br />
happening and how do you also try<br />
and get to a place where the debate<br />
can be resolved in some way, maybe<br />
not permanently, obviously, because<br />
this will continue to evolve, but<br />
resolved in some way so that risk is<br />
then behind us?<br />
RC: Does Marriott have a role in terms<br />
of trying to influence this dialogue?<br />
AS: Yes. The role is to use the relationships<br />
we have to articulate what we<br />
think is the right outcome. Secondly,<br />
it would be to martial the facts. We<br />
will speak up more as the facts become<br />
apparent. Hopefully, the facts can lead<br />
to some influence on the outcome.<br />
RC: Are you a little daunted by the fact<br />
that you are now the leader of the<br />
biggest hotel company in the world?<br />
AS: I am daunted by the amount of<br />
work we have to do. I don’t really<br />
think about being [the] biggest<br />
because I don’t think being [the]<br />
biggest makes that much difference.<br />
We’re the biggest, but we’re not that<br />
big — we are seven or eight per cent<br />
of the global lodging business. There<br />
is nothing about our platform that<br />
allows us to act as if biggest somehow<br />
gives us unique privileges. It’s a highly<br />
competitive business with really transparent<br />
data.<br />
RC: How would you define yourself as<br />
a leader?<br />
AS: Hopefully, open-minded and<br />
curious first. The business is evolving<br />
quickly and one of the risks for all of<br />
us as leaders is you convince yourself<br />
that the decisions you have made and<br />
implemented must have been right,<br />
and therefore you resist changing any<br />
of them. Empowering, even to the<br />
point of letting some things happen<br />
which I may not think are exactly<br />
right, [is also important]. The first<br />
instinct has got to be to say, ‘okay, let’s<br />
see how it works,’ as opposed to, ‘why<br />
the hell did you do that?’ Because it<br />
makes a difference in the way people<br />
feel ownership about their work.<br />
RC: What have you learned from<br />
mistakes that you have made?<br />
AS: We have made a few. You have<br />
to have some mistakes or you are<br />
not pushing it hard enough, but you<br />
have also got to look at these and<br />
say, okay, what did we do wrong?<br />
We fell in love with our own<br />
wisdom and thought, okay, we know<br />
what this is. Hopefully it teaches<br />
you over time. u<br />
Drake Devonshire<br />
Prince Edward County<br />
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SUSTAINABILITY<br />
Going<br />
Green<br />
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICIES NOT ONLY<br />
ASSUAGE GUESTS’ CONSCIENCES, THEY PROVE<br />
PROFITABLE FOR HOTELS IN THE LONG TERM<br />
BY JENNIFER FEBBRARO<br />
ISTOCK.COM/PIXBOX77<br />
hoteliermagazine.com<br />
JUNE 2017 HOTELIER 19
According to Greenpeace<br />
International,<br />
the global average<br />
temperature has<br />
increased by one<br />
degree Celsius since<br />
pre-industrial times. For the hospitality<br />
industry, climate change has potentially<br />
disastrous effects and, as a result,<br />
it’s not only trendy to develop sustainable,<br />
green policies, but urgently<br />
required in order to secure the future<br />
of the industry.<br />
Siobhan O’Neil, editor of the<br />
digital magazine Green Hotelier — the<br />
leading source for practical, inspirational,<br />
and technical resources for<br />
sustainability within the hotel industry<br />
— says some clear trends have<br />
emerged within the past five years.<br />
“At first, hotels had to address what<br />
we call ‘low-hanging fruit’ — that<br />
which is the easiest and quickest to<br />
address — [such as] switching to LED<br />
bulbs, key cards that cut room power,<br />
movement sensors in communalarea<br />
restrooms, and so on,” explains<br />
O’Neil. “But great efficiencies were<br />
also created at the back of house by<br />
improving the energy consumption of<br />
appliances in laundries, kitchens and<br />
building-management control systems,<br />
TEAM EFFORT<br />
Sustainability initiatives only work if staff at all levels<br />
is involved<br />
heat pumps and recovery systems.”<br />
Despite these efforts, O’Neil<br />
explains that hotels need to really<br />
think ahead to meet targets established<br />
at COP21 (the Paris climate<br />
conference held in 2015), including<br />
setting an internal price on carbon or<br />
moving to science-based targets (see<br />
sciencebasedtargets.org). This is not<br />
only a positive move towards environmental<br />
activism, it’s actually effecting<br />
hotels’ ROI. “I’ve seen hotels reap big<br />
rewards by creating efficiencies and<br />
automated systems which maximize<br />
the use of their heating and cooling,”<br />
says O’Neil. “But, perhaps surprisingly,<br />
there doesn’t seem to be much use<br />
of renewable energies except through<br />
the grid.”<br />
Water is also a critical resource,<br />
ISTOCK.COM/ISMAGILOV [CLEAN ENVIRONMENT]; ISTOCK.COM/CREATIVAIMAGES[ENGINEERS SAVING ENVIRONMENT]; ISTOCK.COM/RAWPIXEL [GREEN SIGN]<br />
20 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER<br />
hoteliermagazine.com
BY SHARING THE<br />
SUCCESSES OF<br />
YOUR HOTEL'S<br />
ENERGY-<br />
CONSERVATION<br />
GOALS WITH<br />
STAFF, YOU<br />
INVOLVE THEM<br />
IN THE PROCESS<br />
- JUSTIN KEATING<br />
which puts the hospitality industry<br />
in a precarious position, given<br />
its abundant usage. According to<br />
the UN, the demand for water will<br />
outstrip supply by 40 per cent by<br />
2030. For this reason, O’Neil insists<br />
that token towel-and-linen programs<br />
simply are not enough to impact the<br />
impending water crisis. “Of course,<br />
it’s imperative that guests' towels and<br />
bedding are reused, but the truth is we<br />
need to do more — and faster,” says<br />
O’Neil. “Hotels are being slow to take<br />
bigger strides on water, such as the<br />
installation of grey-water systems and<br />
rainwater harvesting.”<br />
The question of water use is<br />
especially relevant when looking at<br />
hotels within their local and global<br />
contexts. “In some countries, guests<br />
use 10 times more water daily than<br />
is usual for local people,” explains<br />
O’Neil. She notes that hotels really<br />
need to align with the UN’s Sustainable<br />
Development Goals. “Looking<br />
ahead, we will see more reporting<br />
on their sustainability actions which<br />
support those UN goals. It’s got to<br />
be a group effort within the industry<br />
towards transparency and commitment<br />
to change.”<br />
Linda Hartwell, director of Marketing,<br />
Communications and Business<br />
Development at the Hotel Association<br />
of Canada (HAC) and Green Key<br />
Global, notes that going sustainable<br />
isn’t just a social-justice thing to do,<br />
but has real financial benefits. “Those<br />
who participate in the Green Key<br />
Eco-Rating Program see improvement<br />
in their ROI,” says<br />
Hartwell. “But it requires<br />
aligning and investing<br />
in the right systems<br />
at the right time. All<br />
departments within the<br />
operation — from foodand-beverage<br />
to heating<br />
and cooling systems —<br />
need to be on board to<br />
save costs,” says Hartwell.<br />
“Waste disposal alone can<br />
be cut in half when hotels<br />
opt to purchase something<br />
as simple as cardboard and<br />
aluminum bailers — and<br />
recycling containers for each room.”<br />
Justin Keating, general manager<br />
of Quebec City’s award-winning<br />
Hôtel du Vieux-Québec says being<br />
eco-responsible has to be a commitment<br />
on the part of all staff at the<br />
hotel. “By sharing the successes of<br />
your hotel’s energy-conservation goals<br />
with staff, you involve them in the<br />
process,” says Keating, who uses the<br />
Quebec-based company Ecosynergie to<br />
keep track of the hotel waste streams.<br />
“We also give 20 per cent of our profits<br />
to staff as an annual bonus.” In this<br />
way, Keating makes the investment<br />
tangible — hotel staff literally reap<br />
the financial benefits of the effort<br />
they put in and can feel like they are<br />
contributing in a meaningful way to<br />
environmental issues — whether they<br />
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provide room care or create designer<br />
drinks behind the bar.<br />
Hôtel du Vieux-Québec is one-ofa-kind<br />
when it comes to its sustainable<br />
practices. An urban garden<br />
and bee sanctuary sit atop the hotel<br />
roof, replete with solar panels and a<br />
wastewater heat-recuperation system.<br />
“It may seem odd to include bees<br />
in a hotel landscape, but not when<br />
you reflect on the fact that bees<br />
pollinate 70 per cent of our edible<br />
foods,” gushes Keating. “So our urban<br />
garden benefits, but also our staff, who<br />
happen to love the organic honey.<br />
Gardening and bee-keeping seem to<br />
feed the soul of our hotel and the staff<br />
that work there.”<br />
Keating says that the beginning<br />
stages of this sort of initiative begin<br />
with public-education campaigns. “It’s<br />
hard to refuse the innovations once<br />
you know the benefits they will have<br />
towards the hotel and its surrounding<br />
IT'S HARD TO REFUSE THE<br />
INNOVATIONS ONCE YOU KNOW THE<br />
BENEFITS THEY WILL HAVE TO THE<br />
HOTEL AND ITS SURROUNDING<br />
COMMUNITY<br />
JUSTIN KEATING, GM,<br />
HÔTEL DU VIEUX-QUÉBEC<br />
The Fairmont Hotel<br />
The reviews are in and customers<br />
love our mattresses!<br />
“Nice hotel. GREAT BED”<br />
Hotel is as you would expect from a big chain. Clean<br />
well maintained and friendly. Nothing bad to report,<br />
we enjoyed our stay. Bed was also super comfy.<br />
- Customer Review of Courtyard Toronto, Downtown - Trip Advisor, October 2016<br />
Contact your local Serta Hospitality Representative for more information<br />
Ontario - contact Christine Pella at cpella@sertanational.com<br />
Central & Western Canada - contact Graham Hall at ghall@sertanational.com<br />
Eastern Canada - contact Yan Hurtubise at yhurtubise@serta.com<br />
22 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com
PARTNERS IN PROTECTION<br />
Today's hotels are doing their part to raise<br />
awareness of sustainable practices<br />
community,” he says. When it comes<br />
to plastic water bottles (think oceans<br />
floating with tons of plastic), Keating<br />
isn’t a fan. Their environmental<br />
impact cannot be ignored. “Part of our<br />
campaign is to educate not just staff,<br />
but guests, about issues such as the<br />
water crisis and the plastic-water-bottle<br />
industry and its damaging effect,” says<br />
Keating. Plastic bottles are not sold to<br />
guests, as the hotel distributes reusable<br />
glass bottles instead.<br />
At AccorHotels, which manages<br />
the Fairmont Resorts & Hotels<br />
brand, sustainability is front-andcentre<br />
of its brand promotion and<br />
online platform with its Planet 21<br />
program — a program which, according<br />
to its website, “demonstrates the<br />
Group’s ambitious goals for 2020,<br />
based around four strategic priorities:<br />
work with its employees, involve its<br />
customers, innovate with its partners<br />
and work with local communities.”<br />
Global AccorHotels sustainable<br />
director, Arnaud Herrmann,<br />
stated “A year after our Planet 21<br />
program was extended, our hotels<br />
really rallied behind it in 2016.<br />
This meant supporting initiatives at<br />
the local level with efforts such as<br />
banning the use of overfished seafood<br />
in our restaurants or sourcing produce<br />
from local communities.”<br />
Herrmann says the new initiative
Today’s guest is environmentally savvy<br />
and want their travel plans to toe a similar<br />
line.<br />
LEADING THE WAY<br />
The Fairmont brand has long been a sustainability<br />
leader in Canada<br />
Here are a few eco-resorts that are<br />
setting a new standard:<br />
E’Terra — Nestled in Tobermory, Ont.,<br />
a LEED-Gold-certified estate provides a<br />
reclusive luxury hideaway with glorious<br />
views of the Georgian Bay. There’s just<br />
one caveat. You have to be really rich to<br />
visit. And don’t bother looking it up online<br />
— directions are only available to those<br />
who have put money down.<br />
Chic-Chocs Mountain Lodge — This<br />
Quebec-based 18-room retreat immerses<br />
guests in a mountain environment without<br />
the trappings of technology. Rooms have<br />
no televisions, phones, or alarm clocks.<br />
If you must have internet, it is available,<br />
but guests don’t come here to work, but<br />
to “split-board” — a strange, primitive version<br />
of skiing.<br />
Trout Point Lodge — A finalist<br />
in National Geographic Traveler’s<br />
Geotourism Challenge, this luxury chateau<br />
in Nova Scotia combines rustic<br />
charm with recreational pastimes. Whalewatching,<br />
sea kayaking, golf, and fishing<br />
along the Tusket River make this retreat a<br />
favourite spot for return guests.<br />
Photo: ©Brandon Barré<br />
“Acting Here” is a necessary one,<br />
given the urgency of the global<br />
climate crisis. It entails acting locally<br />
while conceiving of the hotel itself<br />
as a community of global citizens.<br />
“Whether it’s to fight food waste,<br />
promote agroforestry or further the<br />
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energy transition, we applied a “testand-learn”<br />
approach to hone our<br />
policies,” says Herrmann. “Through<br />
trial and error, we tried out new,<br />
intelligent tools which have helped<br />
us make faster progress towards<br />
our objectives.” For example, one<br />
AccorHotel campaign, “Plant for<br />
the Planet,” diverts money saved<br />
through efficient laundry operations<br />
to reforestation projects with a<br />
promise to plant 10 million trees by<br />
the year 2021.<br />
With its Green Partnership<br />
program launched as early as 1990,<br />
Fairmont has been ahead of the<br />
curve with regard to environmental<br />
issues in the hospitality industry.<br />
Now coined the Fairmont Sustainability<br />
Partnership, community<br />
partnerships have led to the reduction<br />
in energy use and waste<br />
disposal. Water conservation has<br />
also become a key feature of the<br />
program. Just last year, Fairmont<br />
met its goal to reduce its CO2<br />
carbon footprint by 20 per cent<br />
through the World Wildlife Fund’s<br />
Climate-Savers program.<br />
Fairmont has even partnered<br />
with Burt’s Bees co-founder Burt<br />
Shavitz in a unique program called<br />
“Wild for Bees” — a program<br />
that builds ‘bee hotels’ across the<br />
country. So far there are only 16<br />
pollinator habitats that have been<br />
created with the help of Vancouver<br />
organization Hives for Humanity,<br />
however, they are catering to<br />
a particular type of bee. “It’s not<br />
the honey bee,” says Michael King,<br />
manager of Safety and Loss Prevention<br />
(and bees) at the Fairmont<br />
Waterfront Hotel. “The bee hotels<br />
really cater to the solitary pollinator<br />
bees — the ones that keep our<br />
fruits and vegetables<br />
in existence.”<br />
Who knew that creating an<br />
eco-friendly hotel would literally be<br />
the bees knees? u<br />
ISTOCK.COM/LENAWURM<br />
24 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com<br />
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2017-05-26 1:49 PM
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ONTARIO HOTELS<br />
yours to discover<br />
Stately and historic hotels have set the standard for<br />
luxury and class in Ontario’s hotel scene<br />
BY CHRIS POWELL<br />
LAP OF LUXURY<br />
The Omni King Edward in Toronto; the<br />
Fairmont Royal York in Toronto; the<br />
Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottawa;<br />
Walper Hotel in Kitchener, Ont.<br />
26 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com
OH CANADA<br />
ONTARIO is home<br />
to more than 2,800 hotels, yet only<br />
a select few can boast of playing host<br />
to captains of industry and heads of<br />
state, not to mention a group of lovable<br />
mop-tops from Liverpool.<br />
Several properties have played a key<br />
role in the history and evolution of the<br />
province’s hotel industry. Some remain<br />
the beating heart of their community,<br />
others helped create a new standard for<br />
luxury, while still others have risen to<br />
the status of national historic site. Here<br />
are five properties that help define the<br />
industry in Ontario.<br />
Fit for a King<br />
The Omni King Edward on King St.<br />
was considered Toronto’s first luxury<br />
hotel when it opened on May 11, 1903,<br />
a well-appointed “palace hotel” to rival<br />
the likes of New York’s Waldorf or<br />
Quebec’s Château Frontenac.<br />
George Gooderham — a prominent<br />
Toronto businessman whose grandfather,<br />
William, had co-founded the<br />
city’s Gooderham & Worts whisky<br />
distillery in the 1830s — commissioned<br />
the hotel. He viewed it as key to<br />
maintaining the vitality of city’s former<br />
downtown core, which was shifting<br />
westward to Bay and Queen streets<br />
following the 1899 construction of what<br />
is now Old City Hall.<br />
The 301-room property was originally<br />
going to be named the Palace Hotel in<br />
honour of Queen Victoria, but its name<br />
was changed to that of her son, King<br />
Edward VII, following the monarch’s<br />
death in 1901.<br />
Along with its well-appointed<br />
rooms, the King Edward is renowned<br />
for its afternoon tea, as well as Sunday<br />
brunch in the newly renovated Sovereign<br />
Ballroom. The brunch is hailed<br />
for its seafood selection, and other<br />
signature items such as Beef Wellington<br />
with foie gras.<br />
Numerous key figures from the worlds<br />
of literature, entertainment and politics<br />
have stayed at the hotel during its<br />
114-year history, ranging from Mark<br />
Twain and Ernest Hemingway, to Elvis<br />
Presley and The Beatles. The latter’s<br />
1964 stay created mayhem, with scores<br />
of teenagers — along with Toronto<br />
mayor Phil Givens — reportedly prowling<br />
the hallways in an attempt to meet<br />
their idols.<br />
Acquired by Omni Hotels & Resorts<br />
in 2015, the property has undergone<br />
nearly $60 million in renovations in<br />
recent years, including a revamp of its<br />
guestrooms and upgrades to its Vanity<br />
Fair and Windsor ballrooms.<br />
Perhaps the most significant,<br />
however, is the $6.5 million restoration<br />
of the hotel’s legendary Crystal<br />
Ballroom, which had sat empty — save<br />
for the occasional video shoot — for<br />
more than three decades before being<br />
re-opened in April 2017 to considerable<br />
fanfare.<br />
The 17th floor ballroom first opened<br />
in 1922, and quickly became a gathering<br />
place for the city’s cultural elite.<br />
It would also host some of the world’s<br />
great orchestras, including those led by<br />
legendary figures such as Count Basie,<br />
Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman.<br />
hoteliermagazine.com<br />
JUNE 2017 HOTELIER 27
INDUSTRY ICONS<br />
Armed with an education in architecture,<br />
ISADORE SHARP was in his early 20s<br />
when he constructed his first Four Seasons<br />
hotel — a modest 125-room motor inn<br />
on a down-at-heel section of Jarvis St.<br />
in Toronto. It was a decidedly incongruous<br />
location for a hotel chain that would<br />
become synonymous with luxury. Even<br />
then, however, the hotel possessed what<br />
would become an enduring hallmark — an<br />
unwavering focus on superior customer<br />
service. Today, the 85-year-old hotelier<br />
serves as chairman of a global empire<br />
that includes 105 hotels in 43 countries,<br />
and was made an Officer of the Order of<br />
Canada in 1993.<br />
TASTE OF ROYALTY<br />
The lobby at Toronto's Fairmont Royal York<br />
(above); The Royal York rises above the Toronto<br />
skyline<br />
MICHAEL BECKLEY spent 50 years in<br />
the hotel industry, but it is his 15 years with<br />
Marriott Hotels in Canada that cemented<br />
his legacy as one of Canada’s greatest<br />
hoteliers. Beckley joined Marriott in 2001,<br />
when the company had just 17 units in<br />
Canada. When he left the company in<br />
2015, it boasted 145 units spanning 30<br />
brands. While Beckley pledged to retire<br />
upon leaving Marriott, he has served as<br />
director of CBRE Hotels since early 2016.<br />
General manager Christophe Le<br />
Chatton says the refurbished room<br />
had booked $1 million worth of<br />
business even before its re-opening.<br />
“It will probably be the signature<br />
ballroom in Toronto,” he says of the<br />
space, which is characterized by high<br />
ceilings and a series of magnificent<br />
glass chandeliers.<br />
“I’ve spoken to some of my predecessors,<br />
and every single one hoped to be<br />
able to see this ballroom come back to<br />
life,” adds Le Chatton. “When I came<br />
here it was part of my agenda to not<br />
only [restore] this hotel to one of the<br />
top luxury hotels in the city from a<br />
service and a guest-experience standpoint,<br />
but also become part of leading<br />
those renovations.”<br />
Royal<br />
Accommodations<br />
While the King Edward is regarded as<br />
Toronto’s first luxury hotel, it would<br />
see the rise of its first serious challenger<br />
a quarter-century later. More than<br />
40 million guests, including princes,<br />
presidents and pop stars, have passed<br />
through the Fairmont Royal York<br />
since it opened on June 11, 1929.<br />
The hotel’s original owner, Canadian<br />
Pacific Railway (CPR), built the<br />
hotel on the site of the former Queen’s<br />
Hotel, which had been operating since<br />
1862 and was regarded as a grand<br />
hotel in its own right. The Royal York<br />
was briefly the tallest building in the<br />
British Commonwealth, surpassed<br />
by the Canadian Bank of Commerce<br />
tower in 1931.<br />
The Royal York would become<br />
synonymous with what it describes as<br />
“gracious hospitality,” with touches<br />
such as hand-painted ceilings, crystal<br />
After making his first money in real estate,<br />
Easton’s Group of Hotels president and<br />
CEO STEVE GUPTA opened his first hotel<br />
in Port Hope, Ont. in 1988. The hotelier has<br />
expanded the business to include hotels<br />
operating under the Marriott, Hilton and<br />
InterContinental Hotels Group banners<br />
in the GTA, Kingston and Montreal. Gupta<br />
has described his purchase of the former<br />
RCMP building on Toronto’s Dundas St.<br />
E. — which was converted into the luxury<br />
Grand Hotel and Suites in 1999 — as one of<br />
his most savvy investments.<br />
chandeliers and wall hangings all<br />
contributing to an air of refinement<br />
that remains today.<br />
But the hotel’s rise to prominence is<br />
perhaps best embodied by the Imperial<br />
Room, which hosted performances by<br />
titans of 20th-century entertainment,<br />
including Tony Bennett, Ray Charles<br />
and James Brown, during its heyday.<br />
“We have colleagues who have been<br />
with us for 35 to 40 years and they<br />
remember when it used to be the go-to<br />
place [in the city],” says Jacqueline<br />
28 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com
Tyler, the Royal York’s Marketing and<br />
Communications manager. One possibly<br />
apocryphal story has Bob Dylan<br />
being turned away by the maître d’<br />
because he was lacking the proper<br />
attire. “They had standards, you<br />
know,” laughs Tyler.<br />
The Royal York was also the first<br />
Fairmont property to offer guests the<br />
Fairmont Gold experience (subsequently<br />
rolled out in the majority of<br />
the upscale chain’s properties around<br />
the world in the early 1990s). The<br />
Program is described as creating a<br />
“hotel within a hotel.” The experience<br />
provides guests with access to<br />
the Fairmont Gold Lounge, as well<br />
as enhanced concierge service, an<br />
honour bar and evening canapés.<br />
The hotel also has the distinction<br />
of being the official place of residence<br />
for Queen Elizabeth II when she visits<br />
Toronto. She stays in the Royal Suite,<br />
a 2,470-sq.-ft., two-bedroom suite on<br />
the 16th floor, which features a full<br />
dining room and a large living area —<br />
all serviced by a private elevator.<br />
Heart of the<br />
Community<br />
A little more than 100 kilometres west<br />
of Toronto, Kitchener’s Walper Hotel<br />
remains firmly entrenched in the city’s<br />
social scene more than a century after<br />
it first opened its doors.<br />
“The city effectively evolved around<br />
the Walper Hotel,” says general<br />
manager Domini Baldasaro. “In its<br />
initial iteration, it was an inn and<br />
trading post that became a stopping<br />
point for guests coming through the<br />
area on horseback.<br />
Abel Walper (1833-1904) built the<br />
92-room boutique hotel bearing his<br />
The Walper Hotel<br />
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Fairmont Chateau Laurier<br />
name in 1893. It replaced the Varnum<br />
Inn, which had stood on the site since<br />
1820, until it was destroyed by fire.<br />
The original hotel took up four<br />
floors, with a fifth floor and the<br />
Walper’s signature event space, the<br />
Crystal Ballroom, added in the 1920s.<br />
The ballroom, which can accommodate<br />
up to 224 people, boasts a<br />
13-ft.-high ceiling and original crown<br />
moulding. “It’s a beautifully preserved<br />
space that has an absolutely classic feel<br />
to it,” says Baldasaro.<br />
The Walper re-opened to guests<br />
in September 2016 following a<br />
$10-million renovation that required<br />
nearly 18 months to complete and<br />
involved key areas such as HVAC,<br />
electrical and plumbing, as well as<br />
cosmetic upgrades.<br />
The hotel is popular with business<br />
clientele drawn by Kitchener’s tech<br />
community, and is also a popular<br />
choice for weddings and destination<br />
travellers attracted by the region’s<br />
emerging restaurant scene.<br />
Famous guests include Louis<br />
Armstrong (who is said to have<br />
played for crowds from a second-floor<br />
balcony), as well as Eleanor Roosevelt,<br />
Pierre Burton and several Prime<br />
Ministers, including Pierre Trudeau,<br />
and, most recently, his son Justin.<br />
Baldasaro describes the Walper’s<br />
guestrooms as a “total departure”<br />
from those of its competitors, with<br />
hardwood floors in every room,<br />
complemented by furnishings<br />
intended to look like they belong in a<br />
guest’s house or condominium.<br />
Each room also features a whimsical<br />
splash of colour, such as a red<br />
bathroom door or a bright blue chair.<br />
“We really tried to create a great mashup<br />
between historic elements and the<br />
contemporary pieces we knew our<br />
guests wanted to see,” he says.<br />
The hotel also works closely with<br />
local suppliers, with rooms featuring<br />
handcrafted soap from Cambridge’s<br />
Buck Naked Soap Company and<br />
coffee from Kitchener-based roaster,<br />
Smile Tiger Coffee Roasters. The<br />
latter offers fully biodegradable coffee<br />
systems that replace the pod-based<br />
systems common in modern hotels.<br />
“We know that hotels are huge<br />
contributors to landfill waste, and we<br />
wanted to be part of reducing that”<br />
says Baldasaro.<br />
A CAPITAL IDEA<br />
Often called “the third chamber of<br />
parliament” because of its proximity<br />
to Parliament Hill and the politicians<br />
frequently found roaming its<br />
hallways, Ottawa’s Fairmont Chateau<br />
Laurier was constructed for $2<br />
million (approximately $48.6 million<br />
in today’s dollars) between 1909<br />
and 1912.<br />
Charles Melville Hays, the<br />
American-born general manager of<br />
the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway of<br />
Canada, commissioned the hotel in<br />
1907. Hays would perish on the Titanic<br />
on April 15, 1912, just days before<br />
the hotel’s scheduled opening on April<br />
26. Due to the tragedy, the hotel was<br />
formally opened by its namesake, Sir<br />
Wilfred Laurier, during a subdued<br />
ceremony on June 12.<br />
The 426-room hotel — which was<br />
designated a national historic site in<br />
1981 — was built in the Chateauesque<br />
style, a revival of the French Renaissance<br />
style characterized by its elaborate<br />
towers and steeply-pitched roofs.<br />
No expense was spared on the hotel,<br />
which counts white Italian marble,<br />
light buff Indiana limestone and copper<br />
among its building materials. “We are<br />
a castle within a city, and who doesn’t<br />
want to stay in a castle in Canada’s<br />
capital city?” says Deneen Perrin, the<br />
hotel’s director of Public Relations.<br />
The Chateau Laurier also boasts a<br />
prime location, situated just steps from<br />
Parliament Hill and the city’s famed<br />
ByWard Market, as well as the Rideau<br />
Canal and Rideau Locks. “You can<br />
be enamoured by everything Ottawa<br />
has to offer without having to drive<br />
anywhere,” says Perrin.<br />
River Views<br />
While not all of Ontario’s “historic”<br />
properties date back to the agrarian<br />
era of britches and hoes, it remains a<br />
source of inspiration. In Niagara-onthe-Lake,<br />
The Queen’s Landing —<br />
which opened in 1990 — was purposebuilt<br />
to evoke the look and feel of a<br />
Victorian-era property.<br />
The 140-room hotel does, however,<br />
sit on the site of what was once the<br />
Old Niagara Harbour and Dock<br />
Company, a shipping company formed<br />
30 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com
in 1831 that would go on to employ a<br />
workforce of 400 at its height.<br />
Despite its recent vintage, the<br />
Queen’s Landing boasts a decidedly<br />
Victorian aesthetic. Its exterior<br />
walls feature aged bricks imported<br />
from Germany, while the exterior<br />
columns, a sweeping grand staircase<br />
and panoramic windows were carefully<br />
selected to evoke a grand Georgian<br />
mansion on the Niagara River.<br />
The hotel has taken full advantage<br />
of its proximity to the river, with the<br />
guestroom wings constructed in a “T”<br />
formation to allow for the maximum<br />
number of rooms with a view.<br />
The Queen's Landing<br />
During a recent renovation, Vintage<br />
Hotels decided to create two large<br />
guest suites by knocking down walls<br />
between two rooms. “We did this in<br />
answer to requests from our guests<br />
for larger guestrooms with a luxurious<br />
feel, all with the best views of the<br />
Niagara River,” says general manager<br />
Lily Kszan.<br />
The hotel has also maintained<br />
ties with its past, with the original<br />
Dockmaster Building (constructed<br />
in 1835) housing four private suites.<br />
“Although updated and beautified over<br />
the years, the building is a national<br />
historic site and is a significant part of<br />
Canadian history,” explains Kszan.<br />
Queen’s Landing is a popular<br />
wedding venue, with couples<br />
clamouring to hold what Kszan<br />
describes as “fairy-tale weddings” on<br />
the property. It hosts more than 90<br />
special events a year, with bookings<br />
taking place years in advance. “It<br />
is a real privilege to be a ‘Queen’s<br />
Landing Bride,’” says Kszan. u<br />
Can the quality of your guest<br />
Wi-Fi actually attract guests?<br />
Did you know that since 2013, annual<br />
J.D. Power surveys have shown that Wi-Fi<br />
is the #1 amenity guests look for when<br />
booking a hotel stay? It’s hardly surprising.<br />
According to Catalyst.ca 1 , more than threequarters<br />
of Canadians owned a smartphone<br />
in 2016, and according to the CBC 2 ,<br />
wireless data usage was up 15% the year<br />
before. And if guests aren’t happy with<br />
your Wi-Fi, they won’t come back.<br />
In fact, Hotel Business Review 3 found that<br />
80% of guests won’t return after a bad<br />
technology experience.<br />
Great Wi-Fi makes a big<br />
difference.<br />
TELUS Hospitality Wi-Fi is delivered<br />
over the blazing fast TELUS PureFibre <br />
network 4 . Each access point provides<br />
upload and download speeds of up to<br />
100Mbps, more than enough to satisfy the<br />
most demanding videophile or game player.<br />
And 24/7 TELUS technical support for<br />
your guests is included, which means your<br />
frontline staff won’t have to deal with any<br />
connectivity issues guests may have.<br />
room of providing toiletries was $1.25.<br />
The average daily cost of TELUS Wi-Fi is<br />
$0.25 per room. So if you want to attract<br />
more guests and keep them coming back,<br />
shouldn’t you be offering TELUS Wi-Fi?<br />
Demand more today.<br />
For more information, ask<br />
your TELUS representative about<br />
TELUS Hospitality Wi-Fi, or visit<br />
telus.com/hospitality today.<br />
TELUS Hospitality Wi-Fi costs<br />
less than providing toiletries.<br />
In the summer of 2016, BCHA’s<br />
InnFocus 5 reported that the daily cost per<br />
1: http://catalyst.ca/2016-canadian-smartphone-behaviour/<br />
2: http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/crtc-telecom-report-1.3290603<br />
3. http://hotelexecutive.com/business_review/3046/hotel-wi-fi -balancingbudget-bandwidth<br />
4. Where available 5. BCHA InnFocus, Summer 2016.
TRENDS<br />
CONNECTING<br />
BY DENISE DEVEAU<br />
THE DOTS<br />
Whatever the tech plan, it’s all about the connections<br />
ISTOCK.COM/STEVANOVICIGOR<br />
Technology can be<br />
found in virtually<br />
every aspect of<br />
today’s hotel operations.<br />
From selfservice<br />
kiosks and<br />
in-room sensors to kitchen appliances<br />
and door locks, chains and independents<br />
alike are seeking innovative<br />
ways to streamline operations, reduce<br />
costs and, most importantly, enhance<br />
and customize the guest experience.<br />
Much is hidden behind the scenes<br />
in cloud-based services for back-end<br />
functions, such as reservation systems,<br />
customer-relationship management<br />
and energy-usage monitoring. Then<br />
there are the customer-facing technologies<br />
that are adding wow factor to<br />
the guest experience, such as mobile<br />
check-in, in-room streaming, interactive<br />
display panels; the list goes on.<br />
But there is one underlying trend<br />
that plays a role in just about every<br />
innovation out there and it’s one that<br />
hoteliers are constantly having to<br />
invest in with each passing year —<br />
connectivity. Whether talking Wi-Fi<br />
or mobile, the ability to connect the<br />
technology dots is becoming the<br />
hoteliermagazine.com<br />
JUNE 2017 HOTELIER 33
MEETING TECHNOLOGIES<br />
Seamless connectivity is a make-or-break<br />
proposition for any corporate event. That’s<br />
why Marriott has come up with a way to<br />
apply technology to make sure its meeting<br />
and convention team always scores a<br />
perfect 10.<br />
Called Wi-Fi Simplified, it simplifies the<br />
process of Wi-Fi planning and booking for<br />
events. “It’s an industry-leading approach<br />
on how we present meeting internet<br />
options for customers,” says Laura Pallotta.<br />
“Each team member is aware of exactly<br />
how to identify customer needs, which<br />
technology is best, the pricing, and then<br />
pulling it through.”<br />
To date, 17 hotels in Canada have adopted<br />
the Wi-Fi Simplified approach, Pallotta<br />
reports. “It’s really about the front end supporting<br />
back-end needs.”<br />
Marriott has also applied mobile innovation<br />
to streamlining the customer experience<br />
during events. Its customer-facing Meeting<br />
Services App has become an indispensable<br />
tool for meeting planners, she says.<br />
The app connects planners to the hotel<br />
team in real time, 24/7 and is available<br />
in 20 different languages. The customer<br />
receives a custom link three days prior to<br />
their event. They can then ask for changes<br />
in room temperature or amenities, order<br />
essentials, place shipping orders and any<br />
other on-site request through the mobile<br />
app. As Pallotta notes, “Planners can manage<br />
their event without leaving their seats.”<br />
lynchpin in any hotel-tech strategy.<br />
Whatever the plan, Gary Patrick,<br />
CEO of Hotel Internet Services in<br />
Clearwater, Fla., says hotels must<br />
be on top of their networks at all<br />
times. “Hotels have to make sure<br />
that whatever they do, connectivity<br />
is always on and their network is as<br />
robust as it can be to handle traffic. It<br />
has become a top guest demand.”<br />
Warren Markwart, president, MK2<br />
Hospitality in Toronto, confirms that<br />
Wi-Fi continues to be the single biggest<br />
aggravation for hotel guests. “If a<br />
guest walks into a room and there is a<br />
dirty bathtub and bad Wi-Fi, they will<br />
complain about the Wi-Fi first. It is the<br />
number-1 guest complaint today.”<br />
Another key buzzword dominating<br />
the connectivity conversations is IoT<br />
(Internet of Things). “There’s a lot<br />
of talk about people starting to build<br />
this into technology, including HVAC<br />
systems, door locks, lighting, alarm<br />
clocks, thermostats, vending machines,<br />
mini bars, kitchen appliances and<br />
beacons for tracking hotel guest<br />
activity. Anything with an IP address<br />
can be monitored and maintained,”<br />
Patrick explains.<br />
Then, of course, there is the mobile<br />
factor. Digital engagement via mobile<br />
is becoming a must-have in hotel<br />
operations, Markwart says. “Digital<br />
customer engagement is about the way<br />
hoteliers talk to their customers and<br />
how the customer talks to them.”<br />
He cites studies that show between<br />
50 and 60 per cent of all same-day<br />
reservations in the leisure category<br />
are made on smartphones. “It’s one<br />
of the areas that is the most explosive<br />
in terms of what is happening in<br />
hotels right now. Requesting towels,<br />
late checkout, connecting with room<br />
service — all of these can be done<br />
[with mobile devices].”<br />
Sunray Group in Toronto is<br />
banking on digital engagement with<br />
its new GuestLink service — a tabletbased<br />
system being rolled out in the<br />
company’s guestrooms. The interactive<br />
devices can be programmed to broadcast<br />
information on daily specials, late<br />
checkout, daily news, local attractions,<br />
and menus. Guests can place tablet-totablet<br />
video calls within the property,<br />
or make requests to departments<br />
without having to speak to someone.<br />
“That will make things pretty efficient<br />
for us and our guests,” says Kenny<br />
Gibson, president.<br />
As Sunray looks to its tech future,<br />
KEEPING CONNECTED<br />
In-room connectivity is becoming the lynchpin in any<br />
hotel-tech strategy<br />
Gibson says one of the biggest<br />
technology areas has been in and<br />
around check-in and check-out<br />
processes. “Over time, there has been<br />
a movement to do away with room<br />
keys and replace them with the guest’s<br />
mobile device.”<br />
Marriott was one of the first to introduce<br />
mobile-check-in and room-ready<br />
alerts in 2014, says Laura Pallotta,<br />
regional VP of Sales & Marketing at<br />
Marriott International in Mississauga.<br />
It is continuing to add features to its<br />
branded mobile app platform, such as<br />
room-upgrade or late-check-in requests.<br />
“In a recent re-launch, we also<br />
34 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com
expanded the Mobile Key function,<br />
so members can check in using their<br />
mobile device and go straight to their<br />
room using [their device] to open<br />
the door.”<br />
The in-room experience is another<br />
area where hoteliers are putting<br />
emphasis on innovative technologies.<br />
A big trend is replicating the seamless<br />
at-home entertainment experience,<br />
Markwart says. “Guests want to walk<br />
into a room and function like they do<br />
at home. They want the pictures and<br />
sounds to be the same,” Markwart says.<br />
However, it’s not quite as affordable<br />
as the mobile app scenario, he<br />
cautions. “You need smart TVs and the<br />
right connectivity. That often requires<br />
a large capital expenditure.”<br />
Hugo Germain, director of Development<br />
at Group Germain Hotels, says<br />
two of its newest Alt properties in St.<br />
John’s and Calgary, will include the<br />
latest iteration of in-room connected<br />
panels that allow guests to perform<br />
multiple functions — from controlling<br />
entertainment systems to in-room<br />
temperature, lighting and blinds — from<br />
their bedside. The intent, Germain says,<br />
is to simplify the guest experience.<br />
While it may sound mundane, easy<br />
access to connection points in guestrooms<br />
is a critical factor for guests<br />
these days, whether it’s a control<br />
panel, USB ports or standard outlets,<br />
Germain says. “We are making sure<br />
these are above tabletop level and next<br />
to each side of the bed so it is always<br />
convenient for guests,” he adds.<br />
While the furor of activity revolves<br />
around connectivity on all fronts,<br />
there is the question of what the<br />
next wave will be. Markwart has<br />
his own “future think” list. On it is<br />
some “small stuff” such as new charging<br />
needs for devices and self-service<br />
systems that will dispense wine with a<br />
swipe of a room card. “The iPhone 8,<br />
for example will generate demand for<br />
different connectors.”<br />
Already on the scene, but growing<br />
fast, are interactive wall panels that<br />
are evolving into powerful marketing<br />
and information-delivery tools. “There<br />
HYDRTHR15-HOTELIER QRTRPG AD FNL 062415.pdf 1 15-06-24 1:09 PM<br />
is some fascinating stuff going on in<br />
lobbies and convention floors,” he says.<br />
Then there is the stuff of science<br />
fiction, such as robotics for routine<br />
room-service functions, Markwart<br />
notes. Even virtual reality is on the<br />
radar, but that will take some time<br />
before it can be applied in a way that<br />
makes sense, he believes.<br />
Not all tech innovation is about<br />
saving money, he says. “It’s about<br />
how they can use it to enhance and<br />
improve guest service.” u<br />
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M<br />
Y<br />
CM<br />
MY<br />
CY<br />
CMY<br />
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hoteliermagazine.com<br />
JUNE 2017 HOTELIER 35
OPERATIONS<br />
THE<br />
MEANING<br />
OF CLEAN<br />
Guests' desire for simple, clean,<br />
green and well-lit spaces are<br />
impacting housekeeping operations<br />
BY ANDREW COPPOLINO<br />
ISTOCK.COM/CHET_W<br />
36 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER<br />
hoteliermagazine.com
Despite the hightech<br />
world that<br />
swirls around<br />
us, simplicity is<br />
comforting. This<br />
is a fundamental<br />
truth in the hotel<br />
industry. “People want simple things,”<br />
says Joseph Clohessy, general manager<br />
of the Calgary Marriott Downtown.<br />
“They want their room to be clean<br />
because this is where they recharge.”<br />
Ernest Hemingway called it a<br />
“clean, well-lighted place” to spend<br />
time in. From an aesthetic point of<br />
view, the trend is toward uncluttered<br />
hotel rooms with clear, smooth<br />
surfaces. With this aesthetic, it is more<br />
important than ever that rooms be<br />
tidy and spotlessly clean.<br />
When it comes to hotel housekeeping,<br />
the first aspect to consider<br />
is who will do the cleaning. According<br />
to Jani-King Canada’s national<br />
general manager, Robert McNamara,<br />
outsourcing of housekeeping services<br />
has not been as popular here as it is in<br />
the United States and Europe.<br />
“It’s been harder to penetrate the<br />
market here,” McNamara says. “Most<br />
hoteliers feel they have to protect that<br />
side of the business. They’re cautious<br />
about giving up responsibility and<br />
working with a partner. They don’t<br />
mind outsourcing the restaurant and<br />
grounds work but are more protective<br />
of housekeeping.”<br />
But Paul Gingras, executive<br />
housekeeper at Toronto Park Hyatt,<br />
disagrees, estimating 90 per cent of<br />
hotels in urban areas have outsourced<br />
their laundry needs. With the logistics<br />
involved and maintenance costs,<br />
he says it just makes sense. Philippa<br />
Akyeampong, director of Rooms at<br />
Westin Harbour Castle — a Torontobased<br />
hotel that outsources its laundry<br />
— agrees with this assessment, adding<br />
she sees an increasing number of<br />
hotels taking this route.<br />
“It’s more cost-effective because you<br />
don’t have the big labour expense. It’s<br />
also more efficient and there’s more<br />
accountability,” says Akyeampong.<br />
McNamara says higher minimum<br />
wage and overall labour costs, along<br />
with the cost of finding, training and<br />
retaining staff can make in-house<br />
services a significant cost. Out-sourcing,<br />
he says, shifts that expense from<br />
a variable to a fixed cost. Regardless,<br />
sometimes the numbers still<br />
work — as does the history, according<br />
to Clohessy at Calgary Marriott<br />
Downtown, which was renovated<br />
two years ago. Its laundry has been<br />
done in-house for 42 years; he says<br />
it's invested in the process to make<br />
it as efficient as possible, including<br />
equipment modifications and environmental<br />
steps which have resulted in<br />
increased sustainability.<br />
“We’ve run the scenarios and it is<br />
still, at this time, more efficient to<br />
have that operation within the hotel,”<br />
Clohessy explains.<br />
GREEN AND BRIGHT<br />
The new trends are the old trends —<br />
and it doesn’t matter to the customer<br />
if there’s in-house or outsourced operations.<br />
Issues that were once primary<br />
— meeting and exceeding customer<br />
expectations in cleanliness and using<br />
green products — are still demanded<br />
today, according to McNamara. “If we<br />
get to [decide] what products to use<br />
to clean rooms, we will select green,”<br />
he says. If not, they fall into line with<br />
what the hotel wants.<br />
In Calgary, Clohessy says a new<br />
program was started in January that<br />
gave guests reward points for declining<br />
a housekeeping visit. “We’ve seen<br />
great success and it creates an environmental<br />
awareness. It comes down to<br />
training guest services to make sure<br />
they explain the program correctly<br />
to customers.” There are, of course,<br />
“degrees” of green, and sometimes this<br />
is driven by the customer expectations<br />
of the geographic location. Such is the<br />
case for Castle Mountain Chalets, an<br />
Alberta-based AHLA’s 2016 Housekeeping<br />
Awards winner that has been<br />
operating since 1939.<br />
“We do our laundry in-house as<br />
we are only 25 rental units,” says<br />
general manager Laurie L. Wallace.<br />
“We conserve water because we are<br />
located in Banff National Park and<br />
use eco-friendly products where and<br />
when we can.”<br />
“We’re green, too,” Gingras points<br />
NEW TECH ON DECK<br />
The “Internet-of-Things” is shaping all facets of<br />
the hotel industry, from door-entry systems that<br />
talk to HVAC units to hand-held devices that link<br />
room attendants and property-management<br />
systems, which are creating a network of communications<br />
and data that permits greater efficiencies<br />
and, consequently, cost savings.<br />
“HotSOS is beginning to take off,” says<br />
Philippa Akyeampong, director of Rooms<br />
at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto.<br />
Amadeus Hospitality’s HotSOS (Hotel Service<br />
Optimization System) platform manages<br />
service for guest requests, while tracking<br />
occupancy and room maintenance. “Only a<br />
few hotels in the city have it,” Akyeampong<br />
explains, “but more are gearing towards it. It<br />
can help with room readiness and give managers<br />
more time because it does give back in<br />
labour and productivity.”<br />
Paul Gingras, executive housekeeper at Park<br />
Hyatt Toronto, uses the system as well. “It’s<br />
basically like a BlackBerry or iPhone,” he says.<br />
“Room assignments are done by computer. The<br />
rooms, occupied or empty, are prioritized and<br />
given a point system depending on VIP arrival<br />
or guest requests.” That information, which can<br />
even be translated to the several languages, is<br />
sent directly to room attendants so that a 300-<br />
point room gets cleaned before a 100-point<br />
room. Rather than a series of phone calls indicating<br />
vacant rooms, the system communicates<br />
directly with the room attendant responsible.<br />
“Engineering requests such as those for burnedout<br />
light bulbs can also be made with the system,”<br />
Gingras says.<br />
Robotic vacuums are another tech item topping<br />
Gingras’s wish list, if he could get a good<br />
product to do the job. “I think eventually this will<br />
happen. Room attendants [will be able to] have<br />
the [robot] vacuum cleaning the room while they<br />
clean the washroom. That can save time.”<br />
At the downtown Calgary Marriott, GM<br />
Joseph Clohessy says it is looking into a system<br />
similar to HotSOS. “During renovations,” he<br />
says, “we introduced occupancy technology in<br />
which the lock talks to the thermostat and can<br />
also tell us when the guest has left the room.”<br />
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) cardreader<br />
technology for door locks enhances<br />
both guest convenience and improves operational<br />
efficiency for the hotel. Thermostats have<br />
motion-detection technology to determine guestroom<br />
occupancy and offer programmability that<br />
can result in energy<br />
savings with no<br />
impact on guest<br />
comfort. “It helps<br />
deploy resources<br />
efficiently and<br />
precisely,”<br />
Clohessy says.<br />
hoteliermagazine.com<br />
JUNE 2017 HOTELIER 37
out but agrees that geography can<br />
play a role. While a card indicates<br />
to his Hyatt guests the option of not<br />
having towels washed daily, he says<br />
they are not always popular. “You’d<br />
be surprised how many guests don’t<br />
make the request. Maybe they are<br />
saying that they are paying good<br />
money and want their linen changed.<br />
I was in Vancouver for 18 years and<br />
maybe they think differently. It’s<br />
much greener [out] west.”<br />
Regardless, efficiencies can come<br />
into play in the quest for green.<br />
According to Akyeampong, the staff<br />
at Westin Harbour Castle does more<br />
with less; where there were once four<br />
or five different cleaning solutions,<br />
there may now be only two. “We<br />
have fewer solutions that can do<br />
more jobs,” she explains. “It’s good for<br />
the environment and for the safety of<br />
the room attendants.”<br />
One green aspect that carries<br />
across virtually all sectors, but<br />
especially food and hospitality, is<br />
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allergy sensitivities, which have<br />
become first-tier concerns. According<br />
to Gingras, guests routinely request<br />
fragrance-free linen that has also<br />
been cleaned without bleach, due<br />
to environmental awareness. “It’s<br />
not like the old days. It’s often no<br />
scent and no powder. People are very<br />
sensitive to that,” he says, adding<br />
that adapting to what the market<br />
demands is at the heart of the industry.<br />
As Akyeampong points out, the<br />
ubiquity of the issue has actually<br />
made it easier to accommodate guests<br />
because there are more product<br />
choices available.<br />
Closely allied to shining cleanliness,<br />
Akyeampong sees design trends<br />
moving away from darker colours<br />
and towards brighter palettes.<br />
With more white decor in rooms<br />
and better lighting, she says that<br />
makes cleanliness an even more<br />
difficult standard to meet. “We’re<br />
moving into a design that highlights<br />
everything in the room, which also<br />
highlights the cleanliness.”<br />
Clohessy agrees, noting bathrooms<br />
are becoming brighter, with mirrors<br />
featuring built-in lights. “We’ve learned<br />
lessons from our customers about good<br />
lighting in the bathroom area.”<br />
WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE<br />
To get things looking spotless under<br />
the bright lights, water is a key<br />
commodity. Most people pay twice<br />
for water — once to have it piped<br />
to homes or businesses and a second<br />
time when it is taken away as waste.<br />
A single dripping tap and leaky<br />
toilet can amount to eight litres of<br />
water wasted each day — and with<br />
it considerable cost. Multiply that<br />
by several hundred hotel rooms —<br />
not factoring in other water use<br />
— and the numbers climb quickly.<br />
Commonly, hotel guests are incentivized<br />
to not take room servicing as<br />
a green choice, Akyeampong says.<br />
“That reduces water consumption,”<br />
adding if 200 rooms a day were to<br />
make the choice in a week, that’s<br />
1,000 rooms and again the numbers<br />
start to add up.<br />
Training can make a difference<br />
too, she adds, and room attendants<br />
are the frontline staff who can<br />
control water use. A lot of water is<br />
wasted when room attendants enter<br />
a room and turn on the sink and<br />
bathtub faucets and then go and<br />
collect the garbage and perform other<br />
duties. “We’ve changed the process,”<br />
Akyeampong says. “Attendants apply<br />
the cleaning solutions and don’t turn<br />
on the water until they come back<br />
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into the bathroom and turn one<br />
faucet on a time and use medium as<br />
compared to scorching hot water.”<br />
Seven years ago, the Calgary<br />
Marriott Downtown installed a<br />
64-sq.-ft. water-recycling system<br />
by Georgia-based AquaRecycle.<br />
Clohessy says it has proven to be very<br />
efficient for laundry-water recycling.<br />
Closed loop wash-water recycling<br />
means reduced incoming water usage<br />
of approximately 80 per cent, a reduction<br />
of heating of up to 50 per cent<br />
and reduced sewer discharge of 95 per<br />
cent. Figures provided by AquaRecycle’s<br />
website suggest a two-year ROI.<br />
At New Brunswick’s Algonquin<br />
Resort, washing machines have a<br />
special rinse cycle to conserve water.<br />
“We don’t use any product in our<br />
washing that has a fragrance and<br />
everything is balanced to a neutral<br />
pH,” says Heather King, executive<br />
housekeeper at Algonquin Resort.<br />
HIGH EXPECTATIONS<br />
The latest and greatest in technology,<br />
water reduction, in-house efficiencies<br />
and design trends are well and<br />
good, but the basics of laundry and<br />
housekeeping operations in hotels<br />
small or large have never really<br />
changed. Guest expectations —<br />
perhaps especially where cleaning<br />
is concerned — continue to go<br />
up, McNamara says. “They want<br />
more,” he says. “Everyone judges<br />
the experience based on how clean<br />
it was. If it’s not clean, it’s not going<br />
to get a high score.”<br />
With two decades in the industry,<br />
Akyeampong has also seen<br />
more being demanded by customers<br />
than ever. “If you don’t take care<br />
of the bathrooms and the beds<br />
properly, it ruins your loyalty,” she<br />
says. However, she notes she has<br />
seen a slight change in this regard.<br />
“If anything, it’s become more<br />
important now. In the past, people<br />
were less critical.”<br />
That said, the core aspects of<br />
housekeeping operations haven’t<br />
changed over the years — you<br />
have to get the basics right,<br />
agrees Clohessy. “There needs<br />
to be a great arrival experience<br />
for guests and followed up by<br />
top-notch cleanliness in the room.<br />
Once they walk into that room<br />
and turn on those bright bathroom<br />
lights, it has to be spotless.<br />
That’s fundamental.” u<br />
ISTOCK.COM/KZENON<br />
42 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com
DESIGN & DECOR<br />
DRIVEN<br />
design<br />
BY<br />
Hotels are using design elements to draw in guests<br />
BY JESSICA MAIORANO<br />
hoteliermagazine.com<br />
JUNE 2017 HOTELIER 43
DESIGNED FOR LIFE (clockwise from above)<br />
Bathroom at The Westin Bear Mountain; lobby of<br />
the Delta Toronto; Delta's new bathroom design;<br />
suite at The Westin Bear Mountain<br />
Today’s hotels are more<br />
design-driven than<br />
ever before, thanks in<br />
part to the influence<br />
of millennial guests. In<br />
the past, the difference<br />
between three- and five-star hotels<br />
usually came down to cleanliness, but<br />
in today’s market, hotels are using<br />
design features to draw guests in. In<br />
this new modus operandi, furnishings,<br />
floorings and lighting are now<br />
some of the key components that<br />
hotel designers are factoring in when<br />
putting together a room.<br />
CALL OF THE WILD<br />
Situated on Canada’s West Coast,<br />
there has always been a natural<br />
aesthetic to The Westin Bear<br />
Mountain. The 156-room property<br />
in picturesque Victoria, B.C. recently<br />
renovated the majority of its guestrooms<br />
in order to remain up-to-date<br />
with current trends.<br />
From its slate floors, real wood trim<br />
and neutral hues, Adele Pransky from<br />
Chil Interior Design took her design<br />
inspiration from the surrounding<br />
property and existing natural materials.<br />
Incorporating organic elements<br />
with a colour palette of rich neutral<br />
and caramel tones, Pranksy was able<br />
to create a synergy between old and<br />
new by working with existing materials<br />
as much as possible. She selected<br />
highly durable fabrics and finishes<br />
and created robust custom furniture<br />
items, including real wood tables.<br />
The biggest challenge, she says, was<br />
sourcing quality items that matched<br />
all the other elements of the room.<br />
“As designers, we are always looking<br />
for new and dynamic ways to skillfully<br />
balance pattern, texture and colour<br />
to create unique and memorable hotel<br />
experiences for guests,” she says.<br />
From an operator standpoint, guest<br />
engagement was closely tied into the<br />
design process at The Westin Bear<br />
Mountain. “Design is paramount to an<br />
DESIGN IS PARAMOUNT TO AN EXPERIENCE;<br />
THERE IS NO QUESTION ABOUT THAT…BUT<br />
TO ME IT’S REALLY HOW YOU CONNECT<br />
WITH YOUR GUESTS PERSONALLY<br />
DENISE PALMER, GENERAL MANAGER, THE WESTIN BEAR MOUNTAIN<br />
44 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com
AS DESIGNERS,<br />
WE ARE ALWAYS<br />
LOOKING FOR NEW<br />
AND DYNAMIC WAYS<br />
TO SKILLFULLY<br />
BALANCE<br />
PATTERN, TEXTURE<br />
AND COLOUR TO<br />
CREATE UNIQUE<br />
AND MEMORABLE<br />
HOTEL EXPERIENCES<br />
FOR GUESTS<br />
experience; there is no question about<br />
that…But to me it’s really how you<br />
connect with your guests personally,”<br />
says general manager Denise Palmer.<br />
SUSTAINABLE BY DESIGN<br />
Designed to LEED Gold certification<br />
standards, the Delta Toronto is setting<br />
the standard for guest comfort, building<br />
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responsible design. “Our hotel’s philos-<br />
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hoteliermagazine.com<br />
JUNE 2017 HOTELIER 45
SHEDDING NEW LIGHT<br />
In some cases, minor changes can make all<br />
the difference to a hotel’s image. When the<br />
Wingate by Wyndham Calgary Airport needed<br />
an update, Latif Jamani, president of Calgary<br />
Lighting Products, decided to highlight what<br />
was already there and showcase its landscape.<br />
“They have beautiful 30- to 40-foot fir trees on<br />
their property. They shelter their hotel, but we<br />
talked about creating more visibility.”<br />
Recognizing the hotel needed a design<br />
change that would garner increased attention,<br />
Jamani used simple lighting techniques to<br />
bring recognition back to this hotel. For example,<br />
LED 135w outdoor floodlights — which<br />
function in all types of weather, have a strong<br />
output and a wide beam angle — were used to<br />
offer guests a sense of safety upon arrival.<br />
He says hotels are choosing lights that<br />
save energy and fixtures that are easy to<br />
maintain and repair — all the while keeping<br />
up with current design trends. Since 2001,<br />
Jamani says, “The shift has been towards<br />
reducing energy consumption and being<br />
sustainable in terms of consumer aspects of<br />
the hotel.” Hotels are favouring lights that<br />
save energy, such as LEDs, and using lamps<br />
to brighten spaces. This creates easy and<br />
customizable lighting options that appeal to<br />
hotel guests.<br />
Little Giants – professional approach<br />
to processing large volumes of laundry<br />
A ROOM FOR ALL REASONS Furniture and fixtures at Montreal's Hotel St Paul has been customdesigned<br />
for the space, from the lobby to the guest suites<br />
ophy is built around the guest’s appreciation<br />
of “the best of less” — this<br />
means smart, fluid design that delights<br />
and surprises along the guest journey,<br />
whether they’re travelling for business<br />
or leisure,” says Leslie Ma, Delta’s head<br />
of Marketing & Communications. In<br />
2015, the hotel’s efforts were recognized<br />
with an Urban Design Award of<br />
Excellence as well as UrbanToronto’s<br />
Building of the Year title in 2014.<br />
Delta’s new guestroom design,<br />
ModeRoom, is inspired by the<br />
Canadian landscape and boasts a fresh<br />
and modern colour palette focused on<br />
maximizing natural light. Combining<br />
nature and modern tastes, Delta<br />
Toronto’s rooms also feature the<br />
SmartDesk — a fully wired, multipurpose<br />
area providing guests with a<br />
clutter-free workspace. When designing<br />
the property, Ma found the key<br />
challenge to selecting design elements<br />
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46 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com
was “identifying the essentials and<br />
distinguishing [these] from the other<br />
things that don’t add value.”<br />
The hotel, which opened in February<br />
2015, placed art procurement at<br />
the top of the to-do list, featuring<br />
works by accomplished Canadian<br />
artists including Anda Kubis,<br />
Aleksandra Rdest, Jennifer McGregor,<br />
Rob Southcott, Adrian Forrow, Glenn<br />
Michael, Hyun Chul Kim, Rob Baytor<br />
and Teresa Aversa.<br />
BOUTIQUE CHIC<br />
At Hotel St Paul in Montreal, trendy is<br />
part of the boutique property’s DNA.<br />
“Hotel St Paul was the first boutique<br />
hotel in Canada,” says Chantal<br />
Rambout, director of Operations of<br />
Iber Immobilier and GM of Hotel<br />
St Paul. “[Everything] was custom<br />
designed and crafted specifically for<br />
the hotel. They are one of a kind.”<br />
In 2015, renovations carried out<br />
by Montreal-based Borrallo Interiors,<br />
were intended to “dress up the hotel<br />
with luxurious and daring colours.”<br />
Using oversized furniture and brass<br />
and bronze elements, the design team<br />
strove to evoke a nostalgic quality.<br />
Inspired by fashion textiles, rich and<br />
bold colours play a prominent role in<br />
the decor, including silks, moirees and<br />
velvets in eggplant, beet root, fuchsia<br />
and complementary greens.<br />
The biggest challenge for Rambout<br />
when selecting these items was<br />
“presenting and communicating our<br />
aesthetic in a Canadian context.”<br />
During the initial design process, the<br />
Hotel St Paul team knew it wanted<br />
to “create an incredible visual experience,<br />
a truly feel-at-home atmosphere<br />
and an architectural feel that was<br />
aesthetically high-end and sophisticated<br />
— a design that outlived trends<br />
and seasonality.” u<br />
[EVERYTHING]<br />
WAS CUSTOM<br />
DESIGNED AND<br />
CRAFTED<br />
SPECIFICALLY<br />
FOR THE<br />
HOTEL. THEY<br />
ARE ONE OF<br />
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hoteliermagazine.com<br />
JUNE 2017 HOTELIER 47<br />
K-Bro_TS.indd 1<br />
2016-06-29 9:25 AM
Kostuch MedIa’s<br />
MADE IN<br />
CANADA<br />
BIG, BOLD, AND BOUNTIFUL<br />
A YEAR-LONG PHOTO CONTEST<br />
TO HELP CELEBRATE<br />
CANADA’S 150TH BIRTHDAY<br />
To coincide with Canada’s 150th birthday, KML readers are invited to tap into their<br />
creative side by entering the “Made-in-Canada” photo contest. Throughout 2017,<br />
readers can snap pictures of various iconic products, ingredients, menu dishes as<br />
well as hotels and resorts that reflect a Canadian sensibility and provide a visual<br />
perspective on what this country is all about.<br />
Each month a judging panel comprised of the F&H and Hotelier editorial teams,<br />
photographers, contest sponsors, editorial board members and graphic designers<br />
will choose a total of 10 photos that reflect strong composition, exposure and focus<br />
while adhering to a Canadian theme. By the end of 2017, the magazines will have a<br />
collection of 150 images from which to choose 10 “Grand Winners,” whose submissions<br />
will be featured in the December issue of both F&H and Hotelier magazine.<br />
Enter the Made in Canada contest for a chance to win one of 10 trips to<br />
Canadian iconic hotel destinations.<br />
Winners will be announced and fêted at the 2017 December Pinnacle<br />
Awards Luncheon.<br />
UPLOAD YOUR PHOTO:<br />
#KMLMadeinCanada<br />
or email jporter@kostuchmedia.com<br />
Submit pictures in the<br />
following categories:<br />
• Food: appetizers (soups, salads); entrées,<br />
proteins,veggies, fruits, desserts<br />
• Drinks, cocktails, wines, beers<br />
• Ingredients: spices, herbs, maple<br />
syrup, et cetera<br />
• Iconic restaurants, iconic hotels and<br />
resorts, attractions<br />
• Hotel Rooms, lobby spaces,<br />
guestrooms, suites, bars<br />
• Personalities: chefs, hoteliers,<br />
farmers/ producers/suppliers.<br />
For Contest Rules and<br />
Regulations visit<br />
hoteliermagazine.com/<br />
madeincanada<br />
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EQUIPMENT<br />
COMFORT<br />
AND JOY<br />
Experts weigh in on how to improve HVAC for<br />
efficiency and guest comfort<br />
BY SHERENE CHEN-SEE<br />
ISTOCK.COM/SB-BORG<br />
Walk into the Double-<br />
Tree by Hilton in<br />
London, Ont. and<br />
you’ll see a contemporary<br />
lobby with clean lines and<br />
muted shades, stunning light fixtures,<br />
and similarly modern suites, all of<br />
which were made possible by a recent<br />
$10-million renovation. Likewise, the<br />
Holiday Inn Ottawa recently underwent<br />
a $9 million renovation, and it<br />
has new cozy look meant to attract<br />
families and make them feel at home.<br />
Among these upgrades is something<br />
you might not immediately notice —<br />
the new heating, ventilation and air<br />
conditioning (HVAC) system, chosen<br />
for guest comfort, reliability and<br />
energy efficiency.<br />
There are numerous types of HVAC<br />
systems available on the market today,<br />
including the traditional packaged<br />
terminal air conditioner (PTAC), a<br />
type of self-contained heating and air<br />
conditioning system commonly found<br />
in hotels and motels, and the vertical<br />
terminal air conditioner (VTAC),<br />
which can be installed inside a small<br />
closet instead of protruding from<br />
under the window the way a PTAC<br />
does. Newer types of HVAC are<br />
constantly being developed to address<br />
energy efficiency, make a smaller<br />
impact on the environment, and<br />
improve guest comfort.<br />
There are numerous HVAC<br />
manufacturers and suppliers on the<br />
market servicing hotels, including<br />
NRG Equipment, Carrier Enterprise,<br />
and Enercare Commercial Services.<br />
Each offers a wide range of items<br />
to address energy efficiency, room<br />
automation, guest comfort and other<br />
concerns.<br />
WHY UPGRADE?<br />
Sometimes, as with the Double<br />
Tree London and Holiday Inn<br />
Ottawa, hotels upgrade the HVAC<br />
as part of a renovation. Other<br />
times, they improve inefficiencies or<br />
respond to customer complaints if<br />
the rooms are not up to date.<br />
“Hotel operators have to update<br />
hoteliermagazine.com<br />
JUNE 2017 HOTELIER 49
their equipment to maintain their<br />
expenses,” says Jacqueline Manitaros,<br />
vice-president, Business Development<br />
and Marketing at NRG Energy Inc.<br />
“An inefficient PTAC could be costing<br />
them money. In addition, as an operator,<br />
should you have a full house, you<br />
want all rooms to be in operation.”<br />
“Guest comfort, reliability and<br />
energy efficiency are the primary<br />
drivers,” says Scott Beneteau, general<br />
manager at Enercare. “Through social<br />
media and numerous travel-rating<br />
websites, guests often comment if the<br />
room temperature and air quality do<br />
not meet their expectations. Upgrading<br />
to new technologies and implementing<br />
a common-sense building-controls<br />
system addresses all three of those<br />
drivers. Properly conditioned air delivered<br />
reliably will ensure repeat business<br />
and positive reviews, which will<br />
ultimately drive maximum occupancy.”<br />
ENERGY-EFFICIENCY<br />
DEVELOPMENTS<br />
Felix Seiler, chief Operating officer of<br />
Holloway Lodging Corporation, which<br />
owns both the DoubleTree by Hilton in<br />
London and Holiday Inn Ottawa, along<br />
with numerous others ranging from<br />
60 to 350 rooms, says “many of the<br />
smaller hotels operate with PTAC and<br />
VTAC units and we also replace those<br />
with quieter and more energy-efficient<br />
systems with remote thermostats.”<br />
“When choosing HVAC, we look for<br />
a decrease in power consumption, more<br />
efficiency on both cooling and heating,<br />
and newer technologies for electronics<br />
and automation,” explains Seiler. “We<br />
also install motion sensors and heat<br />
sensors in rooms to ensure the system<br />
only runs when the room is occupied.”<br />
“When installing new HVAC<br />
systems in large hotels, we always<br />
obtain an engineering opinion to<br />
ensure we get the right sized and<br />
engineered system,” he adds.<br />
Currently, NRG offers new PTACs<br />
that are designed to be direct replacements<br />
for PTACs that were manufactured<br />
30 to 40 years ago. “Our Perfect<br />
Comfort model will be a direct replacement,<br />
so the hotel owner receives a<br />
new unit with a higher energy efficiency<br />
ratio (EER), new components and a<br />
quieter sound,” says Manitaros. “There<br />
is also an option to allow these PTAC<br />
units to work on an energy-management<br />
system (EMS) to save additional<br />
energy costs.”<br />
“We ensure our equipment is<br />
manufactured with top-of-the-line<br />
internal components, including gasketing<br />
material to create an air-tight seal<br />
and ensure the PTACs are not always<br />
running,” she adds.<br />
“Increasingly, variable refrigerant flow<br />
(VRF) systems are becoming a popular<br />
choice with hotels because of the ease<br />
of retrofit and the energy efficiency [they<br />
offer],” says Beneteau. “These systems<br />
consume less electricity than a conventional<br />
heat/cool system and require less<br />
maintenance over their life.”<br />
Douglas Mackemer, director of Parts,<br />
Supplies and Specialized Equipment<br />
at Carrier Enterprise, agrees with<br />
Beneteau about the energy efficiency<br />
of VRF, adding “We are seeing<br />
property conversions, renovations and<br />
new builds utilizing this technology.<br />
Key features are the removal of large<br />
condenser farms outside, [which are]<br />
taking up ground level and roof level<br />
HVAC PRIMER<br />
ENERGY EFFICIENCY<br />
• New systems have higher energy<br />
efficiency ratio<br />
• Newer components and tighter seals<br />
increase energy efficiency<br />
• Variable refrigerant flow systems allow<br />
ease of retrofit and are energy efficient<br />
• Variable frequency drives turn exhaust<br />
fans on and off as needed<br />
• Energy-management systems evaluate<br />
equipment performance and repair poor<br />
performing equipment<br />
• Motion sensors and heat sensors<br />
ensure heating/cooling is on only when<br />
room is occupied<br />
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT<br />
• Environmentally friendly refrigerant gas<br />
has no ozone impact<br />
GUEST COMFORT<br />
• Quiet<br />
• Reliable<br />
• Remote control<br />
SPECIAL SCENARIOS<br />
• Small hotels require compact units<br />
• Underground parking requires special<br />
controls to manage costs<br />
• Old hotels should be air cooled not<br />
water cooled<br />
real estate, and elimination of separate<br />
boilers and cooling towers.”<br />
VRF also allows simultaneous<br />
heating and cooling for individual<br />
rooms, he explains.<br />
New refrigerant systems also offer<br />
environmentally friendly refrigerant<br />
gas. “Older systems use ‘R22-type’<br />
refrigerant which is a hydrochlorofluorocarbon<br />
(HCFC). HCFCs are known<br />
to deplete the ozone layer, among other<br />
things,” says Beneteau. “New systems<br />
use 410A, which is said to have no<br />
ozone impact.”<br />
In addition, “technologies such as<br />
variable-frequency drives are used<br />
to stage fan speeds for high and low<br />
usage, and carbon-monoxide sensors to<br />
control the on/off operation of exhaust<br />
fans can dramatically reduce energy<br />
costs,” says Beneteau.<br />
In addition to more energy efficient<br />
systems and technologies, Enercare<br />
offers programs to help customers<br />
understand the energy consumed by<br />
their hydronic and HVAC systems.<br />
ISTOCK.COM/WASANTISTOCK<br />
50 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com
“Our Validation Inspection and Equipment<br />
Walk-through (VIEW) program<br />
provides a detailed assessment of a<br />
building’s mechanical system,” says<br />
Beneteau. “We will identify low-cost,<br />
high-impact energy savings options.”<br />
THE AUTOMATED ROOM<br />
Enercare is investing in a number<br />
of state-of-the-art technologies for<br />
common and in-suite areas to help<br />
improve guest comfort.<br />
“Many operators are surprised at<br />
how affordable sensor and control<br />
equipment can be,” says Beneteau.<br />
“The key is how the data from sensors<br />
and the building automation system<br />
(BAS) is managed. Enercare’s solution<br />
is to utilize existing BAS equipment<br />
to keep the cost down, provide<br />
low-cost equipment where it makes<br />
sense, and provide a managed service<br />
that drives actionable intelligence<br />
rather than simply send reports or<br />
email alerts.”<br />
“Especially impactful is the ability<br />
to provide directed maintenance<br />
where technologies allow for rapid<br />
diagnostic and repair of major<br />
mechanical equipment, saving energy<br />
and extending the useful life of costly<br />
equipment,” continues Beneteau.<br />
Other options that appeal to<br />
hoteliers include remote-control<br />
equipment, automatic identification of<br />
poor performing equipment, and alerts<br />
and alarms when the equipment is not<br />
operating properly, says Mackemer.<br />
Mackemer is keen to explain<br />
Carrier’s energy-management system,<br />
Founten, which interfaces with the<br />
hotel’s property-management system.<br />
“Founten can be deployed without the<br />
expense of dedicated servers or special<br />
cabling,” he explains. “It creates its<br />
own redundant self-healing wireless<br />
mesh network of communications and<br />
provides an evaluation of the performance<br />
of equipment operating on the<br />
property to target poor performing<br />
equipment first.”<br />
“The hotelier can know of an<br />
issue [often] before a guest does,”<br />
says Mackemer.<br />
THE RIGHT FIT<br />
There are numerous options available<br />
for different hotels. For example,<br />
small hotels that have limited space<br />
may benefit from installing a more<br />
compact unit, such as NRG’s 16x26<br />
PTAC model, which operates with<br />
24-volt thermostat capability.<br />
Properties with underground<br />
parking tend to consume more energy<br />
as a result of the need to circulate<br />
large volumes of air, and controls can<br />
help manage these costs.<br />
Older hotels benefit from upgrading<br />
their cooling system from water<br />
cooled to air cooled, which wastes<br />
less water and are much cheaper to<br />
maintain.<br />
“Each hotel is unique and the first<br />
step is to understand what equipment<br />
you have in your building including<br />
age, state of repair and what controls<br />
systems are available to utilize,”<br />
explains Beneteau. “Once you know<br />
what you have, you can explore<br />
technology upgrades that offer the<br />
biggest payback.” u<br />
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JUNE 2017 HOTELIER 51
MADE IN<br />
this month’s Winner<br />
@misss_esss<br />
Toronto at night<br />
It’s Canada’s birthday, and to celebrate we’ve launched the Made in Canada photo contest.<br />
Hotelier readers are invited to tap into their creative side by entering photos that reflect a<br />
typically Canadian theme focusing on quintessential Canadian hotels and landmarks. A judging<br />
panel, comprised of the Hotelier editorial and design team, photographers, and contest sponsors<br />
choose our six Instagram photo winners each month. We’re proud to showcase this month’s<br />
finalists and top-winning entry, who wins a $100 Shoppers Drug Mart gift card. At the 2017<br />
Pinnacle Awards, held at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel on December 1, we will be presenting 12<br />
Grand-prize Winners with a collection of “Experience Canada” prizes.<br />
Visit hoteliermagazine.com/madeincanada for the complete prize list.<br />
THIS MONTH’S CONTEST FINALISTS<br />
@carrgaas<br />
Lunch at<br />
Scarbourgh Bluffs<br />
cedargrovelodge<br />
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52 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com
ANNOUNCING THE<br />
WOMEN IN TOURISM AND<br />
HOSPITALITY CONFERENCE<br />
2017<br />
Powered by Hotelier magazine<br />
and Sequel Hotels & Resorts<br />
ROSANNA<br />
CAIRA<br />
Editor & Publisher<br />
Kostuch Media<br />
Ltd.<br />
ANNE<br />
LARCADE<br />
President & CEO<br />
Sequel Hotels<br />
& Resorts<br />
DATE: SEPTEMBER 18, 2017 • LOCATION: PARK HYATT TORONTO<br />
ADVISORY BOARD<br />
MINAZ ABJI<br />
Executive Asset<br />
Management<br />
Vice-president<br />
Host Hotels &<br />
Resorts<br />
JOHANNE<br />
BELANGER<br />
President & CEO<br />
Tourism Toronto<br />
DON CLEARY,<br />
President<br />
Marriott Hotels<br />
of Canada<br />
STATIA ELLIOT<br />
Director<br />
School of Hospitality,<br />
Food & Tourism<br />
Management<br />
University of Guelph<br />
MARIE PIER<br />
GERMAIN<br />
General Manager<br />
Alt Hotel,<br />
Montreal<br />
REETU GUPTA<br />
COO<br />
The Gupta Group<br />
& Easton’s Group<br />
of Hotels<br />
AVA<br />
JANIKOWSKI<br />
Chase International<br />
Consultants in<br />
Design Inc.<br />
YOLA<br />
MARSHALL<br />
Director of<br />
Commercial Delivery<br />
IHG<br />
For more information visit hoteliermagazine.com/women-tourism-hospitality<br />
BE PREPARED TO BE INSPIRED<br />
An inspirational, high-energy day celebrating women's leadership skills, while presenting new<br />
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By joining Key by KML, you will gain<br />
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relevant perspectives on important<br />
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— articles on trends, in-depth statistical<br />
analysis, and profiles of the movers<br />
and shakers in the restaurant and<br />
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But we also produce signature events<br />
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Whether you are an independent restaurant<br />
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HITEC PREVIEW<br />
HITEC TORONTO PRODUCT PREVIEW<br />
The world’s largest hospitality technology show, held June 26 to 29 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre,<br />
brings together the hottest tech from around the world. Here are a few of our favourite offerings:<br />
LOCKED-ON<br />
The New VingCard Essence<br />
is a revolutionary doorlocking<br />
technology. New<br />
features, such as Mobile<br />
Access compatibility and<br />
wireless-online capabilities,<br />
are streamlining guest experiences,<br />
allowing them to skip<br />
front-desk lines and access<br />
rooms via a secure digital<br />
key on their personal smart<br />
phones or watches.<br />
Assa Abloy<br />
PREDICTIVE MEASURES<br />
Dormakaba moves lock<br />
maintenance from preventative<br />
to predictive. The<br />
networked electronic door<br />
locks play a critical role in the<br />
expansion of artificial intelligence<br />
into hotel operations.<br />
Dormakaba’s Saflok Messenger<br />
LENS online network collects<br />
data from its electronic door<br />
locks to optimize operations,<br />
maximize guest safety and<br />
ensure proactive service —<br />
providing operators information<br />
about each lock’s performance.<br />
Dormakaba<br />
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER<br />
KNOW Housekeeping is<br />
fully customizable, multilingual,<br />
cloud-based and can be<br />
seamlessly interfaced with<br />
most PMS systems. KNOW<br />
Housekeeping streamlines<br />
daily housekeeping activities<br />
resulting in double-digit<br />
improvements in staff<br />
productivity, higher guest<br />
satisfaction and reduction of<br />
the hotel’s carbon footprint.<br />
It receives data from and<br />
updates the PMS, real time,<br />
and is complemented by<br />
Android and iOS apps.<br />
Knowcross<br />
IN THE LOOP<br />
Novility’s team of specialists<br />
design and develop interactive<br />
learning tools that<br />
ensure a sound, unbiased and<br />
structured feedback loop.<br />
The result: improvement in<br />
operational productivity and<br />
manpower skill. The integrated<br />
cloud-based platform<br />
also provides managers with<br />
access to strategic insights,<br />
analysis of employee training<br />
performance and online<br />
reputation intelligence.<br />
Novility<br />
RIGHT TABLET<br />
FOR THE JOB<br />
Oracle Hospitality's Oracle<br />
MICROS Tablet 720 was<br />
designed for the hospitality<br />
market. It features a<br />
lightweight, slim 7-inch<br />
design and extended battery<br />
life. With integrated Wi-Fi<br />
and Bluetooth connectivity,<br />
magnetic stripe reader,<br />
optional barcode scanner<br />
and RFID reader, the Oracle<br />
MICROS Tablet 720 enables<br />
increased efficiency and<br />
productivity, enhanced<br />
operations and improved<br />
cost control.<br />
Oracle Hospitality<br />
UPPER MANAGEMENT<br />
TracNcare serves as a central<br />
portal for hotel operations by<br />
helping properties manage<br />
assets, housekeeping, tasks,<br />
guest requests and maintenance.<br />
With the majority of<br />
the industry manually managing<br />
their properties’ assets or<br />
using antiquated operational<br />
management systems, IQware<br />
set out to design a robust and<br />
easy-to-use operations management<br />
platform poised to<br />
help hoteliers.<br />
IQware<br />
ENHANCING THE JOURNEY<br />
Maestro PMS offers hotels,<br />
resorts and multi-property<br />
groups the flexibility of 20+<br />
integrated modules, backed by<br />
unparalleled support, enhancing<br />
the guest journey with<br />
mobile engagement tools and<br />
a personalized experience. It's<br />
a scalable solution, perfect for<br />
a single boutique property or<br />
multi-property group.<br />
Maestro<br />
GAME ON<br />
InfoGenesis Flex delivers<br />
unprecedented reliability and<br />
performance over the previous<br />
generation’s mobile POS<br />
devices. It’s the industry’s<br />
first drop-splash-and shockresistant<br />
POS tablet offering<br />
longer battery life and broader<br />
temperature tolerances to<br />
meet varying needs across<br />
the global gaming and hospitality<br />
industries. This tablet<br />
is ideal for use in challenging<br />
environments: poolside,<br />
convention areas, kiosks and<br />
beverage carts.<br />
Agilysys<br />
hoteliermagazine.com<br />
JUNE 2017 HOTELIER 55
HOTELIER<br />
CULTIVATING<br />
LOYALTY<br />
As owner of the White Oaks Resort in<br />
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ameer Wakil achieves<br />
success by staying ahead of the game<br />
BY ROSANNA CAIRA<br />
Ameer Wakil always imagined he’d one<br />
day work in finance. But as fate would<br />
have it, the hospitality world beckoned<br />
instead. As the youngest son of George Wakil,<br />
former owner and founder of the Four-Diamond<br />
White Oaks Resort & Spa, Ameer was exposed<br />
to hotels at an early age, working as a busboy<br />
and waiter at the iconic Prince of Wales hotel<br />
while attending high school and university.<br />
“It was hard work and I enjoyed the physically<br />
demanding, relentless effort [needed]<br />
to ensure you kept busy, worked hard to stay<br />
ahead of the game and did the best job you could.”<br />
Thirty years later, the White Oaks has afforded him<br />
the only job he’s ever known.<br />
QUICK QUIPS: “What sets the hotel apart is<br />
our committed team working<br />
Personal Status: Married to wife<br />
towards one common goal — to<br />
Robyn and father to three grown<br />
children — Jamil, Keera and Kloey treat each guest as though the<br />
Education: BA from the success of the business depends<br />
University of Western Ontario on that individual alone. That’s<br />
and an Honorary Degree in the foundation that continues to<br />
Hospitality Management from make White Oaks shine.”<br />
Niagara College<br />
Overseeing a team of 550<br />
Reasons for Success: “My mom associates with 220 rooms,<br />
and dad. They instilled in me Wakil says his biggest challenge<br />
so many great qualities I never<br />
is “Keeping our rhythm in a<br />
knew I had.”<br />
fast-paced and ever-changing<br />
environment.” He believes every<br />
guest touchpoint can be a make-or-break experience<br />
— an opportunity to win or lose the repeat business<br />
that drives bottom-line performance.<br />
For Wakil, success can only be achieved by a strong<br />
customer-service ethos dictated by a high level of<br />
employee engagement. “My personal vision is to<br />
treat each team member as though the success of the<br />
business depends on that individual alone. Our values<br />
and priorities of what is important when interacting<br />
with guests are always paramount.”<br />
The humble hotelier and CEO leads by example,<br />
never satisfied with anything less than perfection.<br />
“Try and try again until you get it right,” he says. To<br />
deal with the stress inherent in a 24/7 industry, he<br />
relies on family life as the best escape, along with an<br />
active, well-balanced lifestyle. “There’s no challenge<br />
we cannot overcome — mind over matter.”<br />
Earlier this spring, the Ontario Hostelry Institute<br />
presented Wakil with a Gold Award for Hotelier of<br />
the Year. Not surprisingly, his days are packed, but he’s<br />
always looking to do more. “We like to contribute back<br />
in any way possible.” Most recently, his team started the<br />
“Save-the-Bees” initiative, housing three large beehives<br />
onsite, in which the team personally foster the care<br />
and nurturing of the bee process. “We also participate<br />
in a “Clean-the-World” initiative and have done so for<br />
several years now, providing discarded amenities to<br />
benefit countries in need.” The White Oaks also boasts<br />
an electric car-charging station available to guests.<br />
Not content to rest on the hotel’s laurels, the property<br />
is undergoing renovations with plans to open a new<br />
restaurant. “You have to continue to demonstrate your<br />
strength by reinventing, cultivating and inspiring.<br />
You must provide a memorable experience that goes<br />
beyond just the physical building.” u<br />
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JASON DWYER<br />
56 JUNE 2017 HOTELIER hoteliermagazine.com
ASSA ABLOY Hospitality<br />
Lead,<br />
don’t follow.<br />
Mobile Access VingCard Locks Elsafe Safes<br />
Your property security is no place to fall behind. That’s why ASSA ABLOY Hospitality has been leading<br />
the industry in security technology innovation for over 40 years, since introducing the world’s first<br />
electronic lock. Today, millions of guests around the world are secured by our advanced solutions,<br />
including VingCard locks, Elsafe in-room safes, mobile access and integrated software platforms that<br />
put security out front and keep it out front. Stay ahead of your market with ASSA ABLOY Hospitality.<br />
Visit us at HITEC Toronto<br />
June 26-29, Booth #1101<br />
Learn more today assaabloyhospitality.com
Imagine a POS solution that can give you<br />
real insight behind the orders you take.<br />
It’s time to expect more out of your POS than just simple ordering.<br />
Access to business intelligence on POS orders and performance can<br />
help improve guest service and increase guest spending. Agilysys is<br />
excited to announce that our award winning InfoGenesis ® POS solution<br />
now includes enhanced business analytics powered by rGuest ® Analyze.<br />
ATTENDING HITEC 2017?<br />
SEE AGILYSYS IN ACTION AT BOOTH #1417<br />
877-369-6208<br />
sales@agilysys.com<br />
www.agilysys.com<br />
TRANSFORMING HOSPITALITY BY BUILDING<br />
LASTING CONNECTIONS<br />
Copyright ©2017 Agilysys NV, LLC.