Canadian Spa tops Spas of America’s 2007 Top 30

Six Canadian spas made the list of Spas of America’s Top 30 Spa and Wellness Experiences for 2007 ranked by popularity of page views.

As with most “Best of” lists, the spas listed read like the “Who’s Who” of the spa/hospitality industry with top spas from across North America. The six Canadian spas on this prestigious list are all members of Leading Spas of Canada, the country’s only national spa association with member spas from coast to coast. The six spas are:

• 100 Fountain Spa at the Pillar & Post, shown above, and Secret Garden Spa, Prince of Wales (both Vintage Inns), Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON, placing #1 and 5 respectively;
• Grotto Spa at Tigh-Na-Mara Spa Resort in Parksville, BC coming in at #13;
• Amerispa Le Westin Resort, Mont Tremblant, QC placing #15;
• Ancient Cedars Spa at The Wickaninnish Inn, Tofino, BC emerging #17; and
• Stillwater Spa at the Park Hyatt Toronto coming in at #29.

Canad Inns goes Platinum ... once again

WINNIPEG—Canad Inns has gone platinum – but not for the first time! The Winnipeg-based hotel chain has been a member of Canada’s 50 Best Managed companies since 1997 and a Platinum Club member since 2003. Platinum Club members are winners that maintain Best Managed status for a minimum of six consecutive years.

Canad has seven hotels in Winnipeg, one in Portage la Prairie, one in Brandon and the Destination Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

“Canad Inns is proud to once again receive Platinum Club status,” said Leo Ledohowski, president of the company.

“Today’s marketplace is not just about investment in the product, it is also about our investment in people. Canad Inns maintains a “family culture” as our company continues to grow. These awards and recognition belong to each of the 2,500 Canad Inns family members.”

Keltic Lodge Resort & Spa among top 500 hotels

INGONISH, NS – Keltic Lodge Resort and Spa continues to gain international recognition and accolades. The resort, located in scenic Ingonish Beach, has been named among the top 500 hotels in the world by Travel + Leisure magazine in its sixth annual Travel + Leisure 500 feature, which uses the publication’s annual readers’ survey to recognize the top hotels around the globe.

The distinction also ranks the Cape Breton resort as one of the top 15 hotels in Canada and it is the only one on the list east of Quebec. The Keltic Lodge is one of three Signature Resort Hotels owned by the province of Nova Scotia and managed by NewCastle Hotels.  

BCIT Students win the 2008 Case Competition

VANCOUVER—Fourth term BCIT students in the Tourism Marketing Management Option, Kim Heemskerk, Sabrina Robson and Stephanie Takagi won the case challenge that was “Doubling BC’s Tourism Revenues while facing Global Climate Change”. They won over teams from Capilano College, Thompson Rivers University and University of Victoria.

The challenge was made by Premier Gordon Campbell at the BC Tourism Industry Conference of 2004 when he charged the industry with doubling tourism revenues to $18 billion by 2015. As climate change has emerged as a critical issue for the province, Tourism BC and the Council of Tourism Associations asked the student teams termed “management consulting teams” to advise a panel of industry leaders on ways to address the high profile challenge while focusing on the growth targets.

The question posed was this: “Given the potential commercial, social, and environmental impacts of climate change on the global tourism industry, how can the 2015 doubling of revenue be achieved in a sustainable manner?”

Bonshaw Breezes B&B’s Brand Essence Award

CHARLOTTETOWN, PE—The Tourism Advisory Council of Prince Edward Island (TAC), along with Tourism PEI, presented the first annual Brand Essence Award to Sharon and Dave Moore of Bonshaw Breezes Bed & Breakfast at the TIAPEI Conference on Wed., March 5, 2008. The award presentation followed the 2008 Marketing Launch on Wednesday afternoon.

“This operator and their business truly represent the essence of the Prince Edward Island brand, and they have successfully integrated this positioning into not only their marketing materials, but also into their day-to-day interactions with visitors,” said Valerie Docherty, provincial Minister of Tourism, who presented the award.

Carlson’s Top Canadian President’s Awards

LAS VEGAS, NV—Carlson Hotels Worldwide has honored its ‘best of the best’ top-performing Canadian hotels with the prestigious President’s Award. The winners, including five Canadian Radisson hotels and two Canadian Country Inns & Suites By Carlson, were announced at the company’s global business conference in Las Vegas.

The five award-winning Radisson Hotels were selected from among over 204 Radisson properties in the Americas. Canadian President’s Award Winning Radisson Hotels are: 

• Radisson Suites Hotel, Halifax;
• Radisson Hotel Kingston Harbourfront;
• Radisson Suite Hotel Toronto Airport;
• Radisson Hotel Laval;
• Radisson Plaza Hotel Saskatchewan, Regina.

The two award-winning Country Inns & Suites By Carlson were selected from among 425 Country Inns & Suites properties in the Americas. They are Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, New Glasgow, NS and Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Saskatoon, SK.

CHIP celebrates its top performers of 2007

VANCOUVER, BC—CHIP Hospitality, one of Canada’s leading hotel management companies, recently recognized its best hotel teams and associates of 2007 at their annual leadership conferences in Victoria and Ottawa last month. Winners were selected from the company’s 32 properties across Canada.

This year’s theme for both conferences was “Think Green” and the host hotels strove to plan a green conference by implementing green meeting practices such as encouraging car pooling to and from the conference and airport, limiting handouts, collecting and reusing name badges and plastic event signs, having recycle bins in all guest and meeting rooms, and cards and note pads printed on recycled paper. Attendee gifts were also environmentally friendly and included a coffee mug made from corn, a metal water bottle and a copy of “The Green Book”, a New York Times bestseller guidebook with simple steps for saving the planet.

The year’s General Managers Conference was held at the Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe, in Victoria, BC. Major award winners were:

• Leader of the Year – Jade Guilbert, environmental & horticultural specialist, Hotel des Seigneurs Saint-Hyacinthe.
• Associate of the Year – Jenni Wiliams, Human Resources Coordinator, Delta Fredericton.
• General Manager of the Year – Gil Vallee, Red Deer Lodge & Conference Centre.
• Hotel of the Year – Quality Hotel & Conference Centre, Fort McMurray.

The Director of Sales & Marketing Conference was held at the Crowne Plaza Ottawa, in Ottawa, Ontario. Major award winners were:

• Director of Sales & Marketing of the Year –Robb Engen, Lethbridge Lodge;
• Sales Team of the Year – Citadel Halifax Hotel; and
• RevMax Team of the Year – Radisson Hotel Saskatoon.

CHIP Hospitality currently manages 32 hotels and resorts in Canada with more than 7,700 rooms.

Fairmont Scores a Knockout in Service Excellence

TORONTO, ON—Fairmont Hotels & Resorts scores big with guests when it comes to service excellence, according to BusinessWeek magazine and J.D. Power & Associates. In the “Customer Service Champs” survey unveiled in the March 3, 2008 issue, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts scored third place overall out of the 50 best providers of customer service.

The list was developed using the scores from a series of studies from J.D Power & Associates’ 2007 database for each brand, and a supplementary survey of 5,000 readers through the BusinessWeek Market Advisory Board. In addition, credit was given for scoring high within an industry. The magazine’s cover story also investigated the techniques, strategies and tools that companies use to deliver great service.

Fairmont received top marks in the luxury hotel sector and also outranked brands in other business segments, such as the auto, insurance and food service industries.

Olympic fever comes early

VICTORIA, BC— Olympic fever may be slowly building in British Columbia leading up to 2010, but it was in full swing last month in Victoria where three Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel & Marina chefs captured gold, bronze and merit awards at La Salon Culinaire International de Londres in London, England competing against 900 of the world’s top chefs. Keith Lefevre (right) brought home the gold medal in the Salon Display Awards Vegetarian Restaurant Plates category as well as the bronze in Restaurant  Platter of Meat category. Jon Smid and Richard Bensen alsoreceived Merit awards.

Victoria Inner Harbour Marriott Hotel of the Year

VICTORIA, BC— Citing “excellence in key areas of service and facilities,” Marriott Hotels & Resorts recognized the Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour as its distinguished Hotel of the Year for 2007.

Since opening in 2004 bound by a gigantic 16-storey red ribbon, Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour has captured the attention of residents and visitors alike in Victoria, British Columbia; a city known for outstanding tourism.

Managed by Atlific Hotels & Resorts, the Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour has been honoured with numerous awards over the past few years.