Rodd family says it won’t sell hotels

Ian Hurst is the newly appointed president and CEO of Rodd Hotels

CHARLOTTETOWN— After more than a year on the market, the owners of Rodd Hotels and Resorts have decided not to sell.

The family-owned company, with 10 hotels in the Maritimes, went up for sale in November 2007, following the death of David Rodd, the son of founders Sally and Wally Rodd.

“We have gone through the sale process, carefully weighed our options and although we have had some serious discussions with potential purchasers, we have ultimately made the decision to keep the business,” said company chair Mark Rodd, in a statement.

“The family will be keeping the business, investing in people, the properties and will be working to grow and improve the business that my grandparents started and my father built,” Rodd said.

With the decision not to sell, the company has brought in Ian Hurst as president and CEO for the operation. Hurst has 30 years’ experience in the hotel business both in the Maritimes and across Canada.

In 1986, Hurst became the youngest general manager ever of CP Hotels, now owned by Fairmont Hotels. He led the team at the Hotel Beausejour in Moncton before moving to the Hotel MacDonald in Edmonton. Hurst worked in a range of food and beverage roles, including banquet manager and assistant manager of food and beverage.

He also worked as CP’s national director of rooms before leaving to take over the CP Airport hotel in Calgary. In the 1990s, Hurst became general manager of the CP Prince Edward hotel, now operating as the Delta Prince Edward, and later moved to the general manager’s job at the CP hotel in Charlottetown.

From there he took on the role of regional vice president for six hotels, including the Delta Fredericton and Best Western Charlottetown, before being named COO of Fox Harb’r Resort, owned by Tim Hortons co-founder Ron Joyce.

Pacrim Hospitality was Hurst’s next stop, becoming the company’s senior vice president, looking after 57 hotels.

Hurst said expanding the Rodd chain with new hotels is part of his plan for the company.
“Rodd Hotels & Resorts are market leaders and I look forward to helping the organization move forward and achieve new goals. We are going to look at expansion in key markets like Halifax and Fredericton and look at strategies to bring new corporate business and a stronger focus to the resorts – the crown jewels of the business,” said Hurst, in a statement.

Rodd’s properties include six hotels in Prince Edward Island, and two each in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. The company started with one small hotel and now employs 900 people on Prince Edward Island.