Best Western moves the needle in Canada with 20 hotels

The new Atrea in San Antonio, TX

PHOENIX—Best Western Hotels is moving the needle in Canada with the addition of 10 new properties in 2009, and 10 more coming in 2010. And two of the hotels to be constructed this year will be Atrea hotels, the chain’s newest design.

Three of this year’s hotels are conversion properties, two in Quebec and one in Ontario.  The others are in Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Atlantic provinces.

“Alberta is very strong on oil and gas, and Saskatchewan is catching on too,” says Mark Williams, VP, North American development, Best Western.

“The oil and gas in Alberta and Saskatchewan sparked a lot of development.  Financing has slowed a little, but there are a lot of pipeline projects.

“We have a really good relationship with a developer in Atlantic Canada,” he added. In April, Best Western opened a hotel in Liverpool, NS and they have just approved another one for Bridgewater, NS. These are all new developments, and the one in Bridgewater involves a local NHL hockey player.

“Canada has always been very strong for us,” noted Williams. “We introduced our new prototypes three years ago and it has really taken hold—they are nice designs and developers are latching on.

Best Western has just constructed the first Atrea hotel in San Antonio, TX, and at press time, planning was underway for two Canadian Atreas, a 105-room hotel in Calgary and a 120-room Atrea in the Sherwood Park area of that city.
 
The first Atrea hotel, an upper midscale prototype designed to attract business travellers, opened its doors in San Antonio in late April.

The 77-room Best Western Atrea Hotel and Suites, located less than a mile from Lackland Air Force Base, includes more than 1,000 square feet of meeting space, an indoor pool and spa, business centre and fitness centre.  Guests receive free high-speed internet access and a complimentary hot breakfast buffet.

“The Atrea prototype was designed and built with direct input from frequent travellers and the development community,” said David Kong, president and CEO of Best Western International. “It’s gratifying to see years of research and hard work bear fruit. Best Western now has a product that can compete effectively in the upper mid-scale market, while delivering the superior consumer value that is the hallmark of our brand.”
 
First announced at Best Western’s annual Convention in October 2007, hotel developers have committed to build an additional 28 Atrea properties in both the U.S. and Canada.  Best Western expects five Atrea properties to open in 2009 in Conyers, GA, Plainfield, IN, North Bergen, NJ, Denton, TX and Bryan, TX.  Atrea hotels in Calgary and Sherwood Park, Alberta, are expected to open in 2010.

Atrea hotels can be built at a cost of $85,000 to $90,000 per key, substantially less than other upper midscale hotels that cost more than $100,000 per key to build.
According to the chain’s development website, “Our newest prototype, Atrea, is the sum of our vision and experience as the world’s largest hotel chain, and features striking architectural details and a layout so flexible that it can expand the public areas into a dramatic wing or streamline everything into a single structure.”

There are three designs: perpendicular, parallel and central core.

The Atrea parallel and perpendicular prototypes are five-story modular designs featuring a pool, breakfast area, bar, business centre, fitness facility, media centre and board room. They may be built with or without a conference centre.

The Atrea central is a six-story tower with the same high impact and upscale amenities as Atrea parallel and perpendicular prototypes in an uncompromising, compact layout for investors with space limitations.