First Canadian Wyndham Garden hotel in Toronto

TORONTO - Canada’s first hotel to carry the Wyndham Garden flag has opened in Toronto. The 290 room Wyndham Garden Hotel Toronto, 185 Yorkland Boulevard, is the result of an extensive and impressive renovation to the former Ramada Hotel and Conference Center Toronto.

Pacrim Hospitality Services Inc. (PHSI) manages the property which features newly renovated public areas, guestrooms and suites and more than 14,000 square feet of meeting space.

As a result of this multi-million dollar renovation the property has been transformed into "a unique and outstanding hotel experience for every guest, "said Glenn Squires, CEO of PHSI.

"The hotel benefits from a first-ever combination of the design vision of renowned designer Michael Graves and the business and leisure amenities which make a Wyndham Garden stay, a memorable stay. Wyndham Garden Hotel Toronto is a particularly stylish and efficient location for meetings," Squires added.

Each guestroom is equipped with Wyndham’s Be Well Bedding, a Wyndham Smart Chair, a workstation complete with a Herman Miller Aeron High Performance Chair and a 32-inch flat screen TV.

The hotel’s extended fitness and health facilities include an extra large indoor pool and there is a selection of food, beverage and conference services options.

Experienced hotelier Shahzad Syed is general manager of the property.

Pacrim takes over the management of 10 more hotels

HALIFAX - Pacrim hotels has taken over the management of the 10 Pomeroy hotels purchased last year by Holloway Lodging REIT.

The international hotel management portfolio of Pacrim Hospitality Services Inc (PHSI) increased by more than 1,000 rooms and suites. Pacrim assumed its new management responsibilities for the Holloway properties located in northern Alberta and British Columbia on Feb. 1. In doing so, it became the exclusive management company for Holloway Lodging REIT, Pacrim Hospitality CEO Glenn Squires explained.

Prior to this, PHSI as a preferred management company for Holloway Lodging REIT has handled the operations of 12 Holloway properties. Holloway Lodging REIT purchased the 10 hotels from the Alberta-based Pomeroy Group in June of 2007.

"Consolidating the management of all REIT-owned hotels to PHSI will make for more effective and effi cient hotel operation," Squires said. "These properties will benefit from PHSI’s operating expertise and the marketing and sales efforts of a broad and diverse hotel portfolio," he added.

Six of the 10 properties joining the PHSI portfolio are Super 8 motels located in Slave Lake, Grande Prairie, High Level and Whitecourt, Alberta as well as in Fort St. John and Fort Nelson, BC. Northwest Inn Slave Lake, Best Western Grande Prairie, Holiday Inn Grande Prairie and Pomeroy Inn and Suites, Grande Prairie, Alberta round out the group.

"Pacrim Hospitality is proud to add these properties and the 1,079 guest rooms and suites to our growing management responsibilities," Squires said. "Their current guests can expect the fine service they now enjoy, to be enhanced."

With the addition of these most recent hotels the management portfolio of PHSI numbers 57 hotels and more than 5,700 hotel rooms and suites throughout Canada and the United States.

Pacrim Hospitality Services Inc. (www.pacrimhospitality.com) is one of Canada’s largest, privately-owned hotel management companies and is based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Another hip hotel for Toronto

TORONTO - Thompson Hotels, a New-York based chain of five luxury hotels in the U.S., is coming to Toronto, just in time to celebrate that city’s 175th birthday.

Co-owner Stephen Brandman, who cringes at the term "boutique hotel", plans a 102-room, five-star offering, topped by a three-tower, 340-unit residential project. Located at 550 Wellington at Bathurst, the development will also feature an outdoor skating rink and lounge, and an infinity outdoor pool and bar with view of Lake Ontario, Fort York and the CN Tower.

"We think of Toronto as an extension of cities where we already have hotels, in New York and Los Angeles," said Brandman in an interview with the Toronto Globe & Mail.

In addition to the art and celebrities the U.S. properties are known for, the Toronto hotel will have floor-to-ceiling windows, 42-inch plasma TVs, private screening rooms and décor by Barcelona
design studio Estudio Marsical.