19/09/2017 | 02:53 PM
Irwin Prince, president and COO of Realstar Hospitality, thanks conference attendees for their support during the wind-up party at Toronto's Ripley Aquarium.
Team members pose in front of the iconic Toronto sign at City Hall following an early-morning walk led by Prince.
Scuba-selfies at the aquarium.
Aquarium bash, design changes, Surprise and Delight
Irwin Prince, president and COO of Realstar Hospitality, thanks conference attendees for their support during the wind-up party at Toronto's Ripley Aquarium.
By Colleen Isherwood, Editor
TORONTO — The Days Inns — Canada conference, held last week at the Sheraton Centre, had something of a fish theme. The wind-up party was held at the Ripley Aquarium, and associates are completing FISH-based training.
Over the past year, Days Inns — Canada has been working to marry elements of the Seattle Pike Place Fish Market's FISH program with the company's enhanced Inner Circle program "to create a brand-wide culture of fabulous guest service – Surprise and Delight guest service. (Surprise and Delight was the theme of the conference.)
"FISH is brilliant for it’s simplicity," said Irwin Prince, president and COO of Realstar Hospitality, master franchisor of Days Inn in Canada. "Four goals in only nine words: Play; Choose Your Attitude; Be There; and Make Their Day." More than 1,500 Days Inn associates have successfully completed the Surprise and Delight guest experience training.
Team members pose in front of the iconic Toronto sign at City Hall following an early-morning walk led by Prince.
Realstar has added eight hotels to the Days Inns — Canada family in the past year:
o Days Inn & Suites - Warman Legends Centre, SK (Nov. 23, 2016)
o Days Inn - Innisfail, AB (Dec. 1. 2016)
o Days Inn - Levis, QC (Feb. 8, 2017)
o Days Inn & Suites - Airdrie, AB (Apr. 5, 2017)
o Days Inn & Suites - Brooks, AB (May 31, 2017)
o Days Inn - 100 Mile House, BC (Aug. 30, 2017)
o Days Inn & Suites - Edmonton Airport (Sept. 6, 2017)
o Dimension 3 Hospitality (d3h) will open its 6th Days Inn in Calgary North Balzac this month.
o A conversion in Kingston, Ont. will open its doors in the coming months.
"The quality of this growth is reflected in our performance,” Prince added. "The average rate of Days Inns — Canada’s top quartile hotels in the first 7 months of this year is $128. Combine that with an occupancy of 73 per cent and you have a truly impressive RevPAR of $93! And that is up more than 10 per cent over the same period last year."
Physical asset changes
"Just as fashion changes, there are fashion trends in hospitality. We’ve gone from physical keys, to cards, to RFID to magic bands to open doors at Disney," Prince told the largest Days Inns — Canada Conference ever. "Pristine armoires are no longer in vogue. Our goal is to make anyone comfortable, business, leisure, young, old, sports teams…. We can’t live 15 years in the past."
Days Inns — Canada has been working with Susan Burnside and Carver Associates in Orillia, where they are putting wood on top of old ceramic floors. Big armoires and boxy televisions are replaced with 35-inch TVs. Duvet covers, which were already a step up from the old comforters, now have special top sheets.
“We now have triptychs [three panels displayed together] behind the front desk or in the lobby of every hotel across the country. What image should each hotel use? Days Inns sat down with the vendor and an art curator and came up with landscapes, cityscapes and farmscapes, images suitable for all hotels across the country, at a cost of $500 for a large triptych, shipping included.
“We are the only brand that continues to used a luminometer to focus on cleanliness,” Prince added.
Bumper Ads
Six second commercials are the new 15 seconds, “bumper ads,” the latest YouTube format, are just six seconds long. Days Inns Canada has embraced this trend, with three new ads.
Scuba-selfies at the aquarium.
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