The Super 8 in Grande Prairie is putting the finishing touches on their renovations. The hotel recently reopened after flooding damaged their lower level in March 2017.
Holloway Lodging owns the Super 8 and three other hotels in Grande Prairie. Regional director of sales Kym Demchuk says that while the building had to be closed due to safety concerns, the company chose to see the renovations as an opportunity to reinvent themselves.
“Painstakingly going through each detail of decor and the flooring, and what was going to happen in the guest rooms. It was a huge opportunity to make things better for our guests, and comply with some of what their wishes were before.”
In total, close to $6 million worth of upgrades have been done, including repairs to flood damage. The most noticeable different to most guests will be the relocation of the front desk to a better lit and more accessible area. There are also plans for a small market in the lobby.
The Super 8 had an official grand re-opening and ribbon cutting with the Grande Prairie & District Chamber of Commerce last week, but guests were able to start booking rooms again at the beginning of December 2017. Demchuk admits that while the renovations were a “no-brainer” for the company, it was tough on business to be closed for nearly eight months.
“This has always been a really popular property and we had a lot of disappointed clients, of course. Murphy’s Law, things started to pick up and we were closed at the time, so we had to make alternate arrangements, but fortunately all those people are starting to come back.”
The Grande Prairie Super 8 is the largest in western Canada. Demchuk adds their guests have an expectation of the brand, and Holloway Lodging owed it to the community to do more than fix the flood damage.