TORONTO — InnVest Hotels and Choice Hotels Canada have announced the revitalization of 53 InnVest-owned Comfort Inn properties across Canada with a $100-million investment over the next few years. The investment coincides with a new Comfort brand identity and the recent launch of a new ad campaign highlighting the refresh of the Comfort brand across North America.
The roll-out begins in Winnipeg with the prototype, expected to be complete in early 2020, followed by the complete renovation of the remaining 52 properties, including a full modernization of the exterior, expanded breakfast rooms and elevated experience in all 4,127 guestrooms.
Together with 10 new-build Comfort-brand hotels planned in the Choice development pipeline for Canada for this year and next, these properties will strengthen and modernize the brand throughout Canada.
Architecture firm Turner Fleischer was chosen to complete exterior work while design firm Moncur was selected for interior renovations, which will feature sleek and highly functional guestrooms and lobby spaces.
“This will be a total transformation of one of our flagship hotel brands and we’re looking forward to collaborating with InnVest on this exciting national project,” says Brian Leon, president of Choice Hotels Canada. “We’re confident our guests will embrace the new modern look and feel of our Comfort properties.”
The InnVest-owned Comfort hotels are also working to reduce their environmental impact: diminishing single-use plastics, introducing hydration stations and providing bulk-sized bathroom amenities for guests — diverting more than 1.5 million miniature shampoo and conditioner bottles from landfills every year.
“At InnVest, we believe in doing what’s best for our guests, employees and the environment,” says Jeff Hyslop, senior vice-president of Asset Management at InnVest Hotels. “We’re thrilled with our partnership with Choice Hotels Canada and are very excited to be working together to elevate our hotels to enhance the guest experience and implement changes that will have true, lasting impact.”
The new Choice Hotels multi-media advertising campaign features the tagline “Our Business is You.” The redesigned Comfort hotels and logo take centre stage in the campaign, marking an important milestone as the brand completes a multi-year transformation across North America. The campaign leverages the consumer truth that “business” can be defined broadly — from meeting with clients to planning a family reunion. The campaign will also feature Choice Hotel’s diverse portfolio of brands, which includes Sleep Inn, Clarion and Quality, reinforcing that Choice offers a hotel brand to meet every travellers’ needs.
