Choice Hotels Canada names 2023 APEX Award Winners

This year, 12 hotels and individuals across the country were recognized for their performance, commitment to guest service or operational excellence. In addition, this year Choice is including its Spirit of Hospitality winner, honouring the legacy of Mark Pearce, a longtime Choice executive. “Every year, we look forward to recognizing both hotels and individuals that have gone above and beyond, and set the bar higher for all hotels in our system,” says Brian Leon, CEO, Choice Hotels Canada.

“It’s exciting to see properties from coast to coast represented and receive this well-deserved recognition - from Salmon Arm, B.C. to Summerside, P.E.I.”

The 2023 national APEX winners include:

• Highest Guest Satisfaction (Top LTR): Comfort Inn & Suites, Terrace, B.C.
  • This award recognizes the property that achieved the highest Likelihood to Recommend (LTR) score in Choice Hotels’ guest survey results over the last year. This spring, the hotel also received the prestigious honour of 2023 Canadian Hotel of the Year.
• Marketing Star Award: Quality Inn & Suites Garden of the Gulf, Summerside, P.E.I.
  • This award recognizes a hotel that stands out from the crowd when it comes to local marketing. The winner works in collaboration with Choice Hotels Canada’s marketing team to leverage resources available to enhance its local marketing efforts.
• Choice Privileges Ambassador of the Year: Quality Inn & Suites Lévis, Que.
  • This award recognizes a hotel that stands out as an ambassador of Choice Privileges loyalty program helping to foster a strong Choice Privileges culture on-property and consistently motivates the team.
• Sales Excellence Award: Mariya Dunaeva, area sales manager for Hotel Equities, which manages the Comfort Suites in Kelowna, B.C.; Comfort Inn & Suites in Medicine Hat, Alta.; Comfort Suites in Saskatoon, Sask., and Comfort Suites in Regina, Sask.
  • This award recognizes an individual who demonstrated outstanding sales efforts by exploring and leveraging every opportunity to capture more business, and takes advantage of tools and resources in collaboration with Choice’s sales team.
• Leader of the Year Award: Jill Power, general manager, Comfort Inn & Suites Salmon Arm, B.C.
  • This peer-based award recognizes an individual whose achievements include outstanding operational practices and results, team building and profit growth. She was selected for this recognition due to her strong leadership, mentorship of her team, exceptional results, community leadership and customer-centric approach.
• Developer of the Year Award: Kheraj family, SCC Hospitality Inc., owners of Quality Inn & Suites, Kingston, Ont.
  • This award recognizes a multi-unit hotel developer who has demonstrated excellence through development of hotels that are strong representations of their brands. The Kheraj family are outstanding advocates of the Quality brand and are working closely with Choice Hotel Canada on the development of two new build Quality properties.
• Renovation of the Year Award: Comfort Inn, St. Thomas, Ont.
  • This award recognizes achievements in outstanding on-brand renovations that drove guest satisfaction increases.
• Best New Entry – New Build Upper Midscale/Midscale Brands: Comfort Inn & Suites, Kingston, Ont.
• Best New Entry – Conversion Upper Midscale/Midscale Brands: Quality Inn Sunshine Suites, Terrace, B.C.
• Best New Entry – Economy Brands: Econo Lodge, Pincher Creek, Alta.
• Best New Entry – Ascend Hotel Collection: The Vic, Victoria, B.C.
• Mark Pearce Spirit of Hospitality Award: Keila Ostapovich, front desk manager, Quality Inn & Suites, Sask.
  • This peer-nominated award recognizes one individual annually who embodies the spirit of hospitality by consistently going out of her way to make guests and her fellow team members feel valued and special, and is an active supporter of her local community.