Designed‑in‑Canada Days Inn G3 Prototype

TORONTO — Days Inn Canada has released its G3 prototype for new-construction. Leveraging the latest trends and owner insights, it features flexible layouts that integrate comfort and innovation to elevate the guest experience and profitability for owners, developers and investors.

“We are introducing this now for construction in spring and summer of 2021,” said Irwin Prince, president and COO of Realstar Hospitality, which has the franchise rights for Days Inn by Wyndham in Canada. “As hotels begin to reopen, we will have the best hotel in the market when the public starts to travel.

“The industry will come back stronger, and some markets with older properties will create a demand for something fresh, clean and new, but not overbuilt for the market,” Prince added. “Some markets have in Canada have had no fresh inventory for a dozen or more years. Days Inn is in a sweet spot for secondary and tertiary markets. Our hotels span multiple generations — we cater to millennials and boomers who think they are millennials! We provide all the amenities they need to have in these markets. They don’t need full-service restaurants or large meeting spaces.”

David Blades, senior vice president at Realstar, said he has seen more interest by owners to build in markets on major transportation corridors such as Highway 401 and the Trans Canada Highway.

“We created this prototype with input from several of our owners,” said Prince. Leveraging the latest trends and owner insights, the designed-in-Canada G3 blueprint features flexible layouts that integrate comfort and innovation to elevate the guest experience and profitability for owners, developers and investors.

For example, the G3 model can be designed with or without a swimming pool or water slide. If an owner chooses not to have the pool and slide, they can add extra guest rooms.

“To offer a revitalized hotel model, we needed to give our franchisees a floor plan that is cost-conscious and brand consistent,” said Prince. “Combining an attention-grabbing exterior with no-nonsense, attractive and functional interiors, G3 builds on the strong foundations of our earlier prototypes and complements our recently introduced Northern Dawn guest room refresh.”

The operating costs are lower than a number of other brands, and the rates are stronger, Prince noted.

The new archetype includes a four-storey exterior façade that is sleek and incorporates a flat-roof design. The interior affords configuration and maintenance efficiencies inspired by consultations with existing owners and operators. An open lobby creates an inviting and welcoming space upon arrival. Wall-mounted headboards and desks maximize the in-room area, coupled with attractive colour schemes, abstract wall art and a modernized casegoods package that blends aesthetic appeal with purpose and versatility.

“It’s just smart interior design with great curb appeal and enough flexibility in design. There’s fantastic colour, texture, light and design. It’s fresh, clean and inviting.

Days Inns located in resort towns achieved 90 per cent occupancy this summer, said Blades. “The markets that performed well were leisure driven. People just wanted a reasons to hop in their cars and get away. We don’t have the U.S. business; it’s Canadians in cars doing road trips now. Other markets are oil and gas driven, and in the fall road crews and sales people will be back on the road. It’s not going to be group corporate business, but rather blue, grey and white-collar travellers.”

“It’s wait and see for families and sports teams — whether sports are going to be viable this fall and winter. We want to see this happen,” said Blades. “Kids are missing their sports.”

“Now more than ever, we know that it is essential to increase business to maintain financial viability. We have been working on resourceful ways and turn-key packages to move the brand forward even in challenging economic times,” added Prince. “We’re not designing for COVID; we’re designing post COVID, but accommodating guest spacing, etc.”

Every brand is going above and beyond with enhanced cleaning, noted Prince, calling it the “theatre of clean,” that includes sanitizing of elevator buttons and credit card terminals. “The industry has coalesced,” he said.

Part of Realstar Hospitality, Days Inns Canada is one of the country’s leading hotel chains with 115 independently owned and operated properties and over 9,120 rooms. Its franchises cover a wide range of urban, airport and resort properties in primary and secondary markets across Canada. There are another five Days Inn by Wyndham hotels in the Canadian pipeline.