InnVest & Choice to spend $100 million on Comfort

TORONTO — InnVest Hotels and Choice Hotels Canada proudly announce 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 which highlights 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 well-loved brand throughout Canada.

Trusted by both business and leisure travellers for more than 25 years, Comfort hotels in Canada are being updated with new lobbies, guest rooms and a modern brand identity. Choice Hotels Canada and InnVest Hotels collaborated on the partner selection ofarchitecture firm Turner Fleischer for exterior work. Design firm Moncur was selected for interior renovations, which will feature sleek and highly functional guest rooms and lobby spaces.

Brian Leon: “Total transformation”

“This will be a total transformation of one of our flagship hotel brands and we are looking forward to collaborating with InnVest on this exciting national project,” said Brian Leon, president of Choice Hotels Canada. “We are confident our guests will embrace the new modern look and feel of our Comfort properties.”

The changes don’t stop there. The InnVest-owned Comfort hotels are 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 is best for our guests, employees and the environment,” said Jeff Hyslop, senior vice-president of asset management at InnVest Hotels. “We are 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 traveller's needs.

With 81 hotels in its portfolio, representing 14 internationally recognized hotel brands, InnVest is the largest owner of hotels in Canada. In addition, the management team oversees the day-to-day activities of almost 70 hotels, making InnVest the largest operator of hotels in Canada. InnVest’s portfolio is geographically diverse with hotels from Vancouver, British Columbia to Corner Brook, Newfoundland — from roadside inns to luxury urban properties.