Hotel and resort franchise Prestige is moving into Quesnel's Quality Inn. The company took possession on June 21st and will keep business as usual until they begin renovations in October.
"We certainly didn't want to have to disrupt our guests or relocate them or anything. We are planning to do a full very intensive renovation on the whole property," said Prestige's VP Sales and Marketing for Prestige.
Nunn said the renovations will include everything from the exterior to lobby to guest rooms. She added that the hotel will not be completely closed for renovations and they will avoid impacting guests during that time.
"The sign will go up in the next couple weeks," Nunn said. "The property will be called Prestige Riverside Lodge Quesnel." She said the company started working on changing the name on travel websites like Expedia as soon as possession was taken.
"We've been trying to branch out into (the Cariboo) for awhile," Nunn said. "It's a growing community, we've been super pleased with the city of Quesnel and how open to new investments they are." She said with things like the Rocky Mountaineer and all of the outdoor activities Quesnel has to offer, it's a perfect place for Prestige to set up a hotel.
One of the city's incentives that helped get Prestige to come to Quesnel was the Hotel Tax Exemption Bylaw which exempts newly built hotels and new renovations on hotels from taxes for a decade.
Nunn said the current general manager will be kept on in that role as part of Prestige's goal of building connections in the community. Nunn also said Prestige has the goal of learning about local sports teams, arts and culture events and anything that brings people into the city.
"We like to show our support where we can and try to integrate ourselves into our communities and play a role in being a good community steward," she said.
Quesnel will be Prestige's 18th hotel and the first one in the Cariboo region. Their other hotels are located in the Okanagan, Northern B.C., Kootenays and one on Vancouver Island.
"It'll take the summer to lay our roots (...) and get used to the community but we're really excited to be a part of it, we're seeing really good things from the community," Nunn said. "As I've been planting the seed with (tour and sports groups) over the last couple weeks everyone is super excited and they already have clients and groups to stay with us."