Hospitality goes a long way
Local hotels work to beat the wintertime blahs
by Valerie Bauman

This is the time of year when hotel managers are expected to be peeking through the blinds at an empty parking lot. Fortunately, most are not doing that yet this year.
Still, some hoteliers worry, especially during the slow months.
Or as Sam Min, the front desk assistant manager at the Rodeway Inn put it, ““Don’t open a hotel in Bellingham, because there are already too many.”
Not everyone in the industry feels the way Min does, although in Whatcom, Skagit, San Juan and Island counties, hotels do rely on booming summer months that are necessary to get them through the winter.
Many hotel managers think this is going to be a good year for the industry and consider the market to be highly competitive.
“I think (the industry) is on its way up,” said Janet Corrick, general manager of Val-U Inn in Bellingham. “Occupancy is on its way up and (average daily rate) is up.”
Wintertime has most hoteliers looking away from the leisure travelers and focusing their marketing on the business crowd. The Hotel Bellwether, a full service luxury hotel in Bellingham, is operating at an 80-percent capacity and overall is doing better now than it was at the same time last year.
Natasha Alden, the front desk manager at the Bellwether said spending money on advertising and offering corporate discounts have helped keep the four-year-old hotel full. So has word of mouth from its many pleased guests.

Travel industry on right track
Overall, the travel industry is on the right track in Whatcom County.
Visitors spend an estimated $339 million annually in the county according to 2002 figures. The county ranks fifth in visitor spending of the state’s 39 counties.
The Bellingham/Whatcom County Convention and Tourism Bureau said about two thirds of visitors to Whatcom County stay at least one night and the average length of a stay is 3.9 nights.
However, Corrick said a thorough feasibility study is essential before opening a new hotel in this market. It is important to know who to direct your marketing toward and what provisions guests will expect.
“It’s very competitive and getting more so,” Corrick said. “No matter whether you build a luxury property or a limited-service property, it’s still going to affect all the other properties (in the area).”

Name recognition key
At the Hampton Inn in Bellingham, general manager Mark Simpson, said name recognition is the key to running a successful hotel.
“I think you need a strong brand and a commitment to a mission,” he said. “You just have to make an effort to satisfy every guest every time.”
Repeat customers are a reality and a necessity in the industry, whether it’s the leisure crowd or the business traveler you are targeting.
Retaining a strong employee pool is also crucial.
The average hourly wage for Washington tourism industry employees is more than $14 per hour, nearly double the state’s minimum wage. It is important to make sure hotel staff members are friendly, helpful and prompt with any service -- especially when the manager is not around.
A hotel’s employees are often the reason a guest pays a return visit, or never comes back.
Many hotels find themselves cutting employee hours during the off-season to compensate for the reduction in customers. However, most experienced hospitality staff members expect the seasonal fluctuation.
According to the Bellingham/Whatcom County Convention and Tourism Bureau, travelers staying in commercial lodging establishments spend an average of $293.50 per day, per party. Room rentals are only part of the financial picture. Full-service hotels also make money by operating restaurants and gift shops.

Amenities play a part
Most travelers -- especially corporate travelers -- expect Internet access. But they can often live without a pool or room service.
Laura Johnson is the assistant general manager for the Best Western Cotton Tree Inn in Mount Vernon. Amenities, such as the free usage of a nearby health club and Internet plug-ins as well as high speed Internet on newer computers, have gotten a positive response from business travelers.
Johnson said sports and outdoor activities such as the Evergreen Soccer Tournament make it almost impossible to find a room between Seattle and Vancouver during the summer months. This is a trend that is only going to grow.
“During summer time from June, July and August, we are full every day,” Johnson said. “Whereas right now we are at 50- or 60-percent … some people would be really surprised how busy Skagit County is in the summer and that we have to turn people away.”

A “phenomenal January”
Randy Bradford is the manager of Oak Harbor’s Coachman Inn and a member of the Greater Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce. He said it is a little early to tell how this year is going to go, but at this point the Coachman Inn is at 60-percent capacity, which is “phenomenal for January.”
Bradford said the market can fluctuate dramatically and guests are less likely to make reservations in advance – a trend he noticed pick up since Sept. 11, 2001. The Coachman is full three months out of the year
“Last year I had three of my worst months and three of my best months ever,” Bradford said. “People are still more last-minute than they used to be. You will watch the reservations come in slowly, and then all of a sudden people will start coming in.”
Smaller hotels seem to struggle a little bit more with the winter months than the large hotels. Ken Ficker is the manager of the Best Western in Anacortes. He said in the wintertime his business is half of what it is in the summer.
“We have to make it in the summer to carry us through the winter,” Ficker said. “We try to break even, but we don’t always.”

Hotels band together
Ficker said the difference in the on and off season is so great that Anacortes would benefit from having several more hotels in the summer but it could manage with some of them closed down in the winter. In the summer the hotels work together in a professional fashion to accommodate the rush of travelers.
“You’re going to have your ups and downs,” Ficker said. “It’s a good area, there is lots of potential.”
Simpson said in his experience at the Hampton Inn he sees a strong future for the hospitality industry in this region, as long as hotel owners and operators plan for their guests’ needs before they arrive.
Simpson visualizes the region’s hotel industry thriving under a policy of diversification over the next five to 10 years. Extended-stay hotels, brand names, boutique inns are all possible markets for northwestern Washington’s hospitality industry.
The key is finding a niche to serve. Right now, the recipe most hospitality industry professionals seem to follow is liberal application of marketing, plenty of returning guests and a healthy serving of friendly atmospheres.
In Corrick’s experience at the Val-U Inn, that goes a long way and can make for a great career.
“It’s an enjoyable business,” she said. “You have to be a little crazy. It’s never boring.”