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AUGUST 2018 | 47 Holiday Inn Express & Staybridge Suites Niagara-on-the-Lake PHOTOGRAPHY BY CAROLE & ROY TIMM PHOTOGRAPHY/COURTESY VRANCOR GROUP INC. Holiday Inn Express & Staybridge Suites Niagara-on-the-Lake by ROBIN BRUNET P roviding appropriate products for specific geographical mar- kets is crucial to the success of any hotelier, and when considering how to cater to people visiting one of the world's most visited and photographed tourism destinations – Niagara Falls – Vrancor Group was also obliged to take into account existing properties at Niagara-on-the-Lake and the diverse mix of tourists attracted to the sur- rounding wineries and the summer Shaw Festival. What Vrancor produced as a result of intensive research and planning is unique to the Canadian hotel indus- try: essentially, two hotels on a single property, with a 104-room Holiday Inn Express and a 70-room Staybridge Suites appearing to pedestrians as two massive facilities sharing clean design lines, a similar colour palette, and joined in the middle by a single-storey grand entrance. The hotel also has a heightened sense of arrival due to the natural property elevation, surround- ing woodlands and ease of entrance. Jolanta Lukus, president and CEO of Royal Design Inc. (who was retained to fully incorporate the brand specifi- cations, interior design drawings, and finishing details), says, "Vrancor had a bold vision of offering both an express stay experience as well as extended stay, with guests arriving at the cen- tral hub and then simply turning left or right to their preferred hotel." Lukus adds, "Everything was designed on a big scale, but we still had to abide by stringent deadlines. And the resulting appearance of the facil- ity both inside and out is very bright, clean, and modern." Darko Vranich, president and CEO of Vrancor Group, says the original vision for the hotel came into being when the land was acquired in 2008. "Preliminary site and master planning started in 2009, followed by the signing of the franchise license agreement with InterContinental Hotels Group [IHG] in late 2014," he says. "Fortunately, we have had a long and suc- cessful working relationship with Saplys Architects Inc. and its CEO Linas Saplys, and from late 2014 onward the build- ing design and refinement began. This was our first dual-branded hotel devel- opment and IHG's third dual-branded hotel concept in Canada." Vranich explains why this par- ticular type of hotel offering was important for the region. "With limited new hotel development in the Niagara Region in nearly a decade, the opportu- nity to introduce a new hotel concept featuring two globally recognized brands was unprecedented," he says. "Vrancor embraced the dual-branded hotel concept because of build and operation efficiencies. The footprint is unique, with two separate towers and a common centre complex that houses shared spaces including pool, fitness centre, and guest laundry."

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