Comfort Hotels Get a Major Makeover
Comfort Inn guests will soon be noticing some changes.
Next month, a Comfort Inn and Suites hotel will open in Spokane Valley, Wash. as the brand's first newly redesigned property. The hotel's furniture, fixtures and equipment were all replaced to fit into the new "Comfort Truly Yours" design.
Choice Hotels International , Comfort's parent company, got feedback from more than 1,500 guests to come up with the new design. More than 100 properties are in the midst of a redesign. Others will follow, with the brand-wide overhaul scheduled to be completed by 2015. The company has said it is willing to close up to 10 percent of its Comfort hotels if they don't meet guest satisfaction standards.
"Our goal is to make Comfort more competitive, more consistent, and more contemporary," said Christina Williamson, senior director of brand strategy for Comfort Inn and Comfort Suites at Choice Hotels International, Inc.
Changes include new uniforms for staff and new front desk areas with a welcome wall incorporating a reception desk and stone backdrop with soft lighting.
By the end of 2013, the "Truly Yours" bedding program will be in place. It includes an upgrade of more than 234,000 beds and nearly one million pillows. Guests will have a choice of soft or firm pillows when they check in.
Comfort Suites will have new "Your Suite Success" in-room recharge stations at every location by June 1. The fitness centers are also getting an upgrade.
Some changes have already been made. Last year, all Comfort hotels began featuring the upgraded Your Morning Breakfast, which includes hot items and new flavored waffles.