New look a welcome addition: one more reason to stay the night.

Best Western North Bay HOTEL AND CONFERENCE CENTRE

It is easy for Ruth St. Phard to characterize changes to North Bay's Best Western hotel.

"Nothing is the same anymore," says the hotel's general manager.

Such a phrase might seem a lament for days gone by, but for St. Phard and the hotel's customers and staff, it is an enthusiastic statement that aptly describes the completely new and welcomed modernized look of this hotel located on Lakeshore Drive.

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"It was time for the hotel to be renovated," says St. Phard. "Everything was just very dated from the 1970s and 80s. We had kept up maintenance well, but it was time to modernize. Guests are also a little more discriminating. There are certain things that our customers have come to expect and we wanted [the decor] to reflect the times.

"We have had a complete renovation of all 130 bedrooms. That includes carpet, wall coverings, draperies, case goods-there is nothing left that was old. All the meeting spaces and ballrooms have been redone as well."

In total, renovations to the hotel cost approximately $2 million.

Renovations began in November 2002, with improvements to the restaurant, conference and meeting rooms. The remodeling of suites began in January of this year, and was completed by the first week of February.

"We also have a large indoor swimming pool, the only one of its kind in North Bay," says St. Phard. "We did some painting in there and completely re-tiled the hot tub. We worked on the saunas and workout rooms as well."

She says the business traveller will find a number of features in their rooms that will make working on the road a much more pleasant experience. Workspaces are designed with power, telephone and computer plug-ins available within easy reach on the desk.

"Guests no longer have to crawl under a desk to plug in a computer or unplug the telephone to get an Internet connection," says St. Phard.

Each desk has a leather ergonomic chair Other conveniences include a cordless telephone within easy reach of...