Best Western Hotel & Conference Centre, North Bay.

• Position: NORTH BAY - Renovations

North Bay's Best Western Hotel & Conference Centre has moved into the upper tier of hotel properties in the Gateway City following a three-year remodeling program.

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About $3.5 million has been spent on renovations covering virtually every area of the property from its physical appearance at the front entrance to the more intimate and homey touches in its 130 guestrooms.

Located on Lakeshore Drive, just minutes from the downtown and the new Steve Omischl Sports Complex, the Best Western North Bay is the city's largest meeting and convention hotel that delivers the best for both corporate and leisure travellers.

Upgrades began in the fall of 2010 with a facelift to the hotel's front entrance where the familiar round pillars under the portico were replaced with stone supports.

"The whole look, feel and colour of the building has changed because it was very industrial-looking," said general manager Angela Johnston. "We wanted to have some design and style to it."

Beige and creamy earth tones dominate the hotel's colour palate among the new furnishings, decor and room accents that incorporate natural building materials like stone, granite and slate.

All guestrooms have been upgraded with new carpeting, beds, linens, bathroom fixtures, air conditioning units, and special granite touches to bathroom counters and window ledges. Among the new creature comforts are the new Simmons Felicity Pillow Top mattresses. "Everyone's loving those," said Johnston. "I've had a lot of positive comments about those."

All rooms are now 100 per cent smoke-free.

Best Western is setting new standards for customer care with its I Care Clean program that uses advanced cleaning technology in its housekeeping inspection program with ultra-violet sterilization wands in high-touch areas and black light to detect particles and biological matter not visible to the eye.

"Service-wise, we take care of our guests," said Johnston. "We're ensuring the guest is not only receiving good service, but a superior clean product."

The renovations extend to the hotel's fitness centre which received new lighting, artwork, and brand-new Precor equipment. New slate flooring was installed in the pool area, showers, and saunas.

As North Bay's premier convention facility, the hotel boasts more than 11,000 square feet of combined meeting and banquet space that's been revamped with new vinyl, closets, lighting, carpeting and drapes. Meetings, conventions and...