Business in the spotlight
July 17, 2024
The new Best Western Hotel will be located directly behind the Days Inn & Suites. Photo: Kestin York. 
Don Brown, Pat Murphy and Brad Bird, investors in the new hotel, with Candace Webster, general manager.
Candace Webster, general manager of CKL Hotel Inc. Properties, says she’s looking forward to more extended-stay options at Lindsay’s newest hotel, set to open in fall 2025.
Best Western Plus is located directly next to the Days Inn Hotel and Suites on Angeline Street South.
The new hotel, which has been in the works since late 2018, will have 76 rooms, including a mix of extended-stay, accessible and standard rooms. The facility will feature a family-friendly ground-floor pool, meeting spaces, a fitness center and a full-service restaurant.
“There will be approximately 50-60 staff members hired for the hotel,” Webster told the Advocate. “There will be a variety of positions (available) including part-time, full-time, management, housekeeping, front desk, event coordination, maintenance, and cooks and servers for the restaurant.”
Local builder MVW is responsible for building the $20 million structure, work on which has already begun.
Webster is pleased with the role the city has played so far. “The city has been supportive. There have certainly been delays due to COVID, but overall the relationship has been positive.”
When asked if CKL Hotel Inc. was concerned about direct competition between its two hotels, Webster replied that the two hotels would complement rather than compete with each other.
“The Best Western brand will bring in new demand as this is a different loyalty group,” Webster said. “Linsay currently only has one Wyndham hotel brand, so we expect to see an increase in travelers who specifically want to stay at Best Western but are not currently staying in Lindsay.”
“The Best Western Plus Kawartha Lakes will differ from the Days Inn Lindsay because it is considered an upper mid-market brand, which is not currently an option in Lindsay,” Webster said.
She noted that the option of long-stay rooms in the new hotel they are building will be beneficial as there are currently no long-stay hotels in Peterborough or Lindsay.
“There is a constant demand for Days Inn,” Webster said, “but (we) are limited in that there are no rooms with cooking facilities and because many nights at Days Inn are already booked, it is difficult to accommodate longer stays.”
Webster expects both locations to be busy, thanks in part to Lindsay’s projected growth over the next decade.
“The new communities being built and planned just for Lindsay will bring new customers to both hotels,” Webster said. “These future Lindsay residents will have friends and family in need of accommodations to visit and will bring new business to our area, which will create more demand for accommodations.”
Webster hopes that the increase in hotel rooms in Lindsay will also lead to more sporting tournaments and business meetings in Lindsay, which will benefit all the hotels in the town.
The property will also feature a full-service restaurant with a patio, as well as an indoor pool and fitness center. “The new offerings will attract customers who are not currently in Lindsay because the market only offers limited-service brands.”
