Today I wanted to go around town and learn a little more about hotels near by. I set up a time to meet with an intern at Hotel Indigo and we showed each other our hotels. It was nice to see the difference between my environment compared to theirs. Hotel Indigo was lovely and it was great to get my own personal tour and learn about the history of the hotel. I had the chance to meet the sales team and other staff around the hotel.

Blaize Shaw, who is another public relations student and who is doing the same placement as I am but at Hotel Indigo, showed me some rooms, the fitness centre and the spa which was apart of another hotel. Hotel Indigo has other hotels attached in it so it made it a little confusing to get around but we managed. It was nice to be able to see a few hotels in one.

I got the chance to show The Lord Elgin as well and it was a good experience to teach someone about a hotel and its history… even though I am still learning. I enjoyed looking at other hotels and seeing the different between them all. It was a fun experience and was nice to catch up with a classmate.

Charities, non-profits and associations face unique challenges when booking hotels for meetings. As the Senior Sales Manager for the Lord Elgin Hotel, the question I get asked most by associations and non-profits organizations is how they can save money without compromising the success of their event. The answer is always the same; be flexible. The more a meeting planner knows about the busy and slow times for a hotel, the more they can tailor their event to fit into the slow periods. It’s all about supply and demand. By booking your conference into the slow periods, you will save enormous amounts of money.

So the next question is always “so when are the slow periods?” It’s not always what you think. For our hotel, the slowest period is the summer. As a downtown hotel, we rely primarily on business, government and association travel. Even though tourism travel goes up in the summer, it is not large enough to compensate for the drop in regular business-type travel. Organizations do less travel in the summer because their staff is on vacation. So, if you can plan your meeting July or August, we can offer you a lower rate.
But many organizations feel they can’t meet in summer for the same reason. So what’s next? If you can’t meet in summer, try to meet during the “shoulder months.” These are the months that aren’t as busy as the prime months but not as slow as the summer. Generally, the busiest months are May, June, September, October and November. That means January, February March, April, and December are slower. However, February can still be quite busy with Winterlude so which days you plan to stay are critical. Finally, at any time of the year, a city-wide conference can fill the downtown core for a short time and drive the rates through the roof. Just think about the NHL All-Star game scheduled for January 27/28-2012.

So just remember that off-season is best to save money with an understanding that at any time, a hotel might be sold out for special event. Be flexible with your dates. Ask your sales manager if there is any need periods that come with a discount. They will gladly share that information with you and you both will come out a winner.
Next blog will be about which days of the week can save you money as well.

Andrew Horsfield
Senior Sales Manager
Associations, Non-profits

Winterlude is just around the corner and I don’t know how everyone else feels about it but I love this time of year. Last year was my first time going to Winterlude and seeing it up-close. I never knew what it was really about or what happened at it, all I knew was there were neat ice sculptures and beavertails!

Last year my friends and I decided to go downtown and check it out and boy am I glad we did. We were shocked that there were so many sculptures and since we went at night we saw the fantastic lights. It was absolutely amazing and despite the cold we stayed far longer than we expected.

A few days later in photography class our teacher decided that we should go on a field trip to do an assignment on Winterlude. We went during the day to take photos and skate on the canal. That was the first time I saw The Lord Elgin Hotel and to be honest I thought it resembled a castle. I imagined that it was an upper class hotel and you had to be somebody big to be able to stay there…. It’s nice that I get the chance to have my placement here.

Winterlude has many events that bring the city together for the winter season. It makes families and friends spend time together, whether it be skating on the canal, eating beavertails, shopping or taking part in Winterlude, it’s amazing that Ottawa holds these events to keep everyone together and take part in community events. This is one reason why I love Ottawa. Ottawa always has something going on that brings tourists from around Canada to gather in our capital for one reason or another and most continuously return.

I would recommend checking out Winterlude this season because last year was amazing and I can feel this year will be even more excellent. From the Lord Elgin Hotel I can simply walk over the Confederation Park where the Ice Carving Competition is held…, which means each day I’m at my internship while Winterlude is going on I will be able to look out the window and keep everyone updated.

Keep updated with me on Twitter @lordelginhotel and like our Facebook page for more photos and posts with information on the hotel and Winterlude.

Hi, my name is Katrina Kamstra and I am an Algonquin College public relations student who will be doing a 7-week internship/placement at The Lord Elgin Hotel. I will be working on social media while at the hotel and I guess you could say I’m starting where Taylor Lachance left off last year. Taylor did an amazing job last year which mean big shoes to fill but I hope to keep up with her amazing work.

I had always passed The Lord Elgin hotel and the restaurant while walking downtown with friends or going to the Rideau Centre but I never had the chance to go inside or eat at the restaurant. I finally got my chance that’s for sure. My first impression was amazing! The hotel is beautiful and has a lot of history and character to it. My supervisor who is the Director of Sales and Marketing, Ann Meelker told me a lot about the hotel and showed me around. She even showed me the Starbucks that was attached! She introduced me to most staff and showed me a few of the rooms they offer. With the new mattresses and a flat screen TV’s they just replaced I wanted to curl up in bed and watch a movie….but I did my best to resist.

After meeting staff and touring the hotel we decided to go to Grill 41, which is the restaurant in the hotel. My first impression was that it looked very fancy and it would be out of my budget but I thought it would be nice to try it out anyways. They had an amazing lunch menu for Winterbites, which included a 3-course meal for only $15…Score! I had a beautiful ceaser salad for an appetizer and salmon for my main course and it was to die for. The salmon came with red peppers and cut potatoes and was served like you were in Paris… très excellent.

I knew The Lord Elgin was an upscale hotel but I wasn’t expecting to be blown away like this. I was so impressed with how friendly all the staff was in welcoming me to the hotel and making me feel at home for my first day.

I am very excited to be doing my placement at The Lord Elgin Hotel and I hope I can do as well as Taylor did last year.