An international brand name with a stellar reputation is bringing visitors into Timmins’ newest hotel.
Hampton Inn by Hilton Hotel opened its six-storey, 115-room Timmins property in April, 2015. The hotel is owned by Riverside Hotel Timmins LP and operated by Vrancor Hospitality Corp., which also owns the city’s Holiday Inn Express and Suites, opened in 2013.
“I think we have a lot going for us, but really it’s the brand name and the service we focus on providing,” said John Crescenzi, the hotel’s general manager.
“We put a great focus on service.”
Located along the city’s main thoroughfare, Riverside Drive, the Hampton’s rooms all come with free Wi-Fi, a refrigerator, a microwave and pod coffee brewers.
Twenty deluxe suites are also available and come equipped with kitchenettes, additional space and a sleeper sofa. They’re ideal for guests staying for longer periods of time who would like more space to settle in, or prefer to prepare their own meals.
For those travelling the globe for work, the Hampton brand is synonymous with quality and offers travellers a certain level of comfort and familiarity while working far from home, Crescenzi said.
“When you see the Hampton Inn name, it’s known internationally,” he said. “A lot of the people that are coming are representing the mining industry in places like Australia or South America, and they are familiar with our brands in their markets.”
Many mining companies have sent their executives to Timmins to scope out investment opportunities, and have chosen the deluxe suites, which overlook the picturesque Mattagami River, for their stay, he noted.
Guests also have access to a pool and a fitness room, and repeat visitors can benefit from the chain’s perks program, which allows guests to accumulate points toward free stays, he added.
Crescenzi estimates around 70 per cent of its clientele are business travellers, while the remaining 30 per cent are guests travelling for leisure.
The Hampton has two rooms available for business meetings and functions. The first, the Element 79 boardroom — named for gold, the 79th element on the periodic table — holds 10 guests and is ideal for small meetings.
The second room, the 1,350-square-foot Northern Room, can be divided into two separate spaces, depending on the size of the function.
“Full capacity for the large room for a standup reception would be in the vicinity of 150 people max, but we generally find that the majority of meetings being booked are for company training sessions, so with a classroom-style setup, we’re a little closer to 50 guests,” Crescenzi said.
“But we can even do a banquet or a sit-down meal for up to 80 guests.”
The Element 79 room comes equipped with a retractable screen, and, as in the rest of the hotel, free Wi-Fi is standard throughout the meeting spaces. The hotel can provide any additional supplies needed for meetings, including project screens and podium flip charts.
The rooms are very versatile, Crescenzi said, and the hotel has six-foot, eight-foot, rectangular and circular tables on hand to configure to a number of setups. It has hosted a number of non-traditional functions to date, including product launches and a radio telethon.
Though the hotel doesn’t have its own restaurant, it does have a functioning kitchen to provide breakfast to guests, and additionally has on hand “to-go” breakfast bags for guests who are leaving early or don’t have time to sit down to eat.
“When it comes to meetings and events, we would work with a number of local restaurants and caterers who prepare the food in advance in their properly set up kitchens, and then they provide it to us,” he said.
While the Hampton hasn’t yet reached its target capacity, Crescenzi said the city and its visitors are benefitting from the addition of a number of new, brand-name hotels to pop up in the last few years.
The Hampton employs 30, but was planning to hire across departments in the new year to prepare for the upcoming busy season.
“It’s growing,” Crescenzi said.
