Mayfield reborn as Doubletree
Hilton brand puts local hotel ‘on the global stage,’ GM says
The old Mayfield Inn and Suites has reopened as DoubleTree by Hilton West Edmonton, following a $65-million redevelopment.
Edmonton’s first DoubleTree opened its doors on Thursday after two phases of construction closed down parts of the hotel for about a year.
A second hotel, Home2 Suites by Hilton, the company’s extended-stay banner, will launch in July on the site of the former Mayfield health club and trade centre, which were demolished. Canada’s first Home2 will offer 127 queen studios and facilities like a pool, fitness facility, laundry and breakfast room.
The DoubleTree has 238 rooms in its two towers and a new casual, fine-dining style restaurant called Stages, which seats 238. As wimming pool and more conference space was also added.
The look of the hotel’s public spaces was redesigned to incorporate colours seen in Alberta skies — bright pinks, yellows and reds — while guest rooms use provincially inspired earth tones.
“There’s nothing left from the Mayfield other than the Mayfield Dinner Theatre and we freshened that one up a couple of years ago,” said hotel general manager Grant McCurdy.
“The structure of the hotel is still there but the insides are all new.”
The Mayfield, located at 166th Street and 109th Avenue, had been one of Edmonton’s best-known hotels since it was built in 1972 by entrepreneur Gene Pechet. It was acquired by Vancouverbased SilverBirch Hotels and Resorts in 2007.
Extensive upgrades and the Hilton name vault the local landmark onto another level, McCurdy said.
“With the Hilton rewards program, it just puts us on the global stage. If someone is coming up here from Texas, the Mayfield doesn’t mean anything to them. If they’re looking to book a room, they say they’re a Sheraton guy or a Hilton guy and that’s how they book.”
In a nod to its history, however, the hotel is keeping the Mayfield name for its long-running dinner theatre, which stayed open during renovations.
The hotel is aimed at corporate customers, groups and conventions during the week and the leisure market on weekends.
“A good chunk of our business is rural Albertan. They’re down from Fort McMurray or Grande Prairie to shop or for entertainment and we get a lot from Saskatchewan because the tax is better in Alberta if they’re buying any big-ticket items,” McCurdy said.
About 200 employees were laid off during construction. About a third of the new workforce includes returning staffers.