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Howard Johnson puts out the welcome mat

by Ralph BARTHOLDT<br
| February 10, 2010 8:00 PM

PONDERAY — Waffles, coffee and a piece of fruit were among the reasons that Sandra Wade wanted to change the motel sign along Highway 95 north of Sandpoint.

When she took over management of the Motel 6 a couple of years ago, she realized early that her competitors served a continental breakfast, but complementary breakfasts were not offered by Motel 6.

To stay competitive, she and the property owner opted to change course.

The franchise was canceled and the motel became a Howard Johnson recently, under the Wyndham Hotel Group, which owns 6,000 hotels in 20 countries including Super 8, Days Inn and Travelodge.

Wade has always been conscientious about the business’ appearance and what it could offer prospective customers, she said.

When she was promoted to general manager she pushed to offer more than was allowed under the Motel 6 banner.

“I’ve always maintained this was a higher Motel 6,” she said. “People were usually shocked by the appearance he re and the upgrades compared to other Motel 6s, which are very bare bones.”

If the corporate headquarters of Motel 6 shrugged off her suggestions, Howard Johnson has embraced them.

Under the new banner, the 70-room hotel serves a breakfast buffet that includes waffles, fruit and coffee as well as additional choices. Amenities have also been added to the rooms, either single queens, or double queens with a couple of king size rooms with their own hot tubs.

Clock radios, hair dryers, irons and ironing boards are now standard fare in all rooms and the hotel has plans to add an exercise room, Wade said.

Although the hotel’s transition to a Howard Johnson happened in December, motorists on the Highway 95 corridor weren’t greeted by a Howard Johnson sign until earlier this month when the company sign went up at the hotel’s entrance.

Smaller signs on the building were placed a while ago, but the main sign got lost in the shuffle.

“No one knew where it was,” Wade said. “The sign people, the delivery people … it was lost somewhere on a  truck.”

The new towering sign includes a reader board.

“It’s nice to let people know we’ve changed,” she said.

In addition to the new sign, breakfast and room niceties, Wade plans additional upgrades.

She hopes to turn the smaller of two conference rooms in the hotel into an excercise facility.