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Mastering The Challenges of Crew Accommodation

Jul 20, 2022

MasterBUILT Hotels national director of sales Rebecca Wood offers a hotel developers’ guide to crew travel done right

“In our industry, especially with crew business, you have things like shutdowns and turnarounds where those are weather dependent and sometimes they have to move the dates. Sometimes they have to increase the number of people that are traveling or sometimes decrease,” says Rebecca, who adds that MasterBUILT specializes in servicing industry with business in resource-rich areas.

“Typically, what we find with travel managers and what they struggle with when they're trying to find those locations in those hotels is finding, first of all, someone who's flexible.”

She feels the pain of manually finding the right accommodations that workers are happy with.

“It's also challenging when you're dealing with lots of spreadsheets and trying to keep track of those names and dates that are always changing,” says Rebecca, whose team manages sales for all 106 Travelodges in Canada.

“And so, again, we can provide opportunities where we provide a room block so that they can work within that room block.”

For a rapidly expanding company like MasterBUILT – with 24 properties in Canada and another five nearly complete – she says customer service is key to building solid relationships with clients.

A person with a hard hat and a hotel employee.

While Rebecca and her staff stand on the other side of the check-in/out desk, she understands what companies go through trying to ensure workers have a pleasant experience after a long workday.

“Some of the experiences that we've had with project managers, who are not necessarily travel managers, is that they get assigned a project and this is a piece of it,” she explains.

“They are like deer in the headlights. ‘What do I need to do? How am I going to organize all these people?’”

Rebecca has some key considerations to look for when booking accommodations for workforce travel:

Cleanliness: “This is one of the things that I really appreciate. Something we at MasterBUILT really pride ourselves on is having that clean experience at your home away from home. I've stayed in some places that well, let's just put it this way: I slept on top of the bed.”
Customer Service: “(When you check-in) you're coming into a community. You might not know anybody and being able to connect and be welcomed at the front desk to feel comfortable is also really important.”
Power in numbers: Try to amalgamate your travel and negotiate that through a service provider. By doing that, there is the ability to negotiate rates with companies such as MasterBUILT with accommodations in many remote industrial areas to negotiate the best possible rate.
Communication: Rebecca recommends being in close contact with the sales managers of hotels so they can actively respond to any concerns or immediate booking needs to provide a positive outcome.
Feedback: “I would recommend open communication with your crew members. Ask for their feedback and find out how their experience has really been. We welcome any kind of feedback, whether that be on a Google review for us to respond or direct from the crew member themselves. We want to make sure that we are providing the top-quality service and amenities they deserve so that they can do their jobs.”

How MasterBUILT has leveraged LodgeLink technology:

With the ability for crew managers to connect directly with dedicated LodgeLink customer service representatives to make last-minute modifications, Rebecca says MasterBUILT has benefitted from the company’s partnership in the form of saved time and effort.

“I've worked with people who are dealing with many spreadsheets, trying to add things up accurately, stay on budget and predict what they're going to need for next year,” she says.

“One of the features that we really appreciate about the LodgeLink platform is that they can provide the end-user with data and information about invoicing all at once, how many rooms that they produced in that month, and who stayed in those rooms. It makes life easier for everyone.”

MasterBUILT and LodgeLink have partnered for nearly five years and both companies have seen the benefits of the technology and increased communication.

“We've built very strong relationships and I can tell you that my sales managers typically speak to someone at LodgeLink multiple times a day, so we are very well connected,” says Rebecca.

“I really appreciate the open lines of communication that we have and basically no question that we can even come up with or think about is off-limits. We have a great two-way understanding and communication in order to provide the best service possible to the end client.”

In April 2011, the MasterBUILT team forever altered the Canadian hotel landscape by acquiring the master territorial development rights to the Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham brand for Canada. Since acquiring the rights, they have committed to opening 75 hotels by 2036 and made it their mission to develop an iconic brand beloved by guests and owners alike. With over 25 Microtel hotels scheduled to open by the end of 2022, MasterBUILT is well on the way to fulfilling that mandate. The explosive growth of the Microtel brand and industry reputation as one of the most dynamic new hotel concepts in Canada is due in large part to strong development partnerships and direct corporate investment by both MasterBUILT and their private equity partners.

As the proud recipients of the Canada’s Best Managed Companies award for six years running, the MasterBUILT team is confident that they have developed best-in-class systems and structures to cement their reputation as industry leaders moving forward.