RANKIN INLET/ARVIAT
Rankin Inlet was able to boast its fourth hotel when the luxurious Katimavik Suites and Conference Centre opened its doors this past month, thanks to an Arviat company.
The hotel is a division of Eskimo Point Lumber Supply (EPLS) and features 25 rooms.
It has an impressive amenity list, including Shaw satellite service and Qiniq Hotspot Internet service among many, many others.
General manager (Rankin Division) Steve England said Katimavik Suites officially opened for business March 25, although a few finishing touches are ongoing.
He said the hotel has five suites, four kitchenettes, three one-bedroom suites and 13 standard rooms.
"We set the service level very high for this hotel," said England.
"We're offering free shuttle pickup at the airport and a unique Internet service.
"We partnered with Qiniq to offer the first Hotspot Internet service in Nunavut, which enables us to provide free basic Internet service to our guests, while offering a higher speed, bigger bandwidth service to guests who require more performance.
"Our boardroom, which is nearing completion, also allows us to offer true video conferencing."
England said being a new hotel, everything is in tip-top shape and that's something EPLS is going to work hard at to ensure stays that way.
He said every room has a coffee maker, fridge and microwave.
"We have flat-screen TVs and digital satellite in every room, and two common-area kitchens where guests can cook at their convenience.
"We offer a free continental breakfast to all our guests, and we're working on future plans to be able to offer different meal services.
"Just about anyone needing a hotel room is our target clientele, but we're ideally suited for government and business travellers.
"We're almost right next to the hospital, so people coming in for medical reasons will find us very convenient because of our location."
The hotel currently employs a housekeeping staff of four and a manager.
EPLS plans to train a local hire as an assistant manager in the near future.
England said EPLS opened its first hotel in Arviat about seven years ago.
He said Katimavik Suites is EPLS's second hotel and the first of this size.
"I lived seven years in Arviat before joining EPLS as general manager of its Rankin operations a couple of months ago.
"We have some other projects in the works we plan to introduce to the community during the next few months.
"The reception to Katimavik Suites from the community and the guests we've had in has been overwhelmingly positive.
"They're impressed with the new building, but, just as importantly, they're equally impressed with the service being here to match it."
EPLS vice-president Ryan St. John said the company decided to proceed with Katimavik Suites because it's had good success with its hotel division in Arviat.
He said EPLS has grown its hotel division in Arviat during the past six years, adding more buildings and rooms as demand grew.
"We've done really well in Arviat and decided the time was right to expand into Rankin," said St. John.
"We decided our best approach was to build a bigger facility to cater to all the activity and traffic here.
"Rankin is a busy place as a transportation and government hub, so we decided to build a nice new hotel to capitalize on the increased traffic and the increased activity with Agnico-Eagle."
St. John said EPLS has been trying to expand into Rankin for the past eight years.
He said deals fell through and doors closed, leaving EPLS without the right fit until now.
"We finally closed a deal to obtain three lots in Rankin about two years ago.
"We started the planning process in 2011, came up with the final floor plan in 2012, and began construction, which took about 10 months.
"We're also in the early stages of developing a wholesale concept for Rankin.
"We're in Rankin to compliment existing businesses and organizations, so we hope our wholesale concept will work well to compliment what already exists here."
St. John said Katimavik Suites was many years in the making and he's excited to finally be open.
He said EPLS is optimistic over the timing of the venture and its long-term success.
"Our company has been around for 35 years, so we have depth and a good track record behind us.
"We're a solid company, and we're looking forward to new beginnings in Rankin with Katimavik Suites."
