KANGIQTUGAAPIK/CLYDE RIVER
It may be the first time Jakob Gearhead has ever run a hotel, but so far, things at the new Naujaaraaluit Hotel in Clyde River are a success.

photo courtesy of Naujaaraaluit Hotel The exterior of the new, eight-room Naujaaraaluit Hotel in Clyde River. It opened on Aug. 7.

"Things are awesome and great," said the executive director of the Ilisaqsivik Society.

Gearhead is also the director of operations at Tukumaaq Inc, the subsidiary that owns and operates the new Naujaaraaluit Hotel which opened Aug. 7.

The opening date almost didn't happen on time. Gearhead said that staff had to pull an all-nighter to get everything ready for its first five guests, a process of unloading all of the sea cans that held the hotel's beds, other furniture, as well as supplies and small appliances for the shared kitchen space.

Gearhead said 75 per cent of the eight rooms were booked during the hotel's first month of business.

He said it has been a steep learning curve running the new $3.2 million facility, with members of the community teaching him and the other three staff about how to take reservations and housekeeping.

So far, Gearhead said that customers have been a mix of counselling workshop attendees, construction contractors, helicopter pilots and visiting dentists.

Rates are $250 plus tax per night for a single room with a desk, television, bathroom and a double bed. Gearhead said this setup in the Naujaaraaluit Hotel is what makes it different from the hotel across the street, which has two beds per room.

"Most hotels in Nunavut in smaller communities tell their clients they might have to share," he said.

Gearhead also said that all three staff, a full-time manager and two "three-quarter time" front desk/housekeeping employees, have been local hires from the community of Clyde River. Training has included reservation procedures, bookkeeping, invoicing and housekeeping rules.

"It's all new to me too, seeing all this stuff that happens behind the scenes," said Gearhead.

It's a vision that Gearhead said took five years of planning, saving and construction. In total, the new hotel cost $3.2 million through a variety of funding sources including more than $800,000 from the Ilisaqsivik Society itself, a significant equity loan from the Nunavut Development Corporation, privation foundations, the territory's Department of Economic Development as well as grants from the Qikiqtani Inuit Association and CanNor.

Construction started in March 2014. The name of the hotel was chosen by the society's directors from submissions from the community. Gearhead said it means "place where there's lots of baby seagulls."

Ultimately, Gearhead hopes the Naujaaraaluit Hotel becomes a model that other communities can follow.

"The idea (is to start) a business to promote social well-being," he said. "We're trying to generate our own income source to fund community wellness programs."

Gearhead said the community of Clyde River depends entirely on government funds, Inuit organizations, charities and donors for the money needed to run its programs and called the situation fragile and precarious.

"It's hard to do long or medium-term planning," he said. "Political will can lead to losses of funding."

By creating some of their own income, Gearhead believes the community's economic situation will become more sustainable and its residents will feel more empowered.

Even though the hotel's online booking engine is still being implemented, Gearhead said that the eight rooms are mostly booked for the rest of this month and already fully booked for October.

"The demand is huge," he said. "It's my understanding the other hotel is also totally booked."

Gearhead said there isn't any animosity between his operation and the Qamaq Hotel located across the street, especially since both are run by community organizations who want to increase the number of visitors to Clyde River.

"It wouldn't be fun to live here and be all super competitive," he said with a laugh. "It's not really what we do in the small communities."'

"Whatever benefits one business in town is going to benefit all businesses in town."

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