Victoria Hotel Chain – Accent Inns celebrates 25 years in Business
June 30th, 2011
Terry Farmer founder of the BC hotel chain excited over Accent Inns awesome success
25 years of BC success adds up to good things for Accent Inns
June 30, 2011, Victoria, BC – Although the BC owned and operated hotel chain Accent Inns has undergone many changes during its 25 year history (including its name, ownership and décor), one thing that’s never wavered is the hotels’ values and community commitment.
“Accent Inns has always stood strong on a number of principles – and being a good employer has always taken the top spot,” said Mandy Farmer, CEO of Accent Inns. “While we pride ourselves on providing great value, cleanliness and customer service to our guests, we couldn’t do any of it if we didn’t have such great staff.”
A testament to Farmer’s dedication to her staff is Accent Inns’ low staff turnover – 48 per cent of the hotel line’s current employees have been with the company for 10 years or more.
Thanks to all our staff for 25 great years! seen here our Burnaby hotel staff celebrating an almost as important milestone, the 2010 olympics
“I’m totally honored with the amount of staff who’ve chosen to stay with us for so long,” said Farmer. “It’s not the norm, either – in our industry, turnover is astoundingly high. I guess its all about mutual respect: every staff member, from the maintenance workers to the housekeepers, are extremely valuable and its important to treat them as such.”
To celebrate its quarter century of success and thank the community, guests and staff for many years of support, open houses are being held today at each of the five BC locations – Victoria, Burnaby, Richmond, Kelowna and Kamloops. Festivities included property tours (including presentations on pet friendly and bike friendly hotel amenities) delicious treats (dog bones for the canines and cake for the humans) and free on-site parking as is always the case at every Accent Inn.
Mandy Farmer Pres of the BC hotel chain Accent Inns plants BC Dogwood with help from Bill Turner of the TLC
Accent Inns staff also commemorates 25 years by planting 25 trees – one at each property with the rest going to The TLC’s Madrona Farm in Victoria.
“When I first started Accent Inns, or used to be known as Stay ’n Save until 2000, I had always hoped – but never expected –it would turn into the success that it is today,” said Terry Farmer, founder of Accent Inns. “I passed the torch to my daughter, Mandy, three years ago, and I couldn’t be prouder with what she’s done, speaking both as a business partner and a father.”
BC's Accent Inns began as Stay and Save Inns back in 1986
Since opening the first Accent Inns location in Victoria in 1986, Terry Farmer ran hotel operations under the stance that every business has a responsibility to its community – something Mandy Farmer has run with during her three years of leadership. In 2009, Mandy developed InnAid – a program that gets Accent Inns staff out into their BC communities to make differences in other people’s lives and support the creation of a sustainable world.
Supporting our BC communities is important to Accent Inns and we are proud of our InnAid program
InnAid initiatives range from food and clothing drives to education and awareness programs – some examples include Fish for the Future and pop bottle donations to the Richmond Special Olympics Association. In the past two years, Accent Inns has supported more than 430 organizations in BC.
Watch a video of Terry and Mandy Farmer looking back on Accent Inns’ 25-year history
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5evjlX6M2w[/youtube]
View ongoing photo Archive of Accent Inns after 25 years. click here
For more information on Accent Inns, visit www.accentinns.com.
About Accent Inns
The award-winning Accent Inns is a family-owned and operated company based in Victoria, British Columbia, with hotels located in Victoria, Richmond, Burnaby, Kelowna and Kamloops. All Accent Inns are rated 3 1/2 stars and have developed a reputation for their accent on quality, reasonable rates and excellent service.
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Media Contacts:
Kate Rogers, Tartan Group: 604-880-1494 or [email protected]
John Espley, Accent Inns: 250-360-1511 or [email protected]