Mardi Gras

As we enter the last leg of another long Vermont winter, we are all in the mood to celebrate.  Just the thought of a budding flower peaking up through the snow, or a full day with the sun beating down melting away the heavy snow is enough to keep us all going.  On Church Street, Saturday March 5^th, Burlington will commemorate the annual Mardi Gras parade with celebrations throughout the city.  This is a perfect excuse for us all to come together and delight in the upcoming spring with a parade of 40 colorful floats and festive music to satisfy everyone’s taste.  As we all huddle together to beat the cold, swaying to the music, catching colorful beads and eating good food, we slowly start to forget about all the shoveling we have done , how we hate to clean off our cars in the morning, how we can see our breath outside and how 35 degrees feels warm.  Those thoughts melt like the icicles on our gutters and we start to feel a warmth in our bodies, like the sun beating down on us and we realize that Mardi Gras has come right in the nick of time.  We at Larkin Hospitality would love to contribute by giving you a welcoming place to stay along with a warm smile.  Whether you’re here for Mardi Gras, a wedding, a graduation, an anniversary, a birthday, a vacation, or just a weekend away – we would like to be a part of it throughout the year.  We want to help you celebrate and assist in the process of slowly forgetting about the white winter wonderland outside and look ahead to sunny days by Lake Champlain feeding the ducks, melting ice creams, barbeques and leisurely walks on Church Street.  We want to be in your plans for beating the Vermont winter blues and in celebrating the upcoming spring and beautiful summer.         

The Comfort Inn and Suites Team

Part of the Larkin Hospitality Family

Welcome Home

As a company we rotate our blog responsibilities. My turn came around just three days after returning from maternity leave.   In reading the thoughts of my colleagues, I realized that the topic of family had been covered over and over. As such, I felt pressure to deliver something new, something more operations oriented. Nevertheless having just become a parent, family was at the forefront of my mind. 

As the General Manager of the Holiday Inn Express, I looked forward to returning to my work family, to seeing the front desk crew, the housekeepers, and all of those who look to me for guidance and knowledge.  Being so warmly welcomed back by our staff with smiles on their faces made me realize how genuinely I was missed.  Seeing our regular corporate guests whom I have come to know so well and to have them ask about my newborn son, and want to see pictures, made me smile.  In conclusion and at the risk of seeming redundant, Larkin Hospitality IS a family and I am proud to say I would very much know what that looks like. Family is about support, compassion, and treating every moment as though it were your last. In the hotel industry that means seeing every guest as a person and knowing what they need before they have to ask. In retrospect, perhaps the fact that my colleagues have also written about family is not so redundant as it is appropriate and fitting.
 

Stacy Germond
General Manager
Holiday Inn Express South Burlington

Snow Day

My name is Linette Searcy and I am the General Manager of the Holiday Inn Berkshires in North Adams, Massachusetts.

It seems that the term “snow day” has been used quite a bit this winter here in New England.  Thinking back, a variety of feelings come to mind when thinking about snow days.  In grade school, it was the sheer excitement of hearing your schools name on the radio.  That announcement somehow gave me all the unbridled energy I needed to brave the elements and play for hours in the snow.  In high school, I still had hopes that the day’s math test was going to be cancelled, but that feeling was also mixed with the realization that I would be stuck with shoveling the driveway.  Later on in life, those two little words brought absolute panic, that my day was going to be nothing as planned, with schedule changes, driving hazards, the kids out of school, cancelled appointments and, of course, shoveling the driveway.

Working in the hotel industry for more than half my life has taught me that those two words don’t have to bring on the dread and chaos of losing a day or more and being “stuck” away from home.  We know exactly how you feel.  We have been in your [boots].  Our day, too, can mean delays, cancellations, rearranged schedules and planning for children. Above all, to those of us working for Larkin Hospitality, it also means taking care of you, our guest. 

Our family can take care of your family.  We have the latest weather conditions available and can advise on routes to take in or out of our cities.  We can also help reach your colleagues or area businesses to find out if your appointments are rescheduled.  You can use our business centers to e-mail family, friends or co-workers to let them know that your plans have changed.  What to do once your affairs are in order?  Many of our hotels have swimming pools, hot tubs and exorcise equipment for our guests to enjoy, or you can sit back in your room and enjoy a movie, order room service or even just sleep in.  And if you’re feeling adventurous, we have information on the trail conditions in the area for skiing, snowboarding and tubing.  You can take a tour of an area museum, browse some local shops, and have some fun in town.  Ask any member of our family what to do and they’ll direct you to a wide variety of activities.  Just like your family, we pull together to make that “snow day” a little lighter.

See you soon for our snowman-making contest!

Linette Searcy

General Manager | Holiday Inn Berkshires