Branson/Tri-Lakes News: Myer Hotels gets cozy with awards

Comfort Inn & Suites, 5150 Gretna Road, was ranked No. 1 out of more than 1,360 Comfort Inns worldwide in March by Choice Hotels International for the Comfort Inn brand. This national recognition also was noted in the customer service criteria that gained the Branson Comfort Inn & Suites the 2008 Small Business of the Year Award by the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber Commerce on June 20. According to Ladona Johnson, the chamber’s coordinator for the 10th annual awards, customer service, community involvement and environmental concerns were among the reasons the hotel was chosen for the award.

One of five

Comfort Inn & Suites in Branson Meadows, is one of five Branson hotel properties owned by family business Myer Hotels Inc. President Carroll Myer, his wife, Janice, and their sons, Gail and Chris, also own Best Western Center Pointe Inn, Best Western Music Capital Inn, Comfort Inn at Thousand Hills and Comfort Inn West.

The Myer family can add these two recent awards to the other 71 they’ve accumulated for their hotels since 1993. Gail Myer, vice president of operations, attributes the success to consistently investing money in property improvements and hiring a quality staff of 165. For instance, all of the hotel managers are certified hotel administrators through Choice Hotels. However, family members say they don’t lose sight of their customers’ needs, stressed through their mission statement: “Friendly fantastic service always.”

“The only way you can continually get better is to listen to your customers,” said Chris Myer, vice president of marketing.

Myer said he researches customer satisfaction through in-house surveys as well as surveys taken by Choice Hotels on behalf of the Branson hotel group. He also scans Web sites such as Trip Advisor. “We monitor what people are saying about us on the Internet,” he added.

Primo property

Comfort Inn & Suites opened in 2001 and is Myer Hotels’ most recently built.

Gail Myer said the four-story, 102-room property was built with the environment in mind. Its green components include heating and air conditioning energy efficiencies and water and lighting conservation. The hotel was constructed with 8-inch block walls and 4-inch precast floors to cut noise transmission between rooms. Other amenities include a gift shop, show ticket office, indoor pool and hot tub, exercise room, guest laundry, free WiFi, free breakfast and walking trails.

Up against some 170 accommodations in the area also vying for guests’ business, Chris Myer said he promotes all five hotels as a group with a marketing strategy that covers a broad spectrum of media: travel publications, road signage, Internet sites, radio ads and trade shows. “If I can get them to the Web site, then they can look at all the information,” he said, referring to www.myerhotels.com.

About 40 percent of direct reservations and 50 percent of reservations through Choice Hotels come electronically to Comfort Inn & Suites. Although declining to give specific numbers for annual sales and overnight stays, Myer said the Comfort Inn & Suites has grown in business for the past seven years.

Regarding the ups and downs of the Branson economy affecting the Myer hotels, Gail Myer added, “There’s a direct correlation, but we don’t have the (fluctuations) Branson does because we have a mature customer base.”

Nine to One

Comfort Inn & Suites was one of nine business nominees for Branson/Lakes Area Chamber Commerce’s 2008 Small Business of the Year. Other award nominees were Branson Scenic Railway, Christian Action Ministries, Creative Printing & Design, French Hen Café & Coffeehouse, Hansen’s Tree Service, Lilley’s Landing, Ozark Trails Magazine and Touch of Class.

Past Branson Small Business of the Year recipients are: River Run Outfitters, 2007; Roy Rogers/Dale Evans Museum & Happy Trails Theatre, 2006; The Track, 2005; Thunder Road, 2004; Akers & Arney, 2003; Ride the Ducks, 2002; Compton Ridge Campground, 2001; L&J Plumbing, 2000; and Computech Mailing Services, 1999.[[In-content Ad]]