Heart, Purpose and Reward
Gold Eagle Lodge has lived by its vision statement for 15 years
This Fall marks the 15th anniversary of the Gold Eagle Lodge in North Battleford, Saskatchewan. From the very beginning they have strived to be the best that they could be.
The Gold Eagle Lodge opened its doors on October 6, 2006. It is independently owned and operated by Battlefords Tribal Council.
“The original planning team explored many luxury hotels and tried to take what they believed was the best from each one and implement it into the plans for the Gold Eagle Lodge,” explains General Manager, Kelly Fluney.
The hotel is spread out over four floors and features 111 beautifully appointed rooms, which were renovated in 2016.
Aside from the guestrooms, there are five kinds of suites – Executive King, Conference, Family, Extended Stay and Penthouse.
The Executive King Suites are divided into two spacious rooms where guests can sit and relax and has French doors that lead to the king-sized bed.
Conference Suites feature a boardroom table that seats six guests, as well as a pullout sofa bed and a king bed in a separate room.
Family Suites are spacious with two bedrooms – one with two queens and the other with a king.
Extended Stay Suites feature a fully equipped kitchen, pullout sofa bed, dining table for four and a separate room with two queen-sized beds.
The Penthouse Suite, which is the gem of the hotel, features two levels with a full furnished sitting room that includes a fireplace, double pullout bed, 54” flat screen HD TV, main floor walkthrough bathroom and a conference table with seating for eight. The upper loft also includes a Jacuzzi Tub, a second half bathroom and a king-sized bed.
Gold Eagle Lodge has an amazing aquatic facility with a large saltwater swimming pool, three hot tubs, steam room, sauna and fitness centre.
They also offer many different meeting room spaces for smaller gatherings. The breakfast room space doubles as a banquet space seating up to 25 people comfortably. The hotel recently converted one of their guest rooms into a new sophisticated and affordable meeting room with a Smart TV, web camera for Zoom meetings, large white board and comfortable seating for 10.
“Upon entering the hotel’s parkway you are welcomed by a beautiful pond with two small cascades mimicking the babbling brook. Built into the pond is a circle seating area made of stone, a perfect oasis to lose yourself in nature,” shares Fluney.
The hotel is conveniently located right on the edge of town off the Yellow Head Highway. They have a large parking lot that is easy to manoeuvre around and has plenty of space to park even large buses and semi-trucks. It is well lit at night and has plug-ins available during the winter months.
There is also a coin-operated laundry service and private business centre to accommodate even the busiest traveller.
Gold Eagle Lodge has won numerous awards in the past 15 years and are proud of all of their accomplishments.
Their vision statement says: “Our associates are our heart, guests are our purpose and success our reward” and that is what they live by each day.
“I can truly say our Gold Eagle Lodge team is like no other as we all care for each other and our guests like family, and treat and protect the property like our own. We strive to make every person who walks through our door feel welcomed and comfortable. We take pride in ensuring our guest rooms are kept in pristine condition. We have an amazing team who work their hardest to maintain all aspects of the hotel to keep it looking like new, which must pay off as we get many compliments from our guests stating how well kept the hotel is.”
Their guest demographic covers all ages with their fantastic pool facilities and the casino next door. They are well equipped to accommodate large groups and teams thanks to their set up of amenities.
The grand lobby features two storey ceilings with a stone fireplace and seating area. Guest rooms are spacious and tastefully decorated in natural tones bring their full circle connection to Earth.
At the end of March 2020 they made the very difficult decision to temporarily close the hotel to help protect their associates as much as they could. They cautiously reopened at the beginning of July 2020.
“We have tried our best to keep operations running as normal as possible during these times. We still offer our full hot breakfast but rather than having it as buffet style we have amazing Breakfast Room Attendants who prepare the breakfast for our guests.
Our swimming pool and hot tubs remain open with limited capacity and we haven’t had to go the route of booking swim times, which gives our guests the freedom to swim when they can. Unfortunately our steam room, sauna and business centre have remained closed for now.
As for cleaning and sanitizing protocols I like to say that not much has changed as we have always had a very high standard for cleanliness.”
Their occupancy is definitely not what it used to be, but they are holding their own and remain hopeful that it will start picking up again when it is safe to travel more.
Looking to the future they have some big changes on the horizon, but are not divulging what they are yet.
One thing is clear – their goal of being the best that they can be is working.
Nicole Sherwood | Western Hotelier Magazine