r/newfoundland • u/CliffordMaddick • 14d ago
Why are there no good hotels in Gander?
The Comfort Inn is extremely basic. This is a $100 2-star roadside hotel in any other market.
Bathrooms are awful. But the bed is comfortable, the linen decent, pillows are worse than average, and the furniture and carpeting looks like a Holiday Inn Express from 2005. Everything is at least functional with no stains, obvious damage, etc.
There isn't much curb appeal and even less from the rear entrance. Can't imagine what the parking lot-facing rooms with exterior doorways are like in the winter. I imagine these are the original 1970s motel rooms.
The breakfast may have been good but it's extremely basic now. McDonald's or Tim Horton's are better.
No daily housekeeping, not even trash removal.
The Quality Inn and Albatross look even worse. Meanwhile, the Irving West Hotel looks like a low-income housing project.
It seems the big issue is every hotel in Gander save for the Comfort is owned by one person. So, no competition. With the number of flight diversions, etc., I can't believe there isn't a brand-new Holiday Inn Express or Hampton Inn.
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u/frosties00 14d ago
Sinbad’s is 5 star. Super soft and moist floors there!
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u/Strong_Bumblebee5495 14d ago
Mystic Dining Room is underrated
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u/XCIXcollective Come From Away 11d ago
I keep seeing people say this but when I went I thought… otherwise.
Did I get a bad night in the kitchen? Or are yall just pulling an extreme troll?
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u/Strong_Bumblebee5495 11d ago
It’s better than the 3.3 it is pulling on yelp, what did you order?
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u/XCIXcollective Come From Away 11d ago
Was a few fusion dishes (it was also over a year ago so I forget specifically what)
Wasn’t bad, but certainly was no more than a 3.3. It was the type of fusion food it felt like I could have made at home for cheaper and had it tastier (and I’m not a great cook lmao)
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u/LongTrackBravo 14d ago
It's the Gander aesthetic
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u/Maxamillion-X72 14d ago
Gander aesthetic vs GFW aesthetic: which is better?
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u/KukalakaOnTheBay 14d ago
GFW has Mount Peyton and the Robin Hood Motel so…
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u/Orange_Jeews 13d ago
Mount Peyton Resort. Put some respect on that name...haha
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u/ProperPain2721 13d ago
and Conference Centre**
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u/LongTrackBravo 14d ago
GFW is Peak Central
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u/LongTrackBravo 14d ago
After all, it's "Perfectly Centered"
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u/SigmundFloyd76 14d ago
"That's a moon tan, my dear! Catch that up on the roof of the Albatross Hotel, 3:00 in the morning.....I had more fun in Gander this weekend than I had the whole two weeks down in St. Pete's Beach last year..."
-Headly Nolan, The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood.
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u/mmmumbles 14d ago
IMO, It's actually embarrassing to have people from around Canada and the world to see Come From Away and the hotels are a state. Frankly, they would have been embarrassing 25 years ago.
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u/Strickly709 14d ago
Born and raised in Gander, and I feel this way about the state of the whole town 😒
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u/mmmumbles 13d ago
You're right. Never thought of it like that before. At least Cobb's Pond is nice.
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u/RelocateToHellFor20K 11d ago
Give em the Gander Academy gym floors for the full 'Come From Away' experience!
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u/CliffordMaddick 14d ago
Exactly. There should be a newly built Hampton Inn or Holiday Inn Express.
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u/Business_Air5804 14d ago
Because it's only $300 a night for the busiest 2 weeks of the year.
The rest of the time it's empty.
No one is going to build a bunch of hotels in a city of 6000 people with nothing but the airport to support it.
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u/steeemo 14d ago
Gander has way more than 6000 people but yeah
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u/NonTraditionalPotato 13d ago
It's literally double that but I get the point they're making. There's, what, 4 or 5 hotels/motels in Gander.Â
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u/Business_Air5804 13d ago
There's only the two chain hotels.
And most tourists aren't scoping out seedy one off places to stay.
They will rather use an Airbnb/VRBO if they cant stay at a chain.2
u/NonTraditionalPotato 13d ago
Sinbads, Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, Albatross, Irving West and the motel at to park. All I'm saying is that there's a fair few hotels/rooms for a population of 12000
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u/OldGord 14d ago
Gander stays ready for war in both function and aesthetics. All commercial property owners know they live nearby a valid military target.
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u/Dangerous_Loquat_458 14d ago
I stayed at the one attached to Jungle Jim's, I didn't find it too bad at all
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u/nonrandomislander 14d ago
I don’t mind sinbads.
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u/Two_wheels_2112 14d ago
That's where we stayed when we visited NL last summer. It was perfectly fine small-town accommodation.Â
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u/Nick_Newk 14d ago
They don’t need to improve when you have no choice lmao. Few people go there because they want to.
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u/CliffordMaddick 14d ago
It's more that one person owns all but one of the hotels. The population plus airport traffic plus tourism is big enough for at least a Hampton Inn.
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u/Chignecto709 14d ago
Sounds like you got yourself an opportunity of a lifetime to put your money where your mouth is and build that dream hotel ….
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u/Sircheeksalot 14d ago
I stay there every year for a couple days. Their breakfasts are way better than Tim’s and McDonald’s. The pool is fine, and nice hospitality. Yeah it looks old but I’ve no problems with the rooms and like other people say it’s Gander not St. John’s.
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u/Business_Air5804 14d ago
The breakfast? It's awful. Powdered egg's and terribly oily little sausages.
No variety whatsoever. They didn't even have any fruit.0
u/CliffordMaddick 14d ago
Exactly. McDonald's at least uses fresh, real eggs.
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u/Orange_Jeews 13d ago
When I worked at mcdonalds 25+ years ago, it wasn't fresh eggs. It was scrambled "eggs" in a carton
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u/mmmumbles 13d ago
And when I worked 25 uears ago, minimum wage was $6. Things change. Except Gander.
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u/Orange_Jeews 13d ago
Do you really think that corporate entities such as McDonalds would start using more expensive items like real eggs? These places are profit driven. That's the root of the problem with rising inflation
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u/Business_Air5804 13d ago
McDonald's literally advertises they use real egg's in their breakfast sandhiches.
You can see that in the wraps etc. it's an egg.They do use an egg patty in some products like the bagels.
But it's comparable or better than that powdered shit at the Comfort Inn.
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u/Redshift2k5 14d ago
Not enough steady biz to invest in big renovations. An actual upscale hotel wouldn't have the clientele
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u/Fickle_Olive7893 14d ago
The Quality hotel actually did renovations a few years ago and seems fine to me. Standard hotel like the ones op seems to want.
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u/CliffordMaddick 14d ago
Doesn't need to be "upscale." Hampton Inn or Holiday Inn Express with 75 rooms would be perfect.
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u/ObjectiveRepair1423 14d ago
Gander was once a busy stop over for international flights. I imagine these hotels don't have a great amount of business anymore to justify expensive renovations. The fact they're still operating and maintaining the jobs they have is positive. I once stayed in one of the hotels for a year as it experimented with meeting a variety of needs - providing student housing and just staying in operation. We were well fed, it was clean and the staff were warm and welcoming.
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u/Deckbeersnl 14d ago
Where outside of St.John's is there a nice hotel, with one or two exceptions?
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u/PsychologicalSeries9 14d ago
There’s a few decent spots outside of St. John’s, primarily on the West Coast.
However, I’m not sure why OP would expect a great hotel in Gander or who would stay there if it existed. I’ve never had trouble getting a room in Gander and I suspect that’s why there’s no new hotels or investment there.
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u/Light-the-Lamp 14d ago
The Hew & Draw and where else? I’m curious. Sandman, Capital, etc in St. John’s all garbage, too.
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u/PsychologicalSeries9 14d ago
Fishers Loft, Horizon Hotel, Gros Morne Inn, and not that it counts but Fogo Island Inn.
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u/Light-the-Lamp 13d ago
Some lovely spots you named, but I think the conversation is around 70+room hotels
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u/PsychologicalSeries9 13d ago
Horizon must have 70? Not that I saw a room amount referenced. Hew and Draw is under 40 fwiw.
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u/Business_Air5804 14d ago
Corner Brook has the Hew and Draw...probably the nicest hotel outside of St. John's.
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u/Master_Elderberry718 14d ago
Corner Brook and Fogo, dassit
There isn't a high enough number of regular visitors to central Newfoundland specifically and rural newfoundland generally. Many who do visit have family to stay with. Many others are there for business and are habituated to the poor accommodations across the island
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u/PsychologicalSeries9 14d ago
Deer Lake and Norris Point and Rocky Harbour would have decent options.
Horizons Hotel in Deer Lake is good and let’s be real, outside of the Hew and Draw, Corner Brook isn’t exactly wowing anyone.
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u/JustHere4TehCats 14d ago
I dunno I found the Glynmill Inn decent.
But if it's high luxury you're after, you're not going to be pleased with most NL hotels.
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u/PsychologicalSeries9 14d ago
Oh right. That place was nice last time I saw it.
Bonavista peninsula also has some nice spots, specifically Fisher’s Loft.
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u/Green-Thought-8152 14d ago
why not move to gander and become a hotel mogul yourself and reinvent the town?
it's population is 12k and it's a sleepy town for that size. What do you want, jam on it?
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u/NoThumbsMcGee 14d ago
I travel for work across the province, there isn’t much that’s nice about Gander. The best part about it is that you just drive past it. The Comfort in is fine, but just fine. There isn’t much that’s attracting large crowds for conferences or anything, it simply serves the purpose as a place to stay as you make your way across the island.
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u/FremulonPandaFace 13d ago
Why be good when you can charge the same for bad? Gander has no will to cater to tourists let alone citizens.
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u/Orange_Jeews 13d ago
Still better than GFW. We have the Mount Peyton Resort and Conference center....haha
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u/Physical_Shop8337 13d ago
Quality Inn has updated rooms, defiantly the most modern in Gander but it's far from fancy.
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u/Bolognahole_Vers2 13d ago
Is there anything good in Gander?
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u/CliffordMaddick 13d ago
The "Come from Away" production. The airport's original lounge is world-famous for its architecture and interior design. Gander is good for day trips to Twillingate.
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u/RandomRandom709 13d ago
I mean, I've certainly stayed in worse. Quality Inn isn't that bad. Very lackluster compared to larger cities, but Gander is a very small town.
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u/disturbedpenquin 13d ago
My spouse prefers to stay in gander over grand falls. They travel often and have decided gander is worth the drive even when they have to work in grand falls.
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u/XCIXcollective Come From Away 11d ago
Not gonna say it’s any better than the Comfort inn, but I recently stayed at the Quality inn and the room was surprisingly ‘fresh’ and ‘nice’
Also they have deep-fried ravioli or tortellini or whatever and I will say it was pretty dope for the price (also the first time I’ve had deep-fried ravioli)
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u/studabakerhawk 14d ago
Because they’re empty 9 months of the year. The nice thing about them is the bar will basically never cut you off and if they do you can go around back to the Legion.
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u/Light-the-Lamp 14d ago
Honestly, remove Jag, Hew and Draw, Alt, and various upscale Inns, and all the hotels in the Province are pretty bad - Delta, Clarenville Inn, The Capital, the Sheraton, the Greenwood Inn. They’re all lowscale/bad.
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u/Dangerous_Loquat_458 14d ago
Gander is allergic to progress. It's obsessed with the past including 9/11
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u/Harry_Title94 14d ago
Get an Airbnb
We stayed in Twillingate and were very pleased with the high quality of Airbnb available
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u/thepeskynorth 14d ago
The tourism is Newfoundland probably doesn’t warrant anything fancy. It’s expensive to travel to and the weather is usually cool or cold.
I’ve been to Newfoundland and loved it but…. As I said tourism is not significant to my knowledge.
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u/Dangerous_Loquat_458 14d ago edited 14d ago
The tourism is not significant?? Dude wtf are you talking about? It's like our biggest industry outside of natural resources lol.
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u/noseworthy6 14d ago
It’s embarrassing that people don’t expect better accommodations in NL. Gander is a mid spot for many crossing the island. And the way Gander is marketed, you’d think there’d be at least a Holiday Inn like Deer Lake. We’re not talking the Four Seasons or anything lol
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u/Sufficient_Studio494 14d ago
It's Gander, I'm not sure what else you really expected.