THUNDER BAY — The new operator of the former Shoreline Motor Hotel promises a new management style, a new look and a new direction for one of Thunder Bay's oldest hotel properties.
Kenneth Aylott signed a lease for the North Cumberland Street building recently, following its sale to a new, Toronto-based owner last year.
Aylott, who operates another motel in the city as well, has already rebranded the Shoreline as the Midtown Inn.
"The reputation is one of the reasons we changed the name...to try and get rid of that stigma that came with the Shoreline," he says.
It was mostly connected, Aylott said, "to the way the hotel was being operated. The bar probably had something to do with it."
His plans for the 60-year-old, 70-room hotel extend well beyond a new name.
Extensive renovations will include new furnishings, fixtures, mattresses and windows as well as a paint job.
Guest rooms have already been refreshed, Aylott said. "Over two to three years it's going to be a complete renovation to the property."
He believes there's a niche in the Thunder Bay market for a hotel such as the Midtown.
Among the clientele he hopes to attract are "middle-class travelling folks going through town who don't want to spend too much money and want to be in a central location. Or people going to the hospital."
As for the bar, for which he also holds the licence, Aylott feels it previously took precedence over the rest of the property, an emphasis he intends to change.
"We're focusing on the hotel. The bar is going to be complementary to the hotel" from now on, he said.
