Award-Winning Kress Inn: The Unofficial SNC Residence Hall

As St. Norbert College students, we walk by the well-known Kress Inn on a daily basis. But how well do we really know the college-owned building? Recently, it has caused quite a stir in the hotel business, as well as the local community.The Kress Inn is owned and operated by St. Norbert College and is open to the public. It opened in June 2001 and features 46 spacious suites with exceptional amenities well suited for its prime location in the De Pere/Green Bay area.

According to the St. Norbert College press release on Feb. 4, the Kress Inn has been awarded the 2010 Hospitality Award for the fifth year in a row. The world lodging leader, Choice Hotels International, gave this prestigious award to the Kress Inn in recognition of its outstanding service and hospitality. The Platinum Award for hospitality is based on a ranking system that measures guest satisfaction, product quality, room condition and cleanliness, and staff service.

As a member of The Ascend Collection, the Kress is part of the network of historic, boutique and unique hotels that provide an authentic, local experience, designed specifically for people who appreciate an upscale hotel with a strong local flair. The Kress is considered to be boutique and unique within the Ascend Collection group.

"The Kress Inn hotel's commitment to excellence and outstanding guest service has earned this well-deserved recognition as one of the best hotels among the Ascend Collection brand," said Steve Joyce, president and chief executive officer for Choice Hotels. "We here at Choice Hotels are very proud to award this distinguished honor to the Kress Inn hotel."

Among the company's more than 4,800 U.S. franchised hotels, the Kress Inn hotel is among the top three percent of properties within the Ascend Collection brand. The hotel demonstrates an exceptional focus on guest satisfaction and dedication to providing superior service. Additional award criteria are evaluated by Choice Hotels through its official property ranking reports.

The Platinum Hospitality Award from Choice Hotels is the highest honor awarded to hotels, which makes it all the more impressive that the Kress Inn has won it for five years straight. The award is based on guest satisfaction scores that are obtained from surveys of guests. It also factors in the overall physical condition of the guestrooms and hotel in general.

"It truly is a credit to our staff for the service they provide our guests and for the outstanding cleanliness of rooms that our housekeeping staff provides. I'm very proud of our staff and for their dedication to making each guest's stay the best possible experience they can have away from home," says Pat Olejniczak, director of sales and hotel services.

"I love the comfort of the Kress Inn. The beds are firm enough for me, the pillows are fabulous and the furniture in the room is cozy enough to make you want to actually spend time in them. The bathrooms are always clean and there is always plenty of hot water. I enjoy the quiet atmosphere and the friendliness of the staff," a recent guest raves.

A frequenter of the Kress states, "I have stayed here several times. The rooms are always immaculately clean and the staff is very friendly. It's by far my favorite hotel in the Green bay area."

What does this achievement mean for St. Norbert College? "Winning this award helps the college in affirming those future guests that we deliver on our promise of providing 100 percent guest satisfaction," Olejniczak says. "We often see ourselves as the first impression for those guests that are visiting St. Norbert College for the first time. It could be a prospective student with their family, and we always want to go above and beyond and provide the extra touches that can make their time on the college campus a little more memorable. We also see ourselves as a resource for the college with providing hotel accommodation needs for those departments on campus, or for those that are hosting a conference on campus.