Digby Pines Golf Resort added to Choice Hotels collection

Choice Hotels Canada says they have added Nova Scotia's Digby Pines Golf Resort and Spa to its collection of hotels in the Maritimes but there will be a cost associated with it.

On Thursday, officials with Choice Hotels said Digby Pines was the newest member of its Ascend Hotel Collection.

General manager of Digby Pines, Rene LeBlanc said the resort is still owned by the province, there is no ownership change.

"Management stays the same of the property, Newcastle Hotels and Resorts are still the management company," he said.

"It's a franchise agreement, there are fees involved that are based on performance and the amount of revenue generated, so from a cost perspective there is a cost to use the name and to be affiliated with Choice."

LeBlanc would not say how much would be paid to Choice Hotels. He said there was a base fee, then a percentage fee that kicks in based on revenues for the season.

"It's all dependent on revenues, so to put a number on it is really not possible at this point in time until we see what revenues we generate this season," he said.

Guests won't notices changes

LeBlanc says guests won't really notice any changes.

"It's not really going to change us operationally, how we look or feel," he said. "We're not going to have a big sign on the building. One of the advantages of being a part of the Ascend Collection is that allows us to keep our identity."

He says the benefits including being able to tap into Choice Hotel's booking infrastructure and marketing, but keep the Digby Pines identity.

Earlier this month, the province issued a request for proposals seeking a real estate agent to sell the stately Digby Pines resort in Digby and Liscombe Lodge on the Eastern Shore.

The tender said in 2012, when the province first tried to sell the resorts, a fair market value appraisal was completed by Altus Group Ltd. The value of those properties was "determined by the appraiser to be NIL — $0 for Digby Pines, $0 for Liscombe Lodge."

The hotel has an 18-hole golf course, two restaurants and a spa.

Digby Pines and Liscombe Lodge, along with the Keltic Lodge Resort and Spa in Ingonish Beach, were once a profitable part of Nova Scotia's triple crown of government-owned tourist hotels.

Between 2003 and 2006, the province spent $7.7 million on the resorts in golf course improvements, air conditioning, new spa and meeting facilities.