WestCoast's year-end acquisition included the 182-room seven-story property, one other Doubletree, and the entire Red Lion Hotels & Inns brand. Since, the Spokane-based hotelier has been evaluating all of its properties to determine which brand would be appropriate for each. Stephen Barbieri, VP and chief communications officer tells GlobeSt.com, "We decided to re-brand this hotel in part because the company was leaking franchise fees. We owned the property but were paying a franchise fee to Doubletree." Now, says Barbieri, the fee amount can be added to the profit column.

WestCoast owns two other hotels in Boise. "While the properties overlap some in their customer base," says Barbieri, "they do serve slightly different market niches." The VP says its 238-room WestCoast ParkCenter Suites is an all-suite property near the central business district, which caters to the business class. And, the 250-room Grove Hotel, Barbieri says is the only four-diamond hotel in the area. "It's attached to the Bank of America Center, which hosts concerts and sports events and has meeting space that attracts a slightly-different customer." Barbieri says the re-branded and re-named WestCoast Boise Hotel Downtown, "also services the business community but has a leisure component as well."

As for the Boise market, Barbieri says, "As with other hotel markets across the country, Boise has been hit, but the economy has been (relatively) strong there, and we feel good about the RevPar (revenue-per-available-room) here." He cites a recent report from Smith Travel that says during the first quarter, REVPAR across the U.S. was down about 10.5%. While he did not offer a specific number, Barbieri says the number for Boise was better than the national average. And, in the drive-to markets WestCoast inhabits in southern Idaho, Barbieri says its properties are "doing fairly well."