MEET YOUR HOSTS: DAVE, MARLENE & CHRISTOPHER

We're now heading into our 14th year of business at The Buccaneer Inn. Time has just flown by. We continue to enjoy meeting new folks and welcoming back our many repeat guests. When we're not traveling, we live vicariously through our guests and love hearing of where they live, their experiences, travels and tall tales. Have a look below and you'll learn a bit more about our time at The Buccaneer Inn, a Nanaimo landmark.

OUR JOURNEY TO THE BUCCANEER INN!

Dave and Marlene both graduated from high school in Penticton (we've already been to our 25th reunion!). Dave went to the University of Victoria and studied Political Science. Marlene went to The University of British Columbia and studied Nutrition. Dave then backpacked around Europe and worked at a large law firm in The City in London. He also put in a few hours pulling pints with Craig at The Stamford Arms. Many a night were spent philosophizing about global issues and their solutions with Craig, Hammer, Rapper, John and Ali, the Macs and other members of the Egg Sandwich Club. Marlene lived in Grenoble, France and studied red wine, French and skiing. She then spent a year traveling throughout Europe, Asia and India with Natalie.

In 1989 Dave and Marlene met again in Vancouver and decided to travel around the world. We spent almost 5 years living and teaching English in Yokohama and Tokyo, Japan at universities and colleges like Waseda University. Each year we had 5 months holidays (the glory days!) and traveled extensively throughout Asia, Europe, United States and Canada.

In 1995, after having visited Vancouver Island many times, we left Japan and moved to Vancouver Island to make Nanaimo our home. We could have moved anywhere in the world, but chose Nanaimo. We loved the abundance of parks, the elaborate trail systems, the oceanside environment, the proximity to Victoria, Tofino, Mt. Washington and Vancouver. The 'locals' call this Paradise and they're not far off.

While we were becoming reacquainted with living in Canada again, we began looking for waterfront property to buy. Our goal was to live on the water and build a micro brewery in Nanaimo. Marlene went to Vancouver and got her certificate for ESL teaching.

When a realtor called us and mentioned that The Buccaneer was for sale, we immediately dismissed the idea. "Yeah, right, us, own a motel!". But after the wheels started turning, we re-evaluated our decision. We estimated that we had stayed in well over 1500 different hotels, motels, boutique hotels, boutique motels, boutique style guesthouses, lodges, inns, villas, cabins, aparthotels, pensions, guesthouses, bed and breakfasts, beach huts, bunkhouses, mountain rescue huts, youth hostels, dorms, trulli homes, airport lounges, train stations, tents, Westfalia's, campers, side roads and fields. We thought that this gave us a bit of experience on the guest side of the accommodation business! We liked the location close to the ferry terminal, across from Newcastle Channel and within easy walking distance of restaurants, pubs and the downtown area. And we liked that most of the rooms were suites which gave us a lot of options for accommodating many different types of guests.

So after a quick discussion, we figured we had the knowledge and drive to turn it into a business that would be an industry leader in Nanaimo. Within less than a month we'd moved in and were the owners of The Buccaneer.

After that daunting start, we began a major series of renovations which included replacing everything in our rooms and landscaping our grounds. We hired staff who really knew how to clean and to maintain our rooms to the highest standards of cleanliness; then we trained them how to clean to our even higher standards.

We created Nanaimo's first hotel website. Got an email address and a toll-free number. Changed the business's focus. Created a new brand. Developed lots of materials for our guests to use while they are visiting Nanaimo and Vancouver Island. And consistently worked towards creating a place to stay that we could be proud of! A place to raise a family. A place to welcome the kind of folks you'd like to have in your home!

From that day forward, we have continued to maintain, upgrade and improve The Buccaneer. Every year we pick a new area of the motel to focus on and improve. In 2009 we changed all our wood railings to aluminum and our central staircase to concrete steps. The hotel industry is a competitive environment and we aim to keep ahead of our guests' expectations yet still maintaining affordable rates!

In 1998 we became the extremely proud parents of a little boy we named Christopher. It wasn't the easiest place to raise a child but he sure is a quiet kid who is comfortable around a lot of folks he's never met before!

Christopher is now in Grade Six in French Immersion and has a great time playing with his school buddies. He spends countless hours thinking, playing and dreaming about soccer. His dream is to play for FC Barcelona or be an environmentalist (makes his mother proud!) For now he is our official mascot. A boy that dresses in pirate outfits, the non-violent type of course, for all occasions and has heard countless pirate jokes!

Our mission from the beginning has always been to provide our guests with a spotlessly clean and restful environment where everyone feels at home in a room with all the little things that you take for granted in your own home. We often stay in other hotels and find it frustrating when something that we think is important to have while you're away from home, isn't there. Including a real coffee maker and kettle, with good coffee and tea and fresh cream, so you can brew a good cup in the morning!

We have learned one thing after all the years we have been in business and that is, our business's sole measuring stick is in the quality of service we provide our guests. We believe that customer service is going beyond our guests' expectations. At The Buccaneer Inn we treat everyone like old friends from the moment we meet them. We make every effort to make you feel welcome and at home.

We now own and operate what our guests tell us is the best accommodation value in Nanaimo. In fact they tell us that we are much like a very well run Ramada, Best Western or Travelodge hotel but with more amenities and real, friendly, personal service. At The Buccaneer Inn you simply get more for less. You get a spotlessly clean 3.5 Star suite. You get the only AAA Approved Motel in Nanaimo. You get an environment that ensures a restful sleep. More amenities. Higher standards. Comfortable rooms. Excellent service. And you pay less here than at our competitors.  We know that you will be happy with the services we provide you with. The hundreds of repeat customers that regularly stay with us are. Even Tourism British Columbia's hotel inspectors and AAA inspectors choose The Buccaneer when they come to town to inspect the accommodations available here! 

OUR TEAM

We are very lucky to have a dedicated, professional group of folks who work along side us to provide the accommodation we are so proud of.

Upon your arrival, if we are not working at the front desk, you'll be greeted by Don and Judy. After retiring from their careers in Ottawa, Don and Judy bought a 5th wheel and headed out on the wide open roads of North America. They've spent winters in the southern US and summers in Alberta. After a couple of years of moving around they began looking for a place near the ocean to hang their hats and call home for awhile. We're lucky to have found them! Don's a relocated Newfoundlander who's traveled the world with the Canadian Army. Judy spent years as a hairdresser in Ottawa. They're both friendly, welcoming folks and are a great complement to our team.

Monique is the back bone of our cleaning system. She has been with us for over 11 years and works weekdays to keep our rooms spotlessly clean. Leah and Tina work the busy weekends and keep everything up to our standards.

We are fortunate to have all these folks working with us and hope you agree, upon meeting one or all of them, that they are truly representative of the friendly, welcoming experience you'll have at The Buccaneer Inn.

COMMUNITY RECOGNITION

In 2004, our peers in the business community recognized our efforts by awarding us two Nanaimo Chamber of Commerce Sterling Community Awards. One of our guests, Tracy Nice, nominated us for the awards and we were shocked to have won both. We won one for Tourism Business Excellence and the other for Exceptional Customer Service in the Hospitality Industry! One of our local Members of Parliament, Dr. James Lunney, commented that "...the Buccaneer Inn exemplifies the type of business that helps build a strong business community in Nanaimo and we applaud your efforts in enhancing the enjoyment of visitors to our city ..." Thank you Dr. Lunney and our peers in Nanaimo!

OUR FAMILY'S PASSION FOR TRAVELLING

Our family's first love is travel. We absolutely love travelling and that's one of the reasons running The Buccaneer works so well for us. We are either on the road ourselves or meeting folks who are. Always a lot of stories to be told! We continue to travel a lot and have managed to instill the travel bug into Christopher. He's already been to over 17 different countries! He is as comfortable on the Tube in London, playing boules in Provence, washing and feeding elephants in Thailand, eating conveyor belt sushi in Japan or playing soccer in a placa in Barcelona as he is playing with children in a seaside village in Mexico. His favourite destination is London where he can live and breathe soccer with James and Connor!

December 2006 and January 2007, saw us laying on a beach on Ko Lanta, washing and feeding rescued elephants at The Elephant Nature Park, touring an operating dairy farm at ChokChai Cowboy Ranch in Khao Yai, watching 2,000,000 bats leave a cave, hiking in Laos, in Bangkok during a round of terrorist bombs, riding the Bullet Train to the Atomic Bomb Centre in Hiroshima, temple hopping in Kyoto and showing Christopher our old neighbourhood in Yokosuka.

Christmas 2008 saw us in Barcelona to see FC Barcelona and Camp Nou (Messi signed Christopher's FCB jersey!!!), Christmas at Brightlingsea with the Barbour clan, an Arsenal match at the Emirates Stadium in London, a New Year's bonfire in Ostuni, Italy with the Mac's and a few days in Rome and Vatican City including an evening of Opera Aria's!

In 2006, Dave had a total hip replacement! What a life changing operation that was! Dr. Clive Duncan from Vancouver General Hospital performed the surgery. After recovering, in Thailand and Japan, he is now back in hiking shape and itching to walk as many of the National Trails in the UK as possible! In May of 2007 Dave, Wayne (the brother in law!) Espen, John and a few other Egg Sandwich Club friends walked across the length of the Cotswold Way in England. In November 2007, Dave and John walked along the Brecon Beacons, Offa's Dyke and the Wye Valley in Wales. Then off to Munich for a walk with Klaus near the Staffelsee.

In September 2009, Dave, Paul, Wayne and John and Egg Sandwich Club friends, Gill, Graham, Garry, Ang, John and Alison walked the Coast to Coast walk across England. If there was a longer way, higher hill, or steeper slope, it was taken!

Marlene's set off on her own adventures in the past few years with Kathleen. In 2007 they visited Cuba together and went horseback riding, climbing, through Old Havana and a few margaritas at Hemingway's bar! In November 2009, they visited Morocco together! Camel trekking, wandering about the medina's, watching the snake charmers and visiting mosques were on the list for her.

HOW WE HELP OUT IN THE COMMUNITY

Both Marlene and Dave feel strongly that they should help contribute to the community's economy through volunteerism and by donation.

Dave has volunteered a lot in the community. In 1996 Dave was the Vice-President of the Nanaimo Recycling Exchange. He sat on the Board of Directors of Tourism Nanaimo from 1998, became Vice-President and then President until March, 2002.

Dave also was an integral part of the creation of the world's largest artificial reef system including working on The Cape Breton! This important project helped further develop a reliable marine infrastructure for divers around the world to enjoy. Nanaimo is considered one of the best temperate water diving locations in the world.

Dave spent 9 years as a member of the City of Nanaimo New Nanaimo Centre Advisory Committee and is helped provide input on the development of our community's $100 Million New Nanaimo Centre revitalization project, Nanaimo Museum, Nanaimo Ice Centre and redevelopment of Maffeo-Sutton Park.

Dave currently sits on the City of Nanaimo's Destination Nanaimo Advisory Committee and helps provide input on our new, aggressive, targeted marketing program to help identify Nanaimo as a British Columbia destination.

Marlene's community involvement has included several years of volunteering with Literacy Nanaimo. She, and a group from our neighbourhood, helped raise funds for a new playground and park in our neighbourhood (just behind The Buccaneer!). Marlene was a Director of the Board of the Vancouver Island Children's Festival for 5 years. The Vancouver Island Children's Festival was a huge multi-day event held each May in downtown Nanaimo that draws children and adults from throughout Vancouver Island to enjoy a multitude of international children's performers. Marlene is now an avid runner and looks forward to her Book Club every month.

Marlene also takes an active interest in our local school system and has been involved with Christopher's PAC and at the District PAC level.

We have long maintained an in room recycling program in conjunction with The Nanaimo Recycling Exchange (NRE). Each year this program expands and we are able to divert more and more waste from the landfill. We now produce less than one-third of the waste we used to and send the vast majority to a recycler.

We donate our used, but still usable, linens, towels and furniture to the Haven House and to the NRE. The Haven House supports women and children in need and provides resources to help families move from abusive relationships.

We have helped to increase the population of Vancouver Island Marmots through donations to the Vancouver Island Marmot Recovery Foundation. Vancouver Island Marmots are Canada's most threatened species and the Foundation has been very successful in creating a breeding program and increasing the population (they've even built a Marmot Love Hotel at Mt. Washington!).

As we travel we often spend time in museums and galleries. Preserving our history is an important function of a community and we have decided to dedicate some our resources towards the Nanaimo Museum. For many years we have contributed to the ongoing maintenance of The Bastion, one of Canada's oldest buildings, a former Hudson Bay fort and our community's symbol. In 2007 we also decided to invest in the continuing development of our new Museum by becoming an artifact sponsor. We chose to sponsor an early rebreather apparatus that was used on Newcastle Island by miners. This type of Draeger rebreather was a predecessor of the underwater rebreathers that many of our dive guests use today.

In 2007 we made a 5 year financial commitment to the Mt. Benson Legacy Fund. Mt. Benson is the mountain that stands behind Nanaimo and provides a beautiful backdrop to the ocean, islands and our city. Watch a video of the hike up Mt. Benson! The Nanaimo Area Land Trust helped purchase a piece of property that was going to be logged. The image at the top of this page was from a NALT lead hike we climbed to the summit during the summer of 2009!

THANK YOU!

Thanks for having taken the time to learn more about us and our business. We look forward to welcoming you to Nanaimo and The Buccaneer and sharing a few travel stories.

Your hosts,

 

Dave, Marlene and Christopher

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