In 2000, Mouallem Management Group team leader, Joey Mouallem, and his wife, Melane, were approached to develop a 58 room Super 8 hotel in Slave Lake, Alberta. They accepted under the condition that they could take a minority share in the business and become the managing partners of the property, with the understanding that there would be an opportunity to participate in the development of five future hotels. While Joey was General Manager, the Super 8 in Slave Lake achieved top scores in Guest Satisfaction and Quality Assurance and was awarded the prestigious “Top 8 of Super 8” award. The group of owners eventually sold this property in 2005, paving the way for new business projects down the road.
In 2004, Joey met hotel contractor, Andrew Hildebrand, on the site of a future Super 8 hotel in St. Albert, Alberta. Although the project did not move forward, Joey and Andy’s friendship and business relationship did; they began discussing the possibilities of developing their own hotels which would provide value for their families, investors and the communities they would be built in. Andy, a proven premier hotel builder and Joey, a proven successful operator, began laying the foundation for their new adventure together. Their first company was named “Mo-Brand Inc.” and in 2005 they built and opened their first hotel together – the 68 room Best Western Slave Lake Inn & Suites. After two successful years of operation, Joey and Andy received an offer they couldn’t refuse and decided to sell the property. This gave them both the opportunity to continue to build award winning hotels in other markets.
In 2007, Joey and Andy met Mac Fletcher while searching for land to build a hotel in Bonnyville, Alberta. The three joined forces to become “J.A.M. Projects Inc.” (Joey, Andy and Mac). From the beginning their vision was to develop and operate five hotels that would be known for excellence in quality, design, operations and guest satisfaction, using the strengths of each partner to accomplish this: Andy would design the hotels, Mac would construct the hotels, and Joey would operate the hotels under his company Mouallem Management Group.
It has always been J.A.M.’s goal to be recognized as a leader in the hotel industry for quality products and superior customer care. To date J.A.M. Projects and Mouallem Management Group have built and currently own and operate these five hotels:
Best Western® Bonnyville Inn & Suites
(opened February 14, 2009)
Best Western Plus® The Inn at St. Albert
(opened August 21, 2010)
Best Western Plus® Drayton Valley All Suites
(opened December 19, 2014)
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Best Western® Wainwright Inn & Suites
(opened August 18, 2009, SOLD May 22, 2019)
Best Western Plus® Sherwood Park Inn & Suites
(opened May 1, 2012, SOLD September 24, 2019)
Together Joey, Andy and Mac have achieved their goal of creating five beautiful properties that have been overwhelmingly well received by the communities in which they were built.
Team members in each of these hotels work very hard every day to maintain the standards of excellence set by the hotel’s ownership partners; they do this by embracing the company’s corporate vision of “Surpassing our guests’ expectations, by showing we care in a way that earns our guests’ loyalty.” This vision has guided our Teams and helped them to earn numerous industry awards and accolades and will continue to do so for many years to come.
Our Vision:
To Surpass Our Guest Expectations By Showing We Care In A Way To Earn Our Guests’ Loyalty.
TEAM:
To inspire and empower a team to ensure an I/we care experience.
FAMILY:
To treat every guest and team member in a caring manner in which we would wish to be treated.
INTEGRITY:
To align our thoughts, words, and actions with our visions to show our guests and team members we care.
RESULTS:
To take responsibility in meeting or exceeding our goals by being accountable to our budgets and the outlined GM expectations on a monthly basis in order to ensure confidence and sustainable growth.
Our average length of service for senior leadership is 6.5 years.
Mouallem Management Group corporate office is located in Edmonton, Alberta. We pride a talented team of industry professionals with decades of experience and a proven track record at every stage of the hotel life cycle. Our specialty is hospitality, and it has focused and excelled in all areas of hotel management, operations, sales, marketing, revenue management, and development. Our TEAM supports our hotels with a FAMILY atmosphere to ensure a culture driven by employee engagement, guest satisfaction, INTEGRITY, great hotel assets…resulting in financial RESULTS for the group.
JOEY MOUALLEM
Owner, President
Joey started in the hospitality business at the age of fourteen as a dishwasher. He then worked his way through all of the positions in the restaurant before getting the opportunity to own and manage his first restaurant, “Joey’s Incredible Edibles”, in 1986 with his business partner and now wife, Melane Mouallem.
Together they have owned and managed many businesses, but in 2000 they were approached by a developer who was looking for someone to invest in and operate a 58 room hotel in Slave Lake, Alberta. As they already had a management company, Joey and Melane thought it would be a good fit and a great learning opportunity, so they took the plunge. Within the first year, their hotel was ranked top 8 in the brand of 2,200 hotels across North America.
With a passion for hospitality, they went on to become the developers, principal investors and operators of six BW hotel properties in Alberta, starting with Slave Lake in 2004, Bonnyville and Wainwright in 2007, St. Albert in 2008, Sherwood Park in 2011 and finally Drayton Valley in 2014.
Today their focus remains on quality above quantity. We know that it’s the outstanding people in our properties that make the difference and create all the value; a hotel is just a building until exceptional people come together, believing in a shared vision and working together to exceed their guests’ expectations by showing them that they care, in ways that earn their guests’ loyalty.
As a management and ownership group, we want to stay focused on that vision. We are constantly striving to achieve our goals by governing ourselves and those in our organization according to our core values of “TEAM, FAMILY, INTEGRITY and RESULTS.
TYSON GHOSTKEEPER
Regional Director of Operations
& General Manager, Best Western Plus The Inn at St. Albert
& General Manager, Best Western Plus The Inn at St. Albert
Tyson joined our team as the first employee on payroll in our Bonnyville property in 2009 as a room attendant. It didn’t take long for Tyson to break out of his shell and was asking to be challenged. He began moving through the various positions in the hotel acquiring valuable knowledge along the way. Tyson’s success includes being apart of the opening teams of our hotels and in key leadership roles throughout the company including as a general manager. Tyson’s responsibilities include overseeing all Mouallem Management Group properties and their teams.
BARB MACINTYRE
Financial Controller
Barb MacIntyre has worked with Mouallem Group of Companies as Financial Controller since January 2011. She has experience in both public and private enterprises. Barb is responsible for the financial planning, budgeting, and all internal areas of accounting. She finds herself fortunate and grateful to work within the MMG team and family.
SHANNON STROBUSCH
Area Sales Manager
Shannon Strobusch is a proven sales leader with 15 years experience in the hospitality industry and offers a unique background of hotel ownership, sales, and operations. She is an inquisitive and an excellent hunter. Shannon uncovers valuable information with her approachable yet persuasive style that leads to winning business. She has been a valued part of the MMG team since 2017 and is well versed in our markets and with our hotels. She has consistently surpassed revenue goals for properties she has owned as well as nurtured.
SONIA LUNN
General Manager, Best Western® Bonnyville Inn & Suites
Sonia joined the team in Bonnyville as general manager in 2021. Sonia has worked in several areas of hospitality throughout her career including managing hotel restaurants. Sonia and her husband moved from the East Coast and made Bonnyville home over fifteen years ago and love the community.
MARLA WILE
General Manager, Best Western Plus® Drayton Valley All Suites
Marla Wile joined our team in 2013 as the General Manager of the Best Western Plus Drayton Valley All Suites one year prior to opening the hotel. Marla was born and raised in Drayton Valley and her heart and home is strong in the community. Marla’s experience in hospitality includes various positions from serving, front desk, and running another hotel in the community before joining our team.
“The Mouallem Group is like a second family to me. I feel supported and encouraged in the operations of my hotel each and every day. The Core Values of our company are not just talked about but lived.
I feel very blessed to be surrounded by each and every member of my Mouallem Group Family.”
Mouallem Management Group is proud to support Inclusion Alberta’s mission to foster family leadership and advocacy in the pursuit of fully inclusive community lives for children and adults with developmental disabilities. Inclusion Alberta is a family-based, registered charity that has been advocating on behalf of children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families for more than 60 years.
Inclusion Alberta is deeply committed to seeing families have the support they need for their sons and daughters with developmental disabilities to be participating and welcomed community members.
Your support can help make their dreams a reality. Inclusion Alberta efforts include: individual and family advocacy, support to schools and teachers providing quality inclusive education, building world-leading inclusive post-secondary initiatives and partnering with Alberta Rotary Clubs and Districts, local businesses and community leaders to create and sustain inclusive employment.
Guests are offered the opportunity to donate $2 per day during their stay. The donation can be billed to the room, making it an easy and affordable way to give back.
Inclusion Alberta supports families across the province, including in Mouallem Management Group communities of Bonnyville, Drayton Valley, and St. Albert. We are happy to support this worthwhile cause and we know our guests will be too.