But 2020 came with a silver lining for Ms Dahlenburg and the Comfort Inn team, with the motel winning Choice Hotels 2020 Gold Award.

Ms Dahlenburg said the secret was to understand what the customer wants.

"We try and put ourselves in the shoes of the person behind the counter on a day-to-day basis," she said.

"The whole team works to aspire to get that level of what our customers need. It is just about the whole team working together."

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Ms Dahlenburg started in the accommodation industry seven and a half years ago, when she and her husband Peter Irwin purchased the business.

She admitted that neither of them had any hospitality experience before buying the motel.

"Once it was on sale my husband and I had a look at it and said perhaps if we put both together we could have a go at it," she said.

"It has been an absolute delight. I like people and always think about customer service."

Before owning the motel, Ms Dahlenburg worked in the public service and spent two years travelling sales representative. She said the experience made her understand what a motel needed.

Throughout her seven years of running the business, she said she had encountered many surprises.

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"I think every day is a fair bit of a surprise. There is never a day that is the same. We work 7 days a week, 12 months of the year. At the same time, it is a very rewarding industry to be in," she said.

"I wish 7.5 years ago I had started a moteliers blog because there are way too many stories - I could probably write a book on them. You meet some sensational people from all walks of life."

Late last year, Choice Hotels, who franchise the business, contacted Ms Dahlenburg to congratulate the team at Comfort Inn on winning the award.

The 2020 Gold Awards are measured on a "likelyhood to recommend" metric calculated from customer feedback. Comfort Inn May Park was among a few others in Victoria selected for the award.

Choice Hotels Asia - Pac Chief Executive Officer Trent Fraser congratulated Comfort Inn May Park for winning the award and enduring through the year.

"We commend all of those within the Choice Hotels network who have overcome challenging odds over the last 12 months, and have shown great resilience and positivity toward the recovery effort," he said.

Ms Dahlenburg said 2020 was a devastating year for the business, but one they could endure and learn from.

"Who would have seen that coming. We have grown the business over the last seven years to a fairly strong position and all of a sudden, bang, it just decimated us," she said.

"We made the commitment that we would keep our doors open seven days a week for the essential travellers that we were able to assist.

"That worked out well for us in many cases because we were able to have the Department of Defence who looked after the COVID testing.

"Then they came back and did the testing of the age care facilities. But nothing compared to what we had lost."

Moving on from last year, Ms Dahlenburg said the coronavirus pandemic had taught the Comfort Inn May Park team valuable lessons.

"There's no black and white, it is all grey. Unfortunately, we are a purpose-built property, so we couldn't diversify our business, so we just had to ride out the storm so to speak," she said.

"Pleased to say we have our water wings, and as long as no one deflates them we are on the top of the wave."

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