The new Holiday Inn on Ellice Avenue.
I wrote back sometime in this blog about how appalling it was that the Howard Johnson Hotel had become on Ellice Avenue in the Polo Park area.
It was a shameful presence in the city and an embarrassment.
Now, there is news that the Paletta family of hoteliers is going to transform the building into a Holiday Inn, the city's fourth for this brand.
The building which originally was the Airliner Inn before it became a Howard Johnson. It was always a little less that its other airport counterparts and hosted a strip club and vendor.
All that has been swept aside with the new design. The main features now will be a conference center and themed pool area. All 150 rooms have been gutted and re-done.
Airport hotels are a hot commodity. The 100 room MainStay Suites has just opened at King Edward/Rt. 90 alongside the Comfort Inn at Sargent Avenue.
Winnipeg's first Fairfield Inn is slated to open in Ellice Avenue near Polo Park.
This is a huge improvement for the city and a big bravo should go to the Palettas for removing the awfulness that inhabited that prominent corner for so long.
Also, isn't interesting that all this airport hotel construction is being done with no government money.
The centre for private commerce in Winnipeg is in the airport/Polo Park industrial area. The centre for shopping is Polo Park or directly south of there on Kenaston. People who travel to Winnipeg for either of the reasons above only stay downtown by mistake.
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about the previous owners of this hotel, but it is a bit puzzling as to why they let their property go to seed when it sits right in the middle of what appears to be the fastest-growing hotel sub-market in the city.
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see that the Palettas are going to pick up the ball and run with it - the hotel was becoming a bit of an eyesore, and the negative surprises that people had when staying at the Howard Johnson (just check out some of the TripAdvisor reviews!) reflected poorly on the city in general.
Considering the shape that the building is in and the location, this project will probably work out very well.
RM: I will agree that if I was coming in from some place like Brandon, Flin Flon or Dryden that I would be more compelled to find a hotel nearer to where I might be doing my big city shopping and vacation.
ReplyDeleteDowntown remains important for some types of business, entertainment and conventions. This is why I think the convention center needs to be looked for improvement. What the downtown will never be again is the main site for retailing.
OMC: I think some owners look at the bar, vendor and restaurant as the main source of income and don't look at improving the rooms. Over time though, this extraction of money left the place completely undesirable.