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.
