A Tale Of Three Hotels

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This article was published 20/07/2008 (6290 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Fargo’s Hotel Donaldson — a former flophouse remade into a stylish boutique hotel — has been credited with nothing less than kicking off the revitalization of the North Dakota city’s downtown.

In Winnipeg, two similar heritage properties are also eyeing makeovers that could bring more life to the attractive but underpopulated Exchange District. But they have a long way to go from rundown bleak to urban chic.

Here’s how the establishments stack up:

HOTEL DONALDSON

101 Broadway, Fargo, N.D.

Built: 1894

Storeys: Three

Size: 21,000 square feet

Rooms: 17

Former use: Long-term housing for low-income tenants.

Current use: Luxury boutique hotel where every room is designed to complement the work of a different Fargo-area artist. All come with flatscreen TVs and heated bathroom floors. The hotel also has a fitness centre on the basement level, a regional-themed restaurant and lounge on the main floor and a second bar, hot tub and garden planted with prairie grasses up on the rooftop. Rooms run from $170 to $330 US per night.

Owner: Karen Stoker Burgum, a former customer-service manager at a software company that was bought out by Microsoft.

Cost of renovation: Not disclosed, but presumed to be in the millions. Burgum bought the hotel in 2000 for $285,000 US.

Completed: September 2003.

National Geographic Traveller calls it: “Urban-chic rehab of 1894 fraternal lodge, sparkplug of downtown.”

USA Today says: “Far from being a frozen wasteland, Fargo has the makings for a dreamy weekend SEnD starting with the sophisticated, contemporary Hotel Donaldson.”

ROYAL ALBERT ARMS

48 Albert St., Winnipeg

Built: 1913

Storeys: Four

Size: 20,000 square feet

Rooms: 54, formerly used for long-term, low-income tenants.

Current use: Rooms unoccupied pending renovation. Main-floor beverage room serves as rock and metal club held in high esteem by Winnipeg’s independent music scene.

Proposed renovation: Rooms to be remodelled and reduced in number to 40. Front atrium to be removed, exposing more of original facade. Front reception area to be restored. Main-floor washrooms to be remodelled.

Owner: Internet pharmacy magnate Daren Jorgenson, who also owns the neighbouring Vault salon and spa.

Projected cost of renovations: $1 million.

Completion date: Spring 2009.

Heritage Winnipeg says: “The fa ßade of the hotel was designed with a continental flair. A red-tiled roof forms a cornice over a brick front accentuated with ornamental iron fretwork, elaborate iron lights and arched main floor windows and doors which combine to create an Italian effect.”

The Albert’s web page says: “Soon to Come! Boutique hotel with a sexual edge like no other hotel in Canada (dungeons, fetish rooms, etc). A safe environment for you to explore your limits.”

ST. CHARLES HOTEL

22 Albert St., Winnipeg

Built: 1913

Storeys: Three

Size: 41,600 square feet

Rooms: 54

Current use: Long-term housing for low-income tenants.

Proposed renovation: Nothing less than a complete reconstruction, with remodelled rooms, a new main-floor reception area and a restaurant and patio extending north along Albert Street. The existing Albert Street Business Block, which stands between the St. Charles and the Royal Albert, would be demolished and replaced by the patio and a wall to preserve the pedestrian streetscape.

Owner: Immigration lawyer Ken Zaifman.

Projected cost of renovations: $10 million.

Completion date: Unknown. As of this spring, financing remained an issue.

Heritage Winnipeg says: “The main floor of the hotel was originally designed to accommodate a mezzanine containing a rotunda, office, cigar store, barber shop, kitchens and large dining room. In 1928, (renovations lowered) the backlit, stained-glass ceiling.”