Hotel owner hopes to build a better reputation

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This article was published 14/09/2011 (5149 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The owner of a West End hotel with a tarnished reputation hopes to change that with a multi-million dollar renovation.

The Maryland Hotel at 690 Notre Dame Ave. has been undergoing major changes since closing late last year, owner Amarjeet Warraich said in an interview.

The new hotel, expected to open in November, will operate under the Econo Lodge banner, he said.

“It’ll be completely different. It won’t be like the old Maryland,” said Warraich, 58, a Linden Ridge resident.

“That’s why we’re going with a chain. We have to go by their standards. People will love it once we open up.”

The $1.8 million worth of renovations includes gutting each of the hotel’s 60 rooms and modernizing the building. All of the rooms and the building itself will see new designs, carpeting and furniture, as well as new electrical and plumbing systems.

Warraich said he is looking to bring in a small chain restaurant and providing space for street-level retail.

The hotel will cater primarily to individuals who are visiting the city because of work or attending to family members staying at the Health Sciences Centre across the street.

“This is a very good location for us. You can walk across the street, people don’t have to use any transportation, it’s very convenient,” Warraich said.

“We want (visitors) to come and relax, so no rowdies, or people fighting outside.”

Mike Kaita, owner of Roy’s Florist, a neighbouring business, said the corner has cleaned up since Warraich took over the building in 2001.

Most notably, getting rid of the hotel’s strip bar and moving the beer vendor into a separate location from the hotel has cut down on the amount of riff-raff loitering around behind his business.

“Anything is better than what it was,” he said. “It’s a huge improvement.”

Seeing the new hotel completed will put to rest a concerted effort to rid the hotel of drugs and prostitution, Warraich said.

“We didn’t want that kind of business to begin with,” said Warraich, who owns the Montcalm Hotel on Pembina Highway and is a part-owner of the Balmoral Hotel.

“We took a loss businesswise, but we wanted a clean business, wanted to provide a good facility and a good service to the community. I’m feeling very good. We’ve invested a lot of money into this place.”

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matt.preprost@canstarnews.com