The Fort Garry Hotel has made a $1-million investment in targeting travelers who want a five-star experience.
The last surviving grand railway hotel in Winnipeg, which recently celebrated its 112th anniversary, is putting the finishing touches on its “mini-hotel within a hotel” for business and other high-end visitors.
The first floor was gutted at the beginning of 2025. When the dust cleared, there were 12 guest rooms, three suites and an expansive executive lounge.
“It’s beautiful, very high-end and world class,” says Ida Albo, owner and managing partner of the Fort Garry Hotel. “What we’re selling on this floor is an experience.”
Construction of the executive lounge on the first floor of the Fort Garry Hotel began in 2025.
The executive lounge features bar, table and lounge seating for 36, a hosted service area — with complimentary snacks and soft drinks available all day — an enhanced full-service breakfast buffet in the morning and an elaborate hot and cold spread in the early evening. These amenities are complimented by a premium honour bar with sommelier wine service on request, featuring unique wine selections curated by the hotel’s wine director, Christopher Sprague.
Vida Cucina Italia, which was recently awarded Wine Spectator magazine’s Best of Award of Excellence, and the Oval Room Brasserie, recently named one of Canada’s Top 50 hotel restaurants by OpenTable x KAYAK, are located on the lobby level if you’re in search of a robust meal.
The executive floor is secure with its own concierge and is only accessible to guests staying on that floor.
Every bathroom has been completely renovated, including heated floors, backlit makeup mirrors, extra plush towels and linens and outside every room is a privacy doorbell, replacing the “do not disturb” signs. Simply press it until it turns red to indicate you do not wish to be disturbed or green if you’re okay with somebody knocking on the door.
The executive guest rooms will be priced from $150 above the going rate. An official ribbon cutting will take place in March but they’ve already welcomed their first guest — Prime Minister Mark Carney. The prime minister and his security team spent two nights during the Grey Cup in November and were able to enjoy the executive lounge and even dined in the Oval Room.
The executive floor is ideal for the business community or VIP guests to the city who are looking for an elevated experience, something that currently is not available in Winnipeg.
“The space could be for someone looking for an area they could call their own while they’re in town. If you need a very private, exclusive experience, we can provide that with a secure floor. It doesn’t take much for somebody who needs that kind of security to book the whole floor,” she says, noting there were two full-floor bookings before the end of December and six more already booked in 2026.
Before the floor goes officially live, Albo says the Fort Garry Hotel will host a number of open houses and do a couple of dry runs to make sure all services are operating at the highest level.
Albo and members of her team didn’t decide on a whim to target the executive market. Over the last
four years, they visited hotels across North America, took note of the best-in-class practices they saw, and came up with a plan.
“You bank ideas,” she says.
“This is the next level of experience. We saw an opportunity in the market. The Richardson family bought the Fairmont hotel (in 2024) and they’re making a very substantial investment in elevating the guest experience. We’re making that same level of investment albeit slowly and floor by floor,” she says.
An official ribbon cutting to unlock the guest rooms will take place in March.
Investing in Winnipeg’s last surviving grand railway hotel
REFURBISHING an entire floor for high-end travelers is far from the only investment that Ida Albo and the ownership group at the Fort Garry Hotel have made in the last six years.
But they almost got out of the hotel business in early 2020. The property had been listed for sale, an offer had been made and accepted and the deal was set to close on March 28, 2020 — just days after the COVID-19 pandemic began — that would have turned it into a Marriott Autograph Collection hotel.
But as the severity of the pandemic grew and the world started shutting down, the would-be owner
postponed the closing date a couple of times and eventually withdrew their offer. Since the hotel was practically empty anyway, Albo took the Marriott’s property improvement plan (PIP) and decided to use the new found downtime productively.
First, the hallways were given a complete refresh with plaster repairs, paint, new lighting, enhanced
security and new carpeting.
The Oval Room, which had experienced a flood a couple of years earlier, had more serious issues — plaster was falling from the ceiling. Rather than put a band-aid on the problem, the entire room was
scaffolded, and the ceiling and dome were completely restored by local company, Hart & Son Plastering. This included recasting the wings of many of the angels that adorned the ceiling.
Another item on the PIP was that the hotel didn’t have a 24-hour gym. Guests had previously been able to use a nearby athletic club instead but the decision was made to convert former sales offices into a state-of-the-art 24-hour 1,200-square-foot gym on the lobby level.
Also, The Sunset Terrace, the hotel’s patio, was built on the hotel’s west side. It won 2025 Best Patio in Winnipeg by the Winnipeg Sun and features live music, pizza, spritzes and a great vibe from June to September.
“Coming to the Fort Garry Hotel is an experience and we’re growing that. We don’t want you to leave,” she says.
Ten Spa was the busiest part of the hotel during the pandemic because it was deemed an essential service. Last year, a second couples’ room, nicknamed 11th Heaven, was added in one of the peaks of the hotel.
Ten Spa is home to the Hamam – a Turkish bath experience. In January 2026, The Fort Garry Hotel will be expanding its wellness offering with the new “Hamam After Hours,” where a small group can book the spa for a relaxing and restorative Turkish bath session, which is ideal to help you sleep.
After the pandemic, Albo optimized the underused meeting spaces throughout the hotel, starting with The Club Room, which is located on the lower level. Once known as live music venue Broadways, The Club Room became home to Yuk Yuk’s Comedy in February 2023.
Shortly after, a partnership with Jazz Winnipeg saw sold out shows with the “Jazz at The Fort Garry” concert series every Sunday night.
The mezzanine was transformed from reception space to “Private Dining at The Fort Garry Hotel,” by
investing in those areas to welcome group dinners, ideal for meetings, celebrations and special occasions.
“We saw the nooks and crannies as private dining spaces and invested in those spaces,” she says.
“We have the best management team. We come up with ideas and you can see the wheels start
turning. Some ideas take longer to execute than others but they’ve made the hotel what it is today and what it’s going to be tomorrow,” she says.
Bookings open March 2026. To reserve, email sales@fortgarryhotel.com. For more information visit: www.fortgarryhotel.com
Self-care services
ADDING to the hotel’s wellness experience, Albo reopened Yoga Public in September 2024 at 280
Fort Street – a Manitoba Metis Federation building – after shuttering the studio for three years during the pandemic.
Now, hotel guests can literally walk down the street for a complimentary yoga class courtesy of Yoga Public.
Adding to the self-care experience at Ten Spa, Ten Skin RX was born – also at 280 Fort Street – as an
express facial, manicure, pedicure, contrast therapy and laser treatment bar. These services are
executed with the skill of the Ten Spa team but in a condensed timeframe, allowing our clients to
easily maintain their skincare on a monthly basis.
Rounding out The Fort Garry Hotel experience at 280 Fort Street will be the January opening of
The Bread Box, a bakery featuring the hotel’s breads and pastries, made popular over the past 30 years. From sourdough and baguettes to croissants and the hotel’s famous Ten Spa cookies, the bakery will be a pick-up location for daily baking ready as early as 11 a.m., ensuring it’s fresh at
dinnertime.
