Birchwood Inn name returns to city hotel after 3 decades away
A hotel in St. James is rebranding as the Birchwood Inn — more than 30 years after abandoning the moniker in favour of the Holiday Inn Winnipeg – Airport West. The rebrand includes a multimillion-dollar renovation that will take place this summer.
'Even as a Holiday Inn people (referred) to us as the Birchwood Inn,' said Bruce MacKay, general manager. 'So it made sense, when we were looking at what we wanted to be called, to go back and take on the name.'
BROOK JONES / FREE PRESS
Hotel manager Bruce MacKay with signage declaring the former Holiday Inn Winnipeg - Airport West is returning to the brand it used from the late 1970s to the early 1990s.
Winnipeg-based Ladco Company Ltd. built the 14-storey building at 2520 Portage Ave. in 1976 and still owns it today.
The hotel was called the Wandlyn Inn the first few months it was open and renamed the Birchwood Inn in 1977, MacKay said. The name changed again in 1993, when the hotel became a Holiday Inn franchisee.
The hotel's license agreement with Holiday Inn ended this spring and Ladco wanted to move in a direction that would give it more freedom when deciding what to offer guests, MacKay said.
The hotel signed an agreement with Best Western, making it part of the franchisor's BW Premier Collection.
The new arrangement allows the hotel to use BW Premier Collection's reservation platform, MacKay said, while giving management the independence to 'adapt to what our customers are looking for and provide an elevated level of service and look and feel.'
The hotel spent $11 million on renovations prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. It's set to spend another $4 million to $5 million in the coming months to upgrade guestrooms, the front entrance and lobby areas.
What won't change is the way the approximately 130 employees approach hospitality, MacKay said. 'We'll continue to offer the level of service we've been known to offer.'
He added some staff members have worked at the hotel for nearly 45 years and more than two dozen have been with the hotel for more than 20 years.
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'There's a lot of history with that as well,' MacKay said. 'We're very fortunate in that respect.'
The investment Ladco is making in the hotel is exciting, said Michael Juce, Manitoba Hotel Association president and CEO. 'It's always great to see people invest in Manitoba and put their capital to work here,' he said.
Located near the Charleswood Bridge, the brown brick building was built for $7.5 million, according to the Winnipeg Architecture Foundation. Today, it includes 229 rooms, a restaurant and lounge and more than 9,000 square feet of banquet space.
There are three remaining Holiday Inn franchises in Winnipeg: one on Pembina Highway, another at Polo Park and a third downtown near the University of Winnipeg. Each has different ownership, MacKay said.
aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca
Aaron EppReporter
Aaron Epp reports on business for the Free Press. After freelancing for the paper for a decade, he joined the staff full-time in 2024. He was previously the associate editor at Canadian Mennonite. Read more about Aaron.
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