The Balmoral Hotel is upgrading for patients

One of Winnipeg's famous hotels is being transformed to serve as a destination for people traveling to medical appointments in the city.

Improvements to the Balmoral Hotel have been underway for the past three months as crews clean, remodel and renovate the space.

“We saw a lot of potential here,” said Cam Khaira, new co-owner of the Balmoral Hotel. “There's a lot of potential in this neighborhood, in this space, and we can see how much of a difference we can make.”

Although the hotel looks similar from the outside, the inside is a different story.

Desiree McIvor with 1JustCity: “It's night and day.”

When the new owners took over the Balmoral Hotel, the first task was to get rid of unwanted guests such as rodents and cockroaches.

“It had a very bad infestation,” said project manager Antonio Pisano. “So you don't have to install a system that's running on the outside instead of the inside to put the program in place, so that's what we've done: We've gone stud-to-stud for multiple installations here.”

Basically, everything was torn down and rebuilt with new floors, carpets, beds and other things.

“It's been overlooked for enough years that you have to start from scratch,” Pisano said.

“People come for treatment, for healing,” Khaira said. “So we want to provide them with an environment where they can feel good and improve.”

Two floors of the building were completed, and a new place for patients and low-income residents appeared.

“It's clean, it's inviting, and it's a safe and welcoming space for all community members,” McIvor said.

“The feedback is great. The food is great,” Pisano said. “They've brought in great chefs, great chefs, and we're doing everything from the new wellness center to the daycare, so it's going to be a really nice facility.”