Things To Do In Downtown Calgary On A Chilly November Evening

Shoulder seasons are, in general, pretty terrible. It's not summer and it's not winter yet, either. It's too cold to spend time outside and there's not enough snow to go skiing yet. Yes, November is one month that kind of gets the short end of the stick as far as seasons go. There isn't even a large holiday in it, like Christmas or Thanksgiving, to distract everyone from how miserable the weather is. Especially for travellers staying in downtown Calgary, November is the pits. You'd wander around and find a likely restaurant or bar, but it's too cold out and you don't want to. So, here's a short list of some things you can do when you're stuck inside a hotel room in downtown Calgary on a chilly November's eve.

Join NetFlix

You should probably do this anyways. Now that you can watch it from any wireless capable device, there's the added bonus of being able to watch your favourite shows from anywhere where there's Internet, and with us the Internet is free.

I was originally going to write that you should consider renting a DVD, but no one really does that anymore, do they? You could also pay through the nose for some Pay-Per-View movie in your hotel room, but for the exact same $8 you could access a huge library of television and movies.

Get Into a Good Book

There used to be a really great book store in downtown Calgary (I miss you McNally Robinson), but these days the best one within a short walk from Nuvo Hotel Suites is actually a Chapters that's just two blocks south of us. Although, you will have to briefly leave your room, you can pick up a brand new good book to get into.

To The Pub!

You knew this was coming. Luckily for us, the surrounding area of downtown Calgary holds many, many pubs. The ones nearest us are Brewster, and the Blind Monk, however the Nuvo Hotel Suites is located just a few blocks north of 17^th Ave, also known as the Red Mile. Heading out for an evening drink there, especially after or during a Calgary Flames game, is a much more vibrant way to enjoy a chilly November evening.

Should Motels Have Mobile Websites?

Smart Phones are changing everything about how the Internet does business. Now, having a mobile version of your website to appeal to the ever-growing percentage of people who regularly browse the web on their smart phones makes more sense than ever. But, not every business really needs one. So, what about Motels? For the most part, Motels depend on their guests picking them out of the lineup of similar businesses located on whatever main road they all happen to sit on. Or, we look for people who like to plan things beforehand, and are happy to browse through a whole website or two to find the perfect Motel for them. However, back to those Smart Phones, those lines are blurring together now with travelers not bothering to look anything up until they arrive at their destination, and when they look Motels they're doing it on a Smart Phone. Besides, there's a few other reason to do it, as well. There's the fact that...

It's Good SEO

One more URL out there that links to your content with the same Meta Data as your website is always good for your ranking. Or, if the Mobile site is a SubDomain of your main site, it's just one more page with index-able content for the search engine crawlers to gather up.

Here's a peek at our Mobile Site. It really pays to keep it clean and simple with these. 

It Helps People Find You While On Their Phone (in the car for example)

There's been more than a few instances were guests driving in got some bad directions, or just plain forgot to bring a map. In this case, being able to get a Mobil Site up on a smart phone and, not having to navigate a full-sized site on a tiny screen makes a huge difference in how happy your guests are when they find their way in.

 

Here's the Mobile Site that our friends at the Nuvo Hotel Suites uses. Again, clean and simple is the way to go.

There's No Good Reason NOT to Have One

As a Boutique Motel, our primary market is individuals who are on the move. If you're driving through a strange city and you're looking for a place to stay, it's more than likely that it'll be a Motel you end up staying at. It just makes sense to a appeal to a mobile market with a Mobile Website.

Also, since there isn't really any development cost involved in the process, it becomes pretty simple to weigh the Pros and the non-existent Cons. Using a paid for hosting site like MoFuse, you can get going with your own Mobile Site in under an hour, for about $9 a month.

The Centro Motel is Calgary’s first Boutique Motel. Located in the Montgomery neighbourhood, just south of Calgary’s Motel Village and now on a completely unintuitive, yet direct, path from the airport. The Centro offers stylish, trendy rooms at competitive prices. Also, our parking lot is just massive. For more information on booking, rooms and rates, check out the home page, or Contact Us.

Spring Activities in Montgomery

Due to the incessant rain that has been pelting down on our little Boutique Motel for the last few days I have decided that spring is here. Overall, it's good news. Even though Spring is by far the most horrible time of year here in Calgary, it does mean that Summer is right around the corner. Although it can get pretty soggy here in the Springtime, there's still plenty to do here in Montgomery.

Frisbee

There's plenty of parks here in Montgomery, and now that the ground has some moisture in it the grass is turning green faster than a College Student's tongue on St. Patrick's Day. It's still a little too chilly out for sun-bathing, but it's still nice to get out and enjoy some fresh air. An easy way to get outside and relax while still staying active enough to keep warm is enjoy yourself some Frisbee. Or, of course you can play catch the old-fashioned with a baseball.

Window Shopping

Some people may groan a little bit at this one. I mean, what's so great about window shopping? Well, just like everything else there are good places to do it and bad places to do it. Montgomery is an interesting place to take a stroll through because of all the little boutique shops, cafe's, and hobby shops that dwell down side streets and in tiny little cul-de-sacs. In one cul-de-sac alone I've found a knitting store, an excellent cafe (The Lazy Loaf and Kettle), and a vintage country clothing store. You might still think that's kinda dull, but my sweet plaid shirt and this delicious sandwich I'm eating disagree with you.

Cage Batting Range

This might be kind of a 'guy' thing. But, once you go to a Batting Range once, it's hard not to want go again. The Cage is a few blocks from The Centro Motel, and it's a great place to take a few swings, hang out in the park, play catch, and do some people watching. I've even seen a handful of folks fishing from the river banks here, but that's more of a summer thing, the fish don't really come around until July-ish.

What's The Best RV to Tour Alberta With?

I've talked before about some of the best drives you can go on in Alberta, but now that is Spring, horrible, horrible Spring is around the corner I thought I'd revisit the topic and expand on it. As Calgary's first Boutique Motel, the Centro sees a lot of RV's coming through. However, we also get asked, on occasion, about what the best RV's to rent are. That's a complicated question, and the best answer is to find the RV that works best for your needs. For the purposes of this article, however, I'm going to go with the normal traveller who needs an RV and intends to be on the move with it a lot. That means a Class “C” Motorized RV is the way to go, and there's a few that come out ahead of the rest.

Bigfoot

 

While the company recently went out of business, you can still find a lot of these on the roads. The company closed it's doors after the recession in the United States killed off %90 of their business, but you shouldn't let that deter you. Their RVs are consistently one of the highest scoring in terms of Performance on the Road, Reliability, Safety, Cost of Maintenance and Comfort.

Lazy Daze

Another stellar choice in terms of Reliability and Performance, Lazy Daze units tend to have a bit more focus on Comfort, making them a great choice for longer trips. Check them out at www.lazydaze.com;or read some testimonials here:

- Life with with a lazy daze

Vixen 21 XC

 

This one is a legend. The Vixen 21 XC is powered by a BMW m21 turbo diesel engine. With the combination of a Renault 5-speed manual trans axle, it gets between 30-35 mpg. The suspension is Chevy g20, and the frame is made partly from the same Chevy g20. The body is fiberglass. The engine is mounted in the rear of the vehicle and is mounted backwards, so the engine time belt/water pump is right in the back. For those who don't speak car, it means that the Vixen is great on gas, and the utilities are very conveniently located.

The Centro Motel is Calgary’s first, and most RV friendly, Boutique Motel. Located in the Montgomery neighbourhood, just south of Calgary’s Motel Village, the Centro offers stylish, trendy rooms at competitive prices. Also, our parking lot is just massive. For more information on booking, rooms and rates, check out the home page, or Contact Us.



Country 105 & Q107 Caring for Kids Radiothon at Alberta Children's Hospital

This week I'm doing a little favour for our neighbours up the hill from us, the Alberta Children's Hospital. On February 9^th, 10^th, and 11^th the local radio station Q107 and Country 105 will be holding a radiothon in a valiant bid to secure more funding to save sick kids. Personally, I like their chances.

 

Being as close as we are to the hospital we've played host to many visitors, as well as in-patients and out-patients, and it's hard to ignore the necessity of programs like this one. There's a lot more going on than just what's on the radio as well. This year, individuals can build their own fund raising pages on the Alberta Children's Hospital website and raise some donations either individually, or as teams. For a complete list on how to participate, click here and to see what all the fuss is about, watch the video below.