Scenes From Montgomery (Happy New Year from Centro)

Well, it's been a very interesting first year in business for the Centro Motel. Our integration into the rapidly developing Montgomery community has been surprisingly rewarding, and not entirely without surprises.

What at first appears to be a normal run-of-the-mill Calgary community has surprising depth. At first I thought to attempt to describe the community we thrive in in a lengthy blog post, but I ran into a few problems.

First, how do you accurately describe the 'feel' of a community? It's easy to write things like 'Montgomery is a small community located just south of Motel Village', or 'we're the westward vista you are presented with when looking out the windows of the Alberta Children's Hospital'. However, objective descirptions fail utterly at conveying the spirit of the neighborhood.

Second, how can one individual express the totality of a whole community's worth of individuals? You can't. Or, at least, I can't.

So, I came up with the idea of a photo-blog style post. Pictures are worth a thousand words, right? And these are pictures I took myself, along with pictures from a photographer's photo-blog and the nices shots I could pul off of Gogle Earth. So, these thousands of words aren't just mine. They're ours.



Fertility Treatments in Calgary: What To Look For In a Hotel Room

I would like to go on record here by saying that it is impossible to write an article with 'fertility treatments' and 'hotel room' as subjects without creating a title that opens the door to a thousand dirty jokes. I've spent far too much time trying to come up with a joke-proof title already, and I'm done. For anyone actually looking for a hotel that understands what it's like to go through diagnostic and treatment programs for both male and female infertility, congratulations, you've found the right article. For anyone else, try putting an 'x' or three in your search field next time. Ya weirdos.

“Looking for a hotel room for your next fertility treatment? Try the Centro Motel!”

Yep, there's a joke in there... somewhere.

Since we're actually quite close to the Regional Fertility Program centre in the Foothills Hospital , we've had a few guests stay with us while they were in town for their treatments. The first time we were told that a guest would be staying with us for this purpose, I wasn't sure how to prepare the room. Or even if the room had to be prepared in any way. After all, since I'm still at the stage in a man's life where the idea of having kids causes my heart to accelerate in that special way that can only be caused by sheer terror, or a 4-pack of Red Bull, I hadn't really looked into what is involved in a fertility treatment. I won't go into the details, since anyone looking for a motel to stay in while they receive such a treatment is probably already going to know what they're all about, but there are really just two main points for a hotelier to remember.

1. Keep it down!

2. Blackout blinds are a good thing.

Apparently, the perfect environment for recuperating from a fertility treatment is the same kind of environment you look for when you go for a nap. As long as it's quiet, dark, and comfortable you're probably going to come up aces. Luckily, we have an excellent housekeeping team that treat “Do Not Disturb” signs like spiritual commandments, thick walls to muffle even the loudest hotel guest (Except during the Grey Cup. There is no force on earth that will let you have an uninterrupted nap on that day.), and some very effective black-out blinds that do a great job of turning day into night.

So, rest assured that at the Centro Motel you can rest up after your treatments. You'll need it, too. After all, you're about to have a baby.

The Centro Motel is Calgary’s first Boutique Motel. Located in the Montgomery neighborhood, just south of Calgary’s Motel Village, The Centro offers stylish, trendy rooms at competitive prices, which are just great for enjoying glorious, glorious naps. For more information on booking, rooms and rates, check out the home page, or Contact Us.

Related articles

• Fertility Treatment: The Types of Fertility Treatment Available (fertility-treatment-types.suite101.com)

• Fertility treatment can lead to more boys (telegraph.co.uk)

• LDP's Noda, 49, pregnant via fertility treatment (search.japantimes.co.jp)

• More not always better with IVF treatments (ctv.ca)



Medical Facilities Near the Centro Motel

Morgue's are creepy as hell. That's pretty much a universal truth we can all agree on. So, when I was informed by a guest that our motel is near one, I was hoping they were wrong and that the morgue was far enough away to be out of the stumbling range of the average Zombie. Luckily, I was assured that the Medical Examiner's Office (just a fancy way of saying 'Morgue') was a quick drive away, but was far too long of a walk to be a practical approach for any recently arisen living dead.

FYI, Zombies kinda freak me out.

Not that I don't care about you, but...

However, the whole incident made me realise that I don't know our neighborhood as well as I thought.

It turns out the Centro Motel is right in the middle of a group of hospitals, clinics and medical centers. Up the hill from us there's the Alberta Children's Hospital, Foothills Hospital, and the Gimbel Eye Centre. And down the street we have the Bowglen Medical Clinic, the Vive Integrative Health Clinic, and the Calgary Well Woman Clinic. While this is evidently quite convenient for many travelers visiting Calgary in order to visit a significant other currently enjoying some quality medical care, it does have one major drawback...

If there's ever a Zombie Apocalypse, we're all gonna die.

The Centro Motel is Calgary’s first Zombie-proof Boutique Motel. Sort of. Located in the Montgomery neighbourhood, just south of Calgary’s Motel Village, The Centro offers stylish, trendy rooms at competitive prices, as well as a direct avenue of escape from the city should the hordes of the living dead rise against us. For more information on booking, rooms and rates, check out the home page, or Contact Us.

Related articles

• Toonie drive nets $300,000 for Alberta Children's Hospital (calgaryherald.com)

• Wildrose Alliance touts ER fixes (calgaryherald.com)



3 Scenic Drives In The Mountains Near Calgary

Calgary has a lot to recommend it to travellers, but it isn’t really a great driving city. In fact, personally, I feel that driving through downtown Calgary during rush hour is similar to attempting to solve a Rubik’s cube while being yelled at in four different languages at a Nascar rally. However, there are some great drives to be had nearby. While driving through the prairies has its charms, for me it’s the mountains that will always be the better choice for eye candy. Now, before you read on, keep in mind that these roads can be dangerous in the winter if you, or your car, are unprepared.

Bow Valley Parkway

This is a lovely stretch of road that begins at the Sunshine Turnoff near Banff, and continues all the way up to Lake Louise.  While the speed limit is low (50 Km) it can be a very pleasant drive. The road is surrounded by dense forest, some of which is currently recovering from an extensive forest fire. This makes for a very relaxing drive, but is a little lacking in the “sweeping vistas” department. However, if you're more into spotting wildlife, well, as the above picture suggests there are a ton of Bighorn Sheep in the area.

Smith-Dorrien Highway

The Smith Dorrien is essentially a large gravel road with a speed limit of 80 Kms an hour. The road runs through the Spray Valley and can be approached through Kananaskis Country, or through Canmore. There are some tremendous mountain views to be seen up here, as well as a pretty good chance of seeing a Moose. They love it up there near Mt Engadine Lodge. Which reminds me, they have a pretty good restaurant there too...

Icefields Parkway

In my opinion this is the nicest drive in Alberta. And, yes, I have driven all over most of Alberta so don’t even start. While it can be a bit frustrating if you get stuck behind a slow-mover, the views of the mountains are absolutely grand. The high point of the drive, both in Altitude and in interest, are the Columbia Icefields. That’s not to say that the rest of it isn’t nice, though.  Although, a word of warning. This road is true to its name in that it gets very icy, very fast in the winter. If you’re heading out here anytime from mid-fall to late spring, make sure your vehicle is ready to get a grill fun of winter.  



Everything You Need In One Tiny Suitcase

            Due to the Centro Motel’s proximity to the Trans Canada Highway and the Aberta Children’s Hospital, we get a lot of families staying with us. Sometimes that means we have to come up with somewhat specialised furniture on short notice. Some families only really need to rent one room, but will require a crib to be installed in it, or a play pen. Due to most of our storage already being taken up with a fantastic collection of nearly useful bric-a-brac we typically rent these items from local providers. Recently, we’ve been renting the strollers, high chairs, and cribs that we need through a company called One Tiny Suitcase and, in short, it’s been great.

It looks like a suitcase, but it's not. It's a breast pump.

            While there is certainly something to be said for owning and maintaining your own equipment, there is also the added cost of cleaning and storing the items. For our needs it suits us better to rent the units, therefore outsourcing the cleaning and storage to One Tiny Suitcase. Fortunately, they carry all the top brand names in baby gear. I don’t actually know much about baby gear myself, but I understand that this to be a good thing. But then, all I really need to know is that they can deliver and set up all their products seven days a week, and that makes extremely convenient for us and the travelling families that stay with us.  

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