The Fort Garry Hotel Sunset Terrace and Bar opened just before Canada Day. Tree planters create a little bit of space of the western side of the hotel and face out to Broadway. At 96 seats, it is the right size to create a bit of life on one of the most people friendly streets in town.
Like a lot of businesses, it is doing a slow roll out. Part of the is the restrictions in place as the province moves to double vaccinations. The other part is that many businesses are re-staffing and it requires patience to get teams back together, And in this case, it is a new business operation so first impressions are important.
In the next two weeks expect a seven day operation split between breakfast and afternoon/early evening shifts. There will not be festivals or concerts of any size till fall and most offices are no where near capacity.
The convention, trade and festival season is going to boom when it is safe to do but the desire to be outside is not likely to go away.
Given how many restaurants that have gone under, a re-thinking on pick-up windows, delivery and patios is inevitable. For hotels and convention centres, you wonder if they are not thinking about it as well. Several patios have opened lately in places that seemed unlikely.
And this is a good thing.
This has been a editorial by John Dobbin.
To read more from John, visit his blog Observations, Reservations, Conversations
