Traditionally, hotels were designed for one thing: sleeping. But when developer John Torode conceived of Calgary’s first boutique hotel, Hotel Arts, in the city’s Beltline warehouse district, he had a lot more than beds in mind. He envisioned a hotel that would suit guests when their eyes were open as well as it would when they were closed.
Indeed, Torode wanted to not only soothe visitors but also stimulate them. And, in the process, he wanted to stimulate the community, too. Calgary was a yawn; he wanted to make it a yodel.
Although Torode exited Hotel Arts Group in 2010, the hotel has since continued its transformation under the leadership of general manager and vice president Mark Wilson and director of business development at Hotel Arts Group, Fraser Abbott.