Saturday, August 7, 2010

The Regina Monologues


I found the experience of flying into Regina fascinating. At first all you see is the seemingly endless prairies, dotted with bright yellow canola fields. Then you come upon something that looks exactly - and I mean *exactly* - like the city map provided by the Regina Regional Opportunities Commission (http://www.reginaroc.com/). You can take in the entire city below you at a single glance. At its heart is the 2300-acre Wascana Park (bigger than New York's Central Park and Vancouver's Stanley Park put together) with its imported greenery and man-made lakes. You can also make out the Delta Hotel, Regina's tallest building, and then cutting a straight-edge through the city right to the horizon, the trans-Canada highway.

Regina feels like the most Canadian city I've ever been to, after Ottawa. Yes, being greeted at the airport by two Mounties in their red serge jackets, balloon paints, tall boots and stetsons might have something to do with it. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police "Depot" is located here, where every Mountie in Canada trains for at least six months. This is also home to the Canadian Football League's most spirited fans; going to a Saskatchewan Roughrider game was a little like Halloween, Mardi Gras, and the Olympics all rolled into one afternoon!

During our visit we learned about an exciting downtown revitalization project centred on historic Victoria Square, and we sampled some of the city's culinary delights including the Copper Kettle's famous pizza, and food and brewskie pairings at Beer Brothers.

A few hotel highlights:

The Regina Inn Hotel & Conference Centre
Offering 235 spacious guestrooms (all with complimentary internet access and free local calls), this venerable downtown Regina hotel has been welcoming guests in 1967. Its 20,000 square feet of meeting space divides across three floors, with four ballrooms and eight meeting rooms. http://www.reginainn.com/

The Delta Regina
Already mentioned as the tallest building in the city, the Delta also has the largest ballroom (14,580 square feet) which has been recently renovated. (We loved the bold carpet choice!) With only 274 guestrooms they often partner with the neigbouring Wingate Hotel for overflow accommodation. The Delta is also attached by pedway to Casino Regina which has a tiered Show Room with stage that can be used for tradeshows or other functions. www.deltahotels.com/

Hotel Saskatchewan Radisson Plaza
Ideally located overlooking the soon-to-be-redeveloped Victoria Square, this historic hotel ws built in 1927. It boasts a (truly!) Royal Suite and old-fashioned working barber shop as well as 13 elegant function rooms Guestrooms offer complimentary internet and Radisson-standard Sleep Number beds. http://www.radisson.com/

Your comments, questions, and suggestions are always welcome!

Julie


Julie Epplett, CMP
Global Account Manager
ConferenceDirect®

1 comment:

  1. What a great write up Julie, and look at you surrounded by manly men! Your description of Regina makes me want to go there right now! Thanks, and congrats on starting a blog.

    Cheers,
    Yvette

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