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THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
Wood Buffalo Inn officially opened its doors Nov. 10 with fully-booked suites and about 200 visitors.

Mickey Martselos, left, and parents Frieda Martselos and Peter Martselos stand before the newly-opened Wood Buffalo Inn in Fort Smith. - photo courtesy of Frieda Martselos

"The planning took about a year," said Frieda Martselos, who owns and operates the hotel with her husband, Peter Martselos.

"We started construction off-site in Lethbridge and then we brought units up here and Fort Smith Construction finished them. (The units) came in July and it's done. It's unbelievable, it's absolutely gorgeous."

Last Saturday's open house invited attendees to view the twin, queen and executive rooms.

Each of the nine rooms includes a separate bedroom, kitchenette, living room, full-sized stove and fridge, as well as free wireless Internetand local calling.

Martselos likened the Wood Buffalo Inn to the Capitol Suites in Yellowknife and the Greenway building in Hay River.

The goal of the hotel is to make Fort Smith a viable option for conferences, meetings and other economy-boosting events that usually end up in other communities.

"We're trying to enhance the market in Fort Smith," Martselos said. "We're not trying to take away from any establishment in Fort Smith. We just want to enhance it so we could have that extra capacity ... to cater to larger conferences and the whole Fort Smith area.

"A lot of time we lose a lot of conferences and meetings to other communities because we didn't have the capacity here."

Among those at the grand opening was George Tuccaro, commissioner of the NWT, Michael Miltenberger, MLA for Fort Smith, Brad Brake, mayor of Fort Smith, Martselos said.

"It all came together and our grand opening was a great success," said Martselos. "(The community of Fort Smith) is always there when it's time for supporting a new business, a new business venture and we are grateful for that."

The Martselos family runs Martselos Services Ltd. and has been in business in Fort Smith for 42 years, said Martselos. Their ventures have included catering and property management.

The Martselos also constructed, owned and operated the town liquor store for 14 years before selling to the store's current owner.

Frieda said she and her husband plan to hire local residents to join the hotel's staff as needed.

Wood Buffalo Inn joins seven other accommodation options already in the market, according to the Town of Fort Smith website.

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