Bridge Blog 1109-B: Niagara Falls, Ont., Regional -- Goodbye, Crowne Plaza Hotel

Niagara’s next regional tournament, right after Labor Day in 2020, will not return to this grand old establishment overlooking one of the wonders of the world. When the Unit 255 people went to negotiate new dates, the Crowne Plaza wanted too much money.

So the tournament will set up shop in an affordable, but unmemorable, box on a tacky commercial strip – the Holiday Inn and Suites Parkway Conference Center in St. Catharines, Ont. At least it will feel like home. That’s where they hold the February sectional tournament.

It won’t have the view. It won’t have the casino and the casino’s buffet next door. It won’t have two Starbucks coffee shops downstairs. And it won't have ballrooms with a touch of 1920s elegance. But at least it will be superior to the place that hosts the Buffalo regional – the Buffalo Grand Hotel, formerly the Adam’s Mark – where the carpets are repaired with tape and out-of-town guests were complaining that they couldn’t get towels.

Ballroom full of bridge players at the Crowne Plaza Hotel