Hotel has been historic Royal-ty BY GREG PRICE AND
THE TABER IRRIGATION IMPACT MUSEUM insight magazine
tional Cheers was to the city of Boston. The Royal Hotel and the Palace Hotel were built at roughly the same time, with both being finished throughout 1906/1907. The Palace Hotel seemed to appeal to a bit
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more rough and tumble clientele back in the day. The Palace was just across the street from the CPR station and could be seen clearly with their neon sign shining through the night,making it attractive for those who came to Taber via the night trains. The Royal Hotel was a few blocks north and east of the CPR station,making it less attractive for those who were arriving late. It seemed to be known as a bit more of a gen-
teel hotel, popular for families and groups with women. These two hotels are some of the buildings
that were here earliest in Taber and that have survived through to today, even though both have gone through extensive renovations with the Royal being moved to a more uptown loca- tion in 1909.
hile it may not be the bar where everyone knows your name, the Royal Tavern in its iconic nature to Taber is the same as the fic-
The latest owner is Ron Remfert, who pur- chased The Royal in June 1976, but there was a wide flux of owners between 1972 and 1976, with the Bonetti family owning The Royal before that. “Owning any private business for that long (43
years currently) in Taber is something. It’s a sense of pride,”said Remfert.“And it hasn’t got any eas-
ier.In the 1970s and 1980s,we were more tavern orientated and rented rooms out by the night, but now we have the monthly suites with the hotel and the liquor store and the VLTs (installed in 1992).The bars back in those days were more band and entertainment orientated,not so much now, be it Taber or Lethbridge,”continued Remfert, adding The Royal featured off-track gambling until the early 2000s and exotic dancers in the 1980s. Remfert has been in the hotel/bar business
since he was young, carrying on the tradition from his grandfather and father who dabbled in Saskatchewan,Medicine Hat,Taber, northern Alberta and B.C. “I was kind of shoved into
it.That’s the best
way to explain it.I was 23 years old and I needed a job,”said Remfert with a smile.“My dad made one available for me (The Royal) and he had con- fidence in me.He liked the Medicine Hat area better and I was drawn to Taber, I got married here in ‘79 and raised three children, and grand- children and they all live here in Taber.”
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door, attached to its bar. “Nowadays, it’s not as much pricing as it is
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product.You can buy Budweiser products for ‘X’number per six pack,and you can go down to Rainier and buy it for
whatever.They have some pretty cheap beer nowadays if peo- ple want to go that
way.You go down to the tav- ern and they pretty much want Bud Light,” said Remfert with a chuckle. Remfert prides himself on having staff that has
worked either in the tavern or the liquor store long term, with the liquor store being built in 1993. “It’s good courteous service with longevity in management and with employees, which is a drawing card,”said Remfert.“Especially in a com- munity this size, that matters. In the big city it doesn’t matter as much, you can get lost in the crowd.”
One of those long-term employees is Angie
Currie,who has been a server for 13 1/2 years. The reasons Currie has stayed for so long have been many,as she works the day shift. “I like the guys that come in and my bosses are
definitely a big part of it,”said Currie of Remfert and Tod Pickerell,who bought part ownership into The Royal back in September 1993.“The cus- tomers make it so pleasant. I come in here and I laugh and be myself.Who can honestly say they truly enjoy their job? Not too many people.
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