The new owner of the Westmark Klondike Inn says the hotel will be getting a $1-million facelift and begin operating year-round again.

The downtown hotel will become a Quality Inn, part of the international hotel chain, Baldev Johal, president of the Winterfell Hotel Group, told the Star this morning.

The property will officially change hands Sept. 1 and work will begin almost immediately, Johal said.

He is hopeful it will be able to start welcoming guests by January 2013.

The 99-room hotel was put up for sale early last year by Holland America, which owned the property since 1982 and ran it seasonally every summer. At one time, it had been open year-round.

Niether side is speaking about the sale price. Ads for the property list the asking price as $5.95 million.

The three-floor, 63,000-sq.-ft. building includes a 275-seat bar, 85-seat restaurant as well as a lounge, banquet room and café. The property consists of four land parcels totalling 4.09 acres.

Officials with Holland America have said the hotel did "pretty well” during the summer, but not enough to keep it on the books.

Johal said the upgrades, combined with expanding the hotel's target market, can make it profitable all year.

"The previous owner focused primarily on tour groups and seasonal visitors. We are going to be marketing the hotel to Whitehorse visitors year-round,” he said.

The Winterfell Hotel Group currently owns two hotels in Alaska.

"We are excited to become part of Whitehorse,” Johal said. "It's a growing market, and we think this will be good for the community.”

No decision has been made as to how many people will be on staff, he said.

Choice Hotels International, Inc., the American company which franchises the Quality Inn hotels, has approximately 6,200 hotels, representing more than 495,000 rooms, in the United States and more than 30 other countries.

The company's website lists 80 Quality Inns in Canada. This appears to be the first in any of the territories.