Calgary resident Gord Relph, 26, was given the option to provide special instructions when booking his room at Winnipeg's Fairmont Hotel.
"So I wrote down, 'Pre-made pillow fort, and a vanilla Coke,'" he said.
Hotel staff obliged, leaving him a stack of pillows with a note that read "DYI (sic) Pillow Fort Kit" and a coupon for two vanilla Cokes to be made by hotel chefs — plus candy to fuel his fort-building mission.
Hotel sales and marketing director Jacques Lavergne said that fulfilling Relph's unique request is just part of the Fairmont experience.
"We've got a remarkable team here at the hotel," Lavergne told Metro Winnipeg.
"Oddly enough, this isn't a one off — we deal with an interesting mix of clientele here and we get some pretty off-the-wall requests. It's part of the culture here at the hotel."
Relph shared his fort-building efforts in an online photo gallery. Within 18 hours, his fort attracted nearly 300,000 hits.
"Based on how much coverage I have received, I consider this the best pillow fort of all time," Relph told the Winnipeg Sun.
His finishing touch: a "No Girls Allowed" sign designed to make his girlfriend, Katie, laugh.
Relph told Metro Winnipeg that he used the fort — and even spent the night on the floor.