| rev:text
| - I ended up booking a room at the Marriott in downtown Calgary, despite the fact that I'm "local."
"Why," you ask, eyebrows raised suspiciously?
Well let's just say I was participating in an event after work where significant quantifies of alcohol would be consumed... and the cab rides home and back, as well as needing to work downtown the following day, made an overnighter seem more reasonable.
Soooo.... I'm reviewing a Calgary hotel from the perspective of a Calgarian, but also as someone who has done significant business travel through the years. This includes lengthy stays at other Marriott's.
The verdict?
Well, this hotel would love to consider itself "5 star," but unfortunately, it is not. There are pros and cons to weigh before you stay.
Pros:
-- The location. It sits between the Calgary Tower, and Stephen Avenue. You have a wide array of restaurants within a block. These include Charcut, Catch, and Divino.
Physically connected to the Marriot is Milestone's, which I consider one of the better "chain" restaurants.
As well, the hotel has its own restaurant and bar, which includes a rooftop patio overlooking Stephen Avenue.
In addition:
-- It's a block from the LRT, so all of downtown is readily accessible without a cab.
-- it's physically connected to the Telus Convention Center
-- there are breakout meeting rooms for conference hosting
-- a Starbucks in the lobby.
-- valet Parking
Cons:
-- Valet Parking. Yeah... It was a "pro" in some respects, but a con in others. Here's why: they charge an additional $35 a day for this service, on top of the tip you will no doubt feel obligated to provide. You will also pay for any additional vehicles/guests, even if they are visiting for dinner. Your only other real option is to seek out nearby Impark lots, which in the core, are nearly as expensive.
-- The valet parking is kind of inconvenient if you want to stop by your room for a while, and head out again later. It can take up to half an hour for the valets to retrieve your vehicle, so call ahead.
-- Additional $15.95 per day for high speed internet. Seriously, if I were traveling to Calgary on a regular basis for business, I'd skip any hotel that charges extra for this. The novelty of "high speed" vs. dial up died years ago. Make it free.
And as an aside, I also find it interesting that higher priced hotels feel the need to charge for Internet access, while the cheaper ones throw it in. Why is that? What are we paying the premium for, exactly?
-- For the price, the room was nothing special. It was clean, modern, but of the "older/smaller/but recently refurbished" variety. So without knocking down walls, they are still limited to the physical dimensions of when the hotel was built.
-- The price. All in, the room was way too pricey for what I was getting.
Overall, it would be fine for an out of town business traveler who was cabbing it from the airport IF they were getting a decent corporate rate. Otherwise, for the price, it falls short.
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