【Hotel Review】Calgary Marriott Downtown Hotel

Introduction

Marriott has redesigned and renovated many of its hotels since last year, and Calgary Marriott Downtown is a great example. This hotel is located in the heart of the city: right across the Calgary tower and by the Stephen Avenue, you are literally within walking distance to many great restaurants, shopping centers. And if you are lucky enough, there would be some parades near that area on weekends if a major event is held.

You can find a list of redesigned Marriott Hotels here.

Review

The front-desk staff is friendly enough, and the lady that helped me this time (it is really a pity that I forgot to ask her name) was really nice: she not only noticed my platinum membership at once, but also asked my preference for the room type in great details. Since I had already stayed in the corner room-a very spacious suite last time, and since I am the only person to stay this time, I kindly asked if I could get a higher floor room with "skyline view", and she rapidly arranged the room for me. 


The lobby of this hotel is very functional and has lots of seats to sit on if you are waiting for your friends or relatives to check-in for you. It is more inclined to be business style, but in this cowboy city you can be casual anyway...

In terms of the room, the overall color is a bit cold for me: grey and white turn out to be the mainstream color in the room, but is balanced with the grown furniture. I am amazed by the painting on the wall, which is really local (I think it depicts the landscape of Banff). The difference between the suite and the skyline room is that the corner suite has a very large living room equipped with a kitchen space, but for this time I do not need that extra space-instead, I found the view from the top floor isn't bad. 

Washroom has bright light and is very clean. The bathing amenities are my favorite among the same tier hotels: Thann, a Thailand brand that gives you a touch of orange scent and soft finish on your hair and skin. Definitely recommend taking home! 

When it comes to the lounge, Marriott now calls it M Lounge. It is located on the second floor, and you can buy the lounge access or have it free as gold or platinum members. This lounge has a patio, which can be a perfect place to spend more time in the afternoon if you happen to have free time there. i Mac and printers are handy in the room. There are also some plants that make this lounge more vivid. If you want to charge your phone/laptop when in the lounge, it would be very easy, and that's another very useful feature of this lounge. 

The Happy Hour offers you some snacks and appetizers, and you can have alcohols at your cost as well: lots of choice out there. The breakfast is decent: more than bacon, sausage and egg, they provide you with deli board, fungee, and fried noodles- very delicious. 

In Calgary where there are no luxury hotels such as Ritz-Carlton and Four Seasons, and where Fairmont is a bit too old-fashioned and conservative, Calgary Downtown Marriott is probably the best hotel in the city. 

Tips :

I always book with Marriott official website, and the reasons: 

1. I can earn stay, night, and points (SNP), which in turn can help me redeem free stay in the future. 

2. The official website has the Best Rate Guarantee, by that it means if you find a lower price, Marriott will match it and give you another 25% off on the room. 

3. I have the Platinum membership with Marriott. For those who want to get an elite membership with Marriott, you can apply for American Express Platinum Card, and you will get gold elite membership with SPG and Marriott and much more..

You can earn 60,000 welcome points if you use our referral link to apply: Click to Apply.