Hotwire Hotel: 3* Calgary (Downtown) Ramada Calgary Downtown

[jamaholic]

Hi everyone,

 

 

I'm looking to book a downtown Calgary 4* but prices are ridiculously high given it's after school starts and on a Thursday. My question is, should I book this later as we approach my date? I searched Sept 1-2 and prices are 60% cheaper than what I'm getting on my date. If so, when should I book it? First week of September or will that be too late and prices will go back up again? 

 

 

Right now, I'm getting $222/night 4* downtown for Sept 11-12 with the following amenities:

 

 

Indoor pool(s)
  Smoke Free Rooms
  Fitness Center
  Pool(s)
Restaurant(s)
  Business Center
  Internet access
  Spa Services
Accessibility
Accessible for the deaf

 

95% Recommended

Originally CAD$333 now CAD$222

 

I'm guessing Hyatt Regency but I could be wrong. I also noticed another bidder who posted here with the same 4* downtown hotel, but the reply was Kensington Inn or Hotel Elan which was not on the Hotwire hotel list for Calgary. So thinking about my previous guess at Hyatt Regency would I be correct to assume that there are probably other 4* hotels in the downtown core that are not currently listed on the hotwire hotel list? Thanks a lot for your help!

[thereuare]

Please follow-up your previous Hotwire Las Vegas thread with whatever you ended up doing for that leg of your trip, then reply here and we will comment on your trip above.

Please remember to always 'close' your threads with your decisions/wins as you make them so that the information can help others in a timely manner, the board remains well organized and useful for everyone, and a courtesy to anyone who took the time to help with your travel plans.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Thanks.

[jamaholic]

I replied. Thanks for letting me know!

[thereuare]

Can you please add another reply to your Las Vegas Hotel thread indicating what service you used to book as well as any other details (room rate per nite, amenities, etc) of the purchase.

As far as your trip above, nobody can say if rates will come down, or move higher, between now and your trip, but there is an oil conference taking place from Sept 9-11, and i suspect that is the reason for the high rates you're seeing, and not related to the nearer dates being 'last minute'.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Please further follow-up your previous thread and then let us know how you'd like to proceed for this Calgary trip and we'll advise accordingly.

[jamaholic]

I did that as well. Thank you for the reply, I'm still trying to figure out which hotel this might be, any thoughts?

[blkjck1]

It wouldn't be the Kensington, as they don't have spa services.  The Hotel Elan offers spa services, but they are done inside your room and it looks like they subcontract that out to an external provider.  My thinking is that it is the Hyatt Regency, as they do have the highly regarded Stillwater Spa on their premises (at least in the eyes of my wife and her friends, who have made a small fortune off them).  If on your search that Hotwire says it has a Tripadvisor rating of 4, then I would say with confidence it is the Hyatt. 

 

As I mentioned in the other recent Calgary thread, I would not stay in downtown Calgary during the week if you have a vehicle or have business outside of the downtown core.  Parking at the hotels here is very pricey, and the parking lots charge a small fortune for casual parking because they can.   Getting in and out of downtown during rush hour can be an exercise in frustration, and current construction on 5th and 6th Avenues are making a rotten situation even worse.

 

[thereuare]

I believe there are more amenities then what you have posted above as HOTWIRE has a new interface that does not show the complete set of amenities unless you click thru a few extra links.

If you repeat your search using our BiddingHelper.com tool... use the HOTWIRE EASY VIEW tab and then click the GREEN BUTTON next to this listing, do you see more amenities then what you have listed above? Using this method below is the amenity set for the 4* property i'm seeing when searching for your dates:

Indoor Pool

Smoke Free

Fitness

Pool

Restaurant

Business

Hi-Speed Internet

Spa

Deaf Accessible

Travel Accessible

Room Accessible

Bathroom Accessible

... if this is what you're seeing, my best guess for this one would be the Hyatt Regency.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[jamaholic]

Thanks for the suggestion! I'm actually going with my mom and grandma to Banff and Jasper, so Calgary is just a stop before joining a local tour. We'll be in Calgary two days, the first day and the last day, but I won't be renting a car since it doesn't make any sense with parking and the fact that most of the trip we'll be on a tour, the only time we really need a car would be when we stay downtown, which we don't really need a car since public transit seems pretty easy to get around. That's why I'm trying to get a hotel downtown to make everything easier. Do you have any chance know what we should take from airport to the hotel downtown? Since we have no car, we'll have to either take the shuttle which costs $15 per person or taxi (not sure how much) or take the new transit line ($8.50 or $9 I forgot) but then again I'm not sure if this line will get me straight to my hotel, if transfer is required I might not do it since we also have luggages. I"m trying to find the best/most economical option. Thanks again!

[blkjck1]

A taxi into downtown will cost you about $40-45, plus tip.  You could also hire one of the black sedans, which is a $46.50 flat rate charge plus tip.  If it's the three of you at the airport together, I would take a cab or sedan.  It's not worth the savings to take the bus into a city you don't know.  If you're coming in during off-peak times, it's 15-20 minutes car ride. 

 

If it's one person at the airport, where time and budget isn't an issue, then taking a bus would be the best option.  Calgary Transit's bus shuttle (route 300) will cost you $8.50 per person if you board at the airport.  The Downtown Calgary Shuttle is $15 a person.  If you're on a budget, then the best option will be using the Calgary Transit shuttle.  Taking route 300 to the airport might only cost you $3 per person, but don't hold me to that.  A transfer isn't neccesary, but it might be a block or two walk to your hotel if it's the Hyatt or Delta Bow Valley.  If it's the Westin, the bus stops pretty close to it.  I would ask the driver to let you know which stop is best for you. 

 

Taking public transportation looks good on paper if you're wanting to explore parts of Calgary, but it depends on what you want to do.  Canada Olympic Park and Heritage Park aren't the best places to access through public transportation to name a couple of tourist attractions.  The Calgary Zoo is easily accessible via the C-Train LRT service. 

 

I live in Calgary, so if there's any help you would like, please ask.

[jamaholic]

Thanks so much again! We actually now have 4 people so it'll be best for us to take a cab to the hotel downtown. I'm still trying to wait for the right time to purchase, if I want a nice 4* hotel downtown, should I do HOTWIRE or PRICELINE (my ideal hotels are the westin, sheraton, and hyatt regency).

I'm still waiting for better pricing, do you know if there's any way on HOTWIRE or PRICELINE for me to avoid Kensington Inn/Hotel? All the 4* hotels listed on both hotwire and priceline hotel list don't include this particular hotel but this has been one of the potential outcomes right? This is the hotel that's really far for us to walk to and from Eau Claire Market especially when the 4 of us don't have a car. Thanks for the suggestion.

[blkjck1]

If you think the Kensington is far from Eau Claire, then you really wouldn't want the Elan either.  I think that you would get the Hyatt here, with the 4 Tripadvisor rating the website shows, while Kensington has a 4.5 rating with them.

 

Is there anything specific at Eau Claire Market that you are wanting to visit?  As a local, I don't find a whole lot there that is all that interesting or would fill out a long period of time.

[jamaholic]

If you think the Kensington is far from Eau Claire, then you really wouldn't want the Elan either.  I think that you would get the Hyatt here, with the 4 Tripadvisor rating the website shows, while Kensington has a 4.5 rating with them.

 

Is there anything specific at Eau Claire Market that you are wanting to visit?  As a local, I don't find a whole lot there that is all that interesting or would fill out a long period of time.

Yea, that's the reason why I don't want both Kensington and Elan. We are joining a tour for 4 days heading to Banff and Jasper, so Eau Claire Market is the place where the tour starts (so it's not really like I want to be there, but I have to be there). We do have 2 days (first and last day) to tour around Calgary, what are some of the places you can suggest us to visit? Any scenery and shopping hot spots? And what about food? I am now thinking of the possibility of renting a car, how much is parking downtown or at hotels? Thanks a lot!

[blkjck1]

Yea, that's the reason why I don't want both Kensington and Elan. We are joining a tour for 4 days heading to Banff and Jasper, so Eau Claire Market is the place where the tour starts (so it's not really like I want to be there, but I have to be there). We do have 2 days (first and last day) to tour around Calgary, what are some of the places you can suggest us to visit? Any scenery and shopping hot spots? And what about food? I am now thinking of the possibility of renting a car, how much is parking downtown or at hotels? Thanks a lot!

 

The best zoo in Canada I've ever been to is the Calgary Zoo.  That is very accessible with public transportation through the C-Train.  Heritage Park is a great rendition of what a late 1800s-early 1900s town would look like, and is reasonably accessible by public transportation.  To see a panoramic view of Calgary and the mountains to the west, the Calgary Tower is a great spot, but it's a lot like going up the Empire State Building.  Winsport Canada Olympic Park has the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, and a few activities that may appeal to the adventurous or young, like a zipline and bobsled track.  There are a lot of neat little shops and restaurants along 17 Ave SW, between 1 St and 14 St SW.  One of my favourite restaurants along 17 Ave is The Ox and Angela, which specializes in Spanish tapas.  Downtown, my favourite restaurant is Charcut.  There are also some neat restaurants in the downtown core along 8 Ave SW (also known as Stephen Ave).  Theatre Calgary has a good offering while you're there in a play called "One Man, Two Guvnors" that I enjoyed when it played in New York. 

 

As far as scenery goes, you're already doing Banff and Jasper, and that is better than anything you will see in Calgary. 

 

Shopping: in terms of mall shopping, Chinook Centre is the go to place in Calgary.  Downtown, it's TD Square.  If you are coming from the US, I don't think you'll find too much though.  While Canadians tend to copy the US in terms of fashion trends and tastes, we don't have quite the same selection and the pricing is worse here.  I shop as much as I can when I visit the US. 

[blkjck1]

Parking in downtown Calgary is absolutely ridiculous.  You're looking at anywhere between $25-45 a night to park a car.  There are car rental agencies in downtown Calgary, so it may make more sense to rent from downtown instead of the airport (where you have to pay the concession fees).  Thrifty and Budget for sure have locations downtown, and Enterprise has two locations within the downtown core, and they will pick you up. 

[jamaholic]

What's really weird is that I tried the BiddingHelper.com tool again and found out that the Saturday and Sunday nights of the same week I want to book, the same 4* hotel is only in the low $100s, where as the dates I want to book (one on Thursday night, one on Monday night) the prices are like $200+. Is there any reason why weekends are so much cheaper than regular weekday nights? The petroleum conference ends on 11th in Banff, so I'm not sure how it'll affect the rates.

[jamaholic]

I am rethinking my options again. For my first night, perhaps I should book an airport hotel because it's much cheaper than DT hotels, rent a car ($40 which is about the same if we took a taxi to a DT hotel) and drive it around the city to sight see (??) Is there any convenient/free parking north of the river? There's a few ramen places I want to try on 12th-14th street (and I see that you mentioned about the neat shops and restaurants there), what about parking availability/rates? If so, I'll explore this part of calgary on day 1 and stay downtown on my last day so we can do some shopping in the DT core. As I'm with two seniors (70+ years old) and one mom, I don't think we'll be doing any of the cool activities. Do you suggest us to see weaselhead?

[blkjck1]

I think that would be a great plan to get a non-downtown hotel and rent a car your first day here.  If the ramen places you are thinking of are what I think they are, then you're right in the middle of Kensington (which isn't that far away from the Kensington Riverside Inn, and within walking distance).  There is street parking in Kensington, along with a few lots.  The parking rates are quite reasonable.  Keep in mind that the street parking is metered in a special way, and you'll need to note what your license plate is when you register for parking on the street (it's a long explanation).  However, street parking can be hard to come by, and parking on 10 St NW is affected by rush hour parking restrictions.  If you want to take the C-Train into Kensington, you can take it to the Sunnyside station and then walk about 2-3 blocks into Kensington.

 

I've lived here nearly 21 years, and have never visited the Weaselhead, nor do I know of many who would specifically go there.  I can't help you there.  If you have a vehicle, then I would look at the Zoo or Heritage Park.  If you want to spend some more time in the mountains, you could drive to Canmore.  Canmore is a town located about 15 minutes away from Banff, and many people live there to get the mountain living without being in Banff. 

 

Keep in mind though that if you rent a car and stay near the airport, you still need to find a way to meet your tour bus at Eau Claire Market.

[jamaholic]

I thought of driving to canmore on the first day, but since my banff-jasper-yoho tour starts the next day, I'm not so sure about driving for two hours (forward and back) to canmore since I'll pass by it on my way to banff. Are the ramen places any good? I'm thinking of ramen for lunch and the spanish tapas you suggested for dinner on the first day. If parking is going to be a hassle so I might have to reconsider driving there. But then if I'm going to stay at an airport hotel, I could technically take the free airport shuttle, and then take public transit downtown (is this convenient or a lot of transfers), then I probably wouldn't even need the car in the first place. God this is driving me nuts considering all the possibilities I could have and I still can't find a convenient and economical option. And if I'm going to Eau Claire Market I would either drive there with the rented vehicle (and drop off the vehicle at one of the dt locations), or I could walk there if I decide to stay at a DT hotel.

[jamaholic]

Hi, I posted earlier in the hotwire section but the rates are not that great and the 4 stars also include Hotel Elan and Kensington Inn which are far from where I need to be. I checked out the list for priceline hotels and found that there are only 3 results for 4* downtown calgary, which are exactly the ones I'm looking for (I'll be happy with any result if it's any of the 3). My question is, does Priceline Express or Bid have other 4* hotels not mentioned on the hotel list section of this forum? Like I said, I want to avoid Hotel Elan and Kensington Inn, and would preferably want to say in Eau Claire Market Sheraton, or Hyatt Regency downtown, or Westin downtown. Thanks for your input!

[blkjck1]

I don't think taking public transportation from the airport makes a lot of sense.  It is a Bus Rapid Transit route (BRT), but BRT still means it is making potential stops at designated locations, and only runs every 20 minutes.  There aren't any transfers, but I wouldn't do it unless I was on a budget.  It would still be about 30 minutes from the airport to downtown, and you'd have to transfer to get to Kensington or 17 Ave.  Yes, if you can find a car rental that lets you drop downtown, then that does make sense.  In general, I am not a fan of Calgary Transit, but that prejudice is based on the times I couldn't afford parking in downtown Calgary in the earlier part of my career and relied on the overcrowded buses and LRT to get to work. 

 

Parking in Kensington and around 17 Ave isn't as horrible as I make it out to be, but you may have to do a little walking to your ultimate destination once you find parking.  There is more parking available around 17 Ave. 

 

I am not familiar with the ramen restaurants in Calgary.  However, I will give you this link to follow if you want one man's opinion on the ramen scene in Calgary.  I'm not sure Wa's is still open though.

http://www.calgaryjournal.ca/index.php/living/1999-for-the-love-of-ramen

 

In Banff, my favourite restaurants are The Grizzly House (fondue specialists), Melissa's (North American), and Balkan - The Greek Restaurant.  I've not been to Jasper for 20 years, so I can't help you there.

[thereuare]

I posted earlier in the hotwire section...

Please keep all posts for the same stay in the same thread. Once you win a hotel use the "ADD REPLY and REPORT WIN" button on the lower right corner of this page to report the details of your purchase... the entire thread will automatically be moved to the correct section of the board (if necessary).

 

My question is, does Priceline Express or Bid have other 4* hotels not mentioned on the hotel list section of this forum?

Yes, there can be others... the hotel lists only contain hotels that have been reported to the board. See the comments at the top of the Priceline Hotel List.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[jamaholic]

I'm looking at HOTWIRE 3* downtown again:

 

FULL AMENITIES: Free Internet, Pet friendly, Fitness Center, Pool(s), Restaurant(s), Business Center, Self service laundry, Internet access, Accessible path of travel, In-room accessibility, Accessible bathroom, Handicapped parking, Roll-in shower

$123/night 70% recommended

 

Do you know what this will be?

[thereuare]

My guess for this 3* Downtown property would be the Ramada Hotel Downtown Calgary.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

[jamaholic]

My guess for this 3* Downtown property would be the Ramada Hotel Downtown Calgary.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Let us know how it goes or if we can be of further help.

 

 

Thanks! What about:

 

3* Calgary Airport

 

Free Parking, Free Breakfast, Free Internet, Indoor pool(s), Smoke Free Rooms, Fitness Center, Self service laundry, Internet access

 

$79/night  80% Recommended?

[AaronJB]

I'm not seeing a 3* with these amenities when searching for 9/11-12. Are you still seeing this listing? If so, how many people are you searching for?

 

Thank you for using the board's HOTWIRE or PRICELINE links to start your purchases and searches.