Canada Edmonton Westin

[blkjck1]

With the exception of the Hotel MacDonald (which is a heritage property), this is Edmonton's top hotel.

I have stayed at this hotel twice, once on a normal booking, and another on a Priceline booking. We found that this hotel does live up to the Westin name, and have very few complaints. It was noted though by the desk clerk upon checki n that we had booked on the PL rate, but was given a 9th floor king room equipped with a huge flat screen tv.

What I would complain about is the parking situation. The underground parkade (important especially during the cold Edmonton winter) is tiny. It doesn't take too many cars to fill the place up. The hotel suggests that if you cannot find a place to park, you can park your car in an outdoor lot just south of the hotel. The only problem with that lot is that the lot fills up quickly as well.

There is an alternative suggestion if you are staying at this place on the weekend, which will give you underground parking at a very cheap rate. If you park at the Scotia Place parkade, which is about a half block away, you can park overnight for a flat rate of $2.50. The rate also applies for the rest of the weekend. While you don't get in/out privldedges for doing so, it is better than the overnight rate at the Westin, especially if you are forced to park at the overflow lot. Enter Scotia Place parkade on 101 Street just south of Jasper Ave. When you come out of the parkade, you wind up in the Scotia Place office tower, and then go onto Rice Howard Way for half a block until you hit 100 St and the Westin.

[cober6711]

Got this place for an absolute steal off Priceline...$80 for one night, $81 for the other; rack rate was a whopping $379! I nearly fainted when Priceline accepted my bids for this one :)

I called in advance to ask for a King bed on a high floor, and was told it would be OK since I was SPG Gold. No mention of PL at check-in, but they claimed my requested king bed was not available and that all they had was 2 double beds on the 5th floor. I whipped out my SPG Gold card and a king bed on the 14th floor magically appeared...SCORE!

The 14th floor was one of their 'preferred floors' really nothing special up there. The room, 1411, was typical Westin, with the Heavenly bed and the usual decor; quite similar to the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto.

There was a teachers conference going on, and there was a LOT of noise coming from the next room...so I complained and security came up quickly. After security left, the people in the next room came to my door threatening me that if I called security there would be problems...anyway another call to the manager got me 4000 starpoints due to this; they said they come every year and have never had this problem.

I really liked the pool. While small, for some reason it was like 102 degrees; not sure if the heater had gone haywire or if this was normal, but it was like swimming a giant stagnant hot tub!

Change rooms were very old and ugly. There were also free apples in a few different places throughout the hotel.

Oh, and watch your credit card! There were funny charges after I left which took a LONG time to resolve, but I ended up getting another 7000 starpoints because of that!

Overall, an alright stay, however, I must say I much preferred the 2.5* Courtyard over the Westin.

[crisilton]

Edmonton Westin Downtown. Got a nice room on the 17th Floor for $70 plus taxes on PRICELINE. I initially bid $55 and they suggested I could get a 4 star hotel for just $15 more, so I changed my bid to $70. I dont know if they would have accepted a lower amount. Our stay was good with very friendly staff, the hotel restaurant was nice for lunch and reasonable value for a hotel. If you have a slightly late lunch, they will bring you free desserts from the breakfast buffet table as they tear it down, rather than throw them out. The location is great, across from the new art gallery. There was an empty and working bar fridge you can use. The pool was relatively large and clean, the work out room has nice equipment. Parking is a bit of an issue as the hotel wants $26 a day. Evenings and Sundays are free on street, check the signs tho. Internet was 9.95.

[fritzeg]

There is a HUGE underground parkade just north of the Westin underneath the main Public Library. It is connected by an underground pedway to the Westin. I'm surprised the front desk didn't tell you. Much closer than Scotia Place and similar price. Much cheaper than the Westin's own parkade and the distance to the lobby is short. The pedway takes you into the Westin's lower floor so you can take an escalator or elevator up to the lobby.