Calgary Airport Marriott In-Terminal Hotel [Master Thread]
The brand new "Calgary Airport Marriott In-Terminal Hotel" had its grand opening today.
It's a new build, right inside YYC's new international terminal ... in the connecting corridor between that brand new terminal and the main/existing airport structure. (The new terminal will handle all international and U.S. flights, which will move over from the current 1970s era main terminal on Oct 31.)
The lobby is on the departures level, just a few steps from where the new int'l/US check-in areas will soon be (concourses D and E), and equally close to Air Canada's existing domestic check-in area (concourse C). There's also hotel access directly from the arrivals level, adjacent to the soon-to-be exit from Canadian Customs for arriving international fliers.
I had a chance to tour the hotel today -- and it's absolutely stunning. By far, it's the nicest Marriott that I've ever seen. (Mind you, every other 'Marriott' branded hotel that I've stayed at has been an old building that's gone through various renos and facelifts, such as the convenient-but-dingy Marriott IAH). The design seems closer to a JW than a mainstream Marriott -- very bright, open, and funky modern. The employee who toured me through the space was great, and I was impressed with both her knowledge of the hotel and her stories of how they prepped for their opening -- two full weeks of training, coaching and teambuilding to get ready for today.
300+ rooms, half of which have stunning runway/downtown/mountain views. Club lounge on the top floor. A floor of meeting rooms, including a stunning ballroom (yep, a ballroom . . . inside an airport terminal). A decent indoor pool, and a great workout room with views over the tarmac and international gates.
The one restaurant (called "Yakima") isn't huge, but great looking with a very nice menu. Reservable on OpenTable. Given its proximity to the check-in areas in the airport, I'd expect this place to draw in many non-hotel-guests looking for a pre-flight meal. (YYC really needs it, as all of the current food offerings inside the airport are pretty low end.)
My tour host told me that their first guest to arrive - their first ever check-in - received a pretty nice welcome, plus 50,000 points, one year of Platinum status, and a nice suite upgrade! (I would have been pretty disappointed to have been guest # 2 to arrive...)
YYC now really has two in-aiport Marriotts -- this brand new Marriott right in the intl terminal, plus a huge Delta Hotel attached to YYC's domestic terminal via walkway. (That one's a 1970s-era hotel. Nicely reno'd, but nothing close to it's new neighbor.) That's a lot of hotel rooms built into this mid-sized airport!