I cannot find its own thread so I would start a new one to post the review.
We stayed at the Marriott Calgary Downtown on points for one night in the 2nd week of Sept when we were roadtripping to visit Glacier / Waterton and the Canadian Rockies. It is a Cat 5 property. Our original booking was at Residence Inn Calgary South. Unfortunately when we changed our date, the Residence Inn was not available for points. We would be happier to stay at the Residence Inn instead. The traffic on Macleod heading north to downtown on a Friday afternoon was HORRENDOUS, especially when it was about 1/4 mile to the hotel. I have not seen such bad traffic for a very long time. We were moving literally at 5 mph speed, inching to each intersection while cars trying to maneuver their ways from one land to the other all the time. It was a miracle we did not have any small accident ourselves when we witnessed several.
At check in we were given a high floor room facing the fronting street. The level is just below the Calgary Tower. We could see 2/3 of the round part of the tower when we looked up.
Hotel apparently is a rebrand from an old property. Room design and furnishing seem quite outdated. AC unit is very noisy. From the floor map behind the door, all rooms of our floor have the same size which is on the large side.
Before the stay I got email from the hotel touting its M-Club and their offerings in the 3 time slots during the day. So we got a little excited but the reality was quite disappointing.
We arrived with 20 min to spare before the evening offering would be removed. It is a small lounge with few tables and a row of hightops along the window. A counter is along the wall. There is an "island" where a cash bar is set up with a bar tender. Then there is another small table where they put some foods.
The offerings primarily consist:
1) On the counter along the wall, a small plate of green bean salad with some bits of cold cuts and shredded of roasted red bell pepper, with a very light vinaigrette based dressing. While the salad was tasty the size of the plate on the counter was no more than a regular plate, not a serving plate. So it was depleted very quickly.
2) On the small table, a plate of 3 kinds of very thinly sliced charcuterie - either Italian or Spanish ham, another type of ham, and a salami.
May be there are some cheese items but I can't remember.
There were a bowl of chips and some healthy bars setting at the corner. I presume those were snack items that were available all day long except breakfast time.
All in all, it definitely did not live up to what was described in the prearrival email touting the M-Club.
No bottled water. Only Pepsi brand soft drinks, small bottled of juice cocktail and a 100% orange juice.
Instead they have 2 taps provide still and sparkling water. It does not work well with the small glass as the water comes out with a force, would cause a big mess with a cup. They should have post some advice / notice to warn the guests about such. They have some jars, like a jam jars. You use that to get your water, then you can pour it to the small glass drinking cup for consumption. It would work far better that way.
Later the night they brought out a again quite small plate for the sweets - 2 each, tiny squares of some cakes. I did not bother to try as the plate already was messed up by other guests trying to take the sweets.
The lounge was very underutilized, probably due to the drinks are all chargeable (and rather expensive). They do have a very very limited food menu for paid foods. Again, very expensive and very limited choices. Unless you are very hungry in the middle of the night, I cannot see anyone would use it. (M-Club opens 24/7).
Breakfast, what should I say? It is worse than you could find in a Residence Inn. Quite a sad affair. The hard boiled eggs were placed in 2 tiny glass bowls, including one with the shell all cracked.
Everything offered complimentary here is placed in smallish dishes. I dont know if this is by design to discourage consumption. It feels that way.
I dont really understand the M-Club concept. The Marriott Calgary DT is the first one in Canada (or in North America?) to have the M-Club set up. I cannot see this concept being popular, nor I cannot see meaningful additional revenues brought in by this concept, based on the experience at this one.
Parking is valet only due to the hotel does not have any parking facility. It is CAD40 weekday+Sun and CAD20 Fri/Sat. It says you need to call 30 min ahead before you need your car. On TripAdvisor people said the parking is 3 blocks away. A reviewer said they had to walk the 3 blocks to get their car yet still had to pay for the valet.
At check out the bill showed 0 despite we used the valet (CAD20). The agent could not find the record and claimed "compliment on me." Husband told him to give the $ to the valet people. I told husband not to worry - the hotel had your CC, and you would get a revised bill for that. Sure enough, a few days later an email came with the revised bill for the valet charge. What is wrong is, they charged CAD1 (presumably to test the card) and again CAD20 (the actual valet charge), for a total of CAD21.
Hyatt is very nearby, practically around the corner. (it has a historical building wing and a tower. The restaurant in the historical wing seemingly enjoyed good business when we walked by.) A few blocks north you will be in China Town. The reception told us on the south much further down, the restaurants stay open much much later. We did not want to drive so just walked a few blocks and had some wonderful, creative dumplings at a place run by 3 young people in the China Town. Good foods, cheap prices, and nice services.
The next morning our car was ready for us much sooner than the 30 min late. Many people were leaving at that time frame, so there were like 4 or 5 cars brought in by the valet, lining up behind us on the drive way and out to the street.
Here is a driving tip -
For those who would use this hotel and then head to Banff, we exited to the 9th Ave (one way) to Macleod 2 blocks east then turned north to 6th Ave 3 blocks away then head west. 6th Ave will change name to Bow Trail which will lead you to Canada 1. This route has no traffic, very easy to drive and you can fill up on Bow Trail before you will be on Canada 1. The gas price is 7 cents cheaper than the first station we saw on Canada 1.