Introduction I wish all airport hotels in North America were as nice as Renaissance Edmonton Airport. While we were only there for one night, I found the property to be quite impressive in a number of ways and I can highly recommend it. In all my hotel reviews I try to present a balanced picture with strengths and weaknesses but at this hotel I have found very little negative to say. Location The other airport hotels in Canada which connect to the terminal (Marriott in Montreal, Sheraton in Toronto for example) are typically much more expensive than alternatives that require a shuttle bus and more often than not I end up picking the cheaper options. In Edmonton the price premium of Ren over other hotels was modest and especially in the winter I appreciate just walking to airline check-in rather than the hassle of taking the shuttle bus in the cold. Room I booked the entry level room and was upgraded as Marriott Ambassador Elite to a very spacious suite at the end of the hallway which means we did not have noise disturbing us from neighbors or foot traffic in the corridor. The room looks very good relative to North American hotel standards. The hardwood floors give a clean feeling to the room which I much prefer to some hotels with old carpets, the bathroom was bright, furniture in excellent condition, the stand-alone shower was very large, and the bed comfortable. There was also a small nook near the entrance with a sink and mini-fridge in addition to another mini-fridge in the bedroom. The living room had a sofa-bed and could be separated from the bedroom via a door so it’s a proper suite rather than a junior suite, therefore it can easily host four guests. Most of the room was white including several pieces of furniture with white tops; perhaps too many walls were white especially in the living room so maybe a bit too bland, but was absolutely fine for me – this is an airport hotel after all. Dining Happy hour in the lounge was 5:30pm-7:30pm. The lounge was quite small but the décor attractive and it was not crowded at all when we visited so it was a nice place to spend time in the evening. In general I am not a fan of food in most North American lounges; at Renaissance YEG the options were limited but at least the offerings were nice with vegan and chicken tacos which is much better than fried stuff I usually see. They also had soft drinks, fruits, crisps, cookies, and alcohol was available for purchase. When we arrived in the lounge for breakfast at 9:30am I was surprised to find out that it was already over and food had been taken away – the closing time was 9am. Perhaps most guests at this property have an early flight and they found it unnecessary to have breakfast later than 9am, but personally 9am seems too early to close breakfast. When we asked at reception at what time breakfast ends in the restaurant we were told it’s 11am and as a special favor they gave us vouchers for free breakfast in the restaurant. If there is one thing I do not like much about Marriott legacy hotels, it’s that the free elite breakfast for Platinum guests (or above) is normally only in the lounge when there is a lounge, rather than having the option of having breakfast in the restaurant. After all if we eat a breakfast buffet it should not matter much to the hotel whether we eat from the restaurant or from the lounge. However at Renaissance YEG I can see why limiting breakfast to the lounge as the free perk is realistic: there is no buffet in the restaurant; it’s a la carte only so what you get is much higher quality than a buffet which means they are justified to normally charge for it. The menu had interesting options and we enjoyed our crushed avocado sandwich and the smoked salmon eggs benedicts, which they served along a bowl of fresh fruits. Sometimes I prefer breakfast in the lounge despite a more limited menu because it’s more quiet than busy and chaotic restaurants. However in Ren YEG the restaurant looks great and we were all alone in there. The only minor hesitation I had about booking at Ren YEG was having breakfast in the lounge only and no restaurant, but given how events unfolded we got the best of both worlds : quiet restaurant, creative a la carte menu, and hotel staff giving us a special favor due to the time we came down to breakfast. Service Regarding service, during our brief stay all our interactions with staff were all very good. First of all I saw the upgrade was granted proactively in the Marriott app the day before check-in, upon arrival we had a friendly welcome and staff assisted us bringing luggage to our room, they were generous with the breakfast voucher, we had good service in the lounge during happy hour, good service in the restaurant for breakfast, etc. Gym The gym had a decent number of machines in good working condition except for a couple of treadmills which only had the image for the TV, no sound. The gym is in front of an indoor pool, both of which were empty when we visited early morning. Wifi Wifi worked fine without interruptions with speeds of 8-12 Mbps. Overall Overall this is a solid hotel which punches above its weight with high marks in almost every category I can think of: nice room hardware, proactive elite upgrade, quality breakfast, above average happy hour in the lounge, good service, location connected to the airport that cannot be beat, and all of this for a reasonable price.