While many comparisons are made between Edmonton and Calgary, Edmonton was a little more depressing. I got no consideration from the Westin with my Gold status and the AAA rate that suppose to include an upgrade. Just a basic room with two double beds on the 8th floor.
Incidentally I heard people complaining about $50 cab rides from the airport but we had not made that mistake and had rented a car for three days for a $60 weekend rate.
The mall would be really great if I were 12-years-old but the shopping is not really that good. I don’t need 5 McDonald’s under one roof. But it entertained us for a couple of hours. Was able to find Holt Refrew downtown but the Canadian exchange rate is unattractive now.
Went to Woodys and hung out with a small but slightly seedy crowd with one person that had a terribly loud obnoxious laugh.
Downstairs at Buddys Nite Club it was better. It was Friday so it was fairly crowded with a younger crowd. Well at least young for Edmonton. Then things got bad when the music seemed to turn to a mixture of rap or hip hop. Maybe it’s just me because others there seemed to be really enjoying the music. This was our signal to leave. We drove by the Roost but did not see a soul outside so went to the hotel and decided to turn in early and get out of town early.
We hit the road and the drive to Calgary felt faster than I expected. Downtown Calgary felt much better than Edmonton. The Hyatt treated us very nicely to a top floor room, regency club access and free breakfast. Since it was the weekend we parked at the meter outside.
Strange thing is that like 5 gay clubs in Calgary had “Closed” (Loading Dock, Metro, Pulse, Arena, and the Rekroom) and there was no mention or discussion of why online or in the newspaper. I did read about one establishment that had been raided a few years ago. This left a bad taste in my mouth about the City of Calgary. Mostly, since the police never apologized for it. This never would have happened in Vancouver or Montreal.
Well the club Twisted Element was all we really needed. We got there relatively early and had a good time from the very beginning until we left. Things were getting really crowded by then and there was a line down the street. Nicely designed club.
Finished the next day at the Calgary Zoo which is very well designed with very little dead space and even enjoyable for adults. We returned to the Calgary airport exactly 48 hours after we had arrived in Edmonton paying a slightly higher one-way fee of about $50 and proceeded to wait for our delayed flight home.