sockboy

The Westin isn't as bad as people are making out. The Sheraton Eau Claire is your best bet for sure, but if you are looking to spend less, as a plat you will be treated well at the Westin.

As a plat at the Westin I am almost always upgraded to a corner "suite" in the main building - not a room in the tower. These "suites" don't have a separate bedroom, but are very large. The restaurant is excellent, as is the room service, and the location is ideal.

The 4points west is pretty nice, but definitely a 4 points. I would stay at the Westin any day over the 4 points. I only stay at the 4 points if I am driving to Banff the next day.

sockboy

Forgot to add that there is no club lounge at the Westin, but there are club rooms, which include breakfast, internet and long distance phone calls. Most of these rooms are pretty small. It is very rare to get upgraded to a corner suite club room.

AJLondon

Thanks sockboy. ^ That's exactly the Westin info I was looking for!

P.S.: I'm only staying in Calgary on the 1st and last day of my 5 day trip to Alberta. Will be staying at the Rimrock resort in Banff during the middle 3 days and plan to explore the Rockies (Lake Louise, the icefield etc).

cur

Oh agreed, the Westin is a great hotel, but the Sheraton is getting more raves simply because of the sitting area.

sockboy

I find that the Sheraton Eau Claire gets SUCH good reviews (well deserved!) that no one ever mentions the Westin. I travel to Calgary frequently on business, and the Sheraton is almost always above my limit for Calgary, so I stay at the Westin a lot, and have never had a complaint.

Canada Flyer

...Be sure you also visit Radium or Panorama (hot springs). Not a site to miss.

I hope you find the Calgarian hospitality lovely. Enjoy your stay. :-:

Helena Handbaskets

I ended up sticking with the 4P at the Calgary Olympic Park site, at C$107 as opposed to C$175 at the Westin downtown (and much more at either Sheraton), and I'm glad I did. We were upgraded (without asking) to an Executive suite, with a separate living room and a whirlpool spa tub. There's also a Deluxe suite with a sitting area in the same room as the bed, and no whirlpool spa tub. And there are a Presidential suite and a Honeymoon suite, both of which, I think, have fireplaces and are a bit larger than the Executive suite. I assume the Presidential and Honeymoon suites are considered "specialty" suites, and are thus not normally offered as upgrades.

I'll agree that it's not quite a Westin, or even up to the comfort standards of a good Sheraton, but this was my first visit to a 4-Points, and given the trashing that many of them take in this forum, I was quite pleased with the comfort and quality level (I understand that quality is very uneven across the brand). My wife loved the 4-comforts bed, and says she even prefers it to the Heavenly Bed. I think she's wrong about that, but it's what she said.

Platinum amenity options were the 250 points or a free movie. The free movie would've been a better value for us, but our evening plans and exhaustion from skiing didn't allow us time for the movie. It's not a standard benefit, but as a platinum SPG member, I was allowed free use of the business center to print my boarding passes for the next morning. Wired high-speed internet is complimentary, but I didn't use it. I think breakfast is free at some 4-Points, but not this one, since the restaurant is separately owned. The breakfast buffet was reasonably priced, but unimpressive, and though I was able to charge the breakfast to my room, I don't think I got Starpoints for that charge (it's a little hard to tell, since I don't know the exchange rate SPG used to transform Canadian dollars to US).

The location was not only not a problem for us, but was probably ultimately superior to the other options. We arrived after having skied at Lake Louise all day, and prior to a (fairly late) flight out the next day. If our flight had been an early one, we'd have opted for the Sheraton near the airport. But since we had some time on a Monday morning, it was perfect to visit the Olympic Park. In the Olympic museum, as the docent was ushering us into the theater for the video presentation, I stopped and said to my wife, "Look in that case - it's an Olympic torch." The docent said, "Do you have a camera?" Of course we did, and I figured he was going to offer to take a picture of us in front of the display case. "Hold on a minute," he said, "I'll get a key." And so he opened the case and let us hold the torch for the photo.

We also got to go up to the top of the highest ski jump tower, and if we had been one week earlier, would've been able to pilot our own luges down the Olympic luge run. To avoid killing too many people, they actually only let you run the lower section, but of course that fact would've been omitted from our stories about it.

All in all, it was a much better value than the other Starwood options given our circumstances, and helped take some of the sting out of the bill we had paid earlier that morning when we checked out of the Post Hotel at Lake Louise.

doesun

I just came back from Calgary during a week and a half stay and my pick is Sheraton Eau Claire hands down - reasons already noted above.

Btw, the Westin and the Eau Claire are the most convenient to do mattress runs [without even stepping outside~]. Wish I had that 2 stay for 1 promo..

Scott218

The Eau Claire just won the Sheraton of the Year award for 2005.

sharkshooter

The Westin in Calgary (where I have been the last two nights) has a manager's reception on Wednesday's from 5:00-6:30 for all SPG members (regardless of level). Free beer and wine, hot and cold snacks, deserts.

And they gave me a 4:00 check-out for today, even though my Gold status expired at the end of February. All I did was ask.

Singlepoint

And for 2004, 2003, 2002 and 2001 if I'm not mistaken. They had signs up to this effect a week or so ago when I was there last. Despite the change in GM from Randy, the hotel is as terrific as ever. Club Lounge is switched around somewhat and they are expecting a bit of a face lift for it this spring (ie: new carpet, wall decor etc). The best place in YYC IMHO.

AJLondon

I agree it does seem to be the best place in YYC! However for my 2 nights in the city, the rate differential between this hotel and the Westin is +$70 for one (weekend) night, and +$180 for the other (midweek) night.

Is it really worth this huge differential? (Am Plat.)

Snoopyo

YYC Eau de Claire is great. I probably would not pay 180+ premium but for 2 people, I might consider the 70$ difference since the breakfast and snacks in the club lounge are probably worth that and you do get a lot more space and far better facilities

The service there is great!

Gr.Dane

I have travel to Calgary for the last 30 years, the Sheraton Cavalier was the top for many years, don't get me wrong the place is awesome, the new remodeling and the addition of Carves Resturant. Top place for the price.
One of the jewels in the Sheraton chain is the Sheraton Eau Claire, might even be the best one in the chain.

Why does Calgary have 2 top Sheraton's and Orlando have the worst?

Singlepoint

You're in Cowtown now and with oil at $60+/bbl, they know they can get that sort of coin (rightly or wrongly) out of midweek business travelers. Having said that, when are your dates ? Do you have AAA/CAA ? I'm guessing not due to your member name. How about using a *wood promo if applicable:

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/promot..._DRE_H&back=-1

Admittedly, my stays in YYC tend to be weekend (although not always) as I'm local. As a Plat, you should get upgraded at the least to a whirlpool suite and have Club access.