Ramada Hotel Downtown

I have stayed at this hotel several times on business and have always found it to be clean and well staffed. It is an older hotel but Ramada has obviously gone to great extent to maintain it at a level I would expect of the Ramada chain.

There is an executive floor that offers additional comforts not available on the other floors, though I have stayed in regular rooms and found everything I needed while on the road was available.

The front desk staff are courteous and prompt and are quick to look after your every need.

This Hotel is ideally located in the heart of downtown Calgary, one block for the LRT (Light Rail Transit) main lines. There is shopping close buy and an abundance of restaurants within walking distance.

This hotel is a blend of executive and standard floors. I stayed on the standard floor in a single queen room. The room was small, but big enough for 2 plus luggage. I asked for a south-facing room (these have balconies) and had a nice view of the pool which was empty in late March. The slate bathroom floor was cool on the toes and the hot water radiator in the room made loud pops and bangs through the night. Additionally there was a fair amount of street noise from those getting out of bars late at night. I imagine this will be reduced as local bar, Cowboys is now moving.

The staff was friendly and courteous at the front desk. The valet parking is kind of a joke. There is underground self-parking and the valet only turns your vehicle around in this tiny locale. They don't have a permit to bring your vehicle on-street for you and you take the elevator into the basement. At $15 a day it's cheap for downtown Calgary (during weekends you can do better at a local parkade).

Skip the rather spartan buffet in the lobby ($9) and go across the street to the Husky building and enjoy their 2nd floor cafeteria for much better food quality.