Best Western Plus City Centre Inn — Hotel in Avenue District

THE WORST We indicated we had a reservation and provided our name. Douglas found our reservation asked for a driver’s licence and a credit card We indicated we have never required a CC when we have stayed at other Best Western properties. He said he was going in the back to take a photocopy of my DL and I said no. He said it was policy and without it he could not allow us to check in. I asked for the manager to which he replied “I am the manager”. His name tag read “Douglas MANAGEMENT”. After an argument, he would allow us to check in without taking a copy.

We indicated that we are normally offered a gift or points and he looked at the file said we were Diamond and we were entitled to either. I then asked about room upgrades and Douglas made no attempt to upgrade us.

I was shocked to learn that the place is actually a MOTEL with an outside hallway.

This was the WORST PROPERTY we have ever stayed in. Our room was located directly across from the entrance. When we entered the room we were immediately greeted with the linger odor of cigarette smoke. We called the front desk to let them know and were told that it had been many years since it had been a smoking room.

The room was probably the smallest room we had ever been assigned and found countless long hairs on the walls and counters as well as areas of “some kind of filth” on the walls, counters, and light switches so we spent about a half hour cleaning. The décor and lighting (or lack of) made the room seem incredibly dismal. The “window” looked out into the hallway so everyone walking by would have a clear view into the room so we shut the drape.

Douglas had not let us know where the free breakfast was so we called the front desk, only to be told that they do not offer one at this property.

The slamming door and voices were annoying. Every time a person entered the building the doors slammed. People did not recognize that their voices transmitted into each of the rooms along the hallway. There was a 1.5 inch gap under the door.

The light from the hallway leaks into the room through the cracks (under and along side the door) and under the “window” drape. There was no way to resolve that at the time so we did our best to try to sleep. There were noises throughout the night (presumable from the heating system) as well as loud banging style noises which we never identified. In the early morning our neighbour began talking to someone and it sounded like he was in the same room as us. The resumption of the slamming doors convinced us to simply check out early.

Checking out was infinitely more pleasurable than checking in. First and foremost, we were relieved to be leaving this horrible experience behind us. Equally importantly was the care and service provided by Trevor who was manning the front desk. When we expressed a couple of our concerns, he apologetically indicated that Douglas was the manager so any complaints would be directed to him. His words and attitude did make up for some of the lacking of the MOTEL property and did let us know that at least some of the people employed by the hotel actually understood how to provide customer service.

On the plus side of the equation, the renovated bathroom does have a nice modern toilet and the automated system did provide a wake up call at the time requested (regardless of the fact that our neighbor had already taken care of that). Additionally, the security provided by the card access to the building did provide a small semblance of additional security. For anyone needing to shop at the Kingsway Mall, attend a function at NAIT, or need to be at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, this MOTEL does offer closer proximity to those than the Chateau Lois, the Nova Suites, or the Edmonton Inn & Conference Center (formerly the Ramada). It is also only a block away from the RCMP K Division in case one needs their assistance. It was also close to the location of the Edmonton Indy race however, that event was cancelled after...

Amazing staff, good location, clean and comfortable building/rooms. Building itself has a “quirky” design.

I stayed here for a week while attending a training course at NAIT, only a 10 minute walk away. Kingsway mall is directly across the road with shopping/food/entertainment. All the staff interactions I had in my week were top notch, they were all very pleasant and helpful while also coming across as genuine. Rooms are fairly priced, clean and have comfortable beds and nice fixtures and finishes. Very quiet building, even when booked full my room was quiet. However, roughly 1/2 the building has motel-style rooms (that is to say, the bathroom is in the rear of the unit and there is a door/window at the front) with a central hallway built out to connect all the doors. As such, the hallway has plenty of windows for light because all these rooms still have windows, they just look out into the hallway. As a result of this, I kept my blinds drawn for my whole stay, not wanting people to be able to look in as they passed by in the hallway. Along with this, the pool is in a bit of a weird spot. it’s right off the main lobby, meaning you must walk from your room all the way to the entrance and enter literally opposite of the check-in desk. The pool is nice, a little small but has a really fun water slide and hot tub. There is a Tim Hortons located in this hotel as well as the restaurant right above it, they have a $9 breakfast special for hotel guests. Had a great stay, would probably stay here again if I needed to be...

Pros and Cons 1 night for 3 people

Pros: Amazing cleanness of the room: linens, floor, bathroom; everything impeccable. Suite with two medium size separated rooms and bathroom between, convenient for family with a grown-up son. Pool available, restaurant and Tim Horton attached.

Cons: I requested a quiet room and I have gotten unit 201 as a “very quiet room”. On the roof of the room is located a big air handling unit. The unit starts with loud bang and when it runs makes noise like using a power tool inside the room, because the vibration and reverberation. The unit starts every 17 – 20 minutes and run for another 20 minutes. By night the noise was so disturbing making the sleep impossible for all three of us. After one terrible night, complaining about that the front desk clerk said that might be a unit malfunction because usually that unit is very quiet, that nobody with brain can believe. The bathroom sink partial plugged, filling with water very quickly. Small bathroom with toilet inside and no working fan. The sink is outside of bathroom in kind of open hallway. Hotel restaurant offer limited choices of breakfast (two eggs with bacon or sausages, or omelet with the same filling or pancakes) for $9. Average time spent was 50 minutes to order and get the omelets, due to the loose of focusing of the waiter, interested more in my country of origin than the order. Even he repeated for example “water no ice” the water he brought was half...