Varscona Hotel on Whyte — Hotel in Greater Strathcona

What a terrible experience. I had my wedding ceremony at the Varscona on June 3rd, and choosing this venue is forever going to be the only stain on my wedding day. I could not regret it more. First of all, they had told me I would get free parking in their parkade for myself and all wedding guests. However when I arrived, the parkade was full. After some phone calls and lots of waiting around, I was directed into some locked parking area that would mean my car would not be accessible to me at my convenience and I would need to request to use a shared fob, and return it each time. Also, I had booked two adjoining hotel suites for the groom and I a couple months in advance. I had also selected the option to check in early at 10am for both of us for an additional fee. Obviously the timing of everything is critical on the morning of your wedding so I was surprised and extremely disappointed when I had arrived to check in at 1030 and was told our rooms were not ready, and that we would not be able to have adjoining suites even though this request had been approved months prior. If I had known this would not be possible for my wedding day, I would have chosen a different hotel. What is the point of booking ahead and making plans if your venue won't hold up their end! And at the same time as this, I had members of my family, wedding party, and hired decorators arriving and had to worry about parking for all of them. So of course we had delays in getting our entire wedding party ready because of this. Not to mention, I had to spend a good part of my morning phoning hotel staff and speaking with managers instead of enjoying the most important day of my life, making memories with my friends, and taking photos of ourselves getting ready. The Varscona hotel just added huge stress and nothing but negativity. The front desk staff and the hotel manager were lacking customer service skills, and did not seem sorry, but rather just treated me as if I was burdening them by informing them of the many problems they had caused. When they were finally able to find us a two rooms on the same floor, I was only offered to have a reduced rate on one of the rooms...and was told in a way that sounded like management was doing me a huge favour. And there was only one elevator, which is very old and slow. When it was time to get downstairs to walk down the aisle I was waiting for the elevator for about ten minutes...this is only a minor thing, but it's just one more thing to add to the whole experience. Getting access to my car after checking out the next day was a huge pain, and I had to wait by the front desk with my luggage for 20+ minutes before I could finally leave. I had told the desk staff that I had the worst experience ever and thought that I should not have to pay for the rooms, and the front desk staff just tried to assure me that getting a discount on one of my rooms should be good enough but I insisted she call the manager again right then and there. When they finally decided to not charge me for the rooms, I left. However the charge showed up on my credit card that day, and is still there four days later... I expect this is yet another error and will be following up with them if the charge is not refunded by the end of the week. I can't even believe how many things went wrong....

First of all, I would like to thank the majority of the staff for their accommodation, kindness, and understanding. To the one gentleman whom I believe to be a manager, thank you for tainting my opinion of your hotel. You have left a permanently bad taste in my mouth, and ruined what would otherwise have been a highly recommendable experience.

Last night we arrived for our visit in a 9 foot U-Haul truck. The woman at the desk was unsure if our vehicle would fit in standard or oversized parking, but told us there was 10-foot clearance so it would likely be all right. She got a co-worker, Kelly, to double-check and he gave the go-ahead. She gave me directions and said "park anywhere". When we pulled into the garage the first available stall had a truck angled part-way into it, so we ventured in search of another. I'll note here that it was fairly dark, and there were no clearance signs nor parts of the roof that appeared to jutt down. I was under the impression I had a foot of space above me to work with, so imagine my surprise when I heard something make contact with the roof. As it was a rental vehicle, and they specified that the roof was not covered under the insurance, I was incredibly concerned that we would be held accountable for damages that we're not our fault. We went inside and immediately informed the desk(another young lady) of what happened, that light was out, and of our concern that the U-Haul company may attempt to hold us accountable for damages. I suggested being clearance sign. This lady was very kind, understanding, and appreciative that we informed her of the incident. Later that night, a manager called up looking into the situation. He told my husband to take his card the next morning on our way to the U-Haul should there be any concerns, and to have you call contact the hotel if there are any issues. Everyone up to this point was pleasant, kind, understanding, and made us feel welcome. We are thankful for that. However, Upon returning today we approach the front desk to inform them that there had been no issues, and a gentleman (who appeared to be a manager, different to the ones we'd spoken to before) decided to comment on the events. He mentioned that there was an obvious slope, which there was not, and rudely commented on our not seeing it. His implication was clear, and made us feel as though we were a hundred percent at fault / not paying attention / liable for the incident. We were told 10-foot clearance and "park anywhere" with a vehicle only needing 9 ft. This man has ruined our opinion of your hotel as well as any and all chances of...

Even though my room was a bit smallish, it was very well designed and supplied. I had everything I needed in the room. The room had plenty of power outlets to let me charge my equipment and was very well lite. The curtains were very opaque and useful to stop the exterior lights to come in the room. I also enjoyed the coffee.

One of the best elements of my stay was without a doubt the continental breakfasts that were excellent (I stayed three days). The restaurant environment that was reserved for us, the staff, the quality of the Food and the early availability in the morning (6h30) were all very much appreciated. Bravo for a job well done.

Things that could be better: The TV setup and working with the remote. The Shaw TV listing was a bit cumbersome to work with. There was not integration of the TV remote with the Shaw cable system. For example, you could see a show in the listing but couldn't do anything to go to it. You had to type in on the remote the station number to see it. If it was not satisfactory, you had to type in the station 161 to go back to the listing. And the listing were of a rotating type that you could not control. You had to wait till the listing came back to a specific station to see it again. Also you could not have any information on the show because of the lack of integration of the remote. Not user friendly at all.

The soap and shampoo dispensers were not too functional. They tended to supply the products with difficulty. I liked better the soap bar and shampoo in little bottles.

Last comment: On Saturday morning when I got to the restaurant at 6h30, I was told that it would not open before 7h30. My flight being at 11h00, I had to be at the airport early and my shuttle was to pick me up at 7h45. But, the restaurant clerk was very cooperative and let me sit and have the food as soon as the chef had prepared it. They were very friendly and cooperative in the matter. I had been told by the front desk that breakfast started at 6h30, which I used on two previous occasion to my great satisfaction.

That is...