The Hotel Saskatchewan, Autograph Collection — Hotel in Regina

A Stunning Failure of Basic Hospitality at Marriott’s "Autograph Collection" We recently had the severe misfortune of staying at the Hotel Saskatchewan, part of Marriott’s vaunted "Autograph Collection," which promises a curated, elevated hospitality experience. After this stay, it is clear that no amount of marketing can cover for a property that fails so completely at delivering even the most basic elements of service and respect for its guests.

We booked the hotel’s most expensive suite well in advance, with the specific intention of arriving exactly at the designated check-in time. Travel was planned around it; schedules were coordinated carefully. A luxury suite in a luxury hotel should offer a seamless transition from travel fatigue to relaxation and enjoyment.

Instead, upon arrival at the front desk, we were met not with the polished welcome one expects from a supposed luxury brand, but with an apathetic shrug: "The room is not ready."

There was no advance notice whatsoever. No text message, no email, no phone call to warn us that our room would not be available at check-in time. Marriott collects all of this contact information — and boasts of its communication tools — but apparently could not be bothered to use them to alert us to a major disruption.

There was no offer of any interim accommodation. Rather than offering a temporary room to relax or freshen up while our suite was prepared, the staff simply told us to wait. Not in a lounge. Not in a holding suite. Wait, somewhere — anywhere — but not in the hotel room we had already paid for.

There was no proactive solution proposed. No offer of a meal voucher. No drink coupons. No small amenities to ease the inconvenience. Not even the courtesy of complimentary water while we waited.

There was no sincere apology. The only response from the front desk agent was a hollow, perfunctory "we fully understand." If they fully understood the gravity of the situation, there was absolutely no evidence of it in their actions. There was no visible concern, no real effort to show empathy, and certainly no attempt to make things right.

The suite was not available until one and a half hours after the promised check-in time. For ninety exhausting, irritating minutes, we were forced to wander the city streets, with luggage in tow, trying to find ways to kill time. We were weary from travel, unkempt, and unable to rest or change clothes — all because the hotel could not uphold a very basic commitment.

This is not simply an "inconvenience" — it is a serious failure of fundamental hospitality. Marriott, and especially its Autograph Collection properties, charge a premium for what is supposed to be a higher-end experience. With that price comes an expectation: that the hotel is prepared for your arrival, that your time is respected, and that you are treated with a minimum of professionalism.

At Hotel Saskatchewan, none of these expectations were met.

It is one thing to make a mistake. Even the finest properties occasionally fall short. It is another to demonstrate a complete lack of interest in making amends when those failures occur.

What the hotel Should Have Done (But Failed to Do): • Proactively notified us well before arrival that our room would not be ready, offering a chance to adjust plans. • Offered a temporary room where we could wait in comfort. • Provided complimentary drinks, a meal, or access to hotel facilities during the wait. • Extended a genuine apology, delivered by a manager, not just a disinterested front desk agent. • Offered a meaningful form of compensation: a room discount, loyalty points, or upgraded amenities. • Expedited the suite cleaning once we had arrived, prioritizing paying guests who had reserved the most premium accommodation. • Communicated clearly and professionally about the expected wait time, and kept us updated without us having to chase them down. • Extended late checkout as a basic gesture of goodwill for the significant disruption...

We stayed this past weekend for a wedding. A few things surprised me.

We wanted to book an extra day (to stay the night before as well since check-in is at 3 and the wedding was at 2). I called the hotel a week before, and Valentina (I believe) asked if I could hold. Yep. I was on hold for 10 minutes, hung up, and called back. The phone was answered and without a word put on hold. So I called back again - same issue. So I called again, and it just rang until I hung up. A different day I called again and the same lady ran the same routine. I ended up hitting buttons for other departments until I found a new person and asked for help. It was very frustrating service.

We arrived on Friday and everything was lovely. Our sleep, however, was not. Even with the AC fan on high, I was awake until past 3 AM and woke again at 5 AM to doors constantly banging. I'm not sure who needed ice, stairs, or visitation at all hours, but it was every couple of minutes. Saturday was the wedding and a tough day. I was exhausted, so I asked my husband to go talk to management about refunding our second night, and we go home after the wedding.

When I got back, the manager wanted to speak with us personally. We told him we didn't want to stay. His response was,'he would see if he could find us a different floor but wouldn't be refunding us because it was already charged' that was a wild red flag in my books. It was charged? Great, refund it. But we had a wedding in less than an hour to attend and needed to get ready. So argue, or just move. We moved. The new room was on the higher floor, and all though the doors still made a huge bang every time they closed, there was less traffic than the third floor.

After the wedding, I fell asleep with the fan on high and a pillow over my head. But luxuriously.

A couple of other things were a little off when it came to the price tag. The rooms were clean except for some black lint on the bed and pillow cases (both rooms had this). Obviously, I thought it was bugs, panicked, and looked closer. But there's nothing black in the room. Where did it come from? Weird, but not world ending. The carpet is frayed and a few other details are easily visible and could be taken care of.

The bathrooms were a different story. Instead of an elegant toilet that would reflect the building's esthetics. It was an industrial one with all the pipe work showing. The toilet lid and the shelf above it are close together, so if you don't throw the lid up the last bit you'll jam your finger between and get a painful cuticle push like I did. Also the silver covers on the tp look pretty but with them being so close to you, you gotta sort of twist your body to lift the silver thing to get the paper with the other. Unnecessary.

Lastly, I've never seen orange tile grout before. Maybe it was a choice, but I HAVE seen orange mold in showers before. Why isn't this white as snow? How is it being cleaned to leave this orange stuff everywhere (again both bathrooms)

So for these reasons, I wouldn't stay here again. Its just a thing regina has that desperately wants to be fancy because they have a beautiful building but somehow haven't done their due diligence on what exactly makes things high end. It's some guesses that failed.

If I was management and someone said their hotel was so bad they didn't want to stay the second night, I would have been horrified, apologized, tried to fix and maybe offered free parking or a small credit to the lounge etc. BEFORE saying something stupid like 'and we ain't refunding...

The Hotel Saskatchewan was an excellent choice for our 4 nights in Regina. The downtown location is within close proximity to restaurants, shopping and parks. ||Upon entering the hotel lobby, you are transported back in time to another era. The foyer is grand with chandeliers and tall ceilings. The bar, main dining room and several nooks and crannies like The Burrow are beautifully renovated and decorated like the 1920s. ||We found our hotel room comfortable and large. It was a corner unit that had also been upgraded recently yet still preserved much of the old-time charm. We had an Executive King room and the bed was comfortable. Romelyn from Housekeeping kept the room spotless during our stay. She was also very friendly and always had a smile when we passed her along the way.||One minor quibble was the TV. It was a brand new TV that kept defaulting to Google Cast whenever we switched it on or turned the channel. The TV got stuck on Google Cast, meaning we couldn't use the remote at all. We called Maintenance several times to fix the issue. It was promptly fixed each time, and then soon reverted back to being stuck on Google Cast. Eventually we figured out that by unplugging the HDMI cord on the TV, waiting for a few minutes and then plugging it back in to restart was a workaround for fixing the TV. It seemed to be an issue between the remote and Google Cast that hopefully will be fixed for the next guest.||The second quibble was the toilet in the bathroom. It was an extremely powerful flush but we had to flush it several times after use. The toilet was commercial-style like the type in stadiums and public washrooms. The bathroom itself was small relative to the size of the room. There was a missed opportunity during the renovations of the hotel to expand the bathroom into the walk in closet beside it. The walk in closet was enormous, probably the largest closet I have ever seen in a hotel room. I understand there are likely plumbing and electrical considerations when upgrading a historical hotel.....yet, much more could have been done to make the bathroom larger and the toilet more befitting of an Executive Room in a 4 star hotel.||All in all, we were very pleased with The Hotel Saskatchewan. We enjoyed the historical aspect of the hotel. I would not hesitate to recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a place to...