World Traveller 73 
Review: Courtyard by Marriott Prince George, Canada
This week’s travel had me on a return to Prince George, British Columbia in the northern part of the province. As a town located in the cross roads intersection of the northern town, it offers a large amount of accomodations for business travelers. This trip would have me staying at the Courtyard by Marriott Prince George; a brand new hotel built within the last five years. The stay would end up being really enjoyable as far as business stays go, and the hotel got everything right during my visit.
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Review: Courtyard by Marriott Prince George, British Columbia, Canada
“A brand new property, the Courtyard by Marriott is now the place to stay for Marriott Bonvoy loyalists when visiting Prince George, Canada ”
A recent work trip to Prince George, British Columbia, Canada had me returning to a city that I hadn’t visited in five years. As a central hub to northern British Columbia, there were quite a few hotels in the area designed to accomodate business travellers of all kinds.
Booking The Courtyard Prince George:
As a town located in central Northern British Columbia, the rates are highest mid week and tend to drop off on the weekend. The hotel generally offers rates between $156 – $196 CAD ($115 – $145 USD) during the week, with rates as low as $132 CAD ($97 USD) on some Saturday and Sunday nights.
I booked my a base standard Guest Room – 1 King Bed, Sofa Bed, Guest Room for approximately $169 CAD ($125 USD) on my stay. I booked through the Marriott Bonvoy website, which as a Marriott Titanium Member, entitled me to a complimentary upgrade to the best available room, including select suites, complimentary access to the Marriott Executive Club Lounge (of which there wasn’t one at this property), and a complimentary late check out up to 4 PM.
Marriott Bonvoy Redemption Opportunities:
The Courtyard by Marriott Prince George offers competitive room redemptions with the new variable redemption rates. While I can’t imagine many wanting to redeem points at this hotel, rooms are typically around 22,000 points per night on a constant basis. I have did happen to see some 17,500 point redemptions on weekend nights.
If you value Marriott Bonvoy points at $0.008 a point, you’d have to spend more than $176 USD to come out ahead for a 22,000 point redemption. While this represents reasonable value,, I can’t actually imagine anyone redeeming points at this particular property, nor can I imagine the rate being higher than $176 USD making redemptions worthwhile, since most travellers here are likely on the business travel circuit.
Getting to The Courtyard Downtown Prince George Hotel:
I arrived into Prince George International Airport on an Air Canada Express flight. I picked up a National car rental, since it’s quite a distance from the airport to the downtown area of Prince George.
It was a short twenty minute drive from the Prince George International Airport to the hotel. The hotel was easy to find.
The hotel is located in the downtown area of Prince George. For many years, this area was best avoided due to a rougher street environment. There are still elements of this today, so I wouldn’t necessarily recommend walking around the downtown area randomly at night, if you stay here.
I parked out front and headed inside to check in.
Checking into the Courtyard by Marriott Prince George Hotel:
After parking my rental car in the front loading zone, I went to check in to the hotel.
I had a professional and friendly check in at the front desk. The check in was exactly on Marriott script. While this might sound a little impersonal, at the time of my stay I was in the middle of a two city work week trip, and I appreciated the general consistency.
I was thanked for my loyalty, offered 500 Marriott Bonvoy points as a Marriott Elite Welcome Amenity, and explained parking options.
Parking was free around the hotel, but I was also offered secure parking in the hotel’s underground for $12 CAD per night. As I was on a business stay, I ended up taking the secured parking. The neighbourhood around the hotel is a little less than desirable as a result of a homeless population in the area, so I went with the security of underground parking.
Lastly, a 2 PM Marriott Bonvoy Titanium late check out was honoured without any haggling or negotiation.
The lobby contained a small market with sundries available for purchase. This was located immediately beside the front desk. While didn’t get the opportunity (or need) to purchase any additional items, it was nice to find things available for purchase if needed. Given Canadian alcohol licencing regulations, there were no alcoholic drinks available in the market.
I always appreciate when hotels try to make things easy for guests and having a Market available surely added to the convenience factor as there wasn’t much grocery or convenience store alternatives around the hotel.
The Room: Guest room, 1 King, Sofa bed, City view:
After I parked my car in the underground parking, I headed up to the room. Thankfully, the hotel has one elevator that connects parking to the lobby and hotel room floors, so there was no need to change elevator banks.
The hallways of the Courtyard Prince George offer a modern design consistent with the property being a new build that’s been open for five years.
The Bedroom:
I booked a standard Guest Room – 1 King basic level room. As a Marriott Bonvoy Titanium level member, I was entitled to an upgrade to the best available room on arrival, including select suites.
I wasn’t provided any room upgrade except to the top floor. Having said that, there is not a lot of suite inventory in this particular hotel. I entered into the room and found a comfortable and modern design for a hotel room.
The hotel room offered the usual Courtyard by Marriott oval shaped sofa bed. While it’s an unusual design, it’s pretty comfortable for a sofa bed.
The room featured a compact rail desk. While it was small in size, I was able to get a little work done at the desk. Being a modern new hotel, there were a number of USB charging ports, power points and other charging workstations for this property.
There was also an integrated space for the carry on rolling suitcase. This avoided the need for the additional luggage rack.
The corner of the room offered an integrated coffee maker, fridge and microwave built into a triangular cupboard. The room also featured actual glassware, which was an upscale touch for a hotel that is in the mid range category.
While not the most aspiration of views, the room offered a view of the Prince George Convention Centre and of forested fir trees that are common throughout Northern Prince George.
The Bathroom:
The bathroom offered a modern space with a stand up shower and a single vanity sink. The bathroom was clean and functional.
Similar to an aLoft, there aren’t many suites available at the Courtyard Prince George. It is a cookie cutter room that is mostly the same across the entire floor.
The room was really quiet in terms of its orientation. The outward facing room on the top floor had minimal noise. I slept much better than at my other hotel stay earlier in the week. The hallway noise was non existent.
Around the Hotel Property:
The Courtyard by Marriott Prince George isn’t considered a full service hotel. As a result, it offers limited amenities.
Fitness Centre – Indoor Pool:
The Courtyard by Marriott Prince George offered a small indoor pool. The pool was a little dark, which might be expected for a place that occasionally reaches -20 Celsius and doesn’t want to loose a lot of heat through glass windows.
Fitness Centre – Gym:
The hotel also offered a small gym and workout space. There were at least four treadmills available, which limited the need for waiting for equipment.
While I didn’t use either the gym or the pool, it’s nice to have an option available to guests.
Printing Station:
In modern day conveniences for business travellers, the hotel offered a printing station. This was kiosk oriented computer terminal designed for printing exclusively.
Why hotels don’t offer this more often is beyond me. I ended up using this place to print off some last minute touches on a presentation update when I was in town.
Food and Beverage:
The Courtyard by Marriott Prince George offers a limited Bistro restaurant. The hotel hotel is situated a short walk from a few downtown restaurants, but it’s always appreciated to have an on property restaurant option.
Bistro Restaurant:
The Bistro Restaurant operates only during meal time hours. During our visit, it operated between 06:30 AM and 10:00 AM Tuesday to Saturday. It is fully closed on Sunday and Monday. In the evenings, service appeared to be offered between 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM, despite not being published as such on the website. There is no lunch service.
I do generally find that the Bistro Restaurants in Courtyards by Marriott are over the top expensive for what you get. Even though I was travelling on expense, I found that this place was too rich for my travel budget.
The Bistro Restaurant is located just off the lobby. It is in a bright and contemporary space that is designed for communal gathering.
The Bistro offers a licensed bar. It was fairly popular amongst business travellers during my week day visit.
Around the Neighbourhood:
I ended up walking to the Keg Restaurant Prince George for dinner, and enjoyed The White Spot Restaurant for breakfast while I stayed at the property. Both were located relatively close to the hotel and convenient enough to provide alternative dining options.
Checking Out of The Courtyard by Marriott Prince George Hotel:
On departure day, I visited the front desk to check myself out of the hotel.
I had no surprises on the bill with everything “as expected”. The check out was instant and exceptionally pleasant.
My Marriott Bonvoy points posted to my account within 48 hours as promised.
The Bottom Line: The Courtyard Prince George Hotel
The Courtyard by Marriott Prince George met all my expectations for a business stay.
The Courtyard by Marriott Prince George offered clean accommodations that were centrally located. The rooms were well designed, the staff were personable and genuine. Lastly, everything worked as promised. I can’t underestimate the value of staying in a clean and new property, and this alone would probably bring me back to this location.
I’d be really happy to return to this property the next time travels took me to Prince George as it met all my needs without much effort.
World Traveller 73 
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