World Traveller 73 
Review: Residence Inn by Marriott -Calgary Downtown Beltline District, Canada.
For a week long stay in downtown Calgary, I ended up staying at the Residence Inn by Marriott Calgary Downtown Beltline District. I would discover a brand new hotel that offered spacious suites, bright workout and breakfast spaces, in addition to a relatively convenient location to all things within the Beltline District and Downtown area of Calgary. Read on to see how my week long stay fared.
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Review: Residence Inn by Marriott – Calgary Downtown Beltline District, Canada
“The World’s Largest Residence Inn, the hotel is an outstanding spacious new build property who’s only weakness is its proximity to the noisy Beltline train tracks and that the hotel earns much less than others as a Residence Inn in the Marriott Bonvoy program. “
I had a week long series of meetings taking place inside the convention space at the Residence Inn Calgary Downtown Beltline District hotel. I try to avoid staying at Residence Inn hotels since they only earn 5 points per dollar in the Marriott Bonvoy program, when compared to it’s regular hotels that earn 10 points per dollar.
Despite this, the property looked to be much better than the other hotel inventory in downtown Calgary. As a result, I thought that I would give it a try.
For a different property in the Calgary area, you may also enjoy our review of:
Booking The Residence Inn Calgary Downtown Beltline District:
This property was selected by the hosts of the series of meetings that I was attending. While I debated staying off property at a higher earning Marriott Bonvoy brand, I ended up aiming to keep things simple by staying in the recommended venue hotel.
The Residence Inn by Marriott falls into the Marriott Bonvoy Longer Stay brands that include The Residence Inn, Townplace Suites, Element, Homes and Villas by Marriott and Apartments by Marriott. These properties only earn 5 points per $1 USD USD.
In contrast, most other properties in Marriott Bonvoy program, earn 10 points per $1 USD. These include the majority of the other Marriott Bonvoy hotel brands that include Edition Hotels, The Ritz Carlton, The Ritz Carlton Reserve, The Luxury Collection, St Regis, W Hotels, JW Marriott, Marriott Hotels and Resorts, Sheraton, Marriott Vacaction Club, Delta Hotels and Resorts, Westin Hotels and Resorts, Le Meridien, Renaissance Hotels, Autograph Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Design Hotels, Gaylord Hotels, MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy, Courtyard, Four Points by Sheraton, Springhill Suites, Fairfield Inn and Suites, AC Hotels, Aloft Hotels, Moxy Hotels.
Given that Calgary can be quite cold (at times) resulting in a chilly walk, I ended up not seeing anything more interesting in the immediate area. As a result, I ended up staying at the Residence Inn Calgary Downtown Beltline District for a four night stay.
I was able to get a group rate of $239 CAD ($170 USD) for this property which booked into the basic Studio Room configuration. I booked direct on the Marriott Bonvoy website. As a Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Level member, I would also be entitled to Upgrade to best available room, including select suites.
The price point was about as expected for an urban metro downtown Calgary hotel mid week.
Marriott Bonvoy Opportunities:
The Residence Inn by Marriott Calgary Downtown Beltline District has variable pricing, dependent if you are travelling during a period of high demand. Rooms can be found for as little as 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points with variable pricing up to 37,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. It is worth checking out to see whether there are any Marriott Bonvoy point redemptions available in order to maximize value.
As a refresher, If you value Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.8 cents per point, it only makes sense to redeem points under the right circumstances. For example, it would only make sense to redeem 37,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for a room valued at over $296 USD. If you are redeeming against a room that is 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, then you’d have to have a room rate over when those same points are worth approximately $160 USD. I found that this property was quite cheap for an urban metro downtown property and of good value on points.
Marriott Bonvoy members get the fifth night free when redeeming five or more day stay. Keep in mind that by redeeming five nights, and getting the fifth night free, will increase the value proposition by lowering the average number of points per night.
Getting to the Residence Inn Calgary Downtown:
The Residence Inn by Marriott Calgary Downtown Beltline is located just south of downtown in the Beltline District.
The Calgary Downtown Beltline district is a neighbourhood in transition. It’s Calgary’s most densely populated areas in terms of high rise condominiums, consisting of up and coming restaurants, nightlife and urban culture.
Given that the property is not located near any airport – downtown transit links, I opted to rent a car for the week. Given my corporate rate, this was about as cheap as taking an Uber XL both ways to and from the Calgary International Airport.
Checking into Residence Inn by Marriott Calgary Downtown:
Upon arrival to the property, I parked in the loading area at the front to complete check in procedures. The parking garage was secured. While it was possible to drive into the underground to park, the set up wasn’t immediately clear to me being a shared property with other apartment buildings.
The Residence Inn Calgary Beltline District lobby made a terrific first impression. The spaces offer double story high seatings, along with a small lounge area with access to the hotel’s wine bar restaurant “Stable”.
I had a friendly check in. I was pro-actively upgraded from a studio suite to a one bedroom suite courtesy of Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status which entitled me to the best available room, including Select Suites. I accepted 500 bonus Marriott Bonvoy points as my Marriott Bonvoy Elite Welcome benefit. Instead of the points welcome benefit, i was alternatively offered a market item as a welcome gift.
Self Parking was $30 CAD a night with complimentary in and out privileges. The front desk recorded the licence plate. I was not required to place a parking permit on the dash, which was appreciated. I was given an exit code along with my room keys. However, in actual practice, the secure underground gates opened automatically without entering a code.
I was also given a complimentary 355ml bottle of Nestlé PureLife 355 ml water as a thank you for being a Marriott Bonvoy elite.
The Room: A One Bedroom Suite
After self parking the car, I ended up taking the elevators up to room #2103. The elevators were key carded, and I needed the key card to get to my floor.
The Residence Inn Calgary Downtown Beltline District offers 390 rooms across thirty three floors. It is described as an all suite property. At the time of the hotel’s launch in the year 2019, it was reported to be the largest Residence Inn in the world.
After getting off on the twenty third floor, I wanted back towards room #2311. The floor had an odd layout combining a “U” format and a long hallway.
I wandered around behind the elevator bank to locate room #2311, which ended up being a corner room on the North East corner of the building.
The Living Space:
Immediately upon entering the room, I found ourselves in the living space of the room. The room was really spacious and felt much larger than the 506 sq ft / 47 sq m that was described.
The room featured a sofa bed chaise lounger. While the orientation of the lounger was facing towards the centre of the room, it made it a little difficult to watch television.
The room didn’t offer a desk space. Instead, the room offered an oversized dining room table. This offered chair seating for two, along with bench seating for two. I ended up taking a few MS Teams calls from this particular location, without any challenges.
The hotel was kind enough to provide a welcome amenity in the form of chocolate brownies with white icing. There were more than enough for a four night stay. There was also a hand written note, which was very much appreciated.
The Kitchen:
The room offered a pretty robust kitchen that was much larger and better equipped than many other Residence Inn’s I’ve had the opportunity to stay in. The kitchen offered a small two plate hot plate, a microwave, and a full sized refrigerator and a freezer.
The coffee found in the room wasn’t all super inspiring. The featured coffee was a rainforest blend. Generally, I have found Marriott coffee brands haven’t been all to spectacular, and this hotel wasn’t any different.
The kitchen also featured a sink, cooking knifes with cutlery, a coffee maker, a kettle, along with a toaster. There was more than enough there to make yourself a home for a day or two and be comfortable doing so. There were enough dishes that I would end up making it through the entire week without having to take care of dishes in the dishwasher.
My complimentary bottle of water from check in went into the fridge. There was no additional in room water offered.
Room Foyer:
The hotel room foyer offered a small coat room area. The space was highly functional with coat hooks appropriate for Calgary’s cool winter weather, an open closet area along with bathrobes and room safes.
I appreciated having open access space for suits and casual clothes. While this can be at a premium on some rooms, there was more than enough room.
The Bedroom:
Off the living area was the bedroom. The bedroom offered a king size bed. As someone who prefers a firmer sleep surface, I did find the mattress and pillows to be a little softer for my liking.
The bedroom featured a second smaller flat screen television, allowing you to watch television in bed. The bedside tables offered USB – B connections, which allowed me to conveniently to set my iPhone alarm.
In the first hotel property that I’ve ever stayed at, there was a sound machine that was used to block out ambient noise. While I found this initially to be a neat future, I would end up finding the ambient room noise to be quite loud.
In terms of sleep quality, I had some challenges getting a solid night sleep at this property. The Residence Inn Calgary Downtown Beltline District happens to be located next to four train tracks. These tracks carry almost all the rail cargo that is crossing Canada. As a result the trains are in operation almost twenty four hours per day.
Despite being up on the twenty third floor, I still found the trains to be disruptive. The trains were loud enough to impact sleep. Coupled with a change in time zones, and the noise from the trains, I didn’t find my sleep at the Residence Inn could be as restful as it could have been.
The Bathroom:
The bathroom was located immediately off the bedroom. The bathroom featured a stand up shower along with a single vanity sink. The shower toiletries were dispensed from dispensers.
In a somewhat unusual and non functional manner, the hotel did not install any additional shelving in the shower. For road warriors like myself, this meant placing toiletries on the floor of the shower or balancing them on the soap dispensers.
While the room was functional, it was completely brand new with a minimal amount of markings that you’d otherwise expect in an airport hotel. The highlight was the spacious bathroom, along with the availability of actual glassware in the kitchen, and just having that little extra space to stretch out in the living area.
My room offered a city view that offered great views of downtown Calgary. While this is the nicer side, it’s also likely the noisier side as a result of the train tracks.
If sleep is important, I would recommend requesting a view away from the train track side. You might get a small respite from the train noise.
Around the Hotel Property:
Being a brand new hotel, everything in the hotel looks new and fresh. The hotel offered everything that you might need for a comfortable hotel stay.
Gym Facilities:
The property offered a gym space that was accessible from the main floor. The gym space also offered access to the Guest Laundry room.
The gym space offered two levels of treadmills, elliptical cycles along with yoga space. The gym offered bright daylight space through giant windows stretching across two levels. This was a welcome change from some dark underground hotel gyms.
The gym was fairly empty on my visits through.
Food and Beverage:
The property offers two “in hotel” restaurants. It’s hard to imagine eating on the property, given that with a little research, there are quite a few restaurants within a three block walk of the property.
The Stable Restaurant:
Located just off the lobby, and on the front corner of the building marked the Stable Restaurant. This was a combined space that offered both a morning coffee location, along with an evening wine location.
The Stable coffee bar space was a small urban space. While I didn’t get the opportunity to visit, it appeared to have some soul with many visitors and residents occupying the restaurant.
Hearth Room: Residence Inn Breakfast
The Residence Inn Calgary Downtown Beltline offers a daily breakfast on the hotel’s third floor. Consistent with being an urban property, the hotel offers a bright and nicely appointed breakfast space with high floor to ceiling windows.
During my visit, The Residence Inn Calgary Downtown Beltline District was offering breakfast between:
- Weekdays: 6:30 AM to 9:30 AM
- Weekends: 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM
There was quite a bit of items available for breakfast ranging from fruit salad, to cereals to an extensive hot station.
The coffee was a bit of a low point, as I didn’t find it all to exciting or flavourful. This wasn’t particular to this unique Residence Inn, as most have had pretty unexciting breakfast coffee.
The next morning, we enjoyed an included breakfast along with our room rate at the Residence Inn. The Residence Inn breakfast was pretty extensive and contained a pretty robust featuring of continental bakery items, in addition to more American hot item
I was pretty satisfied with the breakfast offered at the Residence Inn. There was ample food available with more than enough variety to keep any traveller happy.
Checking Out of the Residence Inn:
My check out was without incident. Everything was “as expected” on my bill, which was accurate. My 50% Marriott Bonvoy earning points would post without any issue after approximately 96 hrs. While this was longer than usual, everything was accurate when it posted.
Bottom Line: Residence Inn by Marriott Calgary Downtown Beltline District
The Residence inn by Marriott Calgary Downtown Beltline District was an enjoyable stay for a week long businss trip.
The Residence Inn offered a brand new contemporary space, that offered exceptionally spacious rooms, bright workout and breakfast spaces, and a convenient location to off site restaurants.
The main draw back from this hotel is the train noise which will likely affect you if. you are a soft sleeper. The fact that you only earn 5 Marriott Bonvoy points per $1 USD, when compared to a full service property, is also a drawback for Marriott Bonvoy point collectors like myself.
Aside from that, the property was really enjoyable and I would be happy to stay here again in the future.
World Traveller 73 
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