I had one night in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories Canada. I was travelling between an Air Canada ticket and a Canadian North ticket and needed a place to stay for the night. I ended up staying at the Explorer Hotel Yellowknife. The hotel offered absolutely everything that I could have needed for an overnight stay. The property actually surprised me with how well it was maintained, given its isolated location. In many aspects it was better than some of the inner city properties that I’ve recently stayed at. This post describes how many stay at The Explorer Hotel fared.

Review: The Explorer Hotel, Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada

“The Explorer Hotel Yellowknife turned out to be better than expected, with clean and modern rooms that rivalled many urban Marriott properties that I’ve recently stayed at”

On my northern three stop adventure, I had a forced overnight connection in Yellowknife. I was switching between an Air Canada aircraft and schedule, switching to a Canadian North schedule. This had a forced overnight in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada.

When I was looking for a hotel in Yellowknife, I was looking for something that was central to town, convenient to the airport and ideally something with a free airport shuttle. The Explorer Hotel Yellowknife met all of these objectives, and as such became my pick for this quick overnight stay.

Booking the Explorer Hotel Yellowknife:

There weren’t any major franchise hotel chains in the city of Yellowknife. As a result, it was a free game when it came to hotel bookings.

While I don’t normally use online travel agencies when it comes to booking travel, I did have a $200 Annual Travel credit waiting to be used and just sitting in my account from the American Express Platinum Business charge card.

I was able to find The Explorer Hotel Yellowknife listed on the American Express travel website. I was able to purchase with cash or American Express rewards.

I ended up selecting a base level Deluxe Room – 1 King Bed for $352.61 CAD.

I would end up redeeming my annual American Express $200 travel credit, which would end up appearing on my credit card statement as a credit. This brought the room expense down to $152.61 CAD, which was an excellent deal in a town where most hotel rooms were about $275 CAD.

The booking went through without any complications and was as straightforward as it possibly could be. I also benefited from getting one extra American Express Membership Rewards point per dollar charged, as a result of this pre-paid booking.

Getting to The Explorer Hotel Yellowknife:

After arriving on Air Canada Express Business Class Vancouver – Yellowknife, I searched for the complimentary shuttle bus. I was arriving at 12:30 AM, and was fully expecting to have to take a taxi from the Yellowknife International Airport to the hotel. Instead, when I went outside, I found a branded shuttle bus waiting for travellers.

The Explorer Hotel Yellowknife is located on the airport road. It’s also a short walk into town, which is great when you’re visiting during the summer months like I was.

After a six minute ride on the shuttle bus, I was dropped off at the Explorer Hotel. It was pretty awe inspiring on how bright it was out side at half past midnight in the lands of the midnight sun.

Checking into The Explorer Yellowknife:

The hotel makes a great first impression on arrival. I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting for a northern hotel. While the building is a little older, it was in remarkably good condition. As such, I had a great first impression for my stay that surpassed expectations.

Upon entering the lobby, the spaces were bright and well maintained. There was a giant polar bear at one end of the lobby, which seemed to be the trademark for most northern properties.

With a whole bunch of us getting off the shuttle bus, we had a short line at the front desk. When I got to the front desk, my reservation was in order. As this was a pre-paid reservation through American Express Travel, I left a credit card imprint for incidentals.

I was assigned room 612, which was the Deluxe Room category that I had originally booked. I did not get any further upgrade.

The Room: A Deluxe – 1 King

The hotel has eight floors. After using a key card on the elevator, I navigated myself up to the sixth floor. The hallways featured modern artwork with an outdoor’s theme.

Upon entering the room, the great first impressions continued. The room was in excellent condition. For a Northern property, the room was in much better condition that some Marriott properties I’ve recently stayed at.

The room was decorated in contemporary white and black colours. The Deluxe King featured a large King Bed, with a handy luggage stool at the foot of the bed.

The room also featured a small desk, along with a large flat screen television that was standard for it’s class.

The room also featured a small occasion chair and footstool. There was a convenient drink table, that you don’t always see in hotel rooms of this category.

The room was well equipped, and featured a microwave and a Danby mini fridge. There was also a Keurig Coffee maker.

The hotel was laid out in a straight rectangle format. There were only a few suites per floor. As such, I wouldn’t expect too much in the form of upgrades.

The room featured a great modern looking bathroom that was well appointed and immaculately clean. The bathroom featured a shower and tub combination.

The room featured a water view. While The Explorer Hotel Yellowknife didn’t offer a waterfront location, the water view was off distant Frame Lake over a light industrial area.

In terms of sleep quality, the hotel is located next to the major airport access road. Despite this, there was no issues with noise. The property was quiet enough. Accordingly, I got a really good night’s sleep.

Around the Hotel Property:

The Explorer Hotel features a single restaurant called the Trader’s Grill. It’s a short walk to town for anything else that you might possibly need, although I wouldn’t describe Yellowknife as having a whole lot of choices when it comes to restaurants.

Food and Beverage:

The Trader’s Grill:

The Explorer Hotel offers a single restaurant. The Trader’s Grill is located right off the lobby.

The Traders Grill features a nice circular fireplace, with natural light windows that look out towards the greenbelt.

The hotel was offering a buffet breakfast for a reasonable $24 CAD. Instead of going for the buffet, I ended up going with a Frobisher Bay Eggs Benedict with smoked artic char.

While the presentation wasn’t the most exciting (in my humble opinion), the arctic char Eggs Benedict was great. The portion size was a little small, but it was enough to keep me going for the morning.

Overall, the Traders Grill offered the convenience of an in hotel restaurant. Well, the menu had some variety, the presentation was a little bit less than exciting. Having said that, I would still probably dine here again in the future.

Checking Out of The Explorer Hotel Yellowknife:

The next day, I was scheduled to fly on Canadian North Yellowknife – Rankin – Iqaluit. I had an 11:25 AM flight, which meant I had a leisurely morning departure for the Yellowknife International Airport.

When it came time to leave the Explorer Hotel, the schedule for the complimentary shuttle bus was posted at the front reception.

I didn’t have any issues checking out of the Explorer Hotel. Since the reservation was pre-paid, I didn’t have any additional charges.

There were no additional charges. Since the hotel doesn’t participate in any major loyalty programs, the only excitement in this area will be related to the credit card that you use to charge your room.

After getting to the Yellowknife International Airport, I would end up departing on Canadian North Yellowknife – Rankin Inlet – Iqaluit flight over to the Nunavut Territory.

The Bottom Line: The Explorer Hotel Yellowknife

I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with The Explorer Hotel Yellowknife.

Usually when it comes to more rural properties, the standards are often less than what you might find in an urban city. Instead, The Explorer Hotel Yellowknife was a well kept and well renovated property that offered everything that I could expect and need. I enjoyed the convenient Traders Grill restaurant and enjoyed the free shuttle to and from the airport.

I was really happy with my stay and I’d easily stay here again.

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If you have visited Yellowknife, Northwest Territories Canada, did you stay at the Explorer Hotel Yellowknife ?

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