Despite the snowstorms we got yesterday, Spring has technically arrived at the city of Oil and Cows. The winters here in downtown Calgary can be enough to make you wish you had some sort of hibernation pod to while away the winter in, and admittedly Spring isn;t the greatest season to be outside in here. But, while the weather is still oscillating between Winter and Summer, one change you can bank on is the amount of Festivals, both indoor and outdoor, that start happening. Starting next week, there’s some awesome events that are definitely worth stirring from your hibernation pods for.

Cirque Du Soleil: Amaluna

While the main draw to any Cirque du Soleil performance is the incredible acrobatics and bulging muscles under skin tight leotards (Laaadies), the story the propels them can sometimes be draw enough on its own. Although, the leotards do help, of course.

Amanluna is basically an homage to William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, but concerns itself more with exploring archetypal female experience rather than the concurrent themes of vengeance and redemption that run through the original stage play. On top of the Shakespearean homage, there are also Clowns, Valkyries, Amazons, and (of course) a juggling Lizard-Man.

It’s an entertaining evening, to say the least.

 

Calgary Underground Film Festival

Like its larger brother, the Calgary International Film Festival, CUFF is a great chance to see some movies you otherwise wouldn’t ever get a chance to. The main difference between the two festival is that CUFF is a quite a bit weirder than CIFF. In fact, a lot of movies that don’t make it into CIFF because they are considered too fringe are shuttled to CUFF, where they have the chance to shine like weird experimental diamonds.

Heading up this year’s lineup is the Giant-Creature Feature Big Ass Spider, a movie about a large arachnid. Other interesting features include I Declare War, which is apparently “Stand By Me meets Full Metal Jacket”, and Vanishing Waves, a sci-fi action piece set inside the manipulated dreams of a troubled young woman.

 

So, what are you waiting for? Spring is here and it’s time to get out there and enjoy yourself!

 

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Don’t Assume Every Hotel Is The Same

            There are quite a few hotels in downtown Calgary, and every one of them is different. Here at Nuvo Hotel Suites we have 32 apartment-style suites, but few amenities outside of that. We have no café or restaurant. There’s no bar or room service. We’re a Boutique Hotel, and we have incredible rooms that are packed with high-end aesthetics and functionality, but that’s it. Essentially, we’re an apartment hotel.

 

Down the street from us and a titch closer to the center of downtown Calgary is our formidable adversary, Hotel Arts. They are also a Boutique Hotel, but they have 50 rooms, an outdoor pool, a restaurant, and meeting/conference rooms among other things.  They’re also a Boutique Hotel, but they function very close to your standard Delta/Marriot/Westin model of operation. They do have pretty stylish rooms, though.

 

Now the main lesson I want to drive home here is simple, if you are staying at a hotel brand that you have never patronized before, do not expect it to be the same as the last place you stayed at. There are several ways this sort of closed-minded thinking can bite you on the butt…

 

Parking in Downtown Calgary is Never A Sure Thing

Some hotels here in downtown Calgary have their own Parkades. Most don’t. Some have open parking lots. Most don’t. In fact, the one thing that you can count on for parking in this city is that it is hardly ever free. I’ve mentioned this before but, in all of North America, Calgary is the 2^nd most expensive city to park your car in. That’s right, the only other place on this continent where you can expect to pay more for the privilege of momentarily halting your car is Manhattan.

 

This awful parking situation has forced many of the hotels in downtown Calgary to come up with creative ways to deliver serviceable, reasonably priced parking to their guests. However, these solutions vary wildly from one property to the other.

 

Insider Tip: Call ahead and ask about the parking. It’s probably written down somewhere in your confirmation e-mails but, let’s be honest, no one really reads those things.

You Can’t Cancel An Expedia Booking Through The Hotel

 

            This is one is very understandable. You’re cruising around online and you find a great deal for a car rental + hotel room on Expedia. Naturally, you nail that sweet thing down. Then, the unexpected occurs; your boss is kidnapped by cyborg ninjas, you are attacked by a rabid Labradoodle, or after betting heavily against the Toronto Maple Leafs with corporate funds your COO is forced to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy, etc, etc.

 

It happens.

 

As a hotel we understand. The one thing we need you to understand is this: If you try to cancel that room through us, there is nothing we can do. Expedia (in this case) has made the booking for you. Expedia is holding your money. Expedia will not let us cancel the booking for you. There is nothing the hotel can do.

 

Insider Tip: If you booked a hotel room through a Third Party Vendor (Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels.com, etc) you must cancel through that same party.      
Jonathan Meier is the Online Marketing Coordinator for Nuvo Hotel Suites, a small boutique hotel in downtown Calgary, Alberta (to learn more about Nuvo peruse the rest of the site, or check out our Facebook Page). When he’s not at his desk, he’s usually out in the mountains near his hometown of Canmore where he can be seen climbing, skiing, or doing anything at all that doesn’t involve computers.

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Calgary’s downtown parking rates are the highest in Canada and the second highest in North America. It’s not expensive for no reason, though. Calgary has one of the densest downtown cores in North America, and in a business community that’s driven by downtown-centric, high-earning Oil and Gas companies, if you want to do business in Calgary you need to be downtown.

It can be tough to find a decent and affordable place to park your car in downtown Calgary, and while we do have our own parking stalls that we rent to our guests for $15/day, there aren’t many options anywhere near that price point anywhere else in downtown Calgary. But, there are a few here and there that aren’t too bad.

Cheap Pay Lots in Downtown Calgary

There are not many of these. I’ve included some map links to a few lots spread out around Calgary’s downtown core that go for less than $20/day, but you can find many more of them on Parkopedia.

Beltline Square 101 11^th Avenue SE $15/day

712 12^th Avene SW $16/day (Early Bird Special) $250/month

Epcor Centre – 829 Macleod Trail SE $17/day

Keep in mind that you can still park on many streets in downtown Calgary, but you have to be exceptionally careful about where you do it. One of my morning rituals is to sip a coffee while I look out the window of our check-in office at 6:59 AM to watch the droves of tow trucks line up at the end of 12^th Avenue SW. By the time of I finish my coffee at 7:05, any cars that were foolish enough to park on the street overnight have been towed to the city’s the enormous tow lot. Don’t worry, you can rescue your car from that limbo, after you pay for the tow and the ticket, which is typically around $200 – $250.

You see, in downtown Calgary, you have to be very, very careful where you park. If you make even a tiny mistake, you can fall victim to the strong arm of our horribly efficient parking authority.

The Dark Legend of Park Plus

The Devil went down to Calgary. He was lookin’ for a car to ticket.
He was in a bind ’cause he was way behind. He was willing to make a deal.
Then he came across this young man writin’ up a ticket and writin’ it hot.
And the Devil jumped upon a Stampede Hay Bale and said “Boy, let me tell you what.”

“I bet you didn’t know it, but I’m a ticket giver, too.
And if you care to get some flair I’ll make a deal with you.
Now you write a pretty good ticket, boy, but give the Devil his due.
I’ll make a ticket-giving-car to help you out ’cause hand written tickets are through.”

The Devil summoned up his car and he said, “I’ll start this show.”
And fire flew from his fingertips as he ticketed up Place Bow.
He drove the car across the Peace Bridge and it made an evil hiss.
And a band of demons joined in and the devil said “Ahhh, bliss”.

As a system Park Plus is totally objective, very efficient, and very hard to game. For these reasons it is an administrator’s dream, and a motorist’s nightmare. Because all the tickets are catalogued and sent electronically based on a digital registration system, you have next to no chance of getting away without paying for your parking. The worst cases are when you accidentally go over your paid time by one or two minutes. If one of those Park Plus cars drives by, you will get a ticket in you mail. It truly is diabolical.

 
Jonathan Meier is the Online Marketing Coordinator for Nuvo Hotel Suites, a small boutique hotel in downtown Calgary, Alberta (to learn more about Nuvo peruse the rest of the site, or check out our Facebook Page). When he’s not at his desk, he’s usually out in the mountains near his hometown of Canmore where he can be seen climbing, skiing, or doing anything at all that doesn’t involve computers.

 

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Despite the snowstorms we got yesterday, Spring has technically arrived at the city of Oil and Cows. It’s true that the winter weather can make you want to burrow into some sort of hibernation pod until June. But while the weather is still oscillating between Winter and Summer, one change you can bank on is the amount of Festivals, both indoor and outdoor that start happening. Starting next week, there’s some awesome events that are definitely worth stirring from your hibernation pods for.

Cirque Du Soleil: Amaluna

The latest Cirque du Soleil show inhabiting the big top on the Stampede grounds in downtown Calgary is pretty epic. While the main draw to any Cirque du Soleil performance is the incredible acrobatics and bulging muscles under skin tight leotards (Laaadies), the story the propels them can sometimes be draw enough on its own. Although, the leotards do help, of course.

Amanluna is basically an homage to William Shakespeare’s The Tempest, but concerns itself more with exploring archetypal female experience rather than the concurrent themes of vengeance and redemption that run through the original stage play. On top of the Shakespearean homage, there are also Clowns, Valkyries, Amazons, and (of course) a juggling Lizard-Man.

It’s an entertaining evening, to say the least.

 

Calgary Underground Film Festival

Like its larger brother, the Calgary International Film Festival, CUFF is a great chance to see some movies you otherwise wouldn’t ever get a chance to. The main difference between the two festival is that CUFF is a quite a bit weirder than CIFF. In fact, a lot of movies that don’t make it into CIFF because they are considered too fringe are shuttled across downtown calgary to CUFF, where they have the chance to shine like weird experimental diamonds.

Heading up this year’s lineup is the Giant-Creature Feature Big Ass Spider, a movie about a large arachnid. Other interesting features include I Declare War, which is apparently “Stand By Me meets Full Metal Jacket”, and Vanishing Waves, a sci-fi action piece set inside the manipulated dreams of a troubled young woman.

 

So, what are you waiting for? Spring is here and it’s time to get out there and enjoy yourself!

 

Jonathan Meier is the Online Marketing Coordinator for Nuvo Hotel Suites, a small boutique hotel in downtown Calgary, Alberta (to learn more about Nuvo peruse the rest of the site, or check out our Facebook Page). When he’s not at his desk, he’s usually out in the mountains near his hometown of Canmore where he can be seen climbing, skiing, or doing anything at all that doesn’t involve computers.

 

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Downtown Calgary (well all of Alberta, actually) has some ridiculously draconic laws regarding the creation of any new liquor-based business. It’s a little nuts, for a new Brewery to start up it has to produce 250, 000 Litres of beer. That’s 500, 000 pints. Keep in mind that this is BEFORE you can get your license to sell the stuff.

It’s a bit of an investment.

            However, a loop hole in the law makes it possible for smaller micro-breweries to start up when they are attached to a restaurant. Thus, the Gastro-Pub is born. Downtown Calgary is unique in Alberta, in that it is home to several of these hybrid businesses. Now follow me as I don the mantle of Brew-stronaut, and guide you on this list of the best Micro Brews in downtown Calgary.

Wild Rose Brewery

Currently located on the Currie Barracks (just south of Downtown Calgary), this brewery has been around for a while, and has an excellent setup going for them just south of the downtown core. They are definitely my top choice for best local brew, and you can find their products in many of the pubs, clubs, and taphouses in the city.

Best Brew: The Velvet Fog

Not only is this an awesome name for a 70s R&B band, but it’s surprisingly light taste goes really well with some added citrus. Especially good in the summer, but acceptable all year-round, you can’t really go wrong with a pint of the Fog.

 

Brew Brothers Brewery

Located in the heart of downtown Calgary in the District Brew-Pub, this inventive brew house sells its pints of Micro Brewed beer by the mason jar. Even if the beer wasn’t delicious, it’s worth dropping by for a bucket of bacon.

Best Brew: Black Pilsner

BP’s in general are an underrated beer. But if you have the spirit of a Brew-stronaut dwelling within your heart, you’ll find this medium-heavy beer to be delicious.

 

Brewsters Brewery

This is one is more of a chain of brew-pubs. The downtown Calgary franchise is the one we’re concerned with, though. Conveniently located right across from Safeway from us in downtown Calgary, I can highly recommend their burgers as an excellent pairing to the following beer suggestion.

Best Brew: Curly Horse IPA

Borderline smooth with some nice notes of citrus and pine-resin. This is an excellent example of a well-made India Pale Ale.

Jonathan Meier is the Online Marketing and Social Media Coordinator for Nuvo Hotel Suites, a small boutique hotel in downtown Calgary, Alberta (to learn more about the Nuvo peruse the rest of the site, or check out our Facebook Page). When he’s not at his desk, he’s usually out in the mountains near his hometown of Canmore where he can be seen climbing, skiing, or doing anything at all that doesn’t involve computers.

 

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We’ve recently started offering a pretty nice deal for anyone staying in our downtown Calgary hotel for the express purposes of going to a concert. In short, you get a %10 discount on your room, free parking, and a $10 Cab Voucher. For more details, check out the Concert Hotel Package in all its glory.

Maroon 5 March 7^th, 2013 at Calgary Saddledome

This is the very first concert where our guests are able to choose our Concert Hotel Package. In case you don’t know who Maroon 5 is, but are still reading this article (maybe for more info on our Calgary Hotel Package?); here some links to their music. I assure you, if you’ve been anywhere near a radio in the last 10 years, you’ve heard their music.

Beating A Dead Horse

            So… yeah. Here we go again. Coming into town for the Maroon 5 concert? Need to pick a cool hotel? Well, stay with us and get %10 Off the Hotel Suite, Secure Parking Underground (also free), and a $10 Cab Voucher (because no one likes being the DD). Hopefully, now this poor horse can get some rest before I have to thrash it again.

Jonathan Meier is the Online Marketing and Social Media Coordinator for Nuvo Hotel Suites, a small boutique hotel in downtown Calgary, Alberta (to learn more about the Nuvo peruse the rest of the site, or check out our Facebook Page). When he’s not at his desk, he’s usually out in the mountains near his hometown of Canmore where he can be seen climbing, skiing, or doing anything at all that doesn’t involve computers.

 

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Q: Why do only four 4 out of 5 of your friends have fun at a concert?

A: Because it’s a Black Eyed Peas concert and one of you has taste.

Ha! Ahhh, I’m just kidding. It’s because one of you is the Dreaded Designated Driver (But, in all seriousness, the Black Eyed Peas are horrible). While four of your friends are free to drink all the over-priced Saddledome beer they want, one of you has to stay sober to drive your group back to your hotel.

Here at Nuvo Hotel Suites, we’re trying to make concerts more enjoyable for everyone. Not only do we have a strict No Black Eyed Peas policy at the hotel, but we are also launching a new Concert Hotel Package available to any of our musically-inclined guests.

The new Concert Hotel Package we’re launching is fairly simple. Book a room. Mention that you’re here for a concert. Receive Free Parking and a $10.00 Cab Voucher. That way, you can drop off your car and cab your way to the big show in comfort and style (well, not really style. I mean, come on, it’s just a cab).

The only thing we need from you is to take a peek at your concert tickets when you check-in. Not that you would lie to us just for Free Parking and a Cab Voucher…

Jonathan Meier is the Online Marketing and Social Media Coordinator for Nuvo Hotel Suites, a small boutique hotel in downtown Calgary, Alberta (to learn more about the Nuvo peruse the rest of the site, or check out our Facebook Page). When he’s not at his desk, he’s usually out in the mountains near his hometown of Canmore where he can be seen climbing, skiing, or doing anything at all that doesn’t involve computers.

 

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Long weekends are the greatest, and I will personally fight anyone who says otherwise. How can you go wrong with long weekends? Or weekends in general, even? There’s all the sleeping in, the Saturday morning cartoons, there’s shopping, movies to go see, restaurants to check out, and all the other things we all do on the days we aren’t at work. In fact, there’s only one thing that I really don’t like about weekends. The driving. Especially in downtown Calgary.

Calgary’s downtown core is a non-sensical grid from hell. One way streets. Streets that suddenly become one way streets. The abysmal ParkPlus system that will first confuse the hell out of you, and then automatically charge you a parking ticket if you are even one single minute late to get back to your car. Frankly, the city is over a hundred years old, and most of the streets in downtown just weren’t designed for anything remotely resembling modern day traffic. Thanks, original settlers.

But, don’t worry. Here at Nuvo Hotel Suites we’ve got your back. Stay with us for the weekend and take advantage of our Weekend Hotel Package that includes a free, secure, underground parking stall. On top of that you get %10 off the cost of your room, as well as the usual free WiFi goodness all of our guests receive. You can go ahead and book this deal starting RIGHT NOW UNTIL THE END OF TIME. Or the end of June. Whichever comes first.

Jonathan Meier is the Online Marketing and Social Media Coordinator for Nuvo Hotel Suites, a small boutique hotel in downtown Calgary, Alberta (to learn more about the Nuvo peruse the rest of the site, or check out our Facebook Page). When he’s not at his desk, he’s usually out in the mountains near his hometown of Canmore where he can be seen climbing, skiing, or doing anything at all that doesn’t involve computers.

 

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Calgary is a city of many hotels, but not nearly all of them have suites. But, what do we mean when we say hotel suite? Let’s treat this like an essay and define our definitions. A suite can mean several things, but it typically implies that there is more of an apartment quality to the room in terms of its amenities. And no, a hot plate just doesn’t cover it. Here’s a look at wha it takes to be a genuine suite hotel in Calgary.

Cook Your Own Food

This is probably the single biggest perk that comes with renting out a full suite to stay in while you adjourn to Calgary. Basically, it comes down Continental Breakfast vs. Full Kitchen. On the one hand, you don’t really have to do much beyond getting dressed and heading downstairs to pick up your bowl of off-brand Fruit Loops. However, if you have a full kitchen you can get yourself a bowl of cereal without even putting on your pants (the way God intended).

Another aspect is Restaurant Fatigue. This is a common syndrome with frequent travellers. After all, how many times do you need to go out to a restaurant for dinner before you start to crave just making something simple and eating it while watching TV in your underwear? Or, if you’re slightly more professional, how often would you prefer to go over some work while eating, but don’t feel like bringing a laptop and a bunch of notebooks to a Steak House?

Your Own In-Suite Laundry

There has been some confusion in the past on this, so I’m going to be very clear. OUR STANDARD ROOMS DO NOT COME WITH LAUNDRY MACHINES.

[Ahem]

Now, for the other 20 suites in the hotel, we have 2-in-1 Washer/Dryers. They work quite well for smaller loads of laundry, especially for Delicates. It’s quite a perk, really. In the winter you have slush, snow, salt, and general wetness that will ruin the look of your pant cuffs. In summer you have the gorgeous Calgary weather, which is nice, but will give you sweat stains like nobody’s business. Being able to toss a few shirts and some pants into a little machine and have them all ready to go for the next day takes a lot of stress out of your trip.

Extra Space

If a suite is well-designed, there should be plenty of room for activities. We try and maximize this philosophy here at Nuvo Hotel Suites by adding Murphy beds to all of our hotel suites. This way you toss the bed up into the wall and do your Yoga/Pilates/Drinking with room to spare!

Jonathan Meier is the Online Marketing and Social Media Coordinator for Nuvo Hotel Suites, a small boutique hotel in downtown Calgary, Alberta (to learn more about the Nuvo peruse the rest of the site, or check out our Facebook Page). When he’s not at his desk, he’s usually out in the mountains near his hometown of Canmore where he can be seen climbing, skiing, or doing anything at all that doesn’t involve computers.

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The title of this article is no accident. On the front page of our site there’s a permanent link to a list of Top 10 Things To Do In Calgary. It’s a pretty popular list, but it also pulls in a large amount of traffic from people using searches like “guy stuff to do in calgary”, or “things to do with a guy in Calgary”. This is understandable. There isn’t a lot of obvious “Guy things to do” in the city. We don’t have a Run of the Bulls, we don’t have any Base Jumping, and the Mayor keeps foolishly rejecting my proposal to build a cage in the centre of downtown and charge office workers to fight enraged Bears.

[SIGH]

It can be tough to find something appropriately Manly to do in Calgary. Therefore, for your Manly Amusement, I have compiled a list OF ALL THE MANLY THINGS TO DO IN THE CITY OF CALGARY.

Not all manly things are equally manly, however. So, I have devised a shrewd, yet manly, ranking system using the Overly Manly Man Meme. The following activities are rated from 1 to 4 Overly Manly Men (OMM). Hopefully, this helps you find some guy stuff to do in the city.

Manly Shopping

Stereotypically, shopping is not considered a manly thing to do. And it isn’t. Unless you’re shopping at a store that sells Video Games, DVD’s, Power Tools, Weapons and/or Exercise/Martial Arts Equipment. In which case, it is indeed Manly. To accomplish this Manly Feat, head over to your nearest Future Shop, Best Buy, Wholesale Sports, etc.

Rating: 1 x OMM

The (Manly!) Sport of Rock Climbing

Looking for an easy, yet awesomely manly way to spend an afternoon? Head on over to the nearest Climbing Gym and get rad. Seriously, though. Climbing is cheap, easy (at a beginner level), a great way to get (or stay) in shape. And even if you don’t want to take a course you can rent some shoes and do some bouldering.

 Rating: 2 x OMM

 

 

 

 

Jonathan Meier is the Online Marketing and Social Media Coordinator for Nuvo Hotel Suites, a small boutique hotel in downtown Calgary, Alberta (to learn more about the Nuvo peruse the rest of the site, or check out our Facebook Page). When he’s not at his desk, he’s usually out in the mountains near his hometown of Canmore where he can be seen climbing, skiing, or doing anything at all that doesn’t involve computers.

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