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.

I woke up for THIS? Put me back under.

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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The last time I hung out with some Vancouverites the only thing they could talk about was how much better a city Vancouver is compared to Calgary. The conversation devolved into me ranting at them about the usual things you can make fun of a Vancouverite for (hobos, riots, hobo riots, HST, etc). But, it made me think that there are a lot of people out there who have no idea about the metropolitan charms of our (mostly) fair city. So, here’s a list of things you can get out and do this weekend instead of sitting inside and arguing with a smelly, Vancouver hippy like I did last week.

English: View of downtown Calgary, Canada, as seen from Crescent Heights bluff during sunset. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Drink

Calgary’s reputation as a party city only seems to apply when Hockey is involved. This is quite unfair, as there is currently any number of ways for a visitor to our fair city to get hammered with the utmost output of fun. Currently, it is the middle of March so the patios are all still closed. But, there remains a great amount of indoor recreational imbibery available to the discerning traveller. If you’re looking for something uniquely Calgarian, you can try some Micro Brew. While Alberta Liquor Laws are shamefully unfriendly towards start-up breweries, the majority of the ones that exist in the province are located in Downtown Calgary. If you do end up having a few too many, consider maybe getting a room somewhere, or taking a cab home.

Shop

One of the things that Downtown Calgary has deserved its reputation for is Shopping. Especially since the construction of the Cross Iron Mills property just north of the city, Calgary has become the consumer hub for most of Alberta, and even some of British Columbia. However, if you’re coming in on a weekend to do some shopping, make sure to get into the malls pretty quick. They fill up very fast, and if you’re like me and being stuck in a large crowd of people ranks among your nightmares then do yourself a favor and stay the night so you can effectively dodge the masses while still getting your shopping done. An excellent tactic is stay in a hotel the night before, check out early, then get your shopping done before the crowds arrive.

Show

Cover of Cirque du Soleil

Or, you can see a show. There’s plenty of Movie Theatres in the city, but while you’re here, why not go with something different? From April 15 to April 21st you can drop in and visit the Calgary Underground Film Festival, coming up in April we’ve got a great deal on Cirque du Soleil tickets, or you can visit with Alberta Ballet while they Celebrate Mozart. On any given weekend in Calgary there can be any type of show, festival, concert, or performance that can give you a small glimpse of the Metropolis-Inside-A-Cowboy-Hat-Next-To-A-Cow that is modern Downtown Calgary.

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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Nellie’s Cosmic Cafe

Nellies is a Calgary Institution. For pancakes. A Pan-stitution. They have several locations scattered around the city, and the nearest one to our hotel in downtown Calgary is located 5 blocks south of us on 17^th Ave.

They don’t try to be super trendy or hip, they just make good breakfast. Also, they go the extra mile by having both toys and colouring books available. They are supposed to be “for children”, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to let a chance to play with a giant Godzilla action figure pass me by.

Recommended Dish:

– Banana Pancakes

The Coup

Located just on 17^th Ave, just 5 blocks down from our little boutique hotel here in downtown Calgary, this little restaurant is a short walk to a great meal.

Now, just fair warning, but this is a vegetarian restaurant. Having said that, you probably won’t even notice it. That’s how good the food is here. The restaurant is small, so if you don’t get there before 9 AM, be prepared to wait. Also, they are only open for breakfast on the weekends. It’s still an amazing restaurant, but you will only be able to get a heaping helping of their Happy Hen’s Hash on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

Recommended Dish:

• Happy Hen’s Hash

Galaxy Diner

This hidden gem is also just 5 blocks from us, although it is not on 17^th Ave. Known for its fantastic olde-fashioned milkshakes, The Galaxy (and the deli next door) have been providing hung-over hipsters with early morning sustenance since wearing plaid shirts was actually fashionable. The 90′s. It was fashionable in the 90′s.

The Galaxy has been around for almost two decades. In that time they have perfected the fine art of cramming as many animals into a single dish as possible. Seriously, I’m pretty sure that for every one animal that The Coup saves by being vegetarian, two of them get added to The Galaxy’s Montreal Smoked Meat Hash.

Recommended Dish:

– Montreal Smoked Meat Hash

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The Calgary International Film Fest is back! Which is great news if you’re a movie fan, and even better news if you like weird, independent movies. And, really, who doesn’t? Also of note is the scandalous Film Festival Hotel Deal we’re offering on rooms for guests and attendees of the Festival.

Ahhh, this really is my favourite time of year. More and more this Festival is a making life exciting for devoted Horror movie fans. Some of the entries in this year’s Late Show are films I’ve been looking for with absolutely no succes for a long time (V/H/S, Grabbers, Chained, and Citadel for example). Thank you CIFF! Boo! Heh, heh, heh.

Starting from September 20th and going until September 30th, the Calgary International Film Festival will be showing some of the most innovative film projects from the last year. Continuing in the same series format as the previous festival, there’s the Headliner Series, the Documentary Series, and (my personal favourite) the Late Show series. I’m especially looking forward to some of the fun/ghoulish entries to this year’s Film Festival such as Dead Before Dawn, and The Amazing Adventures Of The Living Corpse.

New this year is a series aptly titled Spotlight On Japan. Featuring a handful of that break out from (and in one case reaffirm) the Anime and Manga mold that the island nation is reknowned for creating.

Tickets for Film Fest, as well as its Opening, Closing, and Black Galas can be purchased online here.

Similar to last year’s deal, we’ve got a bargain on rooms for anyone coming into town for the Festival. Starting at $109 for a standard room, and moving up to $119 and $129 for Balcony rooms and Two Bed Suites.To book your rooms and claim the discount, simply call in and mention that you’ll be around for the Festival, and present your tickets to the Front Desk at Check-In.

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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So, you’re staying in a downtown Calgary hotel for the Centennial Stampede. You’ve just worked some feeling back into your butt after watching the parade, and you’re about to head from downtown Calgary to the Stampede Fair Grounds for some rootin’ tootin’, eating, drinking and riding.

But… then what? Once the big, easy-to-spot events are done it can be hard to figure out where to go. As fun as the fairgounds are, being surrounded by crowds that dense will eventually burn anyone out.

So, here’s a short list of other notable events to seek out during The Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth.

Rodeo/ChuckWagon Races

Both of these events are massive draws to the Stampede, and for good reason. When Stampede Officials barg about it being the Greatest Outdoor Show On Earth (Capital Letters Are Mandatory), this is what they are talking about. If you haven’t seen either of these two shows, then you haven’t seen the Calgary Stampede.

MINI DOUGHNUTS

Why are Mini-Doughnuts a big deal? SHUT UP AND EAT THEM, THAT’S WHY. Also, sometimes they make doughnut burgers. So, you know, you can give yourself instant diabetes.

If these tiny bites of delicious artery clogging goodness aren’t your style, there’s also Bacon-Sundae Funnel Cake, Jack Daniels Fudge, Deep Fried Wagon Wheels, Deep Fried Kool-Aid, Taco Pizza, Pulled Pork Poutine and Cotton Candy Cupcakes.

In hindsight I probably should have titled this section under Food, or Stampede Confectionaries, but this is what happens when I two cans of RedBull instead of eating lunch.

Fireworks

This year is the fireworks display to end all fireworks displays. No, really. This weekend and next Friday, Saturday and Sunday there will be the largest, most sophisticated Fireworks displays ever attempted.

Fireworks will be set off from five locations across the city – Stampede Park, Elliston Park, North Glenmore Park, McCall Lake, and Winsport’s Canada Olympic Park.

The 12-minute fireworks show will start between 11:00 and 11:30 pm and be synchronized to music. Tune into Country 105, Q107 or the QR77 to enjoy the show choreographed to music.

Pancake Breakfasts

After all this running around you’re going to need to know where to go to get free sustenance to continue the shenanigans. With the accurate and mighty www.flapjackfinder.com at your disposal, no pancake is safe.

Also, sometimes there’s juice and bacon, which is scientifically proven to eliminate hangovers when administered with a sympathetic dose of Vodka.

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I was going to go camping this weekend. However, between the weather and some Calgary Boutique Hotel related shenanigans I’ve decided not to go. The only trick now is trying to figure out what to do with myself for four days…It can be hard to find things to do in Calgary during the May Long Weekend.

Calgary is not a prime Long Weekend destination. Most people leave the city on Long Weekends, and as a result there isn’t all that much to do. There are some time-honoured local traditions that offer an escape from the boredom of being stranded in Calgary, but a lot of them don’t work for May Long. Especially since…

Boutique Hotel Or Not, It’s Less Fun To Drink on A Patio When It’s Thundering

Calgarians loooooove us some patios. It’s actually pretty much our favourite thing to do in summer. But, May is not Summer. Especially not this weekeend.

Thanks a lot, Nature.

Don’t get me wrong, you can still hang out on a patio somewhere, it’ll just be soggy and miserable on Friday. Funnily enough, you might be soggy and miserable anyways, but for an entirely different reason, since…

If You Have Seasonal Allergies You Should Probably Move To A Different City

There are many things that people can be allergic too, but there are only a few things that will exacerbate the issue. Unfortunately, for truck-loving Calgarians vehicle exhaust fumes are one of them. It’s too bad that Calgary is home to so many cars, because it makes the city one of the worst places in the world for someone allergic to grass pollen. So, instead of hanging out on a freezing, wet patio you’ll likely be hiding inside your home, so doped on on Anti-Histamines you’ll hardly be able coherent form sentence to.

Thanks again, Nature.

 However, there is one big bright side to staying in Calgary over May Long Weekend…

There’s Hardly Anyone Around

Want to go out for dinner and a drink? Chances are good that service will be excellent. Want to go see a movie, but hate dealing with crowds of teenagers and squalling babies? They’re all camping! (Suckers! Have fun camping in the slush!).

Basically, while Calgary doesn’t necessarily have anything uniquely Long Weekend-ish to do, it still has a lot of fun things to do that are available all year-round. But, since everyone leaves the city during the long weekend, they are a LOT more fun to do.

Unless you’re like me, and you have allergies.

If anyone needs me, I’ll be hiding in my basement.

Jonathan Meier is the Online Marketing and Social Media Coordinator who is compelling you with unassailable logic to stay at 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) for the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo. 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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